At the launch of Food, Foodways and Foodscapes – part of the series “Singapore’s 50 Years of Nation-Building” published by World Scientific – the panoramic view of Singapore’s ever-evolving skyline, seen from the 16^th floor of the National Library building, provided an apposite view.

Edited by SMU Provost and Professor of Social Sciences Lily Kong and Professor Vineeta Sinha, NUS Department of Sociology, the book is subtitled “Culture, Community and Consumption in Post-Colonial Singapore" and is the first scholarly publication on the topic of food in Singapore. As well as a co-editor, Prof Kong is the author of the chapter “From Sushi in Singapore to Laksa in London: Globalising Foodways and the Production of Economy and Identity”, and co-author of the introduction, “Theorising Contemporary Foodscapes: Conceptual and Empirical Insights from Singapore”.

After being introduced by Ms Nee Phua, Director at World Scientific Publishing, Prof Kong admitted that whenever she told anyone she was working on a book about Singapore food, they were always disappointed to learn that it was not a guide to where to find the best local dishes. She commented that the book instead offers a social, scientific and historical analysis of food in Singapore, reflecting that food has become the subject of multidisciplinary studies around the world. She hoped that the book would be a stimulus to the reader’s brain as much as to his or her appetite and of interest to anyone interested in Singapore culture and society.

Prof Kong talking about the book during the launch at the National Library on 2 November 2015.

Prof Kong’s co-editor for the work, Prof Sinha, is concurrently head of the Department of Sociology and the South Asian Studies Programme at NUS. She explained that the book demonstrates how the food we consume, the ways in which we acquire and prepare it, the company we keep as we cook and eat, and our preferences and practices all reveal a larger economic, social, cultural and political world, both historically and in contemporary times. She mentioned that chapters deal with the intersections of food and ethnicity, gender and class, food hybridity, innovations and creativity, heritage and change, globalization and localization, and more.

Two prominent Singapore academics also gave their own fascinating insights at the launch: Associate Professor Victor R Savage, NUS Department of Geography and Associate Professor Geoffrey Benjamin, Division of Sociology, NTU School of Humanities & Social Science. Afterwards, as guests nibbled at light refreshments, their lively chatter showed that the feast of ideas served from the book had already given them much to savour and chew over in their minds.

Prof Kong is a prolific writer and editor. Her recent books include Arts, Culture and the Making of Global Cities: Creating New Urban Landscapes in Asia (2015); Religion and Place: Landscape, Politics and Piety (2012); and Conserving the Past, Creating the Future: Urban Heritage in Singapore (2011).

Food, Foodways and Foodscapes, edited by: Prof Lily Kong and Prof Vineeta Sinha, is published by World Scientific Publishing. The book is available at bookstores at $59 hardcover and $28 softcover, or at $21 as an e-book.

Main photo: SMU Provost and Professor of Social Sciences Lily Kong and Professor Vineeta Sinha, NUS Department of Sociology, with their book, Food, Foodways and Foodscapes.