There are several libraries in Hanoi, like university libraries and institute libraries. Over the summer, I visited three of them.

Vien Han-Nom (Institute of Han-Nom Studies)

183 Dang Tien Dong street

http://www.hannom.org.vn/

Opening Hours: Mon-Thurs—0830-1145 hrs, 1400-1615 hrs; Friday—0830-1145 hrs

The Vien Han-Nom houses manuscripts dating from around the fourteenth century to circa. 1945. As the institute’s title indicates, its manuscripts are mainly in Nom (the demotic Vietnamese script) and traditional Chinese. Therefore, it is possible for researchers without a command of Vietnamese to utilize this resource. However, please note that with the exception of the senior librarians, most of the librarians do not speak either English or Chinese, and all the forms are in Vietnamese. Hence, it could prove highly tricky to do research without a command of basic Vietnamese. Furthermore, while the manuscripts themselves are in Chinese, the catalogue is in Chinese and French.

Home to about four thousand titles, approximately half of the collection is on Vietnamese literature. Although materials on history—e.g. local gazettes—are fairly limited, the Vien Han-Nom is an ideal place for history researchers who are interested in doing multi-disciplinary research on pre-twentieth century Vietnam, as the Vien Han-Nom houses volumes on geography, Buddhism and epigraphy amongst other things. An online catalogue of titles available can be found here: http://www.hannom.org.vn/default.asp?CatID=131

(more…)

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 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.

(more…)

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 before urbanization. [Kwek, 2006, 1]

Born in Hong Kong in 1903, Yip arrived in Singapore with his parents when he was seven months old. His father died when he was four and he then stayed with his mother at Sago Street in Chinatown. When Yip was six, he was sent to Dongguan, China by his mother as it was difficult to make a living in Singapore. However, Yip was neglected by his supposed care-givers in the subsequent four years. Fortunately, he was taken in by kind-hearted neighbours and they contacted Yip’s mother. Yip was then brought back to Singapore where he later studied at a private school in Chinatown. [Ahmad, 2007, 1]

Yip was passionate about photography. It started as a hobby to him when he was in his twenties. Working as a technician and an engineering supervisor, he managed to save up enough money to buy his first camera – a Rolleiflex - so that he could take photos for his family album.

His interest was disrupted when the Japanese confiscated his camera during the Japanese Occupation; but it did not die and he continued to pursue photography after the Second World War. [Ahmad, 2007, 1]

Yip became a member of the Photographic Society of Singapore in 1964 at fifty years old, and became the society’s vice-president in 1966 (until 1974). He was also Advisor to the Kreta Ayer Community Centre Camera Club in 1976, and played an active role in inspiring and guiding many young people who are interested in photography. [Andrew Yip, email interview, 26 March 2008] (more…)

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 him victorious in numerous court cases. He was so skilled in law that Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong regarded him as “the greatest criminal advocate that has ever graced the halls of justice in Singapore and Malaya – A giant among pygmies at the criminal Bar.”[i

Marshall subsequently entered politics at the head of the Labor Front party and became Singapore’s first elected Chief Minister between 1955 and 1956. As Chief Minister, Marshall was a fearless opponent of British colonialism and led the early political struggles for Singapore independence. A socialist by inclination, he helped found the Singapore Worker’s Party (WP) in 1957 after he left the Labor Front. Afterwards he became a vocal critic of the People’s Action Party (PAP) which came to power in Singapore in 1959.

In spite of this, the PAP government appointed him Ambassador to France in 1978, a post he accepted and held with distinction, and which was later expanded to include the embassies of Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. He retired as in 1993 and passed away two years later on the 12 December 1995. Marshall was, in short, a key figure in Singapore’s post-war history.

Besides his achievements on the public stage, Marshall also left a lasting impression on many prominent people who knew him privately. Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador-at-large and Chairman of the National Heritage Board, studied under Marshall as a young lawyer and remembered him as “a gifted teacher… [who] brought both learning and enthusiasm to his classes…a truly an unforgettable person”.[ii] Professor Koh Kheng Lian, Emeritus Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore, recalled Marshall as “a man of great humanity and compassion, a man who lived life to the fullest, a man dedicated to his profession, his country and his people”.[iii] Marshall was regarded as by his admirers an exemplary person, both professionally and ethically.

In 1984, the National Archives of Singapore conducted an in-depth oral history interview with David Marshall containing valuable insight into his ethical beliefs and how they were formed. The rest of this article draws on this interview.

(more…)

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 a result, clinical matters took up the bulk of their time, while the running of the Asylum was neglected (Ng 2001, 15). Moreover, men had always been in-charge of caring for the lunatics at the Asylum. This was inconvenient due to lunatics in the female wards, so in January 1867 the first female employee to work in the Medical Department was sought (Ng 2001, 14).

The administration of the Straits Settlements was transferred from the India office to the Colonial Office on 1 April 1867, and the Settlements became a Crown Colony (Lee 1978, 205). The immediate impact on the Medical Department was an in-depth inquiry into the state of affairs in all hospitals. The Governor, Sir Harry Ord, was at first indignant until it was made clear that the purpose “was to indicate the standard of care expected” and not to put blame (Lee 1978, 205).

