Terence Chong - Böcker

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the contemporary English-language theatre field in Singapore. It describes Singapore theatre as a politically dynamic field that is often a site for struggle and resistance against state orthodoxy, and how the cultural policies of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) have shaped Singapore theatre. The book traces such cultural policies and their impact from the early 1960s, and shows how the PAP used theatre – and arts and culture more widely – as a key part of its nation building programme. Terence Chong argues that this diverse theatre community not only comes into regular conflict with the state, but often collaborates with it - depending on the rewards at stake, not to mention the assortment of intra-communal conflicts as different practitioners and groups vie for the same resources. It goes on to explore how new forms of theatre, especially English-language avant garde theatre, represented resistance to such government cultural control; how the government often exerts its power ‘behind-the-scenes’ to preserve its moral legitimacy; and conversely how middle class theatre practitioners’ resistance to state power is strongly influenced by class and cultural capital. Based on extensive original research including interviews with theatre directors and other theatre professionals, the book provides a wealth of information on theatre in Singapore overall, and not just on theatre-state relations.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the contemporary English-language theatre field in Singapore. It describes Singapore theatre as a politically dynamic field that is often a site for struggle and resistance against state orthodoxy, and how the cultural policies of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) have shaped Singapore theatre. The book traces such cultural policies and their impact from the early 1960s, and shows how the PAP used theatre – and arts and culture more widely – as a key part of its nation building programme. Terence Chong argues that this diverse theatre community not only comes into regular conflict with the state, but often collaborates with it - depending on the rewards at stake, not to mention the assortment of intra-communal conflicts as different practitioners and groups vie for the same resources. It goes on to explore how new forms of theatre, especially English-language avant garde theatre, represented resistance to such government cultural control; how the government often exerts its power ‘behind-the-scenes’ to preserve its moral legitimacy; and conversely how middle class theatre practitioners’ resistance to state power is strongly influenced by class and cultural capital. Based on extensive original research including interviews with theatre directors and other theatre professionals, the book provides a wealth of information on theatre in Singapore overall, and not just on theatre-state relations.

By the summer of 2020, when the coronavirus had fully entered our everyday vocabulary and our lives, religious communities and places of worship around the world were already undergoing profound changes. In Asian and Asian diaspora communities, diverse cultural tropes, beliefs, and artifacts were mobilized to make sense of Covid, including a repertoire of gods and demons like Coronasur, the virus depicted with the horns and fangs of a traditional Hindu demon. Various kinds of knowledge were invoked: theologies, indigenous medicines, and biomedical narratives, as well as ethical values and nationalist sentiments. CoronAsur: Asian Religions in the Covidian Age follows the documentation and analysis of the abrupt societal shifts triggered by the pandemic to understand current and future pandemic times, while revealing further avenues for research on religion that have opened up in the Covidian age. Developed in tandem with the research blog CoronAsur: Religion and COVID-19, this volume is a "phygital" publication, a work grounded in empirical roots as well as digitally born communication. It comprises thirty-eight essays that examine Asian religious communities—Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Daoist, and Christian as well as popular/folk and new religious movements, or NRMs—in terms of the changes brought on by and the ritual responses to the Covid pandemic.Studying religious narratives, practices, and changes in the Covidian age adds to our understanding of not only the specific groups in which they are situated, but also the coronavirus itself, its disputed etiologies and culturally contextualized exegeses. CoronAsur offers a comprehensive and timely discussion of Covidian transformations in religious communities’ engagements with media, spaces, and moral and political economies, documenting how religious practices and discourses have co-produced the meanings of the pandemic.

Education in the Global City examines education in Singapore through the critical lens of ‘manufacturing’. The book brings together two disparate fields which inform each other, education and the ‘global city’; and the book’s contributors analyse and critique the manufacturing of Singapore education and Singapore’s global city formation. The collection covers vocational education, language policies, Higher Education, English education, critical thinking, sex education, creativity, and critical feminist scholarship.Collectively, the book pries open the ideology of the manufacturing education system, and points out the tension between the nation and its ideologies, and the ‘global city’ aspirations. It also asks how education contributes to, and is shaped by, the market realities of Singapore’s global city ambitions – which are at odds with the nationalistic local agenda and priorities of nation-building. In interrupting and speaking against the prevailing (and narrow) manufacturing of education for a teleological end, in spite of Singapore’s successful nation-building, this book is an important contribution to critical education scholarship.This book was originally published as a special issue of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

Education in the Global City examines education in Singapore through the critical lens of ‘manufacturing’. The book brings together two disparate fields which inform each other, education and the ‘global city’; and the book’s contributors analyse and critique the manufacturing of Singapore education and Singapore’s global city formation. The collection covers vocational education, language policies, Higher Education, English education, critical thinking, sex education, creativity, and critical feminist scholarship.Collectively, the book pries open the ideology of the manufacturing education system, and points out the tension between the nation and its ideologies, and the ‘global city’ aspirations. It also asks how education contributes to, and is shaped by, the market realities of Singapore’s global city ambitions – which are at odds with the nationalistic local agenda and priorities of nation-building. In interrupting and speaking against the prevailing (and narrow) manufacturing of education for a teleological end, in spite of Singapore’s successful nation-building, this book is an important contribution to critical education scholarship.This book was originally published as a special issue of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

This volume is a collection of essays from a diverse group of scholars. Collectively, they present a multidimensional perspective of globalization in Southeast Asia. They delve into the political, economic, security, social, and cultural dimensions of globalization and local responses, offering evidence of complex interfacing between the global and the local, thus championing the need for a multidisciplinary approach to globalization studies. This volume depicts globalization as an uneven and, sometimes, undesired process, and resists the temptation for easy conclusions to the challenges facing the region today.

