Las Vegas in Singapore looks at the collision of the histories of Singapore and Las Vegas in the form of Marina Bay Sands, one of Singapore's two integrated resorts. The first history begins in colonial Singapore in the 1880s, when British administrators revised gambling laws in response to the political threat posed by Chinese-run gambling syndicates. Following the tracks of these punitive laws and practices, the book moves into the 1960s when the newly independent city-state created a national lottery while criminalizing both organized and petty gambling in the name of nation-building. The second history shifts the focus to corporate Las Vegas in the 1950s when digital technology and corporate management practices found each other on the casino floor. Tracing the emergence of the specialist casino designer, the book reveals how casino development evolved into a highly rationalized spatial template designed to maximize profits. Today an iconic landmark of Singapore, Marina Bay Sands is also an artifact of these two histories, an attempt by Singapore to normalize what was once criminalized in its nationalist history. Lee Kah-Wee argues that the historical project of the control of vice is also about the control of space and capital. The result is an uneven landscape where the legal and moral status of gambling is contingent on where it is located. As the current wave of casino expansion spreads across Asia, he warns that these developments should not be seen as liberalization but instead as a continuation of the project of concentrating power by modern states and corporations.

Marina Bay Sands, a $5 billion, high-density, mixed-use integrated resort that brings together a 2560 room hotel, convention center, shopping and dining, theaters, museum, and a casino across the water from Singapore's Central Business District, opened to the public on June 23, 2010. Designed by Boston-based, internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the 929,000 meter (10 million square-foot) urban district anchors the Singapore waterfront, creates a gateway to Singapore, and provides a dynamic setting for a vibrant public life. This new urban place integrates the waterfront promenade, a 74,000 square meter (800,000 square-foot), multi level arcade, and the iconic Museum of Art Science on the promontory. Located along the network of Public paths are also two theaters with a combined 4000 seats, a casino, a 9000 square meter (96,000 square-foot) convention center, and a hydraulically adjustable public event plaza of 5000 square meters (54,000 square-foot). Combining indoor and outdoor spaces and providing a platform for a wide array of activities, this vibrant, 21rst century cardo maximus, or grand arcade, also connects to the subway and other transportation.

This book analyses and provides an insight to Singapore’s planning system and practices associated with sustainable development. It takes a reflective approach in reviewing the direction, impact and significance of sustainable development in Singapore planning and the future challenges facing the city-state, which is often looked upon by many developing countries as a model.

Understanding Singapore Politics, Second Edition, aims to present a structural-functional understanding of politics in Singapore. This textbook provides a foundational knowledge of Singapore's politics by discussing key topics including the country's history, political and party systems, role of parastatal organisations, nation building, political leadership, electoral politics, hot-button national issues and the role of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore politics. Recommended for anyone who has an interest or a stake in the island republic, this introductory text provides insights on what drives, shapes and influences Singapore's politics and explains the political behaviour of Singaporeans.

Roll the Bones tells the story of gambling: where it came from, how it has changed, and where it is now. This is the new Casino Edition. which updates and expands the global history of gambling to include a greater focus on casinos, from their development in European spas to their growth in Reno and Las Vegas. New material chronicles in greater depth the development of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and their spread throughout the United States. A new chapter better places Atlantic City's casinos into their correct context, and new material accounts for the rise of casinos in Asia and online gaming. From the first modern casino in Venice (1638), casinos have grown incredibly. During the 18th and 19th century, a series of European spa towns, culminating in Monte Carlo, hosted casinos. In the United States, during those same years, gambling developed both in illegal urban gambling halls and in the wide-open saloons of the western frontier. Those two strands of American gambling came together in Nevada's legal casinos, whose current regime dates from 1931. Developing with a healthy assist from elements affiliated with organized crime, these casinos eventually outgrew their rough-hewn routes, becoming sun-drenched pleasure palaces along the Las Vegas Strip. With Nevada casinos proving successful, other states, beginning with New Jersey in 1976, rolled the dice. From there, casinos have come to America's tribal lands, rivers, and urban centers. In the last decade, gambling has moved online, while Asia--with multi-billion dollar projects in Macau and Singapore--has become a new casino frontier. Reading Roll the Bones, you'll get a better appreciation for how long casinos and gambling have been with us--and what they mean to us today.

“In this outstanding memoir, chef and restaurateur Matsuhisa...shares lessons in humility, gratitude, and empathy that will stick with readers long after they’ve finished the final chapter.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Inspiration by example” (Associated Press) from the acclaimed celebrity chef and international restaurateur, Nobu, as he divulges both his dramatic life story and reflects on the philosophy and passion that has made him one of the world’s most widely respected Japanese fusion culinary artists. As one of the world’s most widely acclaimed restaurateurs, Nobu’s influence on food and hospitality can be found at the highest levels of haute-cuisine to the food trucks you frequent during the work week—this is the Nobu that the public knows. But now, we are finally introduced to the private Nobu: the man who failed three times before starting the restaurant that would grow into an empire; the man who credits the love and support of his family as the only thing keeping him from committing suicide when his first restaurant burned down; and the man who values the busboy who makes sure each glass is crystal clear as highly as the chef who slices the fish for Omakase perfectly. What makes Nobu special, and what made him famous, is the spirit of what exists on these pages. He has the traditional Japanese perspective that there is great pride to be found in every element of doing a job well—no matter how humble that job is. Furthermore, he shows us repeatedly that success is as much about perseverance in the face of adversity as it is about innate talent. Not just for serious foodies, this “insightful peek into the mind of one of the world’s most successful restaurateurs” (Library Journal) is perfect for fans of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Danny Meyer’s Setting the Table. Nobu’s writing does what he does best—it marries the philosophies of East and West to create something entirely new and remarkable.