Singapore ‘A Land Imagined’: Rising Seas, Land Reclamation and the Tropical Film-Noir City

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.19.2.2020.3739

Keywords:

Singapore City, Tropical Imaginary, Rhizomatics, Climate Change, Film Ethnography, Land Reclamation, Rising Seas, Migrant Labour

Abstract

Sea level rise due to climate change is predicted to be higher in the Tropics. As a low-lying, highly urbanised island near the equator, Singapore is taking an active response to this problem, including through large land reclamation projects. Incorporating both environmental and aesthetic elements, these projects also serve to bolster Singapore’s reputation as a shining example of a global city, a leading arts centre in Southeast Asia, and an economic hub to the world. This paper draws attention to urban development through an ethnographic reading of Yeo Siew Hua’s film A Land Imagined. A Singaporean tropical-noir mystery thriller, the film follows the rhizomatic path of a police investigator and his partner as they attempt to solve the disappearance of two foreign labourers. Interwoven within the film is a critique of Singapore’s treatment of migrant workers as it constructs the imaginary of the ‘Singapore Dream’.

Author Biographies

Anita Lundberg, James Cook University, Australia

Associate Professor Anita Lundberg is a cultural anthropologist. Her ethnographies have explored everyday urban life, the cinematic city, and neoliberal higher education in Singapore; climate change street art in Bali; the architecture of a Malay house and garden of indigenous trees; and a whale hunting village in Indonesia. Anita has won awards and held international fellowships: LIA TransOceanik (CNRS, JCU, Collége de France); The Cairns Institute (TCI); Evans Fellow, Cambridge University, UK; Guest Researcher, Maison Asie-Pacifique, Université de Provence, France; Visiting Fellow, Institute of the Malay World and Civilization, National University Malaysia; and Anthropologist-in-Residence, Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia. She has curated exhibitions in NY, LA, Paris and Sydney, and her own research has been exhibited at the Australian National Maritime Museum, the National Art Gallery of Malaysia and Alliance de Française. Anita was a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Cambridge University, UK, she has a PhD in Anthropology, and an MA in Science & Technology Studies.

Jasmin Thamima Peer, James Cook University, Australia

Jasmin Thamima Peer is currently a Learning Advisor at James Cook University's Indigenous Education and Research Centre, and a Research Assistant at LocuSAR, a social research consultancy that provides expert analysis and professional education across Australia and the Asia-Pacific. Jasmin, originally from Singapore, is currently based in Cairns, Australia. Her research interests revolve around the anthropology of urban spaces, art, and language. She graduated in 2020 from James Cook University with a BA (Honours First Class) with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Literature. Her honours thesis was titled "Hidden Transcripts in Singaporean Film - An Anthropological Analysis". 

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Published

2020-12-21

How to Cite

Lundberg, A., & Peer, J. T. (2020). Singapore ‘A Land Imagined’: Rising Seas, Land Reclamation and the Tropical Film-Noir City. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 19(2), 201–227. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.19.2.2020.3739

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Vol. 19 No. 2 (2020): Special Issue: Sustainable Tropical Urbanism

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