World Scientific Singapore

The Changing Definition of Success

Local artist Yip Yew Chong discusses what success means to him and what success means for Singapore in “(Re)Defining Singapore”:

“The general sense from outside of Singapore has been that we have become a successful country in a short time. As a frequent traveller, both for business and leisure, I get to meet people from different worlds and strata of society. The majority of the people I met have a good impression of Singapore, particularly her economy, peace, stability, safety, infrastructure and efficiency. We do indeed have a good hardware brand. They generally feel comfortable about and envy Singapore.
“These same factors that give the outside world good impressions no doubt enable her citizens in many ways. A strong economy enables more opportunities and options. Peace, stability and safety allow people to focus on what they are doing, without worries and disruptions. Good infrastructure and efficiency evokes the psyche to do well.”

Read about the different walks of life that build up our island nation in “(Re)Defining Singapore”.
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14630
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Life Overseas

Before the age of telecommunications closed the distance between countries, letters were the only way to keep in touch with the family you left behind. “Chinese Migrants Write Home” presents the life and times of migrant workers through the letter they left behind:

“After experiencing extreme hardship and overcoming numerous obstacles, the Chinese immigrants began their new lives overseas. However, life in the destination country was rarely as good as the immigrant had previously imagined. Most Chinese were employed in low-level jobs and earned small or modest incomes, a sizable proportion of which they were expected to remit to support their relatives and families in China. Some Chinese immigrants were unable to return home for decades because of their poor earnings and the obligation to remit, and a minority were never able to return, and died overseas.
“Those fortunate enough to accumulate some savings started small businesses and saw an improvement in their living conditions, and managed to return home more than once and even to do so regularly. Some Chinese emigrated by themselves, relying on their own resources, while others depended on relatives or friends who had preceded them overseas, and who gave the newcomers guidance and opportunities. Although the Chinese community overseas played an important role in the history of Chinese migration, most ordinary immigrants from China spent most of their waking hours hard at work and lacked the time, energy, and money to participate in associational activities. Separated by oceans from their friends and families at home, their main channel of communication was in most cases the letters they sent back to accompany their remittances.”

Look back on the lives of Chinese migrants with “Chinese Migrants Write Home: A Dual-Language Anthology of Twentieth-Century Family Letters”.
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11119
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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵?

Join the book launch of "Artificial Intelligence in the Global South: Power, Policy and Progress" by Sudhir Tiku () and explore critical discussions on pressing topics, including:

• Digital precariat and the future of work
• Small language models and AI accessibility
• Data sovereignty and digital governance
• The emerging “Global South manifesto” on AI

𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀
• Clara Lee (NUS-ISS)
• Dr. Chi Wai (Rick) Lee (World Scientific Publishing)
• Dr. Anton Ravindran (Alliance for AI & Humanity)
Moderated by Asha Hemrajani (Nanyang Technological University Singapore)

📅 18 July 2026
🕓 4:30 PM onwards (Registration at 4:00 PM)
📍 World Scientific, 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
🎟 Free entry (limited seats) — registration required

Register now at https://forms.gle/n5L1GyN8YdmqyGE26.
For event-related enquiries, please contact Ganesh S. at [email protected].

Check out the book at https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14666.

Southeast Asia’s Strategic Role

Congratulations to Prof Koh Lian Pin (National University of Singapore) for his appointment to the position of Dean of the NUS Faculty of Science! His work to champion sustainability research and promote nature conservation is well-respected. In “Peace with Nature: 50 Inspiring Essays on Nature and the Environment”, he discusses the need to find nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, and the unique potential Southeast Asia holds in this area:

“Given Singapore and Southeast Asia’s highly skilled talent pool, significant infrastructure for test-bedding innovations and entrepreneurial environment for cross-sectorial collaborations, there is great potential to contribute to the discovery and delivery of innovative climate solutions.
“Innovations and partnerships in science and technology can maximise the effectiveness of nature-based climate solutions, reduce barriers for their implementation, and create new solutions and economic opportunities.
“For example, through collaborative investments into the research and development of real-time terrestrial and coastal monitoring systems using satellite, civilian drone, machine learning and other novel technologies, Southeast Asian nations can keep track of the regional carbon stocks in forests and reefs, as well as enhance the timeliness and effectiveness of emergency responses during forest
fires and other catastrophic events.”

