Biblioasia Jul-Sep 2019.Pdf

JUL–SEP 2019 JUL–SEP

Issue Vol. 15 02 Medical Milestones 36 / Medical Colonial Violence in Southeast Asia in Southeast 06 / Colonial Violence Keppel & Sembawang Shipyards & Sembawang 24 / Keppel p. 16 The

Magical Manuscripts 02 / Magical

of 1838–1842

Georgette Chen: Artist & Writer Chen: Artist 10 / Georgette Wilkes Expedition

BIBLIOASIA JUL–SEP 2019 Vol. 15 / Issue 02 biblioasia VOLUME 15 JUL This issue of BiblioAsia presents yet another selection of diverse and, hopefully, riveting SEP essays for your reading pleasure. ISSUE 02 2019 Director’s CONTENTS Writing is an art form that is increasingly sidelined in this digital world of truncated emails and text messages. Novelist Meira Chand looks back at her collection of written manuscripts FEATURE Note – filled with random notes and scribblings on the margins – and ponders over their value in a Don’t Mention Georgette Chen: time where writers have gone paperless. In not dissimilar vein, K.U. Menon pores over letters 06 the Corpses: The 10 Artist Extraordinaire written by government officials in postwar Singapore as part of a declassification project by Erasure of Violence the National Archives, and rues the death of elegant writing. in Colonial Writings Still on the subject of authorship, Farish Noor’s essay on the violence inflicted by the on Southeast Asia British on the people and lands they colonised in Southeast Asia and its glaring omission in 19th-century writings – including those by Stamford Raffles – provide much food for thought. From the mid-18th to the 19th century, several scientific expeditions were launched by On Writers and European nations to map out newly “discovered” lands around the world. An American naval their Manuscripts expedition in 1842 is noteworthy for the breadth of scientific and educational knowledge it 02 acquired during the course of its journey. Led by Lt. Charles Wilkes, the fleet made a stop in Singapore in 1842, as Vidya Schalk reveals. U.S. EX. EX.: The Story of Two Shipyards: Profit was clearly the main motive when Singapore’s first dockyard was established in 16 An Expedition for 24 Keppel & Sembawang the Ages 1859 to take advantage of the island’s position at the crossroads of East-West trade. Wee Beng Geok traces the colonial roots of Keppel and Sembawang shipyards – both major drivers in the economy today. Moving on to more recent times, Lim Tin Seng charts Singapore’s efforts in preserving and conserving historic buildings and sites since 1950, while Cheong Suk-Wai uses oral history interviews to weave a fascinating narrative of some of our significant breakthroughs and achievements in the field of medicine. People who grew up in Singapore in the 1970s will likely remember shopping at an Oriental Emporium. Kam Kit Geok takes a look at the history of this home-grown chain of department stores. Jeffrey Say asserts that Singapore’s contemporary art scene can be traced to 1986, at least two years before the start point generally agreed by art critics while Sara Siew examines Groundbreaking: The Beginnings the life of pioneer artist Georgette Chen, and reveals the little-known fact that Chen was an 30 of Contemporary Art in Singapore equally prolific writer. Ms Tan Huism Finally, we look at the career of the late photographer K.F. Wong. While his images Director provide an important perspective of Singapore in the postwar years, it is his photos of the National Library, indigenous peoples of Borneo that brought him critical acclaim, as Zhuang Wubin tells us. Singapore We hope you enjoy reading this issue.

Doctor, Doctor! Singapore’s 36 Medical Services Editorial & Production

To Wreck or to Recreate: From the Archives: The Work of “I hasten to beg Managing Editor Contributors Sara Siew Please direct all correspondence to On the cover Giving New Life to Singapore’s Photographer K.F. Wong your indulgence…”: Francis Dorai Cheong Suk-Wai 44 52 59 Vidya Schalk National Library Board A painting of the USS Vincennes in Built Heritage When Declassifying Farish A. Noor Wee Beng Geok 100 Victoria Street #14-01 Disappointment Bay, Antarctica, c. 1840, Can Also Mean Editor Jeffrey Say National Library Building based on a sketch by Lt. Charles Wilkes. Veronica Chee Zhuang Wubin Part of the United States Exploring Decoding Kam Kit Geok Singapore 188064 Expedition fleet, this 127-foot (39-m) Email: [email protected] Editorial Support K.U. Menon Design and Print Boston-class sloop-of-war under the Website: www.nlb.gov.sg command of Lt. Wilkes arrived in Singapore Masamah Ahmad Lim Tin Seng Oxygen Studio Designs Pte Ltd on 19 February 1842. Image from Fiona Lim Meira Chand Wikimedia Commons.

All rights reserved. National Library Board, Singapore, 2019.

BiblioAsia is a free quarterly publication produced by the National ISSN 0219-8126 (print) Library Board. It features articles on the history, culture and heritage ISSN 1793-9968 (online) of Singapore within the larger Asian context, and has a strong focus The views of writers and contributors do not reflect the views of the Publisher. No part of this on the collections and services of the National Library. BiblioAsia is publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission from distributed to local and international libraries, academic institutions, the Publisher and copyright owner(s). government ministries and agencies, as well as members of the public. www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/ Oriental Emporium: Whilst reasonable care has been taken to ensure The online edition can be accessed with the QR code on the right. the accuracy of the information in this publication, 64 The End of an Era the Publisher accepts no ­legal liabilities whatsoever for the contents of this magazine. BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Dr Meira Chand’s nine novels reflect her multicultural experiences, having lived in Japan and India before moving to Singapore in 1997. A National Library Dis- tinguished Reader, she has a PhD in creative writing from the University of Western Australia and is actively engaged in nurturing young Singaporean writers. On