Since then, the Asylum was to be managed according to the Digest on Hospitals and Asylums, published on 14 January 1867 and sent to Singapore on 18 December 1867 (Lee 1978, 205). The law in place at the time of transfer was the Indian Lunacy Act of 1858, which was a simplified version of the Shaftesbury’s Act for the Regulation of the Care and Treatment of Lunatics passed on 4 August 1845. The Digest also incorporated the spirit of provisions of the English Act, and that was the benchmark expected after 1869 (Lee 1978, 206).

(more…)

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 than had been at Convict Gaol. It was a 30-bed hospital, and “the number of lunatics seldom exceeded 30 or 40” (Ng 2001, 9). The lunatics were taken care of by warders who also guarded the convicts jailed in the adjacent brick structure (Ng 2001, 9).

Colonel W. J. Butterworth was made Governor of the Settlements on 14 June 1843 (Lee 1978, 196). On his familiarisation tour of government institutions, he noticed the poor conditions at the Hospital (Ng 2001, 9; Lee 1978, 196). On 20 June 1844, the Singapore Free Press reported one of nine Presentations by the Grand Jury, who played an important role in influencing the management of lunatics in Singapore and whose role was different from those in criminal courts (Lee 1978, 195). The Grand Jurors had noted that little was being done to care for the mentally ill in addition to the lack of space at the Hospital (Lee 1978, 196).

Governor Butterworth was annoyed as he had believed improvements would have been made since his last visit (Lee 1978, 196). He then ordered that the Hospital be put under the personal charge of Dr Thomas Oxley, who had become Senior Surgeon in 1844 (Ng 2001, 9; IMH 2003, 16). Dr Oxley’s first step was to appoint Assistant Apothecary Henry Lloyd, a qualified medical person, to be in charge of the Hospital and personally answerable to him for the care of the lunatics (Lee 1978, 197).

By February 1846, Dr Oxley reported improvements in the Hospital conditions (Ng 2001, 9; IMH 2003, 16; Lee 1978, 197). He was also actively sourcing for avenues to supplement the Hospital income (Lee 1978, 197). Dr Oxley made three such attempts. The first was picking oakum for sale. The second was basket weaving (Ng 2001, 9; Lee 1978, 197), which was the earliest semblance to occupational therapy (IMH 2003, 16). The money earned from the sale of oakum and baskets provided for two sets of clothing per person (IMH 2003, 16).

(more…)

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 through the years flowed over from the West.

When Sir Stamford Raffles set foot on the island on 28 January 1819, he had with him Sub-Assistant Surgeon Thomas Prendergast, who was the medical officer-in-charge in the expedition. In May, he was joined by Assistant Surgeon William Montgomerie, a more senior officer. Their duties were of military and civil nature, and they served in Singapore till 1823 and 1827 respectively before returning to Bengal (Lee 1978, 194).

In June 1827, the medical duties were shared between Surgeon B. C. Henderson and Assistant Surgeon Warrand, who came with a detachment of troops to relieve Montgomerie. Henderson was responsible for the General and Pauper Hospitals while Warrand was responsible for the convicts and troops (Lee 1978, 194). No institution for the mentally ill was available then. (more…)

Tangent Special Issue, 6 (2), 2007, edited by Loh Kah Seng

Synopsis

In this special issue of Tangent, the twelve contributors will examine an oft untold side of history. What follow are our reflections on ongoing or recently-completed research into Singapore’s history after World War Two. We write of our engagements with the “makers” and “keepers” of this history, of how, because the period is close to the present, both the archival and oral records are frequently difficult to obtain.

By “makers”, we refer to participants who had a hand in shaping the past, including the elites and ordinary people. By “keepers”, we mean public officials who manage access to government archives, and also the “makers” who, when interviewed, decide what and how much of their experiences are to be shared.

It is, we maintain, important to talk about our attempts to engage the makers and gatekeepers of history, because while history is about the past, an account of the research is invariably about the present. This issue, in other words, considers the uneasy, ambivalent relationship between present-day Singapore society and its past, and the mediating role of historians in between. (more…)

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 condemn the occupation (of Tibet).”[ii]

Despite some insightful points made on the cultural ties between Indonesia and Tibet by Anand Krishna, a well respected spiritual activist, I cannot agree that he speaks for all “students of history”. Placards waved by Pro-China demonstrators from San Francisco to Canberra with the words, “Tibet was, is and will always be a part of China” (emphasis mine) continues to betray the partisanships of the issue. (more…)

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 of disapproval” since people were not aware that it was happening. They then talked about their childhood days when they had just started saving with the POSB. They excitedly recall how they exchanged their savings for stamps to paste on their cards.

This was not the first time I have heard of collecting stamps to save, but it was something I had not experienced before. As such, it made me question how my parents’ generation remembers the POSB, in contrast to my own experience, and why this experience is only articulated through the context of the acquisition of POSB by DBS. (more…)