The Exceptional City-State: Singapore Through Local Eyes

This book traces Singapore's phenomenal development from the 1950s to the 60th anniversary (2025) of the independent city-state. The main thesis is to identify and analyse the major factors that contributed to the city-state's development. The central thesis is that cultural, social and geopolitical factors were central to the Lion City's exceptional development. The factors identified are the demographic challenges, the quest for excellence, growing the economy, the applied socialist foundations (education, housing, health), the politics of equality, the multiracial agenda, leadership factors, the quest for national identity, and the maintenance of good foreign relations. This book tries to balance the explanations by sieving through all the narratives of local accounts. The Singapore story as told by Lee Kuan Yew is a personal autobiography, the PAP story, and ends on one's narrative. The question is whether the factors of Singapore's exceptional development will continue in the decades ahead. Given that city-states are historically ephemeral entities, the question is - will the Lion City's development end abruptly?