As a young writer many years ago, it thrilled me to go to the Reading Room of the British Museum in London. This amassive circular room with a soaring glass-domed ceiling opened in 1857, and and Their it quickly became a mecca for writers (Facing page) A panoramic view of the interior of the British Museum Reading Room in 2006. Situated in from all over the world, who came here the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, this used to be the main reading room of the British to research and write, and breathe in its Library. In 1997, this function moved to the new British Library building at St Pancras in London. Image from rarefied literary atmosphere. Wikimedia Commons. Until its closure in 1997 and its (Above) Meira Chand is an award-winning novelist of Swiss-Indian parentage, who is now a Singaporean citizen. transformation into an exhibition space in the British Museum, many famous writers and luminaries used the Reading know it is absolutely rotten. A couple Not yet published and unsure of my Room, including the likes of Oscar Wilde, of months later you wonder if it may own worth as a writer in those early days, Karl Marx, Sun Yat Sen, George Bernard not be all right after all. it was easy to question the value of stor- Shaw, H.G. Wells, Virginia Woolf and Sir ing so much paper and, in exasperation, No great work of literature is completed in just one draft. In an age where Arthur Conan Doyle, to name but a few. Whenever I pick up, in a library or sometimes even throwing it all away. writers have gone paperless, novelist ponders over the value of There were glass cases in the Reading bookshop, the published volumes of those Indeed, I did dispose of early typed drafts Meira Chand Room, in which were displayed the hand- very manuscripts I had gazed at in awe in of my first novel, thinking them to be of manuscripts, and what they might reveal about a writer’s thought process. written manuscripts of famous authors: the British Museum – still being printed no consequence until my first publisher in Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and many and read by modern readers – I can only London alerted me to the fact that I might more. I used to stare at these sheets of marvel at the unchanging quality of the regret such impulsive action at a future paper in awe. Thin and yellowed with age, writer’s imagination through time. These stage in my writing career. I understood they were crammed with inky words that, memories came back to me recently in this sentiment when I made my donation in a long ago moment, had fallen fresh Singapore when I donated my own manu- to the National Library. from the minds of these great writers. scripts and associated research materials I have written nine novels over several A flow and urgency were apparent in to the National Library. decades, but have lived an itinerant life for the writing, the dark hatching of corrections the most part, residing for long periods of thick upon the pages, as were the occasional time in different parts of the world. After ink blobs, smears and fingerprints. So much several decades of living in Japan I finally of the writer’s emotion seemed evident in In the digital age, most, if not all, work is made my way to Singapore in 1997; among the handwriting, in the choice of paper, produced on a computer, the document the things I brought with me were drafts of and even the strength of the pen marks. saved to a file in the hard drive and finally some of my novels. As a professional nove­ It was humbling to realise that before me emailed to a publisher, who will likely read list, I have continued to write through my was the rawness of the creative process it on a computer screen. Increasingly, long residence in Singapore. As the number in the seminal moments of a classic work. writers accumulate paperless manuscripts of my published books accumulated, so This moment is beautifully described and, because of this, original handwritten have the paper drafts of those works that by Agatha Christie: manuscripts, such as those of the classics I still need to work on. Over the years, the I saw in the British Museum, hold ever boxes of stored manuscripts have taken You start into it, inflamed by an more fascination for us. over my study, stacked shoulder high, idea, full of hope, full indeed of Old habits die hard, and although the span of my writing life grown up like a confidence… know just how you are I now work in a largely paperless way, I forest around me. going to write it, rush for a pencil, and still like to correct and edit on a printed When the librarians from the National start in an exercise book buoyed up hard copy. When I began my career as a Library came to view the materials, it with exaltation. You then get into young writer in the days before computers, amused me to see how delighted they difficulties, don’t see your way out, manuscripts were bulky things comprising were at the emergence of the most hea­ and finally manage to accomplish many physical drafts. As a result, the writer vily worked manuscripts. Not only were more or less what you first meant to invariably ended up with stacks of paper, these manuscripts thickly pencilled upon accomplish, though losing confidence boxed or bound with string, all heavily with corrections, but many pages were, all the time. Having finished it, you worked with corrections and edits. quite literally, cut and pasted together. In 02 03 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Some of the manuscripts and ephemera for The grounding the objectivity of the object in spend large sums of money to acquire those deepest parts within us. It is this wish Painted Cage that Meira Chand donated to the the subjectivity of the subject. To Kant, the the manuscripts of famous writers. Two to share in the direct experience of the National Library. Work on The Painted Cage started imagination preconditions our very expe- hundred years ago, nobody would have writer that fuels the push within libraries several years prior to its publication in 1986. She also visited museums and heritage sites in Japan rience of the world, rather than coming bothered to archive contemporary literary and archival institutions around the world to gather information on foreigners who had lived from a transcendent place beyond man, work. Today, in the digital age, manuscripts to build archives of primary materials. there in the 19th century as part of her research. as some earlier philosophers suggested. have acquired both a meaningful and a This is why the librarians from the To the writer, however, when caught magical value. National Library welcomed my own in the heat of inspiration, the seemingly For the student of literature, the humble, handwritten exercise books, the days before computers, this is what unstoppable flow of words can come meaningful is found in what a writer has the sheets of manuscript padded with all writers did – a pair of scissors and a only from a Divine Mind. The poet cut out or changed in the manuscript, the pieces of cut and pasted text, and even an tube of glue were part of any writer’s William Wordsworth provides a wonder- variations of each draft presenting a men- unrelated shopping list hastily scribbled kit. When I now click the “cut” button on ful metaphor for the way all writers feel tal map of the writer’s intention, struggle into a margin. The extraordinary journey my Mac, and then slide the cursor down when writing. He speaks of withdrawing and literary journey. The magic, however, of literary creation holds us in awe as we and select “paste”, I never fail to draw a from the world to the “watchtower” is found in the mystery of artistic genius. view a manuscript. From the intimacy of breath of deep gratitude for the wonders of his solitary spirit. Perhaps it is this While viewing a manuscript, we can, as the written page, the writer appears to of modern technology. heightened state of awareness and its it were, stand at the author’s side at the reach out across time and space, linking While assessing and sorting through connection to our common humanity that very moment their imagination is pushed us in direct and authentic experience to the many boxes in my study, the National the writer seems able to command that beyond the boundaries of human ability. the work being produced. Library people noticed that most of the imbues literary manuscripts with such Literature’s invaluable gift to society manuscripts were of my later books. romantic power for the public. is found in the human sharing of spirit and REFERENCES “Where are your earliest handwritten In our modern world, the interest experience. The reader enters the writer’s Brock, J.A. (2018, January 8). 100+ famous authors manuscripts?” they asked me. Although in literary manuscripts has grown enor- mind, and the writer enters the reader’s and their writing spaces. The Writing Cooperative. Retrieved from The Writing Cooperative website. I had indeed handwritten my first four mously. Many institutions, particularly in mind. Together, they journey through the Gioia, D. (1996). The magical value of manuscripts. The novels, and laboriously typed them up on the United States and the United Kingdom, imagination to unknown worlds and to Hudson Review. Retrieved from Dana Gioia website. an old typewriter, in the intervening years only to them. Joyce destroyed an early cushioned by the literal cutting and pasting of relocating from one place to another, I play, A Brilliant Career, leaving just the together of text that I did in those days. had forgotten where I had stored them. title page with the words “To my own soul It was a strange feeling to open up THE MAGIC OF MANUSCRIPTS achievement both as a novel and as a social that was longlisted for the Booker Prize in But I was certain they were not lost. I dedicate the first true work of my life”. those old dog-eared exercise books, to document...” 1986 and reissued by Marshall Cavendish By Michelle Heng, Literary Arts Librarian, The poet Philip Larkin kept very personal look down at the flow of my own firm National Library, Singapore While living in Japan, the author (Singapore) in 2018. diaries throughout his life, but wished them writing, and to see the pressure of emo- visited various museums and heritage sites Meira Chand’s authorial drafts and destroyed upon his death as he did not tion, the urgency to capture the torrent Dr Meira Chand's first donation to the to gather information for her early novels. research materials capture the magic of Manuscripts do get lost for many different want controversial elements of his life to of thoughts, the cross-hatching of correc- National Library, Singapore, in 2014 These Japanese- and English-language a writer’s creative process and provide a reasons, and there have been some famous be revealed. His request was honoured by tions, the smears and finger-marks, the included manuscripts, typescripts and ephemera – including brochures and fascinating behind-the-scenes peek into losses in history. In 1597, the playwright his long-time secretary, who burned the lot. stain of a coffee cup. And remembering research materials relating to drafts for booklets – on old European-style mansions her works. One of the key functions of Ben Johnson, a contemporary of William My own early manuscripts were not how I had stood before the writings of A Different Sky (Random House: London, inhabited by expatriates in Japan from the National Library is the collection and Shakespeare, wrote a play, The Isle of Dogs. lost for any such dramatic reason; I had Dickens and so many other literary immor- 2010), an Oprah Winfrey-recommended the mid-19th to early 20th-century were preservation of documentary materials The subject matter so offended the govern- just forgotten where I had stored them. tals in the Reading Room of the British novel that follows the arc of modern donated to the National Library, along with relating to Singapore’s history and heri- ment that Johnson was arrested and orders Museum so long ago, I felt humbled to Singapore history. a reproduction of a 1865 plan of the Yoko- tage. Dr Chand’s donation to the library's given to burn his script. Unfortunately, have shared with every writer across time, Her most recent donation in 2018 hama Foreign Settlement. The author used Donor Collection augments the growing there is no record of the contents of the in my own very small way, the miracle of includes typescripts of The Bonsai Tree these materials as research for The Painted collection of research materials gifted play; we only know that it was written by Last summer, with my family, I visited our human imagination. Walt Whitman (John Murray: London, 1983), a novel Cage (Century Hutchinson: London, 1986), by authors associated with Singapore’s Johnson and subsequently fell victim to a home I still own in the mountains of described it most evocatively: about a young English woman who mar- a murder mystery set in 1890s Yokohama literary development. the censorship of the day. Nagano, northwest of Tokyo, the residue ries the Japanese heir to a textile empire In more modern times, the Polish of my many years in Japan. The house has “The secret of it all, is to write in and her many travails at a time when Jewish writer Bruno Schultz, aware of the a dusty attic that, to my grandchildren, the gush, the throb, the flood of foreigners were reviled by conservative threat to his life (he was murdered by the was magically intriguing. Exploring the the moment – to put things down Japanese society. The author’s reworked Nazis in 1942), entrusted the manuscript attic in excitement, they found, under without deliberation – without editions and handwritten markings on of his last novel, The Messiah, to the care a pile of old carpets, a leather suitcase worrying about their style – without these typescripts offer a glimpse into of friends. After his death, his biographer and four large boxes of manuscripts. I waiting for a fit time and place… the painstaking process that goes into searched in vain among his friends for this had forgotten I had stored them there By writing at the instant, the very the birth of a literary work. The British missing work. The manuscript has never when relocating to Singapore, and hadn’t heartbeat of life is caught.” Book News stated in October 1983 been found. noticed them beneath the carpets while that, “The Bonsai Tree is a considerable Following her suicide in 1963, Sylvia previously cleaning out the attic. I was Plath’s estranged husband, Ted Hughes, filled with enormous relief and emotion destroyed her last writings because he at the sight of all this yellowing paper, as Philosophers have examined the miracle The author’s copious markings in her own did not wish their children to read the if a lost child had been returned to me. of the imagination across the ages, from handwriting on the time-ripened pages of her contents. Similarly, William Blake’s liter- In the boxes and suitcase that I Sophocles to Paracelsus to those of our manuscripts for her novel, The Bonsai Tree, offer ary executor deliberately destroyed some unpacked upon my return to Singapore, modern times. Breaking with earlier ideas a glimpse into the painstaking creative process. Previously published by John Murray (London) in of his works, believing that they were the many notebooks and binders in which about the source of the imagination, the 1983, The Bonsai Tree was reissued by Marshall inspired by the Devil no less. I had handwritten my first four novels philosopher Immanuel Kant saw it as the Cavendish (Singapore) in 2018. The novel was Many writers, such as James Joyce, finally emerged. I also found the early hidden condition of all knowledge. He longlisted for the Booker Prize in 1983. destroy their own work for reasons known typed drafts of these novels, all heavily speaks of it as being transcendental, of 04 05 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE Don't Mention the Corpses The Erasure of Violence in Colonial Writings on Southeast Asia History may be written by the victors, but what they conveniently

leave out can be more telling. Farish Noor reminds us of the (Left) Native Dayaks (or Dyaks) in Sarawak using sumpita, or blowpipes, to defend themselves from a coastal violent side of colonial conquest. attack led by James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak. Image reproduced from Brooke, J., & Mundy, G.R. (1848). Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, Down to the Occupation of Labuan […] (Vol. II; 2nd ed.) (facing p. 227). London: John Murray. (Microfilm no.:NL7435). (Above) The court of the Sultan of Borneo, with the audience chamber filled with natives, all well-dressed and armed. The sultan sits cross-legged on the throne at the upper end of the chamber. Frank Marryat describes him as being bald and dressed in a “loose jacket and trousers or purple satin, richly embroidered with gold, a close-fitting vest of gold cloth, and a light cloth turban on his head”. Image reproduced from Marryat, F.S. (1848). Borneo and the Indian Archipelago: With Drawings of Costume and Scenery (p. 109). London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Retrieved from BookSG.

