August 15, 2012

Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser from the National University of Singapore’s Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has contributed an article to the Straits Times dealing with the issue of nation-building.

Titled “Make nation-building a collective project,” the article envisions nation-building as a collective project shared by the Government and the people, in contrast to the paternalistic strategies that have served Singapore well in the last 40 years. It is hopeful that as the citizenry matures, Singaporeans will step forward to take ownership of their nation’s destiny, allowing state paternalism to make way for state-people partnership, and thus allowing for a collective project of nation-building.

A/P Tan’s article is the first in the Straits Times’ NUS Expert Series, a six-part series by National University of Singapore academics on topical issues.

The full article is available via the FASS News blog. [Article in .pdf format, via FASS News]