Singapore as Science ’Scape and Ethnoscape

Abstract

As a state project to locate the nation within the global knowledge economy, Singapore’s Technology Corridor has acted as a testbed for experimenting with different models of an international scientific community. Its landscape, from garden-style science parks modelled after Silicon Valley to monuments for multidisciplinary research such as One North, reflects the dynamic interaction among various political and ideological aspirations—ideoscapes—driving the built environment. Through both documentary research and semi-structured interviews of scientists and entrepreneurs, we examine how mostly foreign expat and some Singaporean researchers have experienced Singapore’s unique science ‘scape and adapted to a hybrid work and living environment. Testimony of the scientific sojourners of Singapore’s diverse ethnoscape—from China and India to Europe and the United States—reveal the blending of different styles of scientific work and the interconnected flows of intellectual labour.

Keywords

• Singapore
• science
• technology corridor