Mundy’s account in Narrative of Events in onslaughts will achieve nothing beyond a Borneo and Celebes, Down to the Occu- present and temporary good”.8 pation of Labuan (1848);5 and Marryat’s Violence was thus a constant leitmotif Borneo and the Indian Archipelago (1848)6 in many of the works written by colonial – would become the most widely read authors who arrived in Southeast Asia in accounts of the so-called “war on piracy” in the 19th century. Colonies were rarely maritime Southeast Asia, ultimately adding built by peaceful negotiations, and often the seal of legitimacy for what was really through the unequal contest of arms a sustained campaign to weaken Brunei’s between unequal powers. In the writings standing as an independent Southeast of men like Snodgrass, Keppel, Mundy and Asian polity. Marryat, we see the power differentials Although Keppel, Mundy and Marryat between East and West laid bare as we were directly involved in the naval campaign witness the bloody genesis of new colonies in Borneo, and supportive of the efforts across the region. to expand British colonial power across The fact that these authors did not “All conquest literature seeks to Among the many outcomes of the colonial colonisation in Burma, Anglo-Burmese for the Burmese as a people – his work the region while weakening the power of feel the need to hide the truth that colo- explain to the conquerors ‘why era in Southeast Asia – from the 18th to the relations were largely hostile throughout is full of snide and disparaging remarks local kingdoms such as Brunei, they were nialism was built through violence is also we are here’.”1 19th century – is a body of writing that can most of the 19th century, and culminated about the Burmans and their ruler – he also brutally frank in their accounts of the a reflection of the mores and sensibilities be best described as colonial literature. By in a series of costly wars: the First Anglo- did not hide the fact that the battles conflict and the realities of colonial warfare. during the age of Empire. In the 19th this I am referring not only to the accounts Burmese War (1824–26), the Second Anglo- of the First Anglo-Burmese War were Keppel and Mundy did not hide the century, the technological gap between – Robert Bartlett, a that were written by intrepid European Burmese War (1852–53) and the Third ferocious, and remarked that “our first fact that attacks on native settlements did East and West widened. In tandem with The Making of Europe (1993) travellers who ventured to this region, but Anglo-Burmese War (7–29 November 1885). encounters with the troops of Ava were indeed take place, and Keppel was honest this development arose a body of pseudo- also the writings of colonial bureaucrats, Among those who wrote about these sanguinary and revolting”.3 enough to admit that, in the course of the scientific theories of racial difference and colony-builders and administrators, and wars was Major John J. Snodgrass, whose A similar kind of frankness can be subjugation of the natives of Sarawak, the racial hierarchies in which Asians and the men who took part in the conquest account of the First Anglo-Burmese War found in the works of men like Admiral colonial forces – led by the adventurer Africans were cast as “inferior” races who of the region by force of arms. was from the viewpoint of a British officer Henry Keppel, George Rodney Mundy and James Brooke – had also committed acts were backward, degenerate and unable to serving in the colonial army. Snodgrass’ Frank Marryat. All three were navy men, of plunder and looting.7 Keppel went as far govern themselves. Dr Farish A. Noor is presently Associate Professor The Justification for Violence Narrative of the Burmese War (1827) was and all of them had taken part in the naval as stating that such excessive use of vio- Such notions – though largely dis- at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies It is interesting to see how these authors a work that was bellicose and ultimately campaign off the coast of Sarawak that lence – which included the razing of native credited today – were all the rage then, and the School of History, College of Humanities, dealt with the issue of violence that often triumphalist in tone and tenor, and as led to the eventual attack on the Kingdom villages to the ground – was necessary, for and were often used to justify the use of Arts, and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. His latest book is Before the Pivot: came with colonisation, and how such he had conceded earlier in his work, the of Brunei. The works of these three men “without a continued and determined series force in the process of empire-building. America’s Encounters with Southeast Asia 1800– violence was sometimes justified or even war was in fact “an unequal contest”.2 – Keppel’s Expedition to Borneo of HMS of operations of this sort, it is my conviction The idea was that “savage” and “primitive” 1900 (Amsterdam University Press, 2018). celebrated. In the long-drawn process of Although Snodgrass had little sympathy Dido for the Suppression of Piracy (1846);4 that even the most sanguinary and fatal Asians and Africans stood to benefit from 06 07 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

exposure to Western civilisation, and would ting a one-sided view of the Javanese royal regalia and jewellery, among other was motivated by only the best motives to achieve by doing so in their writings. only submit to their colonial subjugators as a “degenerate” race that was lost in items – was put together by Raffles for his “to do good, to excite interest and to Scholars of colonial history are no doubt if they were forced to do so at gunpoint. the past and unable to progress without own research and his private collection. make friends”.17 appreciative of the fact that some of these Western intervention. To make things Such sanitised colonial propaganda colonial-era writers – such as Snodgrass, The Erasure of Violence worse, contemporary scholars such as The Violence Wrought Upon Java would become the norm in the decades to Keppel, Mundy and Marryat – were hon- And yet there is also another parallel tradi- Peter Carey (1992) have noted several Contemporary historians have pointed come. In 1862, yet another hagiographic est in their accounts of the violence they tion of colonial writing that emerged in the instances of plagiarism and fabrication out that the arrival of the British in Java, account of the Brooke legend appeared in perpetrated. At the very least, this opens 19th century. This took the form of works in Raffles’ work.12 which began with the attack on Batavia the form of Spenser St John’s two-volume the way for a critical discussion of colonial- that seemed to deliberately sideline the Notwithstanding the academic (present-day Jakarta), was anything but work, Life in the Forests of the Far East. In ism and its enduring legacy. topic of violence altogether, attempting to shortcomings of The History of Java, there peaceful: so violent was the assault on the this work, St John repeated the familiar The works of Raffles, Low and St erase all memory of the violent encounters is also a glaring omission in the text – the fortified port-city that bodies were said trope of Brooke as the white saviour whose John, however, pose a far greater chal- between the colonising powers and the elephant in the room as it were – which is to have been piled up one on top of the presence alone would restore order – which lenge. In rereading the works of this other societies they came to dominate. the absence of any mention of the inva- other. Equally shocking are local accounts was in turn framed in bold relief against a group of writers with a critical eye today, Among the books written about sion of Java itself. In Carey’s account of of the British attack on the royal city of backdrop of “savage” Bornean natives and we see the stark and enormous gaps and colonial Southeast Asia where we see the British occupation of Java from 1811 Jogjakarta, which led to the killing of hun- A painting of James Brooke, the “White Rajah” of “treacherous” Bruneians and Chinese. That long instances of silence where the brutal a near-total erasure of the memory of to 1816, we find a detailed recounting of dreds, including the Javanese defenders Sarawak, by Francis Grant, 1847. Brooke took Sarawak’s story could only have a fairytale realities of colonial conquest were delib- conflict, three works come to mind: Stam- the violence of the British attack as well who had taken cover in the royal mosque. Sarawak by force in 1841. The land was not gifted ending seems obvious when we consider erately erased and eventually forgotten. ford Raffles’ The History of Java (1817),9 as instances of violence, humiliation and Carey, Tim Hannigan (2012)13 and to him, as some colonial writers have claimed. Image that the story was told in conjunction with In doing so, we can critique these authors Hugh Low’s Sarawak: Its Inhabitants and plunder that took place during the British others have noted that, in the wake from Wikimedia Commons. other tales of the Empire. for their moral complicity in what was, in Productions (1848)10 and Spenser St John’s occupation thereafter. of the successful attack, the Javanese In order for the story of benevolent the final analysis, one of the most violent Life in the Forests of the Far East (1862).11 The same cannot be said of Raffles’s royal family and nobles were forced to As noted earlier, there exist several imperial intervention to make sense, it eras in recent Southeast Asian history. The History of Java was a monu- work. Although Raffles had claimed that submit to the conquerors in the most accounts of the Sarawak campaign that was necessary to have as its counterpart mental two-volume work that courted he had amassed more information about humiliating manner, and that the royal were explicit in their treatment of colo- the story of native malevolence and NOTES controversy almost as soon as it came Java than any other European in his time, palace was looted and sacked. Hannigan nial warfare. But parallel to these works decline; and more perceptive readers 1 Bartlett, R. (1993). The making of Europe: Conquest, off the press. Raffles’ peers, such as John The History of Java does not elaborate on described the manner in which the Sultan was another kind of historical recounting of the works of Low and St John will be colonization and cultural change, 950–1350 (p. 96). Crawfurd, took exception to the work and how all that data was collected and how of Jogjakarta was stripped of his courtly written by the likes of Hugh Low. His book able to see that both writers have woven Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Call no.: 940.1 BAR) accused the author of misinterpreting the treasure horde of Javanese antiqui- regalia by the victorious British troops, Sarawak: Its Inhabitants and Productions a number of complex narratives that 2 Snodgrass, J.J. (1827). Narrative of the Burmese elements of Javanese history by presen­ ties – including statuary, manuscripts, and then thrown into a backroom, “while is startling in how it weaves a narrative developed in tandem with one another. war […] (p. 6). London: J. Murray. (Microfilm no.: the sepoys and English soldiers embarked that re-presents the conquest of Sarawak At the forefront is, of course, the NL5084) 3 Snodgrass, 1827, p. 31. on a victorious rampage” within the and the attack on Brunei in an almost tale of the Brooke dynasty, whose messy 4 Keppel, H. (1846). The expedition to Borneo of HMS (Below left) A Javanese man of the lower classes. Image reproduced from Raffles, S.T. (1817). The History of compound of the royal palace they had fairytale-like manner. and bloody genesis was cleaned up and Dido for the suppression of piracy […] (vol. I and vol. Java (Vol. I) (p. 84). London: J. Murray. Retrieved from Internet Archive. overrun.14 There are also accounts of how Low’s work purported to be a study sanitised. Parallel to this are three other II; 2nd ed.). London: Chapman and Hall. Retrieved (Below right) A Loondoo Dayak of Borneo, whom Frank Marryat described as being “copper-coloured, and from BookSG. members of the royal family had their of the land and people of Sarawak as well narratives that framed Brooke’s idealised 5 Brooke, J., & Mundy, G.R. (1848). Narrative of events extremely ugly: their hair jet black, very long, and falling down to the back; eyes were also black, and deeply jewels literally ripped off their bodies as a history of that part of Southeast image in bold relief: the story of the in Borneo and Celebes, down to the occupation of sunk in the head, giving a vindictive appearance to the countenance; nose flattened; mouth very large; the lips by the troops of the East India Company. Asia. But in the course of recounting decline of Malay power, embodied by the Labuan […] (Vol. II; 2nd ed.). London: John Murray. of a bright vermilion, from the chewing of betel-nut; and, to add to their ugliness, their teeth black, and filed to (Microfilm no.: NL7435) sharp points”. Image reproduced from Marryat, F.S. (1848). Borneo and the Indian Archipelago: With Drawings And yet nowhere in The History of this history, Low was also attempting to tale of Brunei’s fall from grace; the story 6 Marryat, F.S. (1848). Borneo and the Indian of Costume and Scenery (facing p. 5). London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Retrieved from BookSG. Java do we read of what truly happened present a sanitised account of how an of Chinese treachery, encapsulated in St. Archipelago: With drawings of costume and scenery. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. during these assaults, and the image of Englishman like James Brooke could have John’s account of the Sarawak uprising; Retrieved from BookSG. Java that we are left with is that of a assumed the role and title of the “White and the story of native backwardness and 7 Keppel, 1846, vol. II, pp. 67, 69. tranquil land rendered static and domes- Rajah” of Sarawak. Low’s retelling of the vulnerability that is found in the studies of 8 Keppel, 1846, vol. II, p. 231. 9 Raffles, S.T. (1817; reprint 1830). The history of ticated by colonial intervention. Even in Brooke tale borders on the fantastical native life and customs carried out by Low Java (vol. I and vol. II; 2nd ed.). London: J. Murray. the images that accompany the text – the when he glibly states that Rajah Muda and St John. Retrieved from BookSG. now-famous images of Javanese monu- Hassim of Sarawak found himself “tired 10 Low, H. (1848; reprint 1990). Sarawak: Its inhabitants 15 Coming to Terms with Reality and productions. Petaling Jaya: Delta. (Call no.: RSEA ments and the hand-coloured figure of Sarawak” for no explicable reason, 915.954043 LOW-[TRA]) studies of the Javanese themselves – all after which he promptly handed over Reading works such as these today we 11 Spencer, B.S.J. (1862). Life in the forests of the Far we get to see are idyllic portraits of a the territory of Sarawak to Brooke on are reminded of the fact that colonialism East. London: Smith, Elder. (Microfilm no.: NL3636) 12 Carey, P.B.R. (Ed.). (1992). The British in Java, 1811– land and a people rendered passive, inert 24 September 1841. was a complex process that in turn gave 1816: A Javanese account. London: Oxford University and thus exposed to the outsider’s gaze. What is totally absent from Low’s birth to complex accounts of it. At face Press. (Call no.: RSING 325.341095982 PAN) rose-tinted account of Brooke’s rise to value, the works of Raffles, Low and St 13 Hannigan, T. (2012). Raffles and the British invasion of Java. Singapore: Monsoon Books. (Call no.: RSEA The White Rajah who prominence is the fact that Brooke, as John strike the contemporary reader 959.82 HAN) “Saved” Sarawak the leader of his private army of 200 men, as being straightforward examples of 14 Hannigan, 2012, pp. 208–209. 15 Low, 1848, p. xix. Southeast Asia would experience a suc- had attacked Rajah Muda Hassim’s com- colonial propaganda, which they un- 16 Knapman, G. (2017). Race and British colonialism cession of such violent incursions where pound and forced the latter to surrender doubtedly were – and this was a type of in Southeast Asia, 1770–1870: John Crawfurd and brutalities would either be subsequently to him – a fact that was highlighted in the writing that continued well into the 20th the politics of equality (pp. 158–160, 161). London: 16 Routledge. (Call no.: RSING 325.01 KNA). Knapman erased or forgotten. More than two de- work by Gareth Knapman (2017). As far century, as exemplified by the works of notes that Brooke had demanded payment from Rajah cades after the British occupation of Java, as fairytale heroes go, Low’s depiction of later colonial functionaries such as Frank Muda in the form of a transaction of antimony. Upon another military-naval campaign visited Brooke fits the bill in many ways: for Low, Swettenham (1907).18 his return to Sarawak, Rajah Muda was unable or unwilling to abide by their deal, and that was used as maritime Southeast Asia – the aforemen- nothing of significance could be achieved But what is equally important to note the justification for Brooke’s attack on the Raja Muda’s tioned “war on piracy” – leading to the in Brooke’s absence or without Brooke’s is how and why some of these colonial compound and his threat to begin an uprising. capture of Sarawak by the former East India guidance; Asiatic monarchs would incredu- writers chose to sideline or even silence 17 Low, 1848, p. xix. 18 Swettenham, F.A. (1907). British Malaya: An account of Company-man-turned-rogue-adventurer, lously surrender their ancestral lands to the violence that invariably accompa- the origin and progress of British influence in Malaya. James Brooke. him in return for nothing; and the man nied colonisation, and what they hoped London; New York: John Lane. (Microfilm no.: NL19101) 08 09 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Georgette Chen: Artist Extraordinaire Sara Siew examines the link between visual art and the written word through the fascinating story of Singaporean artist Georgette Chen.

