This course charts the roles of Lee Kuan Yew, S Rajaratnam and Goh Keng Swee in shaping the foreign policy of Singapore from 1965. Key Singapore policymakers and diplomats such as Tommy Koh, Kishore Mahbubani & Bilahari Kausikan acknowledge that in particular the longevity of Lee’s tenure and his strategic philosophy structures Singapore’s actions internationally. This course examines the impact of the leadership’s ideological assumptions on how Singapore navigates its relations with 3 major areas, ASEAN, the US and the regional powers, China and India and adapts to the current inflection point in the international diplomacy of Indo-Pacific region.
Note: For cohorts AY24/25 and below, this module will fulfill CHS Asian Studies Common curriculum.
Student Reviews
Anonymous AY24/25 Sem 1
About the Instructor
Dr Quek is incredible and has been teaching for a long time and it shows. She is very knowledgeable both in the mod contents and topics beyond it. She is very good at explaining topics and giving hints when it comes to how to score well for the essays. I love her teaching style.
Content (Structure/Organization)
As with all her classes, Dr Quek is very well-planned in structuring the course and adjusts it to incorporate real-time events. She often includes recent newspaper articles or similar things into her slides which connect to her existing syllabus and are very insightful.
Manageability of Workload
Dr Quek is known for her 5-essay assessment structure and this class follows [suit]. Aside from the weekly readings the essay prompts are released every two weeks consecutively. Plan your semester around doing a little bit every day; otherwise it piles up like crazy, and it feels like there’s no break to it. If you enjoy essays and have good time management, the grind is quite fun.
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades
I find that Dr Quek grades according to the quality of the essay and is neither harsh nor liberal
Learning Value/Recommendation
Extremely useful and insightful! I have very little previous experience in international relations and had only taken two previous Singapore-related USP modules; Dr Quek had a lot of fun facts and tidbits alongside her syllabus, and she knows some of the source authors personally and always gives background info (and fun anecdotes)! If you can manage the workload then please consider joining; Dr Quek’s classes are incredible!