Living the Asian Century

In this stirring memoir, a preeminent politician anddiplomat traces the transformation of the Republic of Singapore from a poorcolony into an Asian powerhouse.

Growing up in poverty in the 1950s, Kishore Mahbubaniexpected to become a common textile salesman after finishing high school.Instead, a government scholarship sent him to the University of Singapore, andfour years later he found himself in the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Meanwhile, almost none of Mahbubani’s cousins, scattered around the world afterIndia’s brutal partition, from Guyana to Hong Kong, would complete university.

During this same period, Singapore itself was undergoing ametamorphosis. Granted internal self governance in 1959 and achieving fullindependence six years later, the country came of age alongside Mahbubani. Andas his star rose, so did the nation’s.

InLiving the Asian Century, Kishore Mahbubani vividlychronicles his own life going from a poor childhood in a multiethnicneighborhood to an illustrious diplomatic career that led him far fromSingapore to the United States.

Along the way Mahbubani has become one of Asias most widelyknown commentators and spokespeople, with a unique perspective that straddlesIndia, China, and the West.