(Above) Georgette Chen (seated rightmost in the first row) at the Horace Mann School, New York, 1923. (1927–33). Her time in the French capital Beginnings and Endings Chen studied in private schools around the world. was perhaps the most significant. The Artists express themselves in a variety of their experiences, thoughts and feelings Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent She received her primary education at the Lycée City of Light was not unfamiliar to Chen; “A good love story is always close ways. Although art is the most obvious through the written and spoken word. van Gogh, for example, wrote 800 or Jules-Ferry in Paris, followed by Horace Mann School having spent part of her childhood there, to one’s heart.”5 of these, some artists also rely on the Some writings, like manifestos and so letters to his younger brother Theo, in New York, the exclusive McTyeire School for Girls in Shanghai, and the Art Students League in New York, she spoke fluent French and was well medium of words as a means of self- declarations, tell us about the ideas laying bare his private anguish and joys, before studying art in Paris. Image reproduced from acquainted with the sights and sounds of Paris augured exciting beginnings for aexpression. From private musings and behind a certain style or about the con- and in the process painted a portrait of Chia, J. (1997). Georgette Chen. Singapore: Singapore Paris. Chen counted the Tuileries Garden Chen not just in art, but also in her per- working notes to published essays and text in which artists worked, while others himself that is arguably as compelling as Art Museum. (Call no.: RSING q759.95957 CHI). and Parc Monceau among her favourite sonal life: it was here where she found interviews, many artists have chronicled strike a deeper, more emotive chord. The his artworks. (Above right) Georgette Chen and her first husband, childhood haunts and, decades later, a love that was to become her most The celebrated Singaporean artist Eugene Chen, whom she married in 1930. Date would still delightfully recall riding on the enduring. In 1927, at the age of 21, she Georgette Chen (1906–93) also wrote of photo unknown. Courtesy of National Gallery Georgette Chen said that France was in a way her home. She knew Brittany, in the northwest of France, best merry-go-round at the park and feeding met Eugene Chen in Paris. The two were extensively. Chen’s achievements as an Singapore. besides Paris, having spent many years of her childhood in St Enogat, a village near the beachside suburb her favourite swans at the Tuileries. introduced by their mutual friend Soong artist are widely recognised: her lively of Dinard. Georgette Chen. Coast of Brittany. c. 1930. Oil on canvas, 54 x 65 cm. Gift of Lee Foundation. Revisiting Paris in her early 20s, now Ching Ling, more famously known as Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Courtesy of National Heritage Board. oil paintings of the places and people of Growing up, Chen experienced a cos- as a budding artist, further strengthened Madam Sun Yat Sen (Chen’s father was Singapore at a formative time in its history mopolitan and privileged upbringing in Chen’s relationship with the city. While a key funder of Sun Yat Sen’s political have cemented her status as one of the Paris, New York and Shanghai. enrolled at the less structured art schools activities in China). nation’s most important first-generation Chen’s father had encouraged her of the Académie Biloul and Académie Eugene, a political journalist and artists; she was also a respected art interest in art since young, even engaging Colarossi, Chen also carved for herself respected diplomat, had been Sun’s educator for 27 years and a Cultural a private art tutor, Victor Podgorsky, for an education that extended far beyond foreign policy adviser from 1922 to 1924 Medallion recipient. Less well known, her. Father and daughter, in fact, attended the classroom. She travelled around Paris and, following that, the minister for foreign however, is her personal story, one that these lessons together. Chen’s affinity for frequently, seeking subjects to paint affairs of the nationalist government in spans wars and revolutions, triumph and oil as a medium was apparent even then. and relishing “the freedom of painting Wuhan, China. With the collapse of the tragedy, and loves lost and found. She recalled of her childhood: “My whatever you like”.4 nationalist government in 1927, Eugene A Life Less Ordinary father expected me to study Chinese Chen gradually found acclaim, begin- found himself exiled in Europe, his politi- painting, but I had a different idea. I told ning with the acceptance of one of her cal career in limbo. His encounter with “I often sit quietly in the silence him I wanted to study the oil medium, paintings by the Salon d’Automne in 1930, Georgette Chen was, however, to bloom. of the night and wonder at the which would enable me to paint every- an annual exhibition that had by then Despite their vastly different pro- mysterious drama that is life…”1 thing around me, people, food, flowers, transcended its beginnings as an alter- fessions, the two were aligned in their salted ducks, sampans, peasants and native to the official conservative salon mutual love for the arts. Chen recalled: Georgette Chen, who was named Zhang potatoes.”2 On another occasion, she to become an influential, progressive “Well, in the first place he always loved Liying when she was born in October remembered her father “impatiently platform in the Parisian art world. She art, music, literature, French. He was a very 1906, was the fourth daughter of Zhang enumerat[ing] the long list of Chinese also started to exhibit regularly in other good French scholar as well. And he was Jingjiang, a wealthy Chinese merchant. vegetables which could be painted. He salons and participated in two major always ready to pose for me. That always wanted to know why I insisted on painting exhibitions in 1937: Palace of Painting helps an artist. He always told me not to the foreign potato.”3 and Sculpture as part of the Paris World sew because there were many tailors Sara Siew is a writer and editor at the National Gallery Singapore. She is interested in the relation- Chen’s foundation in oil painting Fair, and Les Femmes Artistes d’Europe who could do the work. And if I wanted ship between various forms of art, particularly the was further developed when she studied Exposent (Women Artists in Europe) at to sew, then it was better to take up my intersections of the visual and the literary. art in New York (1926–27) and then Paris the Jeu de Paume museum. easel and paint instead.”6 10 11 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

