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The
Transformation of Chinese Society in Postwar Singapore: Localizing
Process, Regional Networking, and Global Perspective
Xiamen
University Press, Sept 2003
LIU Hong
ISBN:
7-5615-2133-2
This book is concerned with the transformation of Chinese society in Singapore since the end of World War II, focusing on its internal alignments, political participation, economic structure, cultural identity, and social/business networks. The author approaches these issues from three closely intertwined angles, namely, localizing process, regional networking, and global perspective. The localizing process refers to the formation of new institutions and identities as well as the coping strategies of the Chinese community in a multi-ethnic Singapore. The emphasis on the making of regional networking places the Singapore Chinese experience within a broader geographical and socio-political context of East/Southeast Asia and its interplay with the domestic evolution. A global perspective brings recent phenomena such as the internationalization of Chinese voluntary associations and the inflow of new migrants originating from the PRC into closer scrutiny, also paying attention to their contribution to the making of a global Chinese Diaspora as well as the transformation of contemporary China. Based upon extensive archival research, oral history interviews, and the author’s participatory observations, this book sets its findings critically and comparatively against the current debates in the social sciences about the Diaspora, identity, networks, and transnationalism.
Of Sighs and
Smiles
Singapore: Armour
Publishing, 2003
Gracia Tay-Chee
ISBN:
981413802
Written with an engaging wit and filled with anecdotes that range from the sombre to the hilarious. Of Sighs and Smiles brings to life many of the people and places that are integral to Singapore's history. Through the pages of this book, you will become acquainted with Mrs Gracia Tay-Chee's great-grandfather, Tan See Boo, who built the Hok Im Kuan, the first church for Chinese-speaking Christians; her uncle, Tan Soo Hock, who started the Eye Hospital at Balestier Road; and her father, Tay Lian Teck, who was colonial Singapore's youngest nominated Legislative Councillor.
Having
been trained in the dramatic arts, Gracia Tay-Chee is a consummate
story-teller. From Singapore to Australia, to England and even Germany,
Gracia's life has been anything but dull. Come sigh with her as she
struggles through childhood and teenage angst. And smile with her as you
share in her foibles and adventures.
Gateway to
Chinese Culture
Singapore: Asiapac Books, 2003
Illustrator: Fu Chunjiang.
Translated by Ann Han & Geraldine Chay
ISBN:
981-229-328-0
(from publisher's website)
Have you ever wondered about
the significance of the various vibrant festivals celebrated by the
Chinese people every year, or why the Chinese eat with chopsticks? How did
the intricate characters of their written language come to be? Ancient
Chinese thinkers like Confucius and Sun Zi have left their mark on the
Chinese culture, but who were they? And of course, Chinese cuisine,
available in Chinese restaurants all over the world, hardly needs an
introduction!
As part of the Montage Culture series, this book takes the reader through
a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated overview of the Chinese
culture, covering topics from the history of the people, their lifestyle,
customs and beliefs, to culinary practices and more. Such knowledge can
only lead to greater cross-cultural understanding and harmony. For anyone
who wants to learn more about this remarkable people, or simply sample the
colourful Chinese culture, this book will be an indispensable guide!
The Chinese in America: A Narrative History. N.Y., USA: Viking, Penguin Group, 2003.
Iris Chang (author of The Rape of
Nanking)
ISBN:
0-670-03123-2
Chew Boon Lay - A Family Traces Its History: A Family Album. Singapore: The Compiler, 2003.
Compiled by Ong Chwee Im
Contributing Editors: Chew Kheng Chuan & Evelyn Chew
Foreword by Wang Gungwu
ISBN: 981-04-7740-6
This book traces the family ties of Chew Boon Lay (after whom the area west of Singapore is named), and portrays the life of a Chinese family from colonial times, through the Japanese Occupation, postwar Singapore, to the present.
From Ong Chwee Im:
"On reflection, the Chew Boon Lay Family can be regarded as a microcosm of Singapore society ..."
Power and Identity in the Chinese World Order: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Wang Gungwu. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2003.
So, Billy K.L., John Fitzgerald, Huang Jianli, and James K. Chin, eds.
Reviewed by Yow Cheun Hoe
East Asian Institute
National University of Singapore
This collection of writings was published in 2003 as an honor presented to Professor Wang Gungwu on the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 2000. From 1957 when he came back to teach in University of Malaya to the present at which he is directing the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, Professor Wang has moved across different countries, produced numerous writings, given many speeches and lectures, and supervised many students. This festschrift shows the imprints and influences Prof Wang has made on friends and scholars along his career and life paths.
Book Review:
They shall not be forgotten.
3 May 2003
Straits Times
English
(c) 2003 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Songs Of The South showcases the manuscripts and photos of 186 pioneer Chinese writers, who influenced the literary scene here.
WAVES of writers from China washed onto the shores of Singapore and Malaysia from the 1920s to 1965 and left deep imprints on the development of the Chinese literary scene here.
To ensure that their influence is not forgotten, the most comprehensive book on them has been written.
The Chinese diaspora : space, place, mobility, and identity / edited by Laurence J.C. Ma and Carolyn Cartier. Ma, Laurence J.C. (Professor Emeritus of Geography, University of, Cartier, Carolyn L. (Assistant Pr Hardback $84.00
This volume considers the importance of meanings of place and the spatial processes of mobility and settlement for the Chinese overseas. The contributors trace the Chinese diaspora from Southeast Asia to North America to Oceania.
Read More
Bind
Us in Time: Nation and Civilisation in Asia
by Wang Gungwu
Price: US$22.29 (S$39.00*)
Region: Asia/Pacific
Format: Paperback, 306 pages
Published: 2002, Singapore, 1st
Edition
ISBN: 9812101780
SB#: 032263
About This Book
Prof. Wang Gungwu, one of Asia's pre-eminent scholars and an authority on overseas Chinese, deliberates on the transformation of Asian societies brought about by technological change and global economic development in this book. The collection of essays here reflects his conviction that although Asians need nation-states to deal with the exigencies of modernisation, the rich heritage of Asian civilisations gathered over the centuries should not be neglected but remain a vital part of the region's well-being.
Chinese
Triads: Perspectives on Histories, Identities, and Spheres of Impact
by Lim, Irene (Editor)
Region: Singapore
Format: Paperback, 126 pages
Published: 2002, Singapore
ISBN: 9810453515
SB#: 032371
About This Book
These eight referenced papers were originally given at the 1999 Singapore History Museum Conference associated with its exhibition on secret societies, "Entering the Hung Gate" and on the William Stirling Collection of Triad materials. The nature and background in China of the triads, their evolution and changing roles in the immigrant society of Singapore are outlined. Papers on the law enforcement perspective, and on Singapore gangs from the inside are included. Interrelationships in the Chinese underworld in the past and now, and recent Chinese scholarship on secret societies are among the subjects discussed.