Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited: Essays on Singapore Politics
Cherian George
Ethos Books: 2020
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First published at the turn of the millennium, Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation arrived in a post-Cold War world where—despite the disappointment of the dotcom bubble—the nascent World Wide Web was still a realm of infinite possibility, and the deep psychic blow of 9/11 a mere shadow on the horizon. Its chosen subject? A city-state that, at all of thirty-five years old, loudly trumpeted its own philosophy of governance (the so-called ‘Asian way’), and prided itself in heading off the worst effects of the Asian financial crisis. Subtitled Essays on the Politics of Comfort and Control, the volume took a hard look at this ascendant nation, while cherishing the ideals which (in time) came to define that upbeat moment: the promise of openness, civil discourse and individual liberties.

• Tags: Cherian George, Issue 20, Singapore, Theophilus Kwek