Learn about the protection and preservation of nature and the environment in “Peace with Nature: 50 Inspiring Essays on Nature and the Environment” https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/13567

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Photo courtesy of Koh Lian Pin

Warren Fernandez has spent more than three decades at the centre of Singapore’s media landscape — as a journalist, editor, former Editor-in-Chief of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, and collaborator on several of Lee Kuan Yew’s landmark books.

In this interview, he reflects on the craft of communicating ideas, the media’s role in a small state, the shifting dynamics of world order, and why reading carefully and thinking critically matter more than ever.

He is also the author of 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙒𝙝𝙮, an anthology on books, reading, and literacy as both a life skill and a civic responsibility.
Watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFsxwbck7TE

Get the book here: https://doi.org/10.1142/14812

Why Books Still Matter Today - Warren Fernandez Thank you for checking out The Front Row Podcast and my interview w...

Evren Sharma’s Rumi: Captives of the Light reimagines the meeting of Rumi and Shams in 13th-century Konya, where poetry, mysticism, and forbidden love collide.

A timeless story of passion, faith, longing, and the women whose voices have long been silenced.

Available now.

A story of love, longing, and the light that consumes

The National Arts Council

Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh reflects on the turn of events that led him to become the founding chairman of the National Arts Council:

“In 1991, George Yeo asked me to see him. He said that he would like me to be the founding chairman of the NAC. I declined and explained that I already had two other jobs, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). He refused to take no for an answer. He quoted someone who once said that if you have an important job, give it to a busy man. That’s how I became the first chairman of NAC.
“Looking back, I am very pleased that I was able to help George Yeo accomplish his mission to remake Singapore culturally. In his nine years as our Minister for Information and the Arts, he planted many seeds which have blossomed. I was one of his gardeners. Thirty years ago, many people described Singapore as a cultural desert. The desert has been transformed into an oasis of culture and the arts.”

Take a trip down memory lane – pick up your copy of “Tommy Koh: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man” today!
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14536
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Join us for Read, or be led: Why reading matters in an age of AI, a public talk on reading and ideas with Warren Fernandez.

As AI reshapes how we learn, think, and engage with the world, this session explores why reading remains essential — not just for knowledge, but for independent thought, reflection, and informed citizenship.

Date: 25 June 2026, Thursday
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Central Library Programme Room 1, 100 Victoria St, Singapore 188064

Professor Wang Gungwu, one of the foremost authorities on East and Southeast Asian history, remains an engaged observer at 96 — sharp, thoughtful, and determined that the lessons of history continue to guide us.

In this conversation with IQ Chief Editor and former NMP Viswa Sadasivan, Prof Wang reflects on the US-China relationship, Taiwan, international law, the UN Charter, the Malay Archipelago, nation-states, civilisations, and empires.

Explore his books with World Scientific:

No Borders
https://doi.org/10.1142/14768

Roads to Chinese Modernity
https://doi.org/10.1142/14317

Living With Civilizations
https://doi.org/10.1142/13638

China Reconnects
https://doi.org/10.1142/11207

Watch the interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5wxKd8_0xw

History At Its Best: IQ Interview with Prof Wang Gungwu He’s possibly the foremost authority on East/SE Asian history. A re...

War and Childhood

Daljit Singh (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, National University of Singapore) looks back on the many ups and downs his life has taken in his memoir, “Remembrances”:

“My earliest childhood recollections, although scanty, are of the Japanese Occupation. I was barely four years old when, in late December 1941, war came to central Perak.
“My mind retains a few scattered images of the family moving from a house, presumably in or near the town, to another, a few miles out of town in the small rubber plantation that Father owned. Perhaps my parents thought that would be a safer place to live in as the Japanese army came to the town.
“My father’s small rubber plantation, where we lodged for a period of time, lay on a secondary road leading to Kampar (the main road, the north-south one going from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur, was a dozen miles to the east of Batu Gajah). Our house was a couple of hundred yards from the road, up a gentle slope, visible from the road through the rubber trees.
“I have a few memories of Japanese soldiers cycling down the road southwards towards Kampar. When the battle at Kampar took place (30 December 1941–2 January 1942), we could hear the distant boom of cannon and bombs.”

Follow Daljit Singh as his traces his life journey across the years — read “Remembrances: Living in Conflict and Change – A Memoir” today! (https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14828)

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