B.A. (Hons) (Murdoch), MIM (Monash), PhD (UWA)
Tel: (65) 6516 4932
Office: AS7 06-43
Born in Singapore, I have an interest in local history since my secondary school days. My family has impressed upon me how Singapore has changed so much since colonial days. My grandmother used to tell me stories of what her life was like in the first half of the 20th century. With this interest in history, I decided to read the subject in the university. I did my undergraduate degree in History and Politics at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. In 1996, I was awarded an Honours in Asian Studies.
Between July 1996 and June 2003, I worked in the National Archives of Singapore, where I conducted oral history interviews for a project on the history of the civil service. Conducting oral history interviews was also an opportunity for me to find out more about local social and cultural history, especially the impact of Western popular music. In 2003, I took time off from work to do a PhD in History and Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia. After completing my dissertation in December 2006, I rejoined the National Archives of Singapore before joining the Department of History at NUS as a Postdoctoral Fellow in August 2008. My main research interests now are the socio-economic history of the overseas Chinese in Singapore and their trading links with China.
When I was ten, I started collecting stamps. My classmates were doing the same thing and we were trying to see who had collected at least one stamp from as many countries as possible. I do not know who won but my interest in stamps has continued to this day. I also love listening to popular music from the 1950s to the 1980s and watching old movies. I never seem to get enough of Merseybeat and Alfred Hitchcock. Whenever I am not listening to music or watching movies, I would read detective novels and watching television series on crime. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’, ‘Monk’ and ‘Midsomer Murders’ still fascinate me!
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RESEARCH INTERESTS:
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Trading links betwenn China and the Chinese community in Singapore in the 20th Century |
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Social history of the Chinese community in Singapore, particularly the Hokkeins since the late 19th century |
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Imperialism, colonialism and Christianity in China and Singapore since the 19th century |
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Popular culture (mainly the impact of Western films and music on society) in Singapore from the 1950s to the 1970s |
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Effects of military conflicts in Southeast Asia such as World War II and the Vietnam War |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
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‘The Promotion of Fujian Tea as a Chinese National Product in Singapore, 1932-1940’, Journal of the South Seas Society, Vol. 62, October 2008, pp. 127-145. |
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‘Reflections of Research Work on the Singapore Chinese Tea Merchants, 1920-1960’, Tangent, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2007, pp. 62-66 (Chinese) and 67-71 (English). |
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'The Business of Empire: The Fujian Tea Industry and Trade Through the Eyes of Jardine, Matheson & Co, 1928-1939’, in Peter Limb (ed), Orb and Sceptre: Studies on British Imperialism and its Legacies, in Honour of Norman Etherington. (Clayton, Vic: Monash University ePress, 2008), pp. 9.1 to 9.14. |
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‘The Education Concerns and Political Outlook of Lim Keng Lian (1893-1968)’, Journal of Chinese Overseas, Vol. 3, No. 2, November 2007, pp. 194-219. |
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‘Memories of a Community-Based Occupation: What Trishaw Riders Remember about Their Trade, 1942-68’, in National Archives of Singapore (ed), Reflections & Interpretations: Oral History Centre 25th Anniversary Publication, (Singapore: National Heritage Board, 2005), pp. 167-198. |
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‘Assumptions and Evidence: The Case of Philip Robinson’, Brethren Historians and Archivists Network Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2004, pp. 18-47. |
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‘The Trishaw Industry as a “Bang”-Based Trade’, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 69, Part 2, December 1996, pp. 39-59. |
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"...When I was ten, I started collecting stamps..."
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