26 Voices.
One Nation.

Beyond parades and policy, this edition captures the unseen architecture of a nation: its people. Through 26 striking portraits of Singaporeans across generations and sectors, this book reimagines not just how far we’ve come, but where we must go and who we must become if we’re to remain extraordinary.

The People

At the heart of every nation are its people: thinkers, builders, dreamers, and critics who define its soul far beyond systems or structures.

(Re)Defining Singapore invites you to meet 26 individuals who each offer a lens into what has shaped, challenged, and elevated our nation. These are the icons, insiders, and outliers who have made their mark in diplomacy, education, innovation, culture, media, and more, not as representatives of perfection but as reflections of the rich, complex fabric that is Singapore.

Through their stories, we discover the spectrum of talent, grit, contradictions, and imagination that continues to define who we are and who we might yet become.

Bilahari Kausikan
Chan Heng Chee
Charles Wong
Dennis Chew
Dick Lee
Fazlur Rahman Bin Kamsani
Joseph Schooling
Kai Nargolwala
Kishore Mahbubani
Koh Buck Song
Michael Thng
Mohammed Saleem
Philip Yeo
PN Balji
Shashi Jayakumar
Tan Chong Meng
Tan Chorh Chuan
Terence Ho
Tommy Koh
Violet Oon
VK Rajah
Wong Siew Hoong
Yeo Whee Jim
Yip Yew Chong
Yong Ying-I
Zaqy Mohamad

From the President

“Our journey as a nation has always been a matter of resolve. To do more than survive, to create an identity together as Singaporeans, and to make a distinctive mark in the world. So too, our way forward will depend on how each new generation finds common purpose. How we grow with each other, and how we gain spirit even as people get on in years.

And it will ultimately rest on how we respect each other, not only for our different backgrounds and paths in life, but for the courage and contributions that we each bring.

May these stories spur reflection on our journey together, as it unfolds.”

— THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM
(President of the Republic of Singapore)

Our Book Launch Event

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the launch of this book.

To our 26 contributors, thank you for lending your voices, your convictions, and your courage.

This book was created at a moment when Singapore stands at a crossroads. We look back at six decades of grit, reinvention, and improbable progress, while also asking what the next sixty years will require from us.

Across these pages are people who lived our history, shaped our systems, challenged our assumptions, and dared to imagine beyond what was comfortable. Their stories remind us that Singapore was not built on luck. It was built on hunger, sacrifice, leadership, friction, disagreement, and a shared belief that this island could always be more than its size.

(Re)Defining Singapore at 60 is not just a book. It is a record of our times, a snapshot of a nation in transition, wrestling with identity, resilience, and leadership in a world that is shifting faster than ever. In the years ahead, when people ask what Singapore was thinking and striving for at this moment in history, this will be one of the texts they return to.

(Re)Defining Singapore at 60.
Voices, videos, and a vision of what comes next.