Although Barr and Skrbis have not told me anything that I did not know in broad outline, they do provide a substantial and interesting evidential base for their study and add a great deal of detail on the inner workings of Singapore’s particular ‘factory’ system of elite production and, in more culturally specific terms, the schooling of its mandarinate. I enjoyed reading what they had to say.

In Constructing Singapore the authors convincingly demonstrate the eminent role of the education system in nation-building. While this may be true for most nation-building projects, Barr and Skrbiš demonstrate the uniqueness of the Singaporean model. What makes Singapore unique, or at least an extreme example, in Southeast Asia is the explicit elitism of its nation- building and government agenda. Despite this uniqueness, the Singapore‘s nation-building and elite government model seems to be attractive to policymakers beyond the borders of the city state. For those studying nationalism in Southeast Asia, Barr’s and Skrbiš’s work is a very fruitful starting point for further research on state-led nation-building projects and their interrelation to questions of race, class, and gender. 

 This is a rigorously researched book that focuses on the failures and shortcomings of the nation-building project being undertaken by Singapore's ruling elites. … This book has a great deal to recommend it. It has been carefully researched and it offers in-depth analyses of the facets and mechanisms of elite formation and elite selection. It is rich in information about Singapore and social theory and interesting in its analysis of elite governance and society. Much of this rings true even for those inclined to be much less critical of the Singapore system.

Constructing Singapore is a penetrative study that provides an in-depth critical analysis of the elitist culture and mechanisms that shape and lubricate the nation-building process of the city-state into the model of efficacy that it is recognized today. … Constructing Singapore aims to illuminate the limits of the city-state's elitist education policies and the elitist culture of governance and it does just that. It is an invaluable study and critique of the nation's elitist mechanisms and processes ...