Iskandar: a bellwether for improving relations between Singapore and Malaysia?

By: John Solomon

A Thorny Past

While never escalating any issue to a bout of saber rattling, Singapore and Malaysia have not always enjoyed what one could describe as a good neighborly relationship. Since Singapore’s unceremonious departure from the Malaysian federation in 1965, the two countries have had numerous disputes over a range of thorny bilateral issues including the sale of water and the demarcation of territorial boundaries. The problematic relationship between two nations who have much in common culturally and historically was probably best symbolized by the much-publicized verbal joustings between then Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir Mohammed in the 1990s.

Warming relations

Relations today however have improved significantly since that period and the Malaysian High Commissioner has recently said that they are at the best they have ever been. This has largely been the result of a conciliatory shift in policy that began with Malaysia’s former leader, Abdullah Badawi. The current Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has continued and extended this approach and Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong has reciprocated in kind.

Land Scarcity & Heritage Conservation in Singapore: Bukit Brown Cemetery

By: John Solomon

Plans to destroy a section of Bukit Brown Cemetery

The Singapore Government recently announced plans to tear down a sizeable chunk of Bukit Brown Cemetery to make way for the construction of a new 4-lane road. The area was named after George Brown, an English ship owner who arrived in Singapore in 1840, and it began operating as a cemetery in 1924.

Today it is one of the oldest existing Chinese cemeteries in Singapore and is the final resting place of many pioneer settlers who arrived in Singapore at the end of the 19^th century. The forested hilly area on which the cemetery stands is also a rich eco-habitat. Not surprisingly, the decision to destroy part of Bukit Brown has been met with criticism from many quarters. Finding the right balance between natural and cultural conservation on the one hand and urban development on the other is an old problem in land scarce Singapore.

Davids and Goliaths: Singapore’s Changing Media Landscape

By: John Solomon

Much has already been said about the sweeping changes that have come over Singapore’s political landscape in the wake of the last general elections and evident more recently during the Presidential elections. The public sphere is still noisy with the din of post-election postmortems and analyses of the new social realities that have come to be termed “the new normal.” Closely linked to this political awakening, and yet less in focus, is the evolving relationship between the traditional media and online communities that are situated on Facebook and built around socio-political blogs like The Online Citizen and the Temasek Review Emeritus.

These sites and their Facebook fan pages have had a tremendous impact on the nature of socio-political discourse in Singapore. They have led to a greater willingness on the part of younger Singaporeans to be open about their opinions on social issues. Part of the reason for this development stems from the sense of community that these websites enable. The ability to generate a sense of community and consensus has been built into technological features of platforms like Facebook itself. Features like the Like button, membership lists and discussion threads have circumvented the policing of physical spaces on the island that have previously stifled a sense of political community.

Singapore’s Har Par Villa: The strangest Tourist Attraction in Singapore

By: John Solomon

Quite possibly one of the strangest visitor attractions in Singapore, Har Par Villa stands as a relic from a much older period in the island’s history. Built in 1937 by Tiger Balm baron, Aw Boon Haw, the park is the last remaining pre-war public theme park on the island. It contains hundreds of statues, dioramas and giant tableaux that are based on Chinese myths that reflect Confucian values. Visitors unfamiliar with Chinese folklore may find some of the displays downright bizarre. How does one comprehend amputee rats being carried away on stretchers, hills adorned with severed heads or a statue of an old man suckling a younger woman’s breast?

The Bizarre & the Violent: Har Par Villa’s Highlights

Designed at a time when the majority of Singapore’s population was illiterate, the original displays utilized an almost pornographic violence to reiterate the penalties awaiting those who failed to lead a good life. Successive renovations have maintained this overall aesthetic. Indeed one of the main attractions in the park is the Ten Courts of Hell exhibit. Here visitors are treated to scenes of unimaginable horror. Sinners are drowned in blood, ground by boulders, disemboweled and impaled alongside notices describing their crimes. A sense of proportionality clearly escapes hell’s judiciary, and those who waste food are sawn in half.