Shedding Some Light: Time and Tide
Story and pictures by Kevin Lee
This story was first published at the MyStory portal, an initiative by the Public Education Division of the National Heritage Board.
I allowed Sang Nila Utama safe passage to Singapore after he yielded his crown as tribute. At that time, the island was called “Temasikâ€, but he renamed it “Singapura†or Lion City, even though there wasn’t a city there when he landed.
For centuries, I’ve supported life on this little island. For instance, the Orang Laut such as the Orang Biduanda Kallang and the Orang Selat fished in my waters.
When the British came, they came by sea. The attraction wasn’t just what could be grown on land, but what could be shipped by sea and traded on land. The island’s population grew rapidly after Stamford Raffles stepped on the shore in 1819. Immigrants came by the shipload, not just from Britain, but also from India, China and other lands nearby.
The biggest trouble Singapore has ever known came by sea too. In December 1941, an army from another island landed on several beaches, such as the one off Kota Bahru in the Malay Peninsula, north of Singapore.
Somewhere along this beach near Kota Bahru in Peninsula Malaysia, the Japanese landed and trooped south towards Singapore
From their beach heads, the Japanese army moved south to the Johor Straits, and crossed it to land in Singapore at Kranji, then pushed inland.
The Johor Straits, seen from Johor, with Kranji in the background
The British surrendered in a place that is about as far as one could get from the sea – in a factory at Bukit Timah. The days that followed were the worst of times ever. I know, because many of Singapore’s civilians were shot in my waters off Changi and Punggol beaches. The Japanese called the island “Syonanto†or “Light of the Southâ€. The light from the Land of the Rising Sun cast long, dark shadows.
When the Japanese surrendered on an American ship in 1945 in the waters of Tokyo Bay, things were never the same again. Malaya soon declared its independence from the British Empire in 1957. Singapore followed by attaining self-government in 1959 and merged politically with Malaysia in 1963. In 1965, the island became independent, relying even more on the access provided by the seas.
I supported Singapore’s economy through entrepot trade. Even when the island became a land of factories, many goods were shipped by sea. As Singapore diversified from manufacturing into services, I continued to remain relevant for business, with the many telecommunication cables submerged beneath my waves
Since independence, Singapore has celebrated its birthday mostly near me - at the Padang near the Singapore River, and at the National Stadium near the Kallang Basin. In 2007, for the first time ever, the parade was held on water, at Marina Bay.
Marina Bay, the site of Singapore’s 2007 National Day celebration
While the story of how Singapura got its name is a legend, the history of Singapore is my story. I, the waters off Singapore, have seen history ebb and flow. Will the nation continue to be on solid ground? Much depends on those who live on its shores, but I will continue to be there for the island.
The writer enjoys journeys to wide open spaces and into the past by bicycle. He rides around Singapore occasionally to “paint with light”, photographing scenes that may shed light on bits of the island’s past. This way, he can relive in future memories of the past even when what has been photographed has disappeared. After all, when things are gone, all we have left are memories which may dim with time - and photographs.
References
Cornelius-Takahama V (2000). Sang Nila Utama. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_93_2005-01-26.html
Government of Singapore (undated). World War II & Military Sites. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://www.livelife.ecitizen.gov.sg/culture/heritage/worldwar2_detail.asp?plc_id=13
Hwang J (2001). Orang Laut. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_551_2005-01-09.html
Miles R (2005). Syonanto (Singapore) 1942 - 1945. Retrieved 14 Aug 07 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/71/a4405871.shtml
Siew A (2006). So Much Riding on Fragile Undersea Cables. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://business.asiaone.com/Business/SME+Central/Talking+point/Story/A1Story20070519-3406.html
Singapore Press Holdings (1998). Road to Independence. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/merger/merger.html
The Changi Museum (undated). Chronological Events of WWII. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://www.changimuseum.com/Chronicle/Chronicles%20body%20text2.htm
Wong H (undated). Tomoyuki Yamashita. Retrieved 9 Aug 07 from http://infopedia.nlb.gov.sg/articles/SIP_751_2005-01-22.html
Great website…
[...]we like to honor many other internet sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out[...]……
Weebly article…
I saw a guy talking a lot about this on Tumblr and it linked right to…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Tumblr…
Tumblr linked to this place…
Recent Blogroll Additions…
I saw this really good post today….
Great Clips Coupons…
[...]right here are a couple of hyper-links to websites online I always connect to because we think they’re worthy of checking out[...]…
Recommeneded websites…
Here you’ll find some sites that we think you’ll appreciate, just click the links over…
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Looking around…
I like to look around the internet, regularly I will go to Stumble Upon and follow thru…
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Barát Keresés…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw a writer writing about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Great Clips Coupons…
[...]following are a handful of urls to web-sites which I connect to since we believe these are worth checking out[...]…
Visitor recommendations…
[...]one of our visitors recently recommended the following website[...]……
Check this out…
Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors…
You should check this out…
I saw this really great post today….
Websites you should visit…
[...]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Online Article……
[...]The information mentioned in the article are some of the best available [...]……
Dreary Day…
It was a dreary day here yesterday, so I just took to piddeling around on the internet and found…
Read was interesting, stay in touch……
[...]please visit the sites we follow, including this one, as it represents our picks from the web[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
You should check this out…
[...] Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one learn about Mid East has got more problerms as well [...]……
Hard Day…
It was quite a hard day for me yesterday, so I decided to take to messing around a lot on the internet and rapidly found…
abluted…
I hope you grasped some free, valuable content….
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Awesome website…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]……
Links…
[...]Sites of interest we have a link to[...]……
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Just Browsing…
While I was surfing today I noticed a excellent post concerning…
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……
Tumblr article…
I saw a writer writing about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
Recommeneded websites…
[...]Here are some of the sites we recommend for our visitors[...]……
Gems form the internet…
[...]very few websites that happen to be detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[...]……
Websites worth visiting…
[...]here are some links to sites that we link to because we think they are worth visiting[...]……
Superb website…
[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……
Blogs ou should be reading…
[...]Here is a Great Blog You Might Find Interesting that we Encourage You[...]……
Websites we think you should visit…
[...]although websites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we feel they are actually worth a go through, so have a look[...]……
közösségi portálok…
[...]the time to read or visit the content or sites we have linked to below the[...]…
Sources…
[...]check below, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, however, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[...]……