Not Just a Foreigner’s War: A Review of “The Battle of Pasir Panjang Revisited”

by Edgar Liao

“The worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history”
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s un-mincing pronouncement prefaces not a few accounts of the fall of Malaya and Singapore to a relentless Japanese invasion from December 1941 to January 1942. While no expert on the Malayan Campaign at all, it seems to me that… »

Personal Faces of Georgette Chen

by Melisa Leong
While Georgette Chen is well known as an artist, few may understand how she was like as a close friend and a relative. After she passed away in 1993, one of her friends gathered up her personal correspondence and donated them to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM). Currently interning with SAM, I have… »

Chasing A ‘Dead’ Lead

by Chew Yong Jack
Despite the brevity of Singapore’s existence, its history is an under-explored and one which occasionally does throw up a few surprises and interesting facts even for people who count themselves to be rather well-read. As an avid reader of history books, I had the good fortune to have experienced just such a… »

Writing Family History: Interviewing Ah Ma

by Chia Meng Tat, Jack[i]
As a history student, an area of inquiry that has always intrigued me is my own family history. In my attempt to gain greater insight and understanding of my family’s past, particularly as it also applies to Chinese immigrants in early day Singapore, I had decided to use the life… »

Studying Ancient Chinese History in Singapore (Part Two)

by Yang Shao-Yun
Continuing Studying Ancient Chinese History in Singapore (Part One)…
4) Libraries at the National University of Singapore (NUS)

The Central Library at NUS has a fairly good collection of English-language academic books on Chinese history, and frequently purchases newly-published works. If you make a request for them to buy a new book, they are likely… »

Studying Ancient Chinese History in Singapore (Part One)

by Yang Shao-Yun
It is not easy for a Chinese Singaporean to specialise in ancient China history because there are so few historians interested to begin with. Little Chinese history is taught in either the History or Chinese Language syllabi in Singapore schools. Chinese history also rarely figures in the media, except for some ‘historical’ drama… »

Researching in India: The Chennai Chronicles

by Dinesh Sathisan[1]
It is for a reason that India – a land for all seasons as their tourism board tagline boasts – was once called the ‘functioning anarchy’. The noted economist John Kenneth Galbraith [2] who coined the term may have apologised but there is some amount of truth in that statement and I say… »

Singapore Oral History - Danggui Herbal Chicken Soup Style

by Pang Yang Huei
One of my on-going pet projects is putting together a collection of oral interviews with old folks on their war experiences. This interest is the direct result of Professor Kevin P. Blackburn’s history graduate module at the Nanyang Technology University (NTU). Part of the requirements was to conduct an oral interview with… »