The SIJORI Cross-Border Region: Transnational Politics, Economics, and Culture

Twenty-five years ago, the governments of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia agreed to jointly promote the citystate, the state of Johor in Malaysia and the Riau Islands in Indonesia. Facilitated by common cultural references, a more distant shared history, and complementary attributes, interactions between the three territories developed quickly. Logistics networks have proliferated and production chains link firms based in one location with affiliates or transport facilities in the other territories. These crossborder links have enabled all three locations to develop their economies and enjoy rising standards of living.

Initially economic in nature, the interactions between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands have multiplied and grown deeper. Today, people cross the borders to work, go to school, or avail of an increasing range of goods and services. New political and social phenomena have developed. Policy-makers in the various territories now need to reconcile economic imperatives and issues of identity and sovereignty. Enabled by their proximity and increasing opportunities, families have also begun to straddle borders, with resulting questions about citizenship and belonging.

Bringing together scholars from a range of disciplines, the 18 chapters and more than 20 maps in this book examine the interaction between Singapore, Johor, and the Riau Islands over the past quarter-century, and seek to shed light on how these territories could develop in the future.

About the Author :
Francis E. Hutchinson is a Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Regional Economic Studies Programme at the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute and Managing Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Economies.

Terence Chong is a Senior Fellow at the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. He is Coordinator of the Regional Social and Cultural Studies Programme and co-coordinator of the Thailand Studies Programme.

Review :
Victor T. King. ASEASUK News, No. 60, Autumn 2016, p.28-32. "This is a substantial volume of some 500 pages of text, with 22 detailed maps, 18 chapters and 22 contributors. A special feature inserted into each section of the book is the graphic device of a set of maps, based on the digital map data collection entitled 'Architecture of Territory: Singapore Metropolitan Region' assembled by researchers at ETH Zurich between 2011 and 2015 and held at the Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore. The book is the first to be published in a series supported by the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute under the umbrella of its 'Floating Frontiers' research programme which comprises three sub-projects focusing on maritime Southeast Asia and connections by sea rather than by land. The first sub-project, of which this volume is an initial contribution, examines maritime relations between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, the Growth Triangle of Singapore, Johor and Riau (SIJORI) and the Straits of Malacca; the second turns its lens on the Celebes and Sulu Seas, including relations between Sulawesi, Sabah and the southern Philippines; the third examines the area of the Andaman Sea and its coastlines. Brunei Darussalam appears not to have been included in this set of sub-projects. The architect of the programme, Ooi Kee Beng, Deputy Director of the Institute, has contributed a useful contextual Foreward to the volume. .... The volume with its wealth of empirical detail and some interesting analytical work will undoubtedly serve as a major reference on SIJORI for some time to come. .... this volume makes a considerable contribution to our understanding of sub-regional projects, rich as it is in empirical detail. Its coherence is enhanced by the well written and argued editorial introduction and the concluding chapter by Francis Hutchinson which summarises the major issues explored in the several chapters, revisits the concept of a 'cross-border region', and identifies subjects for further research. Importantly it provides us with a focus and agenda that will encourage future research and help to develop our understanding of the substance, context, complexity and trajectory of sub-regional encounter and interaction."