painting or study was successful, or if it she was 55 years old and living alone in Paradise on Earth had to be executed again. These details, Singapore. Much had transpired in the 17 which Chen recorded dispassionately and years since her husband’s death, bringing “So you can see why I am fast faithfully, offer precious insights into the her serendipitously to a Southeast Asian becoming a tropical plant and often hidden and banal aspects of artistic island that was worlds away from the desire nothing more than to spend practice, as well as the hard work and cities she had known: Paris, Shanghai the rest of life painting the vivid dedication behind an artist’s craft. and New York. motifs of this multi-racial paradise Over time, Chen’s writings also bear Following the end of World War II, of perpetual sunshine.”16 silent witness to the progression of her Chen stayed in China until 1947, when career: while early diary entries speak she left for New York. That same year, The simple, satisfied existence in Malaya of these attempts and studies, later she married Dr Ho Yung Chi, Eugene that Chen often spoke of was due to her accounts (which appeared in letters to Chen’s colleague and an old mutual art, which flourished in this land she now family and friends instead) describe the friend of theirs. Together, Chen and Ho called home. From the 1950s to the 70s, pieces she was commissioned to create, lived in New York then Paris, all the while she firmly established herself artistically, her attempts at juggling painting and bearing hopes of eventually returning to creating many of the pain­tings she is teaching, and the tedium of preparing China. However, in the absence of better known for today. This would, arguably, not for exhibitions or judging on committees. prospects in China, the couple eventu- have been possible if she had not settled Chen’s blissful life in Paris as a happy ally decided to take up an offer to teach down in Malaya: so closely intertwined was newlywed and an emerging artist was at Han Chiang High School in Penang, her art with its people and places. soon compromised by the outbreak of Malaya, arriving in 1951 to what Chen Chen, in turn, would increasingly the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. described as “a beautiful tropical island identify herself as being a part of this In 1941, while she and Eugene were living which I call my Tahiti”.12 land, a new citizen who set out to learn in Hong Kong, they were detained by the While Chen was immediately the mother tongue Malay, print her own Japanese and placed under house arrest enthralled by this new land and enjoyed batik and adopt the Malay nom de plume before being moved to Shanghai, where her life in Penang immensely, the experi- of Chendana (which refers to fragrant they were interned until 1944. ence was marred by growing strife in her sandalwood), becoming, in a sense, the During their time in the Chinese marriage. Her relationship with Ho was metaphorical tropical plant she often city, Eugene was often called up for increasingly plagued by bitter arguments wrote about in her letters. Her art and “interviews” with the Japanese; fearing over issues like money (she suspected Ho life were an indivisible whole that was Georgette Chen, c. 1950s. Courtesy of National Gallery Singapore. for Chen’s safety, he always insisted on to have an ulterior motive) and her con- inextricably linked to the land she had taking her everywhere he went.9 Chen tinued use of Eugene’s surname. Chen’s settled into. would later recount an exchange between eventual decision to part with Ho was Chen’s enchantment with Malaya Despite their 30-year age differ- Eugene and a Japanese officer at one of further complicated by intransigence on was, in fact, already apparent when she ence, and the initial disapproval of these sessions, following yet another his part, and it was only after a lengthy, first arrived in Penang in 1951 with Ho. Chen’s father at their pairing, the couple failure on the part of the Japanese to draining process that the couple were In a letter written a few months after found in each other “the closest of secure her husband’s cooperation: eventually divorced in 1953, after six her arrival, she had gushed about her companions”,7 and were married in Paris years of marriage. In the same year, Chen new home: in 1930. Chen would take on Eugene’s “Another arrogant Japanese left our moved to Singapore. surname and retain it even when she sitting room humble and human Chen arrived in Singapore with “I have always had a sort of remarried after his death. again. These were his parting renewed hope for a peaceful life. In a weakness for this little island while The revelatory nature of the written words: ‘Other Chinese leaders letter to friends in early 1954, she said: passing through it on my many word – even of life at its most mundane – is have several faces and several “With my regained liberty, I now look journeys westward and hoped that exemplified in Chen’s writings. The simple, tongues, but you, Mr Chen, have forward to a simple, useful, and creative some day, I may have more than just sequestered joys that she shared with only one face and one tongue…’ existence for the remaining short years a glance at it. It is called the ‘pearl Eugene in Paris were rarely mentioned And in his characteristic humour, that are left.”13 She rented a house in of the East’ or ‘Paradise on Earth’ publicly; rather, they were expressed in Eugene replied: ‘That is precisely Sennett Estate and took up part-time not without reason. If Malaya does diaries where she recorded the minutiae why I must not be made to lose teaching at the Nanyang Academy of not prove to be a fruitful period for of everyday life with her husband – from that one and only face and tongue, Fine Arts, a move that would allow her me artistically, it shall not be for the (Top) Georgette Chen painting Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur, June 1956. Also pictured is the Tunku’s giving him a haircut to talking a walk having no spares’.”10 to pursue her art independently while lack of beauty which seems to be wife, Sharifah Rodziah. The Tunku first met Georgette and Eugene Chen in 1931 on a ship from Marseilles, Paris, to Singapore. He noted that Chen had a “beautiful and charming” presence, and attributed his political together to search for pineapples and supporting herself financially. everywhere… The waterfront with awakening to her husband. Courtesy of National Gallery Singapore. avocados for a still-life painting. In one Eugene Chen passed away in 1944 She frequently described this the rows of Malayan straw huts candid entry, she wrote: “Begin small at the age of 66 due to ill health. He was arrangement in her letters as allowing bathing right in the water whose (Above) Georgette Chen. Singapore Waterfront. c. 1963. Oil on canvas, 50 x 61 cm. Gift of Lee Foundation. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Courtesy of National Heritage Board. canvas of E portrait. Poses so badly & still under house arrest in Shanghai at her to have “bread without butter”, and color is green and violet, make me talks all the time.”8 the time. with characteristic good humour, often shout with excitement each time Chen recorded not just details of her added, “I don’t like butter much anyway, I pass them by… As to the great The inspirations and attractions that These are accompanied by depictions daily life but also, significantly, informa- Peace in a New Land too fattening!”14 Despite the toll of age variety of fruits, with their strange, Malaya afforded clearly invigorated Chen. of daily scenes: from a bustling outdoor tion on her art and the subjects she was and debilitating rheumatoid arthritis (a new, and unexpected forms, they She made no secret of the “inexhaustible market to a satay seller working by the studying or portraying, with descriptions “We have all found peace of mind condition that began in her 40s), Chen are not only wonderful to look at motifs”18 that she found in this “seasonless beach, to the Singapore River. Chen’s such as “roses still-life 10F” and “nature in a land which is not our own…”11 adopted a simpler lifestyle – one far but delicious to eat! I have been newfoundland”,19 which she embraced portraits, which she was frequently morte 6F”, terms that likely refer to stan- removed from the material comforts of introduced to the Durian fruit and wholeheartedly. Tropical fruits in their commissioned to make, form another dard French canvas sizes. On occasion, When Chen wrote these words in a letter yesteryear – with bravado, relishing even consider that my life has been bright colours and variegated forms take compelling body of work; whether they she would also briefly mention if her to Dorothy Lee, Eugene’s cousin, in 1961, “the ordinary chores of life”.15 enriched by it!”17 centre stage in her still life paintings. portray her family and friends (including 12 13 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

