New Books on Singapore History (January 2027)

Creating Three Unique Singapore Laws: An Inside Story

By S. Jayakumar
Straits Times Press (2026), 243 pages
Call no. RSING 342.595703 JAY ↗ (opens in new tab)

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister S. Jayakumar provides behind-the-scenes Cabinet deliberations and constitutional amendments of three distinct Singaporean political institutions: the elected presidency, Group Representation Constituencies and the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament scheme.

Lee Hsien Loong and Singapore

Edited By Gillian Koh, Chua Mui Hoong and Terence Ho
World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd (2026), 359 pages
Call no. RSING 959.57053 LEE-[HIS] ↗ (opens in new tab)

Lee Hsien Loong was Prime Minister of Singapore for two decades, from 2004 to 2024. By examining his leadership and contributions, the chapters in this book recount how Lee led Singapore through several crises, such as the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the domestic challenges of income inequality and social stratification.

Nothing Comes from Nothing: The Nascent Years of the Singapore Armed Forces

By Tan Peng Ann
Tan Peng Ann (2026), 151 pages
Call no. RSING 355.0095957 TAN ↗ (opens in new tab)

Retired army colonel Tan Peng Ann traces the early years of the Singapore Military Forces and the Singapore Volunteer Corps whose pioneers contributed to the Singapore Armed Forces. Included in the book are stories and rare photos of regulars and volunteers.

Remembering Syonan: 80 Objects from Occupied Singapore

By Benjamin Seet and Dominic Tan
World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd (2026), 208 pages
Call no. RSING 959.5703 SEE ↗ (opens in new tab)

Identity booklets, ration cards, bicycle registration cards, remittance letters, lottery tickets, permits for buying condensed milk or cloth, and even counterfeit Japanese Occupation currency (banana notes) are among the 80 curated artefacts featured in this publication.

Shopkeepers of Chinatown: Singapore’s Business World in Motion, 1819–2025

By Loh Kah Seng and Stephen Dobbs
Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (2006), 419 pages
Call no. RSING 959.57 LOH-[HIS] ↗ (opens in new tab)

Stories of shopkeepers, stallholders and other small businesses in the Chinatown of old take centre stage in this volume. The accounts cover a wide range of individuals and businesses, from storytellers to brothels, textile shops and tea merchants, starting with their origins to how they were affected by rapid development and gentrification in the wake of independence.

The Hongkong Bank in Singapore 1877–1902: The First 25 Years

By Richard E. Hale
Marshall Cavendish Editions (2026), 228 pages
Call no. RSING 332.1095957 HAL ↗ (opens in new tab)

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened its first branch in Singapore in December 1877. Drawing on bank archival documents and contemporaneous newspaper reports, Richard Hale traces the branch’s first 25 years: its day-to-day operations, its issuance of bank notes and the occasional crises, from a banknote forgery to the theft of $272,000 from the bank’s vault.