SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan is the editor of an upcoming book “50 Years of Social Issues in Singapore”. The book is a volume in the series of at least 20 books that will be published by World Scientific throughout next year to mark Singapore’s 50 Years of nation building. More than 200 scholars, politicians and experts will come together to write chapters for the series. The books will be distributed globally, including to the British Library in London and America’s Library of Congress. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also the minister coordinating economic and social policies, will write a foreword for Professor Chan’s book. The chapter authors in Professor Chan’s book include major figures who have played a role in Singapore’s nation building, such as Ambassador-At-large Tommy Koh and former Chief of the Housing Board Liu Thai Ker. Professor Chan said: “Why did the editors, in spite of being busy, agree in a short time to do this? Because it documents our accomplishments since independence. If you do not know what was done in the past, it’s very hard to plan for the future.”