Politics: Geopolitical fission

In 1922, a Jewish scientist visited Singapore to raise money for the new Hebrew University in Jerusalem; a week later, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. Albert Einstein was just one of many who stitched connections between Malaya and Palestine, both emerging from centuries of British colonialism. Tensions would subsequently bifurcate the polyglot communities of Malaya and Palestine, producing new nation-states, Singapore and Israel, whose ethnic supremacist ideologies, in their own respective ways, professed manifest destinies over their supposed dominions. Bound by shared antipathy, if not hostility, to their Muslim neighbours, two of the world’s newest states began in the 1960s their “deep, dark secret” love affair, in the words of Israeli writer Amnon Barzilai.

More than a century after Einstein visited, that special relationship is facing its gravest ever threat, as more Singaporeans seek to interrogate its legitimacy post October 7th 2023. Last March, the government faced criticism for allowing Israeli weapons manufacturers to hawk the same firepower deployed to obliterate Gazans. “The Singapore Airshow is organised by Experia Events Private Limited, which has discretion in the invitation of exhibitors…” the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) said. (The PAP could be the only political party in the world to shed responsibility for hosting foreign arms manufacturers, but claim responsibility for hosting Taylor Swift.) Just weeks later, an unprecedented public protest saw activists unfurling a banner—“End SG-Israel arms trade”—in Gardens by the Bay. 

And this past week, yet another startling and haunting protest saw students and alumni honour Palestinian students by placing shoes and a white burial shroud in front of CREATE, a building that’s home to the Singapore-Hebrew University Alliance for Research and Education. The alliance, whose local partners are the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), is “a striking and visible example of continued ties between Singaporean higher education and Israeli institutions complicit in occupation, apartheid, and genocide,” the statement’s authors said, also citing NUS’s and NTU’s relationships with Israeli weapon manufacturers.

Singaporeans are increasingly questioning the commercial relationships and power structures that uphold our society. Einstein perhaps didn’t know that Manasseh Meyer, the Jewish Singaporean tycoon who hosted him and then helped fund the Hebrew University, made his initial fortune off the opium trade (read: the lives of Chinese, Indians, and many others). Like Singapore, Einstein held seemingly contradictory positions towards Zionism, condemning its terrorism while coddling its leaders. If Einstein and Singaporeans shared anything, perhaps it was a wilful ignorance about our place in this world. 

Some further reading: in “Activism is a verb: interviews with pro-Palestinian organisers”, a new piece in our print issue No. 2, Mariyam Haider interviews Camira Asrori, Jennifer Anne Champion, Yulianna Frederika, Francesca Harriman, Hafeez Hassan, Trishnu Kaur, Shafna, and Members 1 and 2 of Echoes of Gaza. Buy the issue now.

Society: Parks and recuperation

Singapore cares about your mental health. National Geographic recently went into touching detail about the efforts of the National Parks Board (NPB) to create a nationwide therapeutic sanctuary. These range from the “calming, fairytale setting” at Jurong Lake Gardens that soothe children with autism, to planting and watering activities at Punggol Park for those with dementia, anxiety or depression. A reader unfamiliar with Singapore would marvel at the solicitude on display. Luxuriant gardens lovingly nurtured with vulnerable people in mind? What’s not to like?

The framing for one. The entire story is rooted in “mental health tourism”—enticing visitors to convalesce in this tropical Eden even as they contribute to our ballyhooed GDP. Win-win, some might say. But something about the commodification of mental health, as yet another “thing” to be placed on our tableful of trinkets for sale, doesn’t sit right. Neither does the obsession, bordering on a fetish, with scientific studies backing up the palliative features of these gardens. Most galling though, is the impression one may get from the article that here is a country that places mental health front and centre of its policymaking. An inclusive land. 

Yet, the struggles of people with disabilities here are well documented. Beyond the persistent stigma, there is lack of adequate regulatory protection in education, health and employment. Then there’s the fact of living in one of the stressed-out cities in the world, so much so that some families simply move to more tranquil places. The majority, who can’t, struggle. People with autism, and their families, for instance, dread the “post-18 cliff effect” when state services and resources dry up, leaving them to fend for themselves. 

