Vassar College Digital Window @ Vassar Senior Capstone Projects 2018 Commodity, conservation, and nation building: the orchid and the Singaporean identity. Jonathan Alperstein Vassar College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/senior_capstone Recommended Citation Alperstein, Jonathan, "Commodity, conservation, and nation building: the orchid and the Singaporean identity." (2018). Senior Capstone Projects. 733. https://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/senior_capstone/733 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Window @ Vassar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Window @ Vassar. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Commodity, Conservation, and Nation Building: The Orchid and the Singaporean Identity. By Jonathan Alperstein BA thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY Thesis Readers: Xiaobo Yuan, Post-Doctoral Fellow and Luis Philippe Römer, Visiting Assistant Professor May 2018 Alperstein 2 Chapter 1: The Growth of a Nation and its Orchids A miniscule seed difficult to see by the naked eye is thrust into a small flask of sterile agar gel, with a swirl of necessary nutrients. The flask is thrown on to a large centrifuge, spun to allow the tiny seed to begin to germinate. The seed after some time will soon erupt, revealing a small, two-leaved plant. Kept in the confines of its personal sterile green house, the plant uses photosynthesis to achieve a more mature form. Eventually the plant will be moved to a larger flask until it is large enough to be de-flasked. The young plant will be brought out of artificial light to its new home: a small medicine-cup-sized plastic pot.