https://www.scmp.com/rss/328215/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com An excerpt An excerpt In a new memoir No Borders: Journeys Across Islands And Continents, renowned historian Wang Gungwu traces his life across Malaya, London, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, sharing both personal anecdotes and perspectives on the changes in China and the modern world. In the excerpt below, Wang reflects on his impressions of Singapore after arriving from Hong Kong with his wife Margaret in the 1990s, the differences between the two cities, and his work on contemporary China with Singapore’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3341918/tale-two-cities-singapore-hong-kong-and-their-contrasting-paths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3341918/tale-two-cities-singapore-hong-kong-and-their-contrasting-paths?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:00:14 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt The First Fools: B-Sides of Lee Kuan Yew’s A-Team is a new anthology about Singapore’s founding leaders. In this excerpt, author Aaron Low spotlights Goh Keng Swee – widely remembered as Singapore’s first finance minister and economic architect – whose lesser-known role as one of the country’s most influential businessmen saw him create a network of state-linked firms that helped define Brand Singapore. Entrepreneurs start businesses for many reasons. Some do it because of the firm belief that... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320482/how-singapores-economic-architect-goh-keng-swee-shaped-its-state-linked-giants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320482/how-singapores-economic-architect-goh-keng-swee-shaped-its-state-linked-giants?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 02:00:17 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt The First Fools: B-Sides of Lee Kuan Yew’s A-Team is a new anthology about Singapore’s founding leaders, spotlighting the unexpected private lives behind the political legends. This excerpt, written by Jaime Niam, reveals a little-known chapter in the life of Othman Wok – Singapore’s first minister for social affairs and a key advocate for multi-racialism – whose early passion for ghost stories helped revive a struggling Malay-language magazine. When Othman was five years old, he woke up one day... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320477/singapores-pioneer-multi-racialism-and-malay-horror-uncanny-origins-othman-wok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3320477/singapores-pioneer-multi-racialism-and-malay-horror-uncanny-origins-othman-wok?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Aug 2025 02:00:26 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt In this excerpt from Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel, Cheong Yip Seng, former editor-in-chief of The Straits Times, offers rare behind-the-scenes insights into the personalities who shaped post-independence Singapore. Through stories involving figures such as S.R. Nathan, a senior civil servant who later became president, and S. Rajaratnam, the country’s first foreign minister, Cheong reveals a founding leadership team unafraid to challenge even Lee Kuan Yew – while remaining bound by a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317110/how-singapores-early-leaders-supported-lee-kuan-yews-vision-challenging-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317110/how-singapores-early-leaders-supported-lee-kuan-yews-vision-challenging-him?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Jul 2025 01:30:19 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt In his new memoir Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel, Cheong Yip Seng reflects on the intersection of geopolitics, media, and identity through the lens of his long career as editor-in-chief of The Straits Times. In this excerpt, Cheong recounts a revealing moment during an official visit to China in 1976 with then-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. Among the officials present was S.R. Nathan, later Singapore’s sixth president, who witnessed Lee subtly rebuff a Chinese attempt to influence the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317011/why-singapores-identity-demanded-distance-china-and-its-own-story-nationhood?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317011/why-singapores-identity-demanded-distance-china-and-its-own-story-nationhood?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Jul 2025 01:30:21 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt Wang Gungwu – one of Asia’s most respected historians and a pioneering scholar of the Chinese diaspora – explores in Roads to Chinese Modernity: Civilisation and National Culture how China evolved into a modern nation navigating reform and globalisation. In this excerpt, Wang traces how, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reformers and revolutionaries such as Kang You-wei, Liang Qichao and Sun Yat-sen began rallying support from overseas Chinese communities. Once dismissed as disloyal... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3313427/how-chinas-diaspora-became-both-asset-and-source-anxiety?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3313427/how-chinas-diaspora-became-both-asset-and-source-anxiety?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jun 2025 05:30:08 +0000 An excerpt An excerpt Renowned historian Wang Gungwu’s Roads to Chinese Modernity: Civilisation and National Culture traces China’s transformation from an ancient civilisation into a modern nation-state shaped by revolution, reform and global engagement. Drawing on decades of scholarship and his unique perspective as an overseas Chinese intellectual, Wang reflects in this excerpt on Deng Xiaoping’s legacy and the enduring challenge facing China’s leaders today: how to build a modern national culture that embraces... