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A New World in the Making: Life and Architecture in Tropical Asia
A memoir and collection of essays on architecture and urbanism from one of the most interesting figures in Singapore’s cultural landscape.
According to architect Tay Kheng Soon, the time has come to change and build a new world. The feeling has impelled him to write this book, bringing together memoir and writings on identity, landscape and belonging, and on architecture and urbanism. Born in British-ruled Singapore, Soon was deeply engaged in the debates about building a new world that attended the end of colonialism. His focus, but far from his only concern, was Singapore's built environment—and its spiritual one—since the early 1960s. A New World in the Making is a must-read reflection on tropical Asia, on architecture and urbanism, and on looking ahead to the always urgent task of building a new world.
According to architect Tay Kheng Soon, the time has come to change and build a new world. The feeling has impelled him to write this book, bringing together memoir and writings on identity, landscape and belonging, and on architecture and urbanism. Born in British-ruled Singapore, Soon was deeply engaged in the debates about building a new world that attended the end of colonialism. His focus, but far from his only concern, was Singapore's built environment—and its spiritual one—since the early 1960s. A New World in the Making is a must-read reflection on tropical Asia, on architecture and urbanism, and on looking ahead to the always urgent task of building a new world.
300 pages, Paperback
Published August 25, 2023
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May 28, 2024
Tay Kheng Soon's A New World in the Making: Life and Architecture in Tropical Asia is part memoir and part collection of selected essays that Tay had written over the years (from the 1960s to 2012!).
The first half of the book covers Tay's life from his childhood in Singapore and Cameron Highlands (where the family moved during the Second World War) in the 1940s, to his architecture studies at Singapore Polytechnic (back when it was located in Shenton Way), his eye opening visit to Java in 1960 and his career as an architect and later an "activist architect". Tay recounts how he rejected the PAP's invitation to stand as a candidate in the elections, and subsequently how the authorities forced his partners in Design Partnership to expel him after he participated in organising a demonstration against the US bombing of Vietnam in 1974.
Tay's account of his childhood offered a glimpse into a world that has since vanished. One where kids were left to roam and explore and entertain themselves; Tay describes how when living in Braddell Heights, he and some boys in the neighbourhood would roam the vegetable and fruit farms around the estate, how they built a kayak from wood and khaki cloth and paddled it in the ponds of Potong Pasir. One where the night soil carrier wearing their blue denim long sleeve tunics would come up the rear staircase to take the bucket of waste from the toilet and exchange it for an empty bucket. One where he tied several umbrellas together and jumped off the roof.
Tay doesn't mince his words, describing his brother, the late Tay Eng Soon, as having the "inbuilt taste for power and domination [which] drove him into politics later in life", the "tendency…to seek approbation from people in authority". He has this to say about the Singapore Government in the early days of independence:
"Little did we know that the state was shaping a political culture to empower it to monopolise all ideas and decisions, to discipline Singapore towards industrialisation and economic development. All values were to be shaped in this direction: unquestioning obedience, totally focussed diligence, technical skills, pragmatic compartmentalisation of views and duties; acceptance of hierarchical authority. This all stood in opposition to the freedom of expression, broad vision, initiative, creativity and critical thinking that most of us schooled in modern thinking were much more attuned to. We expected that one could agree to disagree yet remain friends. That synergies can be found in seemingly contradicting propositions. That economies of scope could be as important as economies of scale. That diversity was a virtue. We were so wrong. In the state's drive to industrialise the economy, we had to have 'hard digits' to be of value. There was no place or patience for 'fluffy thinking'".
The second half of the book, featuring a selection of Tay's essays and his proposals/ideas, is a bit more of a mixed bag. Tay makes an impassioned, if somewhat romanticised, argument for strengthening Singapore's affinity with Malaya, and raising our Malayan consciousness and character. Some of the more interesting essays for me included the letter from the Singapore Planning & Urban Research (SPUR) Group that was sent to the Straits Times and Nanyang Siang Pau, criticizing the plans to build a 12-lane coastal superhighway linking Collyer Quay to Bedok; his October 2005 piece on Hanyu Pinyin and Singapore Street Names; and his June 1970 essay for the Singapore Undergrad on Development and its Impact on Changing Values, where Tay had this to say:
"The most significant social and cultural impact of the relentless drive for industrialisation and economic development within a materialistic culture is the submergence of human sensitivities and the increasing alienation of individuals from society. This results from a centralisation of decision making at all levels which makes individuals more and more remote, resulting in a feeling of hopelessness…In our society, there is a more dangerous manifestation of social apathy: a sort of non-reaction, uninvolved attitude….Migrant values, cultural reflexes, plus the non-involvement conditioning during colonial days has created a situation where the individual is concerned only for his own personal survival and considers public and community matters as too remote to concern him."