This book covers Singapore's key arts policies and art institutions which have shaped the cultural landscape of the country from the 1950s to the present.The scholars and experts in this volume critically assess arts policies and arts institutions to collectively provide an overview of how arts and culture have been deployed by the state. The chapters are arranged chronologically to cover milestone events from the forging of 'Malayan culture'; the government's 'anti-yellow culture' campaign; the use of 'culture' for tourism; the setting up of the Advisory Council on Arts and Culture, the Renaissance City Report, the setting up of the School of the Arts, and others.Putting to rest the notion that Singapore is a 'cultural desert', this volume is valuable reading for students of cultural policy, policy makers who seek an understanding of Singapore's cultural trajectory, and for international readers interested in Singapore's arts and cultural policy.

Updates and reviews public policies from the early 1990s onwards. It gathers prominent thinkers and scholars on Singapore to examine issues of leadership and policy; economic restructuring; societal transformation; foreign relations and national identity.

This is a comprehensive analysis of Christianity in Singapore, covering religious, social and political attitudes. It analyses individual and discussion-group responses from churchgoers in both mainline denominations and independent churches, and covers issues such as moral values and attitudes, including those on sexuality and sexual orientation, money and giving, organisational belonging, and governance.

Twenty-five years ago, the governments of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia agreed to jointly promote the citystate, the state of Johor in Malaysia and the Riau Islands in Indonesia. Facilitated by common cultural references, a more distant shared history, and complementary attributes, interactions between the three territories developed quickly. Logistics networks have proliferated and production chains link firms based in one location with affiliates or transport facilities in the other territories. These crossborder links have enabled all three locations to develop their economies and enjoy rising standards of living. Initially economic in nature, the interactions between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands have multiplied and grown deeper. Today, people cross the borders to work, go to school, or avail of an increasing range of goods and services. New political and social phenomena have developed. Policy-makers in the various territories now need to reconcile economic imperatives and issues of identity and sovereignty. Enabled by their proximity and increasing opportunities, families have also begun to straddle borders, with resulting questions about citizenship and belonging. Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the 18 chapters and more than 20 maps in this book examine the interaction between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands over the past quarter-century, and seek to shed light on how these territories could develop in the future.

Charismatic pastors, fast-paced worship sessions, inspirational but shallow theology, and large congregations — these are just some of the associated traits of Pentecostal megachurches. But what lies beneath the veneer of glitz? What are their congregations like? How did they grow so quickly? How have they managed to negotiate local and transnational challenges? This book seeks to understand the growth and popularity of independent Pentecostal megachurches in Southeast Asia. Using an ethnographic approach, the chapters examine Pentecostal megachurches in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. Each chapter dwells on the development of the megachurch set against the specific background of the country’s politics and history.

After the Coup brings together the work of a group of leading Thai intellectuals of several generations to equip readers to anticipate and understand the developments that lie ahead for Thailand. Contributors offer findings and perspectives both on the disorienting period following the Thai coup of May 2014 and on fundamental challenges to the country and its institutions. Chapters address regionalism and decentralization, the monarchy and the military, the media, demography and the economy, the long-running violence in Southern Thailand, and a number of surprising social and political trends certain to shape the future of Thailand. The volume will serve as a valuable resource for all those concerned with that future.

Ethnic and religious differences, a widening socio-economic divide, tension between foreigners and locals. These are some of the contemporary challenges to integration in Singapore. How we navigate them will determine the type of society we become. This book gathers the best social scientists in Singapore to examine issues of ethnicity, religion, class, and culture in order to understand the many different fault lines that run across the multicultural city-state. These essays are written in an engaging manner and are designed to present the authors’ expertise to a wider audience.

Praetorians, Profiteers or Professionals? contributes to the ongoing renaissance in scholarship on Southeast Asia’s armed forces and their political, social and economic roles. This renaissance comes in an era in which the states of the region, and the societies and economies that they govern, have grown complex beyond all recognition. Nevertheless, understanding those states’ armies remains crucial. Emphasizing the ideologies and economic activities of the militaries of two large Mainland Southeast Asian neighbours, this volume transcends clichés about coups, coercion, caudillos and kings. Its findings will challenge the thinking of even long-time observers of the region, not least through its comparative perspective and the fresh understanding of the roles and orientations of the armed forces of Myanmar and Thailand that that perspective suggests.