The image we like to project of ourselves and the lived realities of those with mental health needs are at odds. Parks are good. They’re great. And credit to the NPB for creating welcoming spaces for all. But like much else in Singapore, they appear to be yet another example of style standing in for substance. In truth, we have a long way to go before living up to laudatory coverage in glossy magazines. 

Society: Abuse in childhood perpetuates violence across generations

Survivors of child abuse are 1.8 times as likely to be abused by their spouse in adulthood, compared to someone who wasn’t abused growing up. Similarly, children are 2.1 times as likely to be abused if their parents either perpetrate or suffer from violence in the home. These findings from a National Council of Social Service (NCSS) study—part of a programme administered by the Ministry of Social and Family Development—highlight the lasting repercussions of early trauma, and the importance of intervening in a timely manner to break the cycle of abuse. To do so requires an understanding of how these behavioural patterns recur within families across generations, Eric Hoo, NCSS director of translational research told The Straits Times.

The new study of about 200,000 Singapore residents examined the social services that they received and other data. Besides physical, sexual and psychological (or emotional) abuse, neglect is also considered a form of child abuse. The study’s results are consistent with research done elsewhere. A US paper noted children who witness or are exposed to domestic violence were 15 times more likely in adulthood to be physically and/or sexually assaulted than the national average. Victims of trauma and abuse can also experience other long-lasting harms later in life, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, self-harm and suicidal tendencies. They’re also susceptible to normalising violent and dysfunctional behaviours in their adult intimate relationships—when they’re with partners, for instance, who share similar traits to abusive caregivers they had when growing up. 

With spousal abuse and child abuse (albeit the “less serious” forms) on the rise here—due to better detection, as well as greater awareness and reporting—the stark reality of the serious harms it can inflict on future generations should worry both society and state. Our national obsession with building unity and resilience among our population must go beyond sucking it up and sticking it out. Children and adults need a safe and secure environment to grow up and grow old in; one where support and solutions for the stressors of everyday life (whether financial, social or psychological) are accessible and affordable to all. 

History weekly by Faris Joraimi

Another controversy over bad historical “research” brewed in Malaysia this past week. Recently, University of Science Malaysia (USM) published a book entitled Melayu Mahawangsa: Tanah Air, Kerajaan dan Peradabannya (The Great Malay Race: its Homeland, Government, and Civilisation) edited by Md Salleh Yaapar, professor of comparative literature and Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, an archaeologist. With a title like that, one should already hear alarm bells. But USM’s Facebook post on January 12th promoting the book with a “historical” anecdote may make people even more wary. It claimed that in the 9th century, during the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE), “Kunlun”, a Malay warrior who could fly, visited the Middle Kingdom on a trading vessel, and was recorded in the Chinese imperial annals. The post narrated his exploits—rescuing a noblewoman from a burning house, participating in royal espionage—through his gravity-defying ability to soar between rooftops. Most importantly, Kunlun “never forgot his roots” as a Malay person with international standing, and was a credit to his race. 

Commenters were quick to rubbish these claims, contextualising the use of “Kunlun” in various Chinese sources. Not to be confused with the Kunlun mountains of Central Asia, Kunlun (昆仑) appeared in the Old Book of Tang to describe people south of Linyi (i.e., Champa, modern-day south Vietnam) as having “curly hair and black bodies”. According to historian Tansen Sen, it was also the name given to South-east Asian ships (“Kunlun bo”) on which merchants and Buddhist monks travelled between South Asia and China; one Chinese monk, Dajin (大津) who lived in Srivijaya and studied Sanskrit texts, also said he learned the local language called “Kunlun yu” (昆仑语). So the Kunlun were associated with maritime South-east Asians, but it’s tenuous to assert that they were “Melayu”, a term that varied considerably over time and place. The USM post conflated this Kunlun geography with Mo Le, the hero of a swashbuckling 9th-century romance called The Kunlun Slave, or Kunlun Nu (昆仑奴) who was immortal and could fly. His ethnic or geographic origin may be a mystery to us, but not for the text’s audiences. Mo Le was Kunlun: foreign, exotic, primitive. For historian Don Wyatt, Chinese literature used Kunlun to name a variety of peoples whose “common physical denominator, shared to one degree or another by all, was their relative blackness”. Early Chinese notions of race? The interpretations are endless. It seems that “Kunlun” reflects fluid categorisations of people and place across history, and how our region long stood between knowledge and enchantment: the lands “under the wind” to the Arabs, the “golden peninsula” to Romans. To look back at all that complexity, and reduce it to something familiar to us now, feels akin to conquest of the past by the present. A violence borne out of limited imagination.

