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 “Temasik”, but he renamed it “Singapura” or… »

The Photography of Yip Cheong Fun

by 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

by 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

by 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)

by 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)

by 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… »

Shedding Some Light: Rifle Range Road

by Kevin Lee
Leading into a quiet residential area in posh Bukit Timah is a road that doesn’t conjure up images of quiet or residents: Rifle Range Road.

But the area does seem to have been a residential area even before the present houses there were built - except that early residents, though living on landed property,… »

Reading Culture in Singapore: Searching for (Good) Second-Hand Bookstores

by Dinesh Sathisan
One of my passions is travelling. Whenever I travel to places like Paris, London or New York (amongst others), I never do what Lonely Planet has advised tourists to do, but rather love taking the off-beaten track in exploring these cities or learning about its people and culture. And the highlight of my… »

Shedding Some Light: Singapore Quarry

by Kevin Lee
Between the bustling Upper Bukit Timah Road and Jalan Asas (which bustles with eateries) is a road that seems caught in a time-warp. The road has no identification signs and is apparently nameless. The first part of the road is choc-a-bloc with rocks and what appear to be chips from bricks and tiles…. »

Movie: Invisible City

The latest work from Tan Pin Pin Invisible City opens 19 July 2007 with free screenings at NUS followed by a commercial run at The Arts House. Tan Pin Pin, one of Singapore’s best known filmmakers, directed the critically and commercially acclaimed Singapore GaGa as well as the multi award-winning Moving House. She now turns… »