Abstract
Since the end of World War II, there has been an increased awareness of the need for the preservation of historical monuments and cultural landscapes throughout the world. This chapter explores the role of the state in directing the transformation of the urban landscape in Singapore and its attempts to reinvent the cultural landscape when this was considered to be beneficial to both its population and economy. This chapter argues that development and cultural conservation were not mutually exclusive but could coexist in a symbiotic relationship. In this context, the recreation of Bugis Street could be seen as an important step in the direction of development, conservation and reinvention.
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Notes
- 1.
Hobsbawn viewed invented traditions as “traditions actually invented, constructed and formally instituted and those emerging in a less traceable manner within a brief and dateable period—a matter of a few years perhaps—and establishing themselves with great rapidity”. For a detailed discussion on this issue, see Hobsbawn and Ranger (1983).
- 2.
When Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia, there was much worry about the island state’s inability to survive economically and politically because of its small land size. However, after three decades of rapid economic development and political stability, Singapore attained the “mini-dragon” status of a successful newly industrialized country (NIC). Many commentators were forced to revise their analysis and concluded that the island’s smallness had contributed to the political stability and economic growth.
- 3.
See http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/latest-data#16, “Popuation and Land Area”, accessed 23/5/2016.
- 4.
For a detailed discussion on the reshaping of Singapore’s physical environment, see Wong (1989, pp. 771–787).
- 5.
See http://www.singstat.gov.sg/statistics/latest-data#22, “Household and Housing”, accessed 23/5/2017.
- 6.
For a discussion of the Concept Plan, see URA (1991b).
- 7.
For this quotation, see URA (not dated).
- 8.
For a discussion of the social engineering and the moral value systems in Singapore, see Kuah (1990).
- 9.
The STPB planned to re-establish Little India’s historical past and to promote it as a centre for the spice trade, emphasizing to the tourists not only the sights but also the smells and tastes of the spices, thereby shifting tourism away from the conventional approach of sight-seeing.
- 10.
The map entitled A General Plan of the Town and Environs of Singapore, 1857 is held by the National Archive of Singapore. See http://www.nas.gov.sg/archiveonline/maps_building_plans/record-details/4963c8e7-d5e1-11e5-b8bb-0050568939ad, accessed 22 December 2017.
- 11.
A second map of the Town and Environs of Singapore, by J.F.A. McNair, Major R.A.A.I.C.E., Colonial Engineer and Surveyor General of the Straits Settlement, drawn in 1878, showed the name “Buggis Street”. It is held in the National Archive of Singapore. See http://www.nas.gov.sg/archiveonline/maps_building_plans/record-details/f9460784-115c-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad, accessed 22 December 2017.
- 12.
For further discussion of the “re-creation of Bugis Street”, see STPB (1986).
- 13.
The general Singaporean population commonly referred transvestites by the Chinese term aqua.
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Kuah, K.E. (2018). Development and the Reinvention of Bugis Street. In: Social Cultural Engineering and the Singaporean State. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6971-0_7
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