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« Previous EntriesShedding Some Light: Time and Tide
Friday, August 8th, 2008Story 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 “Temasik”, but he renamed it “Singapura” or […]
The Photography of Yip Cheong Fun
Sunday, June 29th, 2008by Zhou Zhong
Yip Cheong Fun (叶畅芬, 1903-1989) was a distinguished and influential Singaporean documentary photographer. Renowned internationally for his seascapes, Yip also recorded through his photographs the many different facets of Singapore life with his keen eye and humanistic understanding of his surroundings. His sensitivity to change also helped document the cultural landscape in Singapore […]
David Marshall: His Thoughts and Convictions
Saturday, June 7th, 2008by Kevin Khoo
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of David Marshall (1908–1995), the celebrated Singapore nationalist, politician, lawyer and diplomat. Born on 12 March 1908 into a Sephardic Jew family, Marshall rose to prominence in the late 1940s as a brilliant young criminal lawyer whose extraordinary legal acumen and oratorical skill left […]
Mental Health in Singapore: Into the Twentieth Century
Friday, June 6th, 2008by Tan Mei Yan
Continuing The First Hospital for the Mentally Ill
The Grand Jury made their last Presentment on 18 October 1865, and was abolished by Ordinace VI on 1873 passed on 9 September 1873 (Lee 1978, 204). At that point of time, doctors had both clinical and administrative duties to fulfil (Ng 2001, 15). As […]
Mental Health in Singapore: The First Hospital for the Mentally Ill (1841-1928)
Friday, June 6th, 2008by Tan Mei Yan
Continuing The Early Years (1819-1840)
Completed in 1841, the Insane Hospital was situated at the corner of Bras Basah Road and Bencoolen Street (Ng 2001, 9; IMH 2003, 16). In spite of the unfortunate death that occurred, due regard was still not given to mental health care. Conditions at the Hospital were not better […]
Mental Health in Singapore: The Early Years (1819-1840)
Friday, June 6th, 2008by Tan Mei Yan
Mental health in Singapore has its roots in the West. The first medical personnel in the field were mostly from Britain. Medical education in the early years was almost exclusively for the British, until the establishment of King Edward VII College of Medicine on the island in 1907. Hence, many ideas influential […]
Tibet’s Recent Histories
Sunday, May 4th, 2008by Ang Cher Kiat
From fiery exchanges on internet forums to commentaries in international dailies on the outburst of pro-Tibet protests around the world, most often than not, the word “history” is thrown around putatively from both side.[i] A notable example came from a recent Jakarta Post editorial stating that “any student of history cannot but […]
The POSB Students’ Savings Scheme: A Largely Forgotten Childhood Experience
Sunday, May 4th, 2008by Sim I Lin Melissa
During a Chinese New Year gathering, a conversation between my mother and her friends somehow shifted to how various Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) branches were silently being renovated into Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) outlets instead. They agreed that this was a “smart move that will not cause a lot […]
“Gold and Silver, branded horses and well-tilled land”: Gender and Hadrami Migration
Saturday, March 1st, 2008by Ismail Fajrie Alatas
Hadramaut is a region in South Arabia along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastward from Yemen proper to the region of Dhofar in Oman. The inhabitants of this land, the Hadramis had long traversed the Indian Ocean, along the ancient trade route connecting the Middle East to the ‘lands below the wind’. […]
A Preliminary Sketch on Time, Logic and the practice of History
Saturday, March 1st, 2008by Ismail Fajrie Alatas
The concept of time constantly astounds me as a student. In addition, my training as a historian, the so-called guardian of the past, also deals directly with the notion of time. In this short paper, I will present some preliminary sketches in regards to the epistemology of time and its connection to […]