New Books on Singapore History

Imagining Singapore: Pictorial Photography from the 1950s to the 1970s

By Charmaine Toh
Brill (2023), 186 pages
Call no.: RSING 770.95957 TOH

As Singapore struggled for independence and embarked on industralisation, pictorial photography helped shape the way modern Singapore was imagined and represented in the decades that followed. This book draws from interviews, unpublished historical data and newly discovered photographs to examine the history of this particular art form.

Singapore’s Grand Strategy

By Ang Cheng Guan
NUS Press (2023), 195 pages
Call no.: RSING 327.5957 ANG

This book covers the history of Singapore’s approach to diplomacy, defence and security from 1965 through to the 2020s. It shows how the concept of grand strategy applies to small states like Singapore, which integrates different diplomatic, political and defence-oriented tools.

The Price of Being Fair: The FairPrice Group Story

By Chia Sue-Ann et al
The Nutgraf Books (2023), 199 pages
Call no.: RSING 334.5095957 CHI

This book traces the FairPrice Group’s success from a worker-led experiment to a S$4 billion food enterprise. It tells the story of a trade union cooperative with a social mission to moderate the cost of living for Singaporeans, and the crises it navigated as it balances profit with purpose.

Twenty Years of Wild Rice

By Alfian Sa’at
Epigram Books (2023), 295 pages
Call no.: RSING 792.095957 ALF

Wild Rice was founded in 2000 by award-winning theatre practitioner Ivan Heng, a recipient of the Cultural Medallion. This book features interviews, archival photographs and behind-the-scenes stories to uncover the history of one of Singapore’s leading professional theatre companies. Author Alfian Sa’at, who is also the company’s resident playwright, is a critically acclaimed poet and writer himself.

Uncle Choo: Singapore’s Greatest Football Coach

By Reynold Godwin Pereira
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. (2023), 304 pages
Call no.: RSING 796.334092 PER; ebook on NLB OverDrive

Known as Uncle Choo, Choo Seng Quee brought Singapore football to great heights, especially during the 1970s. He was a defender who helped Singapore win the Malaya Cup twice in 1930s, and later became a coach of the national teams of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. His coaching methods based on hard work and discipline brought him success as a coach, despite conflicts with the Singapore Amateur Football Association.