Arts: A luxury we can finally afford? 

Have the cultural capital, but not the actual capital? Hedge fund meets haute property in the latest art trend to wash up on Singapore’s shores: fractional art ownership. If this sounds a little like the NFT craze that gripped a fair share of Singaporean artmakers a few years ago, you’re not entirely wrong. Fractional art ownership promises buyers a piece of a blue chip masterpiece, from Pablo Picasso to Yayoi Kusama, for a fraction of the cost. But you’ll have to share the work with a bunch of other collectors, it’s unlikely you’ll ever get to hang it on your wall, and you might have to find your way to the nearest maximum-security Freeport to get a glimpse of it. (You’re in luck, because tax haven Singapore happens to have one.) Here, the platform We Are Art Collectors says it’s the first to parcel out local art, wooing prospective buyers with art that’s “meant for the walls, not for the store”. The company, founded by accountant-turned-art gallerist Low Sok Leng, is currently offering bite-sized portions of second-generation Nanyang artists from S$1,000 apiece, with extra fees for storage, maintenance, insurance and marketing. Low, daughter of Singaporean artist Low Hai Hong, will also make the call on what you can buy, and when you can sell. 

Investment firms have touted fractional ownership as a way to democratise access to art, particularly for the emerging collector or investing newbie who might be otherwise excluded from high-end auctions or high-value assets. Investing in art, whose value often moves independently of the stock market, can be a way to diversify an investment portfolio or hedge against inflation. But art appreciation—in both senses of the term—is subjective: shaped by sentiment and scarcity, fuelled by hype and speculation. Sharing a showpiece sounds good in theory, but in practice it’s really the big-name works that give the highest and most consistent returns to those with the deepest pockets. Dan Desmond, executive director of the high-net-worth investing Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley, was frank about fractional ownership with Artnet: “Fractional-share interest in art is best suited for people who are focused on art as an asset class and may not have the time or interest to engage with art, artists, or the art community more broadly.” Instead of flipping an artwork the way you might an apartment, it’s worth considering the long-term relationships you forge with artists, their processes, and the legacies both leave behind.

Arts: 60 is the new 50

If we thought we’d finally left behind the afterglow of the Golden Jubilee, Singapore’s already polishing up for her Diamond one. Arts companies and cultural institutions are unveiling their programmes and pepped-up spaces for SG60, a year-long celebration of the nation-state’s 60th year of independence. Esplanade, for instance, will mark the occasion with 60 works in a season titled “60 Connections – At Home And Afar”, featuring both Singapore stories and international collaborations. This includes a revival of “Yusof” by Teater Ekamatra, a theatre production telling the story of Singapore’s first president, Yusof Ishak, that first premiered during SG50. The national performing arts centre is also rolling out archival recordings of productions past, which will be available for free from August. The National Museum of Singapore, emerging from a three-year-long revamp, will also reopen some of its made over galleries later this year, as will the Chinatown Heritage Centre. 

But Singapore’s not the only one planning a big birthday bash. Several arts groups are also marking milestone anniversaries. The Theatre Practice, co-founded by performing arts pioneers Kuo Pao Kun and Goh Lay Kuan, also turns 60 this year. It’s got a brand-new Mandarin musical planned, along with celebrations throughout the month of November. Theatre company Wild Rice has styled its 25th anniversary WR25 with four familiar favourites and two new shows which, according to founding artistic director Ivan Heng, feature “stories about Singapore and Singaporeans that we need to hear, but do not always find a place in our official narrative or the history books.” Wild Rice has been perfecting its take on the jukebox musical over the past few years, and Julian Wong, the musical mastermind behind a long-running show celebrating composer Zubir Said, has turned his attention to P Ramlee with “Tunggu Sekejap: The P. Ramlee Suite”, an homage to the late silver screen legend through his music. Indie cinema The Projector is throwing a “birthday blowout” for its 10th, featuring live music, food and films. Socially engaged theatre company Drama Box, attentive as always to the human and more-than-human worlds it inhabits, had scheduled a coastal cleanup to mark the start of its 35th anniversary festivities. Last week’s monsoon surge, sadly, drowned out its ecological efforts; but you can still turn trash to cash and give to its fundraiser. A very happy birthday to all these diamonds in the rough.

