The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954

Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships ofthe Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore’sinhabitants...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: WILLIAMSON, Fiona
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2695
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3952/viewcontent/the_politics_of_disaster.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
id sg-smu-ink.soss_research-3952
record_format dspace
spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-39522018-10-26T03:09:50Z The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954 WILLIAMSON, Fiona Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships ofthe Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore’sinhabitants continued to manage the natural elements of their climate and environment, especiallythe dangerous combination of heavy monsoonal rains, low-lying marshland, and tidal flooding.This article examines the circumstances surrounding a particularly severe episode of flooding thatoccurred in December 1954. It explores how the flood’s impact was exacerbated by humanexigencies, especially recent government resettlement plans and infrastructural weaknesses.In line with the themes of this special issue, it explores the notion of ‘justice’ during a disaster.In this case, justice was intimately related to political agency, social vulnerability and resilience.Viewed in this way, the flood story can be used as a lens into the wider socio-political contexts ofthe time. 2018-10-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2695 info:doi/10.1177/2514848618776872 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3952/viewcontent/the_politics_of_disaster.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University History disaster floods Singapore politics Asian Studies Emergency and Disaster Management
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic History
disaster
floods
Singapore
politics
Asian Studies
Emergency and Disaster Management
spellingShingle History
disaster
floods
Singapore
politics
Asian Studies
Emergency and Disaster Management
WILLIAMSON, Fiona
The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
description Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships ofthe Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore’sinhabitants continued to manage the natural elements of their climate and environment, especiallythe dangerous combination of heavy monsoonal rains, low-lying marshland, and tidal flooding.This article examines the circumstances surrounding a particularly severe episode of flooding thatoccurred in December 1954. It explores how the flood’s impact was exacerbated by humanexigencies, especially recent government resettlement plans and infrastructural weaknesses.In line with the themes of this special issue, it explores the notion of ‘justice’ during a disaster.In this case, justice was intimately related to political agency, social vulnerability and resilience.Viewed in this way, the flood story can be used as a lens into the wider socio-political contexts ofthe time.
format text
author WILLIAMSON, Fiona
author_facet WILLIAMSON, Fiona
author_sort WILLIAMSON, Fiona
title The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
title_short The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
title_full The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
title_fullStr The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
title_full_unstemmed The politics of disaster: The Great Singapore Flood of 1954
title_sort politics of disaster: the great singapore flood of 1954
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2018
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2695
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3952/viewcontent/the_politics_of_disaster.pdf
_version_ 1770574371809656832