america

Singapore: A ghost town in America

Singapore is a ghost town in America. Mr Lawrence Wong, deputy prime minister and finance minister of the other Singapore, the thriving city-state in Southeast Asia, remembers the ghost town. “We know that it is very easy for small cities like us to fail. I had a very vivid reminder of this when I was… Read more

September 6, 2023

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by

Abhijit

in

Singapore

america, michigan, singapore
Lee Kuan Yew on America

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister, is celebrating his 90th birthday today. I like to read his books and speeches because he can be so perceptive. In his latest book, One Man’s View of the World, he rightly praises America for its resilience and dynamism. Read more

September 16, 2013

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by

Abhijit

in

Books

america, lee kuan yew
Anthony Burgess on Malaysia

Malaysia celebrated its 52nd independence anniversary recently. So how much has it changed since Anthony Burgess wrote about it in The Malayan Trilogy? The book is based on his experiences as an education officer in Malaysia in the 1950s. In his introduction to The Malayan Trilogy, he writes: “The Malays resented Chinese wealth and were… Read more

September 6, 2009

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Abhijit

in

Books

america, anthony burgess, British, china, chinese, communist, indian, kelantan, kota baharu, kuala kangsar, lanchap, malay, malay college, malaya, malayan trilogy, perak, rajah, singapore, sultan, victor crabbe, vietnam
Gold ain’t what it was in Goldfinger

Gold is no longer what it used to be when Ian Fleming wrote Goldfinger or Sean Connery starred in the film with Honor Blackman playing Pussy Galore in 1964. Consider the plot: Goldfinger plans to steal the gold in Fort Knox. What’s at stake is the entire world economy. For Fort Knox contains the American… Read more

April 9, 2009

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Abhijit

in

Books

america, bill emmott, bretton woods, gold, goldfinger, japan, richard nixon
The Ascent of Money and Chiamerica

The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson The next time anyone blames Wall Street and the US Federal Reserve for the global economic downturn, throw the book at him. Not just any book but Niall Ferguson’s The Ascent of Money. This excellent, immensely readable history of banking and finance published last year not only saw… Read more

March 23, 2009

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Abhijit

in

Books

america, chiamerica, china, globalization, niall ferguson, recession
Jhumpa Lahiri and Unaccustomed Earth

Jhumpa Lahiri writes about Indian Americans. But this is really literature of globalisation and the immigrant experience — at the opposite end of Monica Ali’s Brick Lane and Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. Lahiri writes about highly qualified, professionally successful immigrants. But there is the aching loneliness of the outsider in a foreign land… Read more

May 27, 2008

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Abhijit

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Books

america, book, indian, Indian American, jhumpa lahiri, literature, stories, story, unaccustomed earth
Shakespeare and his women

It’s a pity Shakespeare (1564-1616) is no longer compulsory reading in Singapore schools. So many girls here have the perfect figure to play the boy-girl roles of Shakespeare’s comedies. No offence meant. It’s just that Shakespeare is taken so seriously it throws people off. Lighten up, please, Shakespeare wrote for entertainment. One may ask where’s… Read more

April 23, 2006

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by

Abhijit

in

Books

a midsummer night’s dream, america, as you like it, calcutta, college, indian school certificate, julius caesar, kolkata, olivia, orsino, rosalind, shakespeare, the tempest, twelfth night, viola, william shakespeare

america

Singapore: A ghost town in America

Lee Kuan Yew on America

Anthony Burgess on Malaysia

Gold ain’t what it was in Goldfinger

The Ascent of Money and Chiamerica

Jhumpa Lahiri and Unaccustomed Earth

Shakespeare and his women