Chapter 1 is by John Wong and Lye Liang Fook, and it tries to do something ambitious: cover the entire arc of Singapore-China relations in one chapter. Centuries of trade, Cold War politics, panda diplomacy, military exercises, and a whole web of institutional frameworks. The through-line is clear: pragmatism made this relationship work, and institutions are what will keep it going.
The editors, Zheng Yongnian and Lye Liang Fook, start with something refreshingly honest. They admit the project scared them. World Scientific Publishing asked them to write a book commemorating 50 years of Singapore-China relations, and they thought: huge topic, not much time.
So I picked up this book called Singapore-China Relations: 50 Years, edited by Zheng Yongnian and Lye Liang Fook. It’s part of a whole series about Singapore’s first 50 years as a nation. And honestly, the story of how Singapore and China built their relationship is way more interesting than you’d expect.
Sixteen posts later, we’ve made it through the entire book. So let’s talk about what it all adds up to.
After thirteen chapters of practical cattle farming information, Pezza wraps things up with some fun stuff. Interesting cattle facts from history and a bunch of recipes you can make with your own beef and dairy products. This chapter is basically the dessert course of the book.
Two chapters in one post here because chapters 12 and 13 are both shorter but cover topics that fit together well. Culling your herd and other things you can do with cattle besides the obvious milk and meat.
This is the chapter where things get real. If you’ve been reading along thinking about cute calves and fresh milk, chapter 11 is where Kim Pezza talks about the other side of cattle farming. Raising beef. Processing meat. The whole deal.
So you have a dairy cow. She’s producing milk twice a day. And pretty quickly you’re going to realize something: that’s a lot of milk. Like, way more than your family can drink. A single dairy cow can produce 6 to 8 gallons per day.
If you have a dairy cow, you need to learn how to milk. There’s no way around it. This is probably the single most important skill a dairy cow owner needs to develop. And it’s not as simple as just sitting down and squeezing.
You bred your cow. She’s been pregnant for roughly 285 days. Now what? This is where things get real. A calf is coming, and you need to know what’s normal, what’s not, and what to do in both cases.