October 18, 2016

A journal article by A/P Gregory Clancey (NUS Dept of History), ‘Intelligent Island to Biopolis: Smart Minds, Sick Bodies and Millennial Turns in Singapore’ (Science, Technology & Society, 2012), traces the cultural and political history of biomedicine in Singapore, and the country’s emergence as ‘The Biopolis of Asia’.

A/P Clancey’s story begins with Singapore’s branding as ‘The Intelligent Island’ during the 1990s, marking a decade of the country’s digitalisation. He then explores Singapore’s shift in interest from computing and IT towards biomedical research during the 2000s, aligned with the government’s aspiration for Singapore to be the ‘Biopolis’ of and for Asia. The opening of the physical science park, Biopolis, further bolstered this branding strategy by hosting a productive value chain comprising hospitals, clinics, research labs and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. A/P Clancey hence provides insight into the symbolic, discursive and practical characteristics of technologies, from computers and telecommunications during the 1990s to genomics and pharmacology in the 2000s, and their connections with Singapore’s evolving branding strategies, as well as local and global cultural politics.

Follow this link to read the full article.