Singapore: the Unexpected Nation

This book deals with Singapore's transition from a British Crown Colony to a state in the Federation of Malaysia, and expulsion from the Federation to become a separate independent nation. For the leaders of Singapore's PAP Government, Malaysia was a traumatic experience. Yet, but for it, they might never have found the resolve and the secret of building this extraordinary nation, this nation based on Singapore alone that they and an entire generation had once believed an impossibility. Thi ...

Preface; Introduction by Wang Gungwu; Chapter One Beginnings: From Temasek to Singapore; Chapter Two Race, History and Nationalism; Chapter Three Contestants and Contesting Visions; Chapter Four The Accidental Chief Minister; Chapter Five The Terminal Chief Minister; Chapter Six The Embattled Prime Minister; Chapter Seven Merger: Contesting Ownership andPrinciples; Chapter Eight Terms of Disendearment; Chapter Nine Dare to be Equal; Chapter Ten The Way to Survive; Chapter Eleven National Service: The Price ofIndependence; Chapter Twelve Politics of Education.

Chapter Thirteen Home Ownership, National Stability andthe New Middle ClassesChapter Fourteen University and Nation; Chapter Fifteen Toh's Nation-Building Thrust; Chapter Sixteen Nantah: Between Community and Nation; Chapter Seventeen Self-Renewal: Talents for a Tough Act; Chapter Eighteen The Consensual Prime Minister; Chapter Nineteen Confucianism, Christianity, Chineseness; Chapter Twenty Singapore Dreams, Singapore Dilemmas; Chapter Twenty-One The Hyphenated Singaporean; Chapter Twenty-Two The Unexpected Nation; Bibliographical Note; Index; The Author.