A compelling, illuminating and evocative history of Singapore—the world's most successful city-state. In 1965, Singapore's GDP per capita was on a par with Jordan. Now it has outstripped Japan. After the Second World War and a sudden rupture with newly formed Malaysia, Singapore found itself independent - and facing a crisis. It took the bloody-minded determination and vision of Lee Kuan Yew, its founding premier, to take a small island of diverse ethnic groups with a fragile economy and hostile neighbours and meld it into Asia's first globalised city. Lion City examines the different faces of Singaporean life - from education and health to art, politics and demographic challenges - and reveals how in just half a century, Lee forged a country with a buoyant economy and distinctive identity. It explores the darker side of how this was achieved too; through authoritarian control that led to it being dubbed 'Disneyland with the death penalty'. Jeevan Vasagar, former Singapore correspondent for the Financial Times, masterfully takes us through the intricate history, present and future of this unique diamond-shaped island one degree north of the equator, where new and old have remained connected. Lion City is a personal, insightful and definitive guide to the city, and how its extraordinaryrise is shaping East Asia and the rest of the world.

- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Subtopic
Asian HistoryIndex
HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Emporium of the East
- Chapter 2: ‘Blood will flow’
- Chapter 3: The Engineered Society
- Chapter 4: The Singapore Dream
- Chapter 5: The Model City
- Chapter 6: Authoritarianism with Gucci Handbags
- Chapter 7: Fighting Disease: From TB to Covid-19
- Chapter 8: ‘No one owes Singapore a living’
- Chapter 9: Taming the Internet
- Chapter 10: Singapore Inc
- Chapter 11: Asian Values
- Chapter 12: The Art of Resistance
- Chapter 13: Sin City
- Chapter 14: The Demographic Challenge
- Chapter 15: The Future
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Further reading
- Endnotes
- Index
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access Lion City by Jeevan Vasagar in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Asian History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.