About

These posts are related generally to casino development, urban politics, architectural symbolism and the material culture of gambling. They are snippets of my research on Singapore, Manila and Macau, a collection of fieldnotes, short analyses, reflections and half-digested thoughts that might never find a place in academic publications.

Sometimes I include pieces on the social, cultural and economic histories of gambling, which was the focus of my research between 2010 and 2015. Finding echoes of the past in the present is always fascinating – so many of the peculiarities that we find today in the casinos of Asia can only be understood from a historical perspective. While my explorations are geographically focused on Asia, I also look askew to places like Las Vegas and Australia. Tracing and understanding these global connections is the crux of my work – I adopt the methodology of “following the money”, and have found myself poring through accounting charts, mingling with casino analysts, or listening in on quarterly shareholders’ meetings.

Originally published on the Casino Urbanisms blog, 2015–2021