Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited
"Think of Singapore instead as the Air-Conditioned Nation—a society with a unique blend of comfort and central control, where people have mastered their environment, but at the cost of individual autonomy, and at the risk of unsustainability."
Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited is an anthology of essays on Singapore politics by Cherian George. It draws upon his influential collection Singapore: The Air-Conditioned Nation (2000), on the country's politics of comfort and control, and from Singapore, Incomplete (2017), on its underdeveloped democracy. Updated for the impending transition to a new generation of leaders, this 20th anniversary edition of Air-Conditioned Nation offers critical reflections on continuity and change in Singapore’s unique political culture.
Read the TOC and a sample of the book here.
Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited
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Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Reviews
"Cherian George is one of Singapore’s most astute political observers and social commentators. This collection of essays, drawing on events that traverse the last few decades, takes us through intriguing encounters and noteworthy moments in Singapore’s recent past. From political dissidents to governing elites, newspaper editors to bloggers, the presidential election to Hong Lim Park, Professor George reminds us of incidents and people too quickly forgotten or under-interpreted. Each matters because they clear up some puzzle as to how we got here. Even better, they invite us to reconsider: where is ‘here?’ Infused with Cherian’s wit, humor, audacity, and above all with his steadfast idealism and generosity, this is that rare book on politics that encourages clear-headedness and yet holds cynicism at bay. Read it, share it, read it again: this book will spark feelings, stir thoughts, create conversations, engage our muscles for debate and disagreement—all things we deserve as humans living in society." —Teo You Yenn, author of This Is What Inequality Looks Like
“It is a testament to the enduring relevance of Cherian's scholarship that we still see the politics of comfort and control play out in Singapore and can turn to these essays to make sense and meaning of it. What Cherian has done, far more than any other scholar, is to provide a language of power that is at once accessible and unique to local sensibilities. That these essays have been expanded and updated two decades later for a renewed reading of the political temperature of this air-conditioned nation is a delight for students of Singapore studies, be they everyday current affairs junkies, academics or journalists.” —Simon Vincent, author of The Naysayer’s Book Club
“A functioning democracy requires a multitude of sensible voices in the public sphere. Such voices are needed to raise critical questions, provide sober analyses and suggest viable solutions that can be tapped on for deliberations by policymakers, cultural workers and political leaders. Such is the role of a public intellectual: one that is most fitting to describe Cherian George and his intellectual forays. The incisive, robust and passionate essays in this book provide hope and renew our imagination for what is possible in a technocratic society like Singapore.” —Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib, co-editor of Budi Kritik
Non-Fiction
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$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Malayland
E-book
$0.00 SGD
The CAPE Handbook to Advocacy in Singapore
Paperback
$40.00 SGD
On Sundays, We Play
E-book
$39.90 SGD
Drama Box and the Social Theatre of Singapore
Paperback
$33.00 SGD
E-Book
$33.00 SGD
We Are Not The Enemy: The Practice of Advocacy in Singapore
Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-Book
$26.00 SGD
The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope
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$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD
Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
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$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Khairat Kita: A History of Malay/Muslim Mutual Aid in Singapore
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$14.02 SGD
E-book
$14.02 SGD
What We Inherit: Growing Up Indian
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$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore
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$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
Theatres of Memory
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-Book
$30.00 SGD
Voting in a Time of Change: Singapore’s 2020 General Election
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E-book
$25.00 SGD
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E-book
$23.36 SGD
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$25.00 SGD
Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited
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$28.04 SGD
A Guide to the Employment Act and Its Related Legislations (2nd Edition)
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$26.00 SGD
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$26.00 SGD
They Told Us To Move: Dakota—Cassia
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Siglap at the Crossroads: Memories of Its Only HDB Estate
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A Quest for Freedom
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$26.00 SGD
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$26.00 SGD
This Is What Inequality Looks Like
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$11.21 SGD
Lancing Girls of a Happy World
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$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
The Art of Advocacy In Singapore
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$23.36 SGD
Singapore, Incomplete: Reflections on a First World nation’s arrested political development
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$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
My Nantah Story: The Rise and Demise of the People’s University
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$30.00 SGD
Living with Myths in Singapore
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$25.00 SGD
Singapore: A Portrait In Diversity
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$14.02 SGD
Under A Shadow
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$26.17 SGD
LGOU: Let God Owe You
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$14.02 SGD
Growing Up Perempuan
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$14.95 SGD
I am not a label, I am Gary
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$22.00 SGD
Budi Kritik
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$28.04 SGD
Walking With Singapore: The Workers' Party 60th Anniversary
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$20.00 SGD
Local Encounters in a Global City. Singapore Stories.
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Normal
$23.36 SGD
Pay It Forward
$23.36 SGD
The Birthday Book 2017: What should we never forget?
Out of stock
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$11.21 SGD
A Penniless Boy, Chew Joo Chiat
Out of stock
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$30.00 SGD
1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 Years On
Out of stock
Out of print
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$23.00 SGD
Making Sense of Life @ / & SMU: A Partial Guide for the Clueless
Out of stock
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$18.00 SGD
Speaking Out & Speaking Up: Xinjiao Perspectives
Out of stock
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$23.36 SGD
The Birthday Book 2016: What is Singapore’s Next Big Thing?
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$13.00 SGD
A Watershed Election (新加坡政治的分水岭: 林宝音政论文选)
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$35.00 SGD
Godsmacked
Out of stock
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$25.00 SGD
World War II @ Bukit Brown
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Default Title
$10.00 SGD
Human Resource Case Studies
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$25.00 SGD
Change in Voting: Singapore's 2015 General Election
Out of stock
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$20.00 SGD
In Pursuit of NEW LIFE
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$20.00 SGD
WITHIN & WITHOUT Singapore in the World; the World in Singapore
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$15.00 SGD
Happy Long Life to You
Out of stock
Out of print
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$15.00 SGD
The Politics of Defeat
Out of stock
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$25.00 SGD
25 Years of The Substation: Reflections on Singapore's First Independent Art Centre
Out of stock
Out of print
Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Magical, luminous things
Feb 19, 2022
I have flown across an ocean this week. This still sounds surreal to say.
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No negotiation for blood debt
Feb 14, 2022
The Burmese language resistance poetry is deeply embedded in the country’s colonial past. When mo...
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Burning holes in the darkness
Feb 7, 2022
Poets killed in broad daylight, writers tortured and maimed. I wonder if their ghosts watch on fr...
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