But quite a number of Tay's pieces in this second half of the book come across as ad libbed remarks that have been transcribed for publication. Like when he rattles off in Civil Society's Contribution: Beyond Power Politics that there are some broad categories to understand the dynamics in Singapore:
"Dominant drivers, co-pilots and crew…wise guys, nice guys…Survivalists and passengers" etc etc but he doesn't explain what these categories actually mean or give some form of illustration to help the reader understand how his framework operates. And in the same essay, he offers a laundry list of assumptions, structures, cultures that underpin the "old Singapore". But it’s not clear what some of the items on the list of 52 bullet points meant ("new language: straight talk; poetic talk, humour; "memory and the fictionalisation of history: we tell no lies; the politics of denial") and how an item like "new language" relates to the "old Singapore".
Tay is an original and non-conformist thinker and it's worth reading the book to get a sense of the lens through which he looks at Singapore's urban development and our society. But at times, I did wish his editors were able to exert a stronger influence to make the book a more coherent and cogent read.
The first half of the book covers Tay's life from his childhood in Singapore and Cameron Highlands (where the family moved during the Second World War) in the 1940s, to his architecture studies at Singapore Polytechnic (back when it was located in Shenton Way), his eye opening visit to Java in 1960 and his career as an architect and later an "activist architect". Tay recounts how he rejected the PAP's invitation to stand as a candidate in the elections, and subsequently how the authorities forced his partners in Design Partnership to expel him after he participated in organising a demonstration against the US bombing of Vietnam in 1974.
Tay's account of his childhood offered a glimpse into a world that has since vanished. One where kids were left to roam and explore and entertain themselves; Tay describes how when living in Braddell Heights, he and some boys in the neighbourhood would roam the vegetable and fruit farms around the estate, how they built a kayak from wood and khaki cloth and paddled it in the ponds of Potong Pasir. One where the night soil carrier wearing their blue denim long sleeve tunics would come up the rear staircase to take the bucket of waste from the toilet and exchange it for an empty bucket. One where he tied several umbrellas together and jumped off the roof.
Tay doesn't mince his words, describing his brother, the late Tay Eng Soon, as having the "inbuilt taste for power and domination [which] drove him into politics later in life", the "tendency…to seek approbation from people in authority". He has this to say about the Singapore Government in the early days of independence:
"Little did we know that the state was shaping a political culture to empower it to monopolise all ideas and decisions, to discipline Singapore towards industrialisation and economic development. All values were to be shaped in this direction: unquestioning obedience, totally focussed diligence, technical skills, pragmatic compartmentalisation of views and duties; acceptance of hierarchical authority. This all stood in opposition to the freedom of expression, broad vision, initiative, creativity and critical thinking that most of us schooled in modern thinking were much more attuned to. We expected that one could agree to disagree yet remain friends. That synergies can be found in seemingly contradicting propositions. That economies of scope could be as important as economies of scale. That diversity was a virtue. We were so wrong. In the state's drive to industrialise the economy, we had to have 'hard digits' to be of value. There was no place or patience for 'fluffy thinking'".
The second half of the book, featuring a selection of Tay's essays and his proposals/ideas, is a bit more of a mixed bag. Tay makes an impassioned, if somewhat romanticised, argument for strengthening Singapore's affinity with Malaya, and raising our Malayan consciousness and character. Some of the more interesting essays for me included the letter from the Singapore Planning & Urban Research (SPUR) Group that was sent to the Straits Times and Nanyang Siang Pau, criticizing the plans to build a 12-lane coastal superhighway linking Collyer Quay to Bedok; his October 2005 piece on Hanyu Pinyin and Singapore Street Names; and his June 1970 essay for the Singapore Undergrad on Development and its Impact on Changing Values, where Tay had this to say:
"The most significant social and cultural impact of the relentless drive for industrialisation and economic development within a materialistic culture is the submergence of human sensitivities and the increasing alienation of individuals from society. This results from a centralisation of decision making at all levels which makes individuals more and more remote, resulting in a feeling of hopelessness…In our society, there is a more dangerous manifestation of social apathy: a sort of non-reaction, uninvolved attitude….Migrant values, cultural reflexes, plus the non-involvement conditioning during colonial days has created a situation where the individual is concerned only for his own personal survival and considers public and community matters as too remote to concern him."
But quite a number of Tay's pieces in this second half of the book come across as ad libbed remarks that have been transcribed for publication. Like when he rattles off in Civil Society's Contribution: Beyond Power Politics that there are some broad categories to understand the dynamics in Singapore:
"Dominant drivers, co-pilots and crew…wise guys, nice guys…Survivalists and passengers" etc etc but he doesn't explain what these categories actually mean or give some form of illustration to help the reader understand how his framework operates. And in the same essay, he offers a laundry list of assumptions, structures, cultures that underpin the "old Singapore". But it’s not clear what some of the items on the list of 52 bullet points meant ("new language: straight talk; poetic talk, humour; "memory and the fictionalisation of history: we tell no lies; the politics of denial") and how an item like "new language" relates to the "old Singapore".
Tay is an original and non-conformist thinker and it's worth reading the book to get a sense of the lens through which he looks at Singapore's urban development and our society. But at times, I did wish his editors were able to exert a stronger influence to make the book a more coherent and cogent read.
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