Singapore Lectures 1980-2018

The Singapore Lectures reflect the city-state’s progress for the past forty years. This selection skilfully captures the highlights from the way Singapore began to learn to read the world to how it became an open and inclusive site of globalization. The collection might do more. The leaders from the five continents who spoke at ISEAS had come to share their experiences, their wisdom and, not least, their dreams. Following what they offered gives us a multifaceted picture that is instructive. It gives readers the chance to review an era of intense rivalry during which political conflicts were accompanied by unprecedented economic growth, when lessons were learnt from tragic failures and leaping successes. Read together, the lectures give us hope in a time of unprecedented global turmoil: there will surely be future leaders who could find ways to rid the world of its demons."" — Wang Gungwu, Professor, National University of Singapore (NUS), and former Chairman of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute Board of Trustees