Events

The year 2024 marks the centenary of the Johor-Singapore Causeway (which was inaugurated on 28th June 1924). This unspectacular but vital piece of infrastructure has been mentioned in many publications on Singapore and Johor as well as in research on (dis)connections between Singapore and (what is today) Malaysia. Yet the Causeway has much less often been the object of analysis in its own right. As the official centenary approaches, this academic workshop is intended to bring the Causeway to centre stage. We seek scholars interested to examine the Causeway through a variety of different frames (subnational, national, bilateral or regional) and approaches (geopolitical, socio-economic, cultural, among others).

In a recent contribution to the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (Hutchinson et al., 2023), the workshop organizers have outlined three key thematic categories for further humanities and social science research on the Johor-Singapore Causeway: (1) infrastructure and (in)security; (2) urban and regional development; (3) human experience and identity. We particularly welcome original contributions and previously unpublished submissions that speak to one or more of those categories. However, we are open to a wider array of themes in the workshop, encompassing research that is historical, contemporary or future-facing.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

• Histories of connection and separation
• Water and food (in)security
• Urban (re)development of Johor Bahru and Woodlands
• Transborder regional economic dynamics
• Cross-border communities and subcultures
• The COVID-19 pandemic and cross-border (im)mobility
• Representation and imaginaries in popular culture

WORKSHOP CONVENORS

Prof Tim BUNNELL | Asia Research Institute and Department of Geography, National University of Singapore
Dr Francis HUTCHINSON | ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
Dr Shaun LIN | NUS College, National University of Singapore

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this online talk have been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the event.