Surveillance of Mosquitoes: Dengue Control, Biotechnology of Wolbachia, and Spatial Governance in Singapore

In Singapore, dengue control has constituted a central objective of public health interventions since the 1960s, resulting in decades of notable achievements. However, due to climate change, dengue fever has recently emerged as a severe mosquito-borne disease in Southeast Asia, as well as in numerous other tropical regions globally. Consequently, dengue control has once again become a significant concern for the Singapore government. This paper presents the findings of eight months of ethnographic research conducted with the NEA, scientists, and residents. It examines the social construction of the Wolbachia Project in Singapore as a case of biotechnological governance aimed at combating dengue, an infectious disease. The research aims to reveal how the implementation of Wolbachia-Aedes suppression technology, an international technology advocated by the World Mosquito Program, was adopted in Singapore to align with local social and cultural realities related to the disease. The findings emphasize the pivotal role of Housing and Development Board (HDB) policies and spatial governance in facilitating the project’s success as a political and cultural infrastructure. This study demonstrates how the historical evolution of dengue control is a dynamic process shaped by the interplay of state interests and objectives, international influences, the emergence of new medical knowledge and technology, evolving perceptions of disease and health, local environmental conditions, societal dynamics, and the political, social, and economic forces at play within a specific locality at a particular point in time.