Arun Bala

Mahadeva, the founding secretary-general of the Singapore National Union of Journalists (SNUJ), suddenly found himself in the news when he was arrested in 1963 under Operation Coldstore. This is his story, told posthumously by one of his brothers, who delved into the rich collection of Maha’s documents and publications he kept over the years.


Imprisoned without trial as a security threat with more than a hundred other political and union leaders, he had no recourse but to subject himself to six years of unjustified detention.


These memoirs not only chart Mahadeva’s life and beliefs, but also question the orthodox Singapore Story that now conveniently frames and justifies his and his cohort’s imprisonment without trial – some for as long as nearly two to three decades.

Memoirs of A.Mahdeva 

Completing The Singapore Story?

In this study Arun Bala examines the implications that Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity holds for fields beyond physics. Bohr, one of the founding figures of modern quantum physics, argued that the principle of complementarity he proposed for understanding atomic processes has parallels in psychology, biology, and social science, as well as in Buddhist and Taoist thought. But Bohr failed to offer any explanation for why complementarity might extend beyond physics, and his claims have been widely rejected by scientists as empty speculation. Scientific scepticism has only been reinforced by the naïve enthusiasm of postmodern relativists and New Age intuitionists, who seize upon Bohr’s ideas to justify anti-realist and mystical positions. Arun Bala offers a detailed defence of Bohr’s claim that complementarity has far-reaching implications for the biological and social sciences, as well as for comparative philosophies of science, by explaining Bohr’s parallels as responses to the omnipresence of grown properties in nature.

Niels Bohr's Parallels

Complementarity Beyond Physics

Prasenjit Duara

The European 'dark ages' in the millennium 500 to 1500 CE was a bright age of brilliant scientific achievements in China, India and the Middle East. The contributors to this volume address its implications for comparative and connective science studies.

Arun Bala

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