Lion City: Singapore and the Invention of Modern Asia

Journalist Vasagar debuts with a well-informed if somewhat dry history of Singapore from the establishment of a British settlement on the island in 1819 to today. Spotlighting the interplay between Singapore’s political and economic systems (“authoritarianism with Gucci handbags”), Vasagar contends that Singaporeans tolerate a high degree of government control because the city-state’s political elites take their work seriously and deliver positive results. He documents the life and career of prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who led Singapore from 1965 (the year it separated from Malaysia and became a sovereign city-state) until 1990, highlighting how Lee’s policies—including the preservation of memorials to colonial ruler Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and the racial profiling of migrants “to maintain an ethnic balance in which Chinese make up the majority”—enacted his vision of Singapore as a hybrid of Eastern and Western cultures. Turning to contemporary matters, Vasagar details the government’s stifling of political dissent, the military’s role in instilling national solidarity, and cultural attitudes toward drugs, prostitution, and gambling. Though it's somewhat lacking in analysis, Vasagar presents a brisk yet comprehensive overview of Singapore’s evolution and adds nuance to Western perceptions of the island as an “iron-fisted wonderland.” Readers seeking to understand modern Asia will be rewarded. (Mar.)