the first prime minister of Malaysia, in 1967, Chen, then 61, offered what peaceful. Here, I have stood on disposal. I have tried to pursue the wonder is that my profession Tunku Abdul Rahman) or strangers, could be described as a summary of my own two feet, albeit arthritic, my work to the best of my ability, should have been one of good-will SPEAKING OF… these depictions are warm and intimate, her remarkable life: and I have cut a happy coat with I have continued to be myself and peace! Only God can answer sometimes capturing their subjects in his colorful tropical cloth at my seeking neither fame nor riches. for these paradoxes…”23 Georgette Chen is the first artist fea- the middle of private, interior moments. “I shall be glad to leave my pictures Art like love and friendship or tured in The Artist Speaks, a series of Chen often professed, in letters to to Singapore and Malaysia as religion is a pursuit of love and In 1981, Chen suffered a serious books published by the National Gal- friends, of her desire to spend the rest of my little contribution to this devotion. I have respected and fall. She was hospitalised and required lery Singapore featuring visual artists her life depicting Malaya and its motifs. tropical land in which I have cherished my friends and have hospice care for the next 12 years until who write. This desire was, however, stymied by found rehabilitation. This last tried hard not to take advantage her passing in March 1993 at age 87. The Artist Speaks: Georgette Chen age and debilitating illness. She battled chapter of mine on this ‘treasure of them and their love has kept me Following Chen’s death, 53 of her pain­ draws upon the National Gallery’s rheumatoid arthritis from her 40s until island’ which I call my ‘Tahiti’ alive. Sometimes when I think that tings as well as a voluminous archive of extensive archive of materials on the death. The condition, which had also (Tahiti, as you know, is another I am the product of four world her personal papers and belongings were artist dating from the 1930s to the afflicted her father, caused much pain and tropical island where the French events, all wars – two Chinese bequeathed to Singapore. Georgette 1970s. The collection consists of Chen’s lack of mobility (in one account, a severe painter Gauguin adopted as his revolutions, the one of Dr Sun Chen’s love for and gratitude to this journals, photographs, official records, attack in her knees left her “hobbling new home) has been creative and and Mao Tse-tung and the 1st and land – “this tropical land in which I have newspaper clippings, personal belon­ on a stick for months and months”20), second World Wars in all of which found rehabilitation” – had finally come gings – including her beloved Hermes which, although controlled by medica- I have been inexorably involved, full circle.24 Baby typewriter and Malay books, (Right) Georgette Chen. Self-Portrait. c. 1946. Oil tion, worsened over the years. This was on canvas, 22.5 x 17.5 cm. Gift of Lee Foundation. among others – as well as carbon copies in part and, quite ironically, due to the 13 Chen, G. (1954, March 9). Georgette Chen to “friends” of some 1,000 letters that Chen had Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Courtesy NOTES medicine that Chen was taking religiously, of National Heritage Board. [Letter]. Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. written to friends and family between 1 Chen, G. (1974, April 12). Georgette Chen to 14 Chen, G. (1961, February 6). Georgette Chen to Dorothy and Lucille Lee [Letter]. Retrieved from a side effect of which was osteoporosis. East Coast Vendor. unidentifiable recipients [Letter]. Retrieved from 1949 and 1972. (Below) Georgette Chen. 1961. Oil National Gallery Singapore. Dorothy Lee was the Despite having to deal with the on canvas, 92 x 73 cm. Collection of National Gallery National Gallery Singapore. The book also draws from mate­ cousin of Eugene Chen, Georgette’s first husband, 15 Chen, G. (1960, December 24). Georgette Chen to painful condition alone, Chen remained Courtesy of National Heritage Board. rials held in the collections of the Singapore. and Lucille was Dorothy’s daughter. Georgette Pauline Chen and her family [Letter]. Retrieved strong and gentle in spirit; it is in this often addressed Dorothy as her cousin, keeping from National Gallery Singapore. Pauline Chen was National Library and National Archives, regard, perhaps, that her writing is most in touch with her for many years after Eugene one of Chen’s close friends. They first met shortly including the oral history interview Chen’s passing; she once told her stepmother that after Chen arrived in Penang in 1951. Pauline stood instructive, for it reveals her character in a Dorothy was “just like a sister” to her. by Chen throughout her divorce and subsequent that art historian Constance Sheares 25 way that her paintings arguably could not. 2 Chen, G. (1953, September 7.) Chen’s personal relocation to Singapore, maintaining a decades- conducted with Chen in 1988. Other In letters to friends, Chen often spoke transcript of her interview with Radio Malaya. long correspondence with her. resources in the National Library Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. 16 Chen, G. (1961, February 15). Georgette Chen to about how “life is anguish and blessings 3 Huang, L. (1959, August 30). I meet the remarkable Dr and Mrs Kan [Letter]. Retrieved from National include a video on Chen produced all intermingled which we must accept Mrs Chen. The Straits Times, p. 6. Retrieved from Gallery Singapore. by the Singapore Art Museum for and carry on as best we can”.21 True to this NewspaperSG. 17 Chen, G. (1951, July 4). Georgette Chen to the National Library Board in 2008;26 4 Sheares, C. (Interviewer). (1988, November 2). unidentifiable recipients [Letter]. Retrieved from proclamation, she seemed to accept her Oral history interview with Georgette Liying Chen National Gallery Singapore. a biographical account of Chen’s life adversities stoically, however big or small, [Transcript of recording no. 000956/6/1, p. 9]. 18 Chen, G. (1960, January 6). Georgette Chen to Joe authored by Jane Chia in 1997;27 and and forge ahead. The measure of Chen’s Retrieved from National Archives of Singapore [Letter]. Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. the catalogue accompanying the 1985 website. 19 Chen, G. (1968, February 29). Georgette Chen to Inez inner strength further comes through in 5 Chen, G. (1959, October 27). Georgette Chen to Hsu [Letter]. Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. retrospective exhibition of more than the self-deprecating humour evident in Mingmeo [Letter]. Retrieved from National Gallery 20 Chen, G. (1961, February 15). Georgette Chen to 170 of Chen’s works at the National Singapore. Hsu was a friend of Eugene Chen’s and her writing. In a letter to Patricia Ken- Dr and Mrs Kan [Letter]. Retrieved from National Museum Art Gallery.28 a medical doctor who modernised medicine in Gallery Singapore. nison, one of her students who later China. He was also the author of Dr Wu Lien Teh: 21 Chen, G. (1969, February 24). Georgette Chen to became a close friend, she compared The Plague Fighter. In the letter, Georgette was Dorothy Lee [Letter]. Retrieved from National wishing Hsu success with a book he was writing, herself to an old, worn machine: Gallery Singapore. possibly a novel titled Five Years in Love. 22 Chen, G. (1963, February 11). Georgette Chen to 6 Sheares, C. (Interviewer). (1988, November 2). Oral Patricia Kennison [Letter]. Retrieved from National “My ‘full form’ can partly be history interview with Chen, Georgette Liying [Transcript Gallery Singapore. Kennison was one of Chen’s of recording no. 000956/6/2, p. 9]. Retrieved from students at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. explained by the fact that friends National Archives of Singapore website. 23 Chen, G. (1967, May 17). Georgette Chen to always revive me, for there 7 Chen, G. (n.d.). Recollections of Eugene Chen by his Dorothy Lee [Letter]. Retrieved from National are times when I do feel quite widow, notes for Dr Wu Lien-Teh’s book. Retrieved Gallery Singapore. from National Gallery Singapore. 24 Chen, G. (1967, May 17). Georgette Chen to PATRAQUE, to use an apt French 8 Chen, G. (1953, March 25). Diary of 1953 [Diary]. Dorothy Lee [Letter]. Retrieved from National word. (patraque: both a’s are short. Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. Gallery Singapore. Said of a machine that functions 9 The word “interviews” came from Georgette. See 25 Sheares, C. (1988, November 2–1988, December Chen, G. (1961, February 15). Georgette Chen to 1). Oral history interview with Chen, Georgette badly because it is badly made or Mr and Mrs Kan [Letter]. Retrieved from National Liying [Accession no.: 000956, 6 reels]. Retrieved old.) But on the whole the slow Gallery Singapore. from National Archives of Singapore website. Georgette Chen to coach has gone fairly well after its 10 Chen, G. (1961, February 15). 26 Cheong, K., & Wang, Z. (2008). Georgette Chen, Mr and Mrs Kan [Letter]. Retrieved from National Cultural Medallion recipient 1982 visual arts last major repair though the rounds Gallery Singapore. [Videorecording]. Singapore: Singapore Art The Artist Speaks: Georgette Chen is the first 22 11 Chen, G. (1961, January 2). Georgette Chen to have not been reduced.” Museum for National Library Board. (Call no.: title in the eponymous series published by Dorothy Lee [Letter]. Retrieved from National RSING 759.95959 GEO) National Gallery Singapore. The book is available Gallery Singapore. 27 Chia, J, (1997). Georgette Chen. Singapore: As Chen alluded to in her letter, it 12 Chen, G. (1966, March 20). Georgette Chen to Inez Singapore Art Museum. (Call no.: RSING for reference at the Lee Kong Chian Reference was the simple joy of friendship – in addi- [Letter]. Retrieved from National Gallery Singapore. q759.95957 CHI) Library and for loan at selected public libraries Inez was a relative of Eugene Chen’s whom Georgette tion to art and a home she loved – that 28 Georgette Chen retrospective, 1985. (1985). (Call nos.: RSING 741.595957 ART and SING referred to as cousin, and whom she kept in touch Singapore: National Museum. (Call no.: RSING 741.595957 ART). Other artists in the series helped sustain her through adversity. with for many years even after Eugene’s death. 759.95957 CHE) include Chua Ek Kay, one of Singapore’s most esteemed Chinese ink practitioners, and the The Last Chapter late performance artist Lee Wen. In an introspective moment while writing to Eugene’s cousin Dorothy Lee 14 15 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