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3313415/why-chinas-leaders-still-seek-culture-both-modern-and-distinctly-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3313415/why-chinas-leaders-still-seek-culture-both-modern-and-distinctly-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Jun 2025 05:00:18 +0000 Boardroom Knockout tells the story of the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) and its battles against corporate malfeasance. The following excerpt from Chapter 4 of the book details how SIAS tackled the fallout from the US$550 million financial fraud at China Aviation Oil after its then CEO bet and lost big on oil futures. Dawn was just breaking at six o’clock on December 1, 2004 when David Gerald’s mobile phone rang, jerking him from slumber. He glanced at the unknown number and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3280234/how-singapores-investor-watchdog-fought-small-shareholders-china-aviation-oil-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3280234/how-singapores-investor-watchdog-fought-small-shareholders-china-aviation-oil-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Sep 2024 08:00:09 +0000 When Anthea Rowan learned her mother had Alzheimer’s disease, she knew little about dementia. When her mother forgot who her daughter was, though, Rowan was spurred on to learn all she could about this debilitating illness. Understanding that dementia is not inevitable is key to preventing or delaying the condition. Rowan knows this now: since 2021, she has spoken with dozens of experts and read many reports to broaden her understanding. She has translated that knowledge into the SCMP Lifestyle... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3277273/when-parent-dementia-forgets-youre-their-child-coping-alzheimers-disease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3277273/when-parent-dementia-forgets-youre-their-child-coping-alzheimers-disease?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Sep 2024 03:15:08 +0000 Veteran Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani has published his memoirs, Living the Asian Century, recounting his life as one of the city state’s well-known envoys and public intellectuals on the global conference circuit. He sums up his life as one that progressed “from poverty to plenty”. From an underweight child whose initial ambition was to be a textile salesman to becoming the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 75-year-old Mahbubani sketches a compelling story of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273916/kishore-mahbubani-singapores-secrets-success-and-why-he-annoyed-lee-kuan-yew?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273916/kishore-mahbubani-singapores-secrets-success-and-why-he-annoyed-lee-kuan-yew?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Aug 2024 07:30:09 +0000 Veteran Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani has published his memoirs, Living the Asian Century, recounting his life as one of the city state’s well-known envoys and public intellectuals on the global conference circuit. He sums up his life as one that progressed “from poverty to plenty”. From an underweight child whose initial ambition was to be a textile salesman to becoming the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 75-year-old Mahbubani sketches a compelling story of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273889/how-kishore-mahbubani-got-us100m-3-minutes-hong-kongs-richest-man-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273889/how-kishore-mahbubani-got-us100m-3-minutes-hong-kongs-richest-man-li-ka-shing?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Aug 2024 10:00:09 +0000 Veteran Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani has published his memoirs, Living the Asian Century, recounting his life as one of the city state’s well-known envoys and public intellectuals on the global conference circuit. He sums up his life as one that progressed “from poverty to plenty”. From an underweight child whose initial ambition was to be a textile salesman to becoming the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, 75-year-old Mahbubani sketches a compelling story of the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273859/kishore-mahbubani-his-memoir-rebel-undergraduate-who-took-lee-kuan-yew?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3273859/kishore-mahbubani-his-memoir-rebel-undergraduate-who-took-lee-kuan-yew?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Aug 2024 03:00:12 +0000 In Living With Civilisations, a recently published collection of four IPS-Nathan Lectures by Singapore-based professor Wang Gungwu, he explores the civilisations that shaped the history and nation-building process of Southeast Asian states. The following excerpt is from the prominent China historian’s fourth lecture, on Chinese-majority Singapore’s “exceptional conundrum” in balancing its ties with the United States and China. Singapore tells an extraordinary story of adjustment and adaptation... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244004/singapore-must-consider-asean-interests-its-us-china-calculations-sinologist-wang-gungwu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3244004/singapore-must-consider-asean-interests-its-us-china-calculations-sinologist-wang-gungwu?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 04:00:32 +0000 In his new biography Strictly Business: The Kwek Leng Beng Story, influential Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng shares the secrets of his business successes across various sectors such as real estate, hospitality and finance. Part 1 of an excerpt detailed how Kwek outwitted Donald Trump over the purchase of the Plaza Hotel in New York. Part 2 below, from Chapter 18 of the book, follows how CDL’s bid to expand in China led to “a rare moment of public discord” for the Kwek clan. While CDL... