The Historyogi Podcast Dhevarajan Devadas

When we study and discuss history in Singapore, we usually focus on the social and political history of this country. However, the people’s relationship with this island’s natural environment also tells a rich story of its own. Today, we speak to Associate Professor Timothy Barnard from the National University of Singapore about his new edited book, Singaporean Creatures. We discuss environmental history during the colonial era from his previous book and how early national development policies regulated and restructured Singapore’s relationship with animals.

When we think about the history of Indians in British Malaya, their work in the rubber estates usually comes to mind first. But Indians also helped construct, operate and maintain the Malayan Railways that stretched across the peninsula and connected Singapore as well. Along with the tracks came numerous Hindu temples and shrines that shaped Malaya’s religious landscape. Today, we speak to Professor Vineeta Sinha from the National University of Singapore about her new book Temple Tracks. We discuss the history of Indian labourers in the Malayan Railways, their role in religion-making via temple construction, and how these railway temple stories symbolise the contributions of Indians in developing colonial Malaya and independent Malaysia.

When we think about Southeast Asia during the Cold War, we usually think just about Indochina and the Vietnam War. But British counterinsurgency strategies and engagement with nationalist elites in Malaya and Singapore also influenced America’s anti-communist policies in the region. Today, we speak to Associate Professor Ngoei Wen-Qing from the Singapore Management University about his book Arc of Containment. We discuss why Britain and America shared ideas on containing communist threats in Southeast Asia and how Singapore and Malaya managed the transition from British imperialism to American hegemony during the Cold War.

Before he was President of Singapore, Yusof Ishak was the Yang di-Pertuan Negara which directly translates to “He Who is Made Lord”. Singaporeans generally know little about this role, other than it was the predecessor of the current presidency and a symbol of self-government. But in fact, the British, Federation of Malaya, and Singapore leaders all actively struggled to define the Yang di-Pertuan Negara’s powers and symbolism so that the office would align with their political vision for the island. Today, we speak to Muhammad Suhail, a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, who has authored a new book on the Yang di-Pertuan Negara. We discuss the intense debate over Singapore’s future constitutional arrangements in the 1950s, the British desire to keep effective control over Singapore, Malaya’s fears of communist influence, and Singapore’s demand for a public symbol of true autonomy.

NTUC FairPrice is such a household icon in Singapore that it’s more famous than the union movement itself. But how did NTUC come to operate a supermarket chain in the first place? Today, we speak to Sue-Ann Chia, co-editor of a new book titled “The Price of Being Fair” which chronicles FairPrice’s 50 years in business. We discuss FairPrice’s beginnings during heavy inflation, the pivotal decisions and costly mistakes it made, the supermarket wars, and its crucial role in national supply chain resilience.

In 1996, an Ang Moh arrived in Toa Payoh to start a new life. He loved Singapore’s idiosyncrasies so much that he decided to turn his humorous observations of everyday life here into a series of books. Today, we speak to Neil Humphreys, author of Notes From An Even Smaller Island (2001) and numerous other titles, about his take on 1990s Singapore, kiasu behaviour, colonial history and what he considers most unique about this little island.