A sectional view of the earth showing the openings Dr Vidya Schalk is a research scientist and at the North and South poles. In 1818, American currently a lecturer in the School of Materials John C. Symmes put forward the “Holes in the Poles” Science and Engineering at the Nanyang theory. Illustration reproduced from Seaborn, A. Technological University, where she develops (1820). Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery. New York: online curriculum and teaches a module on the J. Seymour. Image from Wikimedia Commons. History of Materials. Her interest in scientific explorations has led her to research 19th- century naval expeditions. the next fertile ground and the ability to navigate safely in these waters would be crucial to its success. The process of getting the expedi- tion off the ground, however, dragged on for almost a decade as the govern- ment’s priorities shifted due to political changes and financial pressures. Also, the public was suspicious of any scientific research, considering it the idle pastime U.S. Ex. Ex. of bored aristocrats. The expedition soon earned the unfortunate moniker the “Deplo­rable Expedition”. In early 1842, almost 500 naval officers, doubtful islands and shoals; and In the midst of this, the financial An Expedition for the Ages sailors and scientists from the United to discover and accurately fix the crisis known as the Panic of 1837 struck States visited Singapore on their way position of those which lie in or the nation and thrust the American ihome after an epic four-year voyage near the track pursued by our economy into chaos. Nonetheless, in of discovery. They were members of merchant vessels in that quarter… 1838, against all odds, as directed by The Wilkes Expedition – as it is popularly known – vastly expanded the the United States Exploring Expedition, Although the primary object of Secretary of War Joel Poinsett (who borders of scientific learning. Vidya Schalk explains how this historic part of the last All Sail Naval Squadron the expedition is the promotion was also an amateur botanist), the U.S. American naval mission between 1838 and 1842 is linked to Singapore. to circumnavigate the globe and the of… commerce and navigation, Ex. Ex. was put back on the agenda and first-ever scientific mission mounted by yet all occasions will be taken, not Lt. Charles Wilkes was asked to take full the fairly young nation (the country had incompatible with the great purpose command of the mission. achieved independence in 1776). of the undertaking, to extend the A full-blown controversy erupted Few people have heard of the Wilkes bounds of science, and to promote when this was announced. Wilkes Expedition, its more commonly used name, the acquisition of knowledge…”1 (see text box overleaf) was one of 40 and fewer still about the United States lieutenants on the navy list, along with Exploring Expedition – or simply the U.S. Ex. 38 others who had chalked up more Ex. Although the expedition became mired Genesis of the Expedition sea service than him. Such a command in controversy, it nonetheless left behind In 1818, an American eccentric named conferred upon a junior officer was A painting of the USS Vincennes in Disappointment an important legacy in its meticulous John C. Symmes put forward the “Holes in unprecedented in the naval service and Bay, Antarctica, c. 1840, based on a sketch by Lt. documentation of the earth’s biodiversity. the Poles” theory. He declared the earth caused an uproar. Letters of protest Charles Wilkes. The ship was a 127-foot (39 m) Boston- Among its contributions are the first-ever as hollow, with a habitable interior only poured in and heated debates ensued in class sloop-of-war carrying a crew of 190. This was the flagship under the command of Lt. Wilkes. Image systematic mapping of the coastline of accessible through openings at the North Congress, but in the end the appointment from Wikimedia Commons. the US Pacific Northwest, the charting of and South poles that were large enough went through. some 1,500 miles (2,414 km) of the frozen to accommodate sailing ships. This was Antarctic coast, and the first concrete proof picked up by an enterprising newspaper The A-Team that Antarctica is a continent. editor from Ohio, Jeremiah Reynolds, who Wilkes personally selected the vessels, crew called for further research to establish the and scientists for the expedition. He also The Mission veracity of the so-called “polar holes”, decided that all duties pertaining to The Wilkes Expedition was primarily a eventually advocating a national maritime astronomy, surveying, hydrography, mission of exploration. It aimed to ex- expedition to explore the mysteries of geography, geodesy, magnetism, tend the borders of learning, and came the South Pole. By 1828, Reynolds had meteorology and physics would be at a time when Britain, France and other managed to pique the interest of US Naval the preserve of the naval officers. Any European nations were busy expanding Secretary Samuel Southard and President work relating to zoology, geology and their territories through colonisation. John Quincy Adams. mineralogy, botany and conchology was The mission parameters were two-fold Support also came from whalers to be filled by the naval medical corps, – navigational and scientific – as directed and sealers who needed accurate charts failing which civilians could be appointed. by the US Congress: of islands and navigational hazards in All personnel and crew members of the Pacific Ocean. Whaling had become the expedition came under the control “To explore and survey the Southern a booming business – whale oil was as and direction of Wilkes. Disappointed that Ocean, having in view the important significant then as crude oil is today – and there was no “respectable naturalist”2 in interest of our commerce embarked the US was then the global industry leader. the medical corps, he fell back on the best in the whale fisheries, as well as With whales hunted to near extinction in civilian talents the country could offer. The to determine the existence of all the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean was “Scientifics”, 3 as they were called, were a 16 17 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

group of brilliant scientists and naturalists, to enjoy the sights. They also noted that Northwest in April 1841. From California, almost all of whom went on to redefine rum was used as a medium of exchange; the fleet briefly returned to Honolulu and A SIZEABLE FLEET ● The 118-foot USS Peacock, a slightly the scientific fields of botany, zoology and with a population of 24,000 in the city, proceeded to Manila in the Philippines. Most European exploring expeditions smaller, full-rigged sloop-of-war rebuilt geology as well as then emerging fields like it seemed there was a tavern for every By then, time was running out for the in the 19th century used modestly for the expedition, and manned by a volcanology and anthropology. Two artists 100 inhabitants. expedition. Wilkes had promised the sized ships. But the US Navy went crew of 130. (When the Peacock ran were also part of the crew: they sketched From Sydney, the U.S. Ex. Ex. crew that they would return to the US by one up by assembling a squadron of aground on 18 July 1841, the USS Oregon, and used the camera lucida – an optical launched a second encounter to the the end of May 1842, and the men were six sailing vessels with officers, crew an 85-foot brigantine, accommodated device used to aid drawing – to capture Antarctic on 26 December 1839. Well eager to get home. and scientists numbering almost 500 the officers and crew of the lost ship.) portraits of people and to maintain a visual stocked with 10 months of provisions The U.S. Ex. Ex. left Manila in Janu- strong, making it one of the largest ● The two-masted 88-foot brigantine USS record of the voyage. in case they became trapped in ice, ary 1842, making their way home via the voyages of discovery in the history of Porpoise with a crew of 65. Also assembled onboard were the expedition proceeded south. On Sulu Sea. When Sultan Jamal ul-Kiram I of Western exploration. The original fleet ● The USS Relief, a slow 109-foot supply taxidermists, equipment makers, 19 January 1840, land was identified Sulu sent word that he was interested in comprised the following: ship with a crew of 75. Portrait of Charles Wilkes painted by Thomas Sully carpenters, sailmakers and surgeons, in at roughly 160 degrees east and 67 establishing closer trading ties with the and engraved by R.W. Dodson. The image appears ● Two small 70-foot schooners, USS Sea addition to naval officers (many of whom degrees south. Wilkes surveyed and US, Wilkes signed a peace and trade treaty in vol. I of Charles Wilkes’ Narrative of the United ● The USS Vincennes, a fast 127-foot Gull and USS Flying Fish, each manned later became high-ranking servicemen), mapped nearly 1,500 miles (2,414 km) with the king, which gave protection to US States Exploring Expedition During the Years 1838, Boston-class sloop-of-war with a crew by a crew of 15. (Sea Gull went missing 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, published by Lea and marines and other sailors. It was not glory of the Antarctic coastline – considered vessels and a shorter passage to Manila and of 190. This was the flagship under the on 8 May 1839 when it was caught in Blanchard in 1845. Retrieved from Internet Archive. or wealth but the thirst for knowledge a remarkable achievement to this on to Canton (now Guangzhou) in China. command of Lt. Charles Wilkes. a storm.) that inspired many of these men to leave day – providing substantial proof that Heading south, on their return jour- their homes and embark on a journey into Antarctica is a continent. In honour of ney, the fleet made one last stop in A MILITARY MAN AND A SCIENTIST the unknown. Lt. Charles Wilkes, a million square miles Singapore before returning to the US. ground”. They were also “struck with pepper, rice, camphor, sago, coffee, Lt. Charles Wilkes was 40 years old (almost 2,600,000 sq km) of land on East The expedition’s documentation of Singa- the order and good behaviour existing nutmeg, oil, tobacco, biche-de-mer (sea when he was given command of the Sailing to the Ends of the Earth Antarctica is named Wilkes Land. pore constitutes one of the first primary among such an incongruous mass of cucumber), birds’ nests, tortoise shells, U.S. Ex. Ex. in 1838. Wilkes was a military The U.S. Ex. Ex. set sail at 3 pm on 18 August From the icy waters of the Antarctic, accounts of Singapore by Americans. human being[s]… speaking a vast variety pearls, rattan, ivory, animal hides and man and a scientist – a very exacting 1838 from New York. From the east coast of the U.S. Ex. Ex. sailed towards New Zealand of tongues, and some of who would sarongs, among other items.9 Boats from combination. He was also a proud man the United States, the fleet sailed to Madeira and then to the Fiji Islands, where four Singapore Stopover infallibly have been at war with each other Papua and Aru brought birds of paradise who firmly believed that no important in Portugal, stopping at Porto Praya before months were spent on detailed survey- On 19 February 1842, the USS Vincennes elsewhere”.7 Wilkes called Singapore the flowers, which were found in abundance accomplishment could be achieved heading to Rio de Janeiro in South America ing. Altogether, 50 reefs and 154 islands with Wilkes on board arrived in Singa- “Babel of the East”.8 in the markets of Singapore. without discipline. He demanded much and then southwards to Cape Horn at the were carefully mapped, but a bloody pore,4 then part of the Straits Settlements of himself and those around him. Tierra de Fuego, where they made their first encounter between the crew members together with Malacca and Penang. A Thriving Entrepôt In addition to being self-opinion- attempt to reach the Antarctic. of the expedition and the Fijians would Wilkes was warmly received by the US Wilkes estimated there were at least ated and stubborn, Wilkes possessed a The gales and terrible weather, mar this accomplishment. The Fijians consul Joseph Balestier, his wife Maria 1,500–2,000 vessels in the port at any fiery temper and, as a result, became however, forced the ships to turn back had a reputation as cannibals. At first the Revere – the daughter of the famous one time, with numerous prahu (wooden embroiled in frequent altercations but not without the tragic loss of the USS crew thought these were mere myths American patriot Paul Revere – and sailing boats) from neighbouring Riau with his superiors throughout his naval Sea Gull: its 15 men on board were never but soon realised that the reports were son Joseph. The two men had become and Lingga, Celebes, Flores, Timor, career. Incidentally, Wilkes is believed seen again. The rest of the fleet sailed to true. As the fleet was preparing to leave acquainted some years earlier in Wash- Ambon, Sumba and Lubok, and also from to be the inspiration for the character Peru and headed westwards to survey and Fiji in July 1840, two of its officers, one ington prior to Balestier’s arrival in resource-rich Borneo. Popular goods Captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s 1851 explore the Tuamotu and Society islands of them Wilkes’ nephew, were killed by Singapore. In fact, Wilkes had provided imported from Riau and Lingga included classic, Moby Dick.1 in the South Pacific, before moving on the islanders while bartering for food on Balestier with information on the region, But the truth was, in spite of his to Tahiti and Samoa, and finally arriving Malolo Island. In the subsequent dispro- including a copy of the best map he had Some of the items obtained by the Wilkes Expedition relatively junior rank, no officer in the in Sydney, Australia, in November 1839. portionate reprisal by the Americans, at the time. Balestier reciprocated Wilkes’ from Southeast Asia include the kris (dagger) and a navy was more suitable than Wilkes to The fleet sailed into Sydney harbour some 60 islanders lost their lives. kindness by hosting him in Singapore. model of a prahu (wooden sailing boat). These are lead the scientific mission. He had trained in the middle of the night. Delighted to Leaving Fiji behind, the expedition Years later, when Wilkes wrote his autobi- currently kept at the Smithsonian’s National Museum under two of the leading scientists in be at a port where English was spoken, headed to Hawaii and from there to ography, he would make special mention of Natural History. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution, their fields – James Renwick and Ferdi- the Americans took every opportunity survey and chart the American Pacific of a huge cabinet presented to him by National Museum of Natural History, Department of Anthropology (E3911-0 & E3893-0). nand Hassler – under whose tutelage he Mrs Balestier, fashioned out of “woods became proficient in astronomy, mag- of this country [Singapore]”.5 netism, geodesy and nautical surveying. A map showing the major Wilkes and his crew were so fasci- True to his character, Wilkes geographical features of the nated with Singapore that he dedicated accepted the appointment to lead the Antarctic continent. Wilkes an entire chapter to the island in his “Nar- Land, as indicated along the 6 squadron as no more than his due and southwestern coast of East rative” of the expedition. Several astute was granted a great deal of autonomy Antarctica, occupies an area of observations were made by Wilkes and by Secretary of War Joel Poinsett to almost 2.6 million sq km. Image the crew during their brief stay here. It is make plans and lead the expedition. The from Wikimedia Commons. remarkable that several of these obser- Ex. Ex. had many daunting objectives vations hold true almost 200 years later. to fulfill – and Lt. Charles Wilkes was deemed the best person for the job. A Colourful Melting Pot The crew was amazed by the confluence of NOTE races, languages and cultures in Singapore 1 Herman Melville’s nephew, Hunn Gansevoort, was and the peaceful coexistence among the on the Wilkes expedition, but he detached with a sick ticket within 11 months. Melville incorporated aspects people, the “rarity of quarrels between from the Ex. Ex. into his masterpiece, Moby Dick. different races and religions owning to the consideration of the place being neutral 18 19 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