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3242776/how-cdls-china-expansion-during-covid-19-led-shock-split-within-singapore-tycoon-kwek-leng-bengs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3242776/how-cdls-china-expansion-during-covid-19-led-shock-split-within-singapore-tycoon-kwek-leng-bengs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Nov 2023 06:00:22 +0000 In his new biography Strictly Business: The Kwek Leng Beng Story, influential Singaporean tycoon Kwek Leng Beng shares the secrets of his business successes across various sectors such as real estate, hospitality and finance. The following except from Chapter 10 of the book details how Kwek outwitted Donald Trump in New York over the purchase of the Plaza Hotel, and its eventual sale to Israeli buyers. Read Part 2 of the excerpt, about CDL’s China expansion, here. Kwek’s first impression of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3241999/asian-tiger-who-took-donald-trump-singapore-tycoon-kwek-leng-beng-shares-how-he-bought-and-sold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3241999/asian-tiger-who-took-donald-trump-singapore-tycoon-kwek-leng-beng-shares-how-he-bought-and-sold?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Nov 2023 08:00:19 +0000 Standing Tall: The Goh Chok Tong years is the second part of former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong’s biography. Goh took over from founding leader Lee Kuan Yew in 1990 and as the book puts it, many – from within and outside the country – wondered aloud if the country would survive without Lee at the helm. Give Singapore’s 4G ministers space to pick new leader: former PM Goh Goh led Singapore for 14 years before handing over to current leader Lee Hsien Loong, and was known for introducing... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3132719/telling-chinas-jiang-zemin-slow-down-saving-ex-premier-li-peng?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3132719/telling-chinas-jiang-zemin-slow-down-saving-ex-premier-li-peng?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 May 2021 02:30:17 +0000 In his new memoir The Last Helicopter: Two Lives in Indochina, long-time Hong Kong-based journalist Jim Laurie recalls the final days of war in Vietnam and Cambodia, and the attempted rescue of Soc Sinan, a woman whom he loved. Helicoptered out of Phnom Penh days before the collapse of the US-backed Khmer Republic in 1975, Laurie reached Vietnam just in time to see the fall of Saigon – all the while vowing to return to Cambodia to save Sinan from one of the Khmer Rouge’s now infamous work... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3120077/there-no-prayer-revolution-former-hong-kong-based-reporter-jim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3120077/there-no-prayer-revolution-former-hong-kong-based-reporter-jim?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Feb 2021 06:00:16 +0000 Memoirs of a Flying Tiger: The Story of a WWII Veteran and SIA Pioneer Pilot was published last month by war veteran Ho Weng Toh, and co-written by National University of Singapore academic Jonathan Sim. It recounts Ho’s colourful life and storied career, starting with his studies at the University of Hong Kong, becoming a Chinese air force B-25 bomber pilot during World War II, and eventually ending up in Singapore where he rose to become chief pilot at Singapore Airlines. Here are excerpts of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3041008/hku-student-world-war-ii-chinese-air-force-pilot-99-year-old-ho?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3041008/hku-student-world-war-ii-chinese-air-force-pilot-99-year-old-ho?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2019 07:00:11 +0000 The First Wave: JBJ, Chiam & the Opposition in Singapore is by Loke Hoe Yeong, a London-based researcher who is also a consultant on politics and international affairs. The book examines the rise and fall of Singapore’s opposition parties over a three-decade period from 1981 to 2011. In 1981, the late opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam won a by-election and disrupted the dominance of the ruling People’s Action Party in Parliament. While seats were won by opposition politicians such as Chiam... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3025249/jb-jeyaretnams-1981-election-win-chiam-see-tongs-collapsed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3025249/jb-jeyaretnams-1981-election-win-chiam-see-tongs-collapsed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Sep 2019 01:15:17 +0000 Reluctant Editor: The Singapore Media as Seen through the Eyes of a Veteran Newspaper Journalist by PN Balji sheds further light on the complicated and at times confrontational relationship between journalists and the government in Singapore’s tightly controlled media environment. Balji spent 40 years working in five newsrooms and oversaw the coverage of some of Singapore’s most significant events. This book also recounts the highs and lows of his career and the behind-the-scenes drama... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3014649/singapore-medias-run-ins-lee-kuan-yew-and-newsroom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3014649/singapore-medias-run-ins-lee-kuan-yew-and-newsroom?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Jun 2019 11:00:14 +0000 Tall Order: The Goh Chok Tong Story is a portrait of Singapore’s second-generation prime minister trying to find his own voice and steer his country in his own style, with the shadow of his predecessor Lee Kuan Yew looming large. As the book puts it, he was an improbable prime minister for an unlikely country – he had neither the connections nor the cunning to rise to the top. He was an ordinary man, except for his imposing 1.89 metre height, uncommon in Asia. His government career was marked by... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171489/lee-kuan-yews-sentosa-nudist-colony-idea-being-seat-warmer-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2171489/lee-kuan-yews-sentosa-nudist-colony-idea-being-seat-warmer-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Nov 2018 23:45:00 +0000