After completing my Master’s dissertation in 2004, entitled ‘Localizing Memoryscapes, Building a Nation: the Memorialization of the Second World War in Singapore’, I was engaged as a Research Assistant to a few of the lecturers within the NUS Geography Department. Even though some of the research I had to do was not directly related to my main interests in war landscapes and commemoration, I believe I greatly benefited from the wide exposure that these experiences had provided me. In fact, I feel it was this, as well as my previous position as a curator in a war museum in Singapore, that have primarily helped me secure my current position as a Research Associate with the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. The position entails undertaking a wide-range of allocated research tasks, both mundane and administrative, as well as others which are more enriching and challenging. As part of a new programme that the University of Durham introduced this year, this five-year contract position also allows me to pursue my Ph.D. studies on a part time basis. The topic of my PhD research is ‘Postcolonial Landscapes and the Memorialization of the Second World War in Malaysia’.

Thus far, my life in the United Kingdom has been an absolutely wonderful experience. Although I had my initial misgivings, since it was my first stint working abroad, I realized that I was eventually able to adapt to the local culture without major problems. In the course of working/studying here, I have also had the occasion to make many new friends as well as embarked on numerous trips around Europe. The best thing about my research is that it still allows me to make frequent trips back to Asia, and Malaysia/Singapore more specifically. That way, one might say I am thus able to enjoy the best of both worlds: the East as well as the West. More significantly, I do believe that the experiences I have already encountered, or yet to encounter, here over the next five years, will definitely add towards my personal as well as career growth. However, none of these would have been possible without the careful guidance and support that have been provided to me by the staff and faculty of the NUS Geography Department who have not only helped to shape my research interests but also my goals in life!