Asianising Singapore: The PAP's Management of Ethnicity

Asianising Singapore is a study of the successful management of ethnicity in Singapore, a multi-racial society par excellence, by two generations of the People's Action Party (PAP) rulers. It looks at the founding principle of cultural democracy and how it has been adapted and modified by PAP rulers to suit the changing realities of Singapore and to secure its vital interests. It deals with the radical changes in the management of ethnicity introduced to advance Singapore from an ethnically divided and separated society to an essentially English-speaking Singapore to an Asianising new nation. The study scrutinises the remarkable way in which the two generations of PAP rulers, from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong, have managed these changes without placing an undue strain on ethnic relationships and harmony, and with the consent of the people of Singapore.