Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reading Landscape Meanings: State Constructions And Lived Experiences In Singapore's Chinatown, Brenda S. A. Yeoh, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The term 'landscape" embodies multiple levels of meaning: it articulates the ideological intent of the powerful who plan or shape the landscape in particular ways and at the same time reflects the everyday meanings implicit in the daily routines of ordinary people associated with the landscape. Through an analysis of four themes constituting the landscape of Singapore's Chinatown, we unpack two different but interdependent versions of landscape reality: the construction of social meanings from the state's perspective and those derived from the lived experiences of Chinatown's inhabitants. In our first theme, we explore the multiplicity of meanings invested in Chinatown's …