What Makes a Country

Independent research on
Singapore's past and future.

Singapore's creation was more radical than most people realise. We make in-depth history documentaries and policy analysis on Singapore, with the hope of keeping that spirit alive for our future.

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The Man Lee Kuan Yew Chose To Lead Singapore Without Him
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The Man Lee Kuan Yew Chose To Lead Singapore Without Him

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Conversations

People we've sat down with

Documentaries & analysis

The essays

Ways to support

Each video is a labour of love,
taking at least 120 hours from research to finish.

We post as often as we can. If you deeply appreciate our videos and would like to support us in making them, your donation is truly valued.

Prefer to give once? Make a one-time donation of any amount

If you prefer not donating at the moment, it would mean a lot to us if you could send an episode to someone who should see it. Most of the people who find us were sent here by someone they trust.

Work with us

Interested in our work?

We take on a small number of engagements each year. We bring the same primary-source research behind the essays, drawn from parliamentary records, archives, company filings and long interviews, to a question that matters to you.

Start a conversation Sponsorship enquiries
or email whatmakesacountry@gmail.com

The archive

Our work

Fourteen essays and conversations on how Singapore was built, and on the decisions shaping it now.

Written work

Articles

Longer written pieces, Q&As and follow-ups to the videos. Published on Substack, read here.

Draft note: in the live build this becomes the Substack feed, embedded and restyled so it reads as part of the site. Post below is real.

23 May 2026

Singapore's Greatest Entrepreneur Was the State Itself

Yet Singapore hasn't built a national champion in a generation.

Read the essay

Support independent research

Each video is a labour of love,
taking at least 120 hours from research to finish.

We post as often as we can. If you deeply appreciate our videos and would like to support us in making them, your donation is truly valued.

Prefer to give once? Make a one-time donation of any amount

If you prefer not donating at the moment, it would mean a lot to us if you could send an episode to someone who should see it. Most of the people who find us were sent here by someone they trust.

Education

Use our work in your classroom.

Teachers, lecturers and anyone running a course can use our videos and written work in class. You do not need to ask us, and you do not need to pay us. If it is useful to you, use it.

01

What you can use, freely

Every episode and every article, in full. Play them in class, set them as homework, embed them in a course page, clip a section for a lesson. No licence, no login, no invoice.

02

What we can put together

If a source list, a set of readings or a short written summary would make an episode easier to teach, ask and we will assemble one. We keep the research anyway.

03

What we would like back

Tell us what worked and what did not. We are researchers, not teachers, and what you find in a classroom is the part we cannot see from here.

04

Building something together

If a school, department or programme wants something made for a syllabus, a lesson-length cut, a reading pack, a talk, or a series on a specific topic, write to us and tell us what you are teaching.

Teaching with our work?

We would like to know. Tell us the school, the subject and what you are using, and we will help where we can.

Email us about teaching whatmakesacountry@gmail.com

About

What Makes a Country

We study the hidden architecture behind successful nations: the policies, institutions and decisions that actually built them.

We make long-form documentaries on the people who built Singapore, and analysis of the decisions shaping it now. A Singapore lens because that's where we're from, and we look abroad wherever someone has already solved the problem.

Business and collaboration

We take on a small number of research and advisory engagements each year, and we're open to press, speaking and partnership enquiries.

whatmakesacountry@gmail.com

Work with us

Interested in our work?

We take on a small number of engagements each year. We bring the same primary-source research behind the essays, drawn from parliamentary records, archives, company filings and long interviews, to a question that matters to you.

Tell us what you're trying to work out.

We reply to every enquiry, and we will say so plainly if it is not something we should take on.

Start a conversationSponsorship enquiries
whatmakesacountry@gmail.com