Tech: SpaceX lands in Singapore

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has already dramatically reduced the cost of sending stuff into space, and last year’s successful landing of the fifth Starship’s booster stage was “truly extraordinary”, said The Economist. “If SpaceX can land and reuse the most powerful rocket ever made what can’t it do?” The only previous connection between the firm and Singapore was Aliena. The local space start-up built the nano-satellite thrusters that SpaceX used in its January 14th 2022 launch. Now, that connection is about to get deeper. SpaceX’s new Singapore office will house accounting and finance teams for its satellite internet provider unit, Starlink, which already has over 6,000 satellites in space. The recruitment of treasury and tax roles, as advertised on JobsDB, is aimed at strengthening Starlink’s Asia-Pacific operations, particularly in Indonesia’s remote regions. 

The specifics of local operations remain undisclosed but SpaceX’s arrival promises to boost Singapore’s tiny space sector through potential partnerships and access to cutting-edge technology. These collaborations may lead to advancements in satellite technology, space exploration, and related fields, enhancing the country’s capabilities and reputation in the international space arena. Other space companies may be lured into setting up support operations here, leading to increased foreign investment and job creation in the space industry. 

While it may be in Singapore’s interest to engage with firms at the frontier of the space industry, it’s just as important to promote the ethical debates necessary for society to appreciate the human endeavours we’re facilitating. Musk has spoken of sending uncrewed Starships to Mars in 2026 and crewed ones soon after, with the goal of creating a “self-sustaining city” in two decades. The pronatalist’s space colonisation dreams deserve serious scrutiny, not only from an environmental perspective.

Tech: eFishery gets blown out of the water

In a shocking end to 2024, the board of Indonesian agritech giant eFishery suspended co-founders Gibran Huzaifah and Chrisna Aditya amidst investigations into financial mismanagement and fraud. This week, DealStreetAsia reported that eFishery was found to have concocted a complex financial manipulation scheme during its Series A due diligence in 2018. This allegedly involved dual financial reporting, creating nominee companies, and fabricating transactions to inflate the company’s revenue and profit figures. For two years, Huzaifah, who was the founder and CEO, maintained two sets of financial books: one for external presentation and another for internal use. 

Things appear to only have gotten worse since. Leadership set monthly revenue and profit targets, adjusted financial records and created fake invoices to align with monthly revenue and profit targets. In January 2022, Huzaifah reportedly created five firms. Funds were directed through these and operational entities to manage costs and financial reports. eFishery also allegedly transacted with CV Andalan Trading Mina and PT Karya Terbesar Jatoychin to falsely inflate revenue and costs while overstating capital expenditure to mislead stakeholders and justify a declining cash position. The entire scheme apparently came to light during a system migration, leading to a complete overhaul of top management.

It’s a sobering tale, not least because eFishery has had a transformative impact on aquaculture. It offers automated feeding systems, data analytics for efficient farm management as well as financial assistance. It also connects farmers directly to buyers, boosting productivity and sustainability in aquaculture. Since its founding in 2013, the company has raised over US$415m (S$567m) in capital from leading investors such as 42XFund, Temasek, Softbank, Northstar, Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Southeast Asia & India) and Wavemaker Partners that has taken its valuation over US$1bn (S$1.37bn). This fiasco is the latest in a long line of mismanaged Indonesian start-ups (Investree, Tanihub, Spenmo) that involve significant ground operations and manual labour. It also calls into question how later stage investors such as Temasek should evaluate the quality of due diligence of early stage investors.

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