The expedition noted that “every nation I met with invariably considered his and cymbals. Wilkes described the sight unlikely to survive the perilous journey avenue, arcade, or veranda approaching it sojourn temporary”.13 The Chinese, for of “an immense illuminated sea-serpent” home around the Cape of Good Hope in [the bazaar] is filled with money-changers, instance, were likely to return home to made of lanterns.15 The Americans were the hurricane season. and small-ware dealers, eager for selling China as soon they acquired a skill, even astonished at “the extent and earnestness When the USS Vincennes finally European goods, Chinese toys, and many at the risk of being punished for having with which gaming was carried [out] by pulled into New York harbour on 10 June other attractive curiosities.”10 left their homeland illegally. the Chinese at every shop, bazaar and 1842, there was no welcome ceremony Singapore was described as a thriving corner of almost every street with cards or celebration after its nearly four-year entrepôt, with arriving goods redistributed Lush Flora and Fauna or dice… their whole soul seemed to be sojourn. Much had changed politically in to other places, with hardly anything Wilkes and his men found the jungle staked with their money”.16 the country in the time Wilkes and his crew produced here. Vessels that called at the undergrowth in the interior so impenetrable They also watched a Chinese opera were away. Instead, Wilkes and several port were not charged duties on imports that no Europeans or natives had ever and an Indian theatrical show that was per- other officers were court-martialled for or exports, and the only questions asked climbed Bukit Timah Hill, the highest point formed by plantation workers on Balestier’s various charges – including abuse of power were the contents of the cargo, the value of the island even though it was only 500 ft estate. In addition to Chinese New Year, the – that distracted from the achievements of the goods and the size of the vessel. (152 m) high. Tigers were not indigenous Americans also encountered Muharram of the expedition. In the end, Wilkes was Such information was then published to Singapore, but the big cats had begun processions.17 Wilkes observed men and found not guilty on all counts, except for weekly in the newspaper, “so anyone may to swim across the narrow Johor Strait boys playing football which he called using excessive punishment on his men, inform themselves of the charges he is from the Malay Peninsula in search of “hobscob”, although it was most likely for which he was reprimanded. liable to incur and of the advantages it has food. Even criminals and thieves avoided sepak takraw, a sport played with a rattan In the days that followed, Wilkes over the other ports in the Eastern seas.”11 their usual escape routes in the jungles for ball and native to the Malay Archipelago. marshalled the support of influential The era of steam-powered vessels fear of tigers. The expedition also witnessed wedding (Above) Opium smoking was one of the social ills politicians to safeguard the discoveries of was just starting to take off and Wilkes Records of the crops grown here and funeral processions, and even visited that plagued Singaporean society in the late 19th and the expedition. It is to Wilkes’ credit that mentions that “during… [his] stay in Sin- included ​nutmeg, coffee, black pep- Chinese and Hindu cemeteries. early 20th centuries. Courtesy of National Museum the first-ever national institutions in the US of Singapore, National Heritage Board. gapore, the subject of steam navigation per, cocoa, gambier, gamboge (a kind of became home to the important collections was much talked of, and many projects resin) and a variety of fruits. Timber was The Scourge of Opium (Left) In Singapore, Charles Wilkes and his team that the U.S. Ex. Ex. had brought home, appeared to be forming by which the also an important cash crop, and highly According to Wilkes’ account, opium obtained a number of rare documents with the help where their proper safekeeping and study of American missionary Alfred North. One of these is a settlement might reap the advantages of prized for shipbuilding. The Americans smoking in Singapore was one of the most letter (shown here) from Sultan Ahmad of Terengganu could be ensured. that communication, when established noted an abundance of fruit in Singapore; repugnant sights witnessed by expedition to William Farquhar dated 29 Rejab 1234 (24 May Despite the dent to his reputation, between India and China”.12 they were told “that there are 120 kinds members during their time on the island. 1819). Farquhar Collection, Asian Division, courtesy Wilkes was placed in charge of the expedi- that can be served as a dessert”14 and Opium was easily available and shops were of Library of Congress, Washington D.C. tion’s collections on 1 August 1843.27 Once A Place of Transience they especially enjoyed pineapples. They licensed to sell it, which was a huge source again, he was deemed the best person In 1842, the population in Singapore was collected many zoological, conchological of revenue for the government but a great Indonesia, and are an important source for the job and set about preserving and recorded as 60,000, comprising 45,000 and botanical specimens, including two cause of human degeneracy. Many of the of information about the early British preparing the collection for display in addi- Chinese, 8,000 Malays and 7,000 Indi- species of the Nepenthe (pitcher plants) that vessels that trafficked opium were either colonial period in the region. tion to preparing reports and directing the ans, with only one-tenth of the whole as were preserved and brought back to the US. owned or operated by merchants. Wilkes Among the documents are seven production of the expedition charts. The female. The people were diverse, with noted “how some of those who knew its letters from the Raja Bendahara of “Collection of the Exploring Expedition” Malays, Chinese, Hindus and Muslims, A Vibrant Cultural Scene effects and condemned its use engaged in Johor-Pahang (1819–22), three letters was displayed at the Patent Office Building Jews, Armenians and Europeans, and Par- The arrival of the U.S. Ex. Ex. in Singapore and defended its trade…”18 from the Pangeran Dipati of Palembang in Washington D.C. until 1858 when it was sees, Bugis and Arabs. Wilkes wrote about coincided with the Chinese New Year cele- One of the crew wrote that opium (1819–22), and a letter from Sultana Siti transferred to the Smithsonian Institu- the transient nature of the population, brations. The eve fell on 21 February 1842, vendors would set up their “little table in Fatimah binti Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman tion which, together with artefacts from remarking that “no European looks upon and the expedition members were awed the public street, with his box and scales England, went up in flames and sank on of Pamanah dated 1822. There are also American history, influenced the early the East as a home, and all those of every by the processions of lanterns, noisy gongs upon it, and tempting samples of the 2 February 1824). numerous letters from Riau dating from development of the institution. “dreamy drug… A single glance of these Initially known as the “Smithsonian 1818, as well as those from Siak, Lingga, In 1844, the original and official (by the The Thian Hock Keng temple in Singapore sketched by Alfred T. Agate and engraved by J.A. Rolph in 1842. opium dealers will convince you that they Deposit”, the manuscripts and books Terengganu and other places. authority of Congress) publication of the The image appears in vol. v of Charles Wilkes’ Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition During the are their own best customers… [with] their were transferred in 1866 to the Library Other treasures of note are two expedition, titled Narrative of the United Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, published by Lea and Blanchard in 1845. Retrieved from Internet Archive. soiled and disorderly dress, the palsied of Congress (LOC) in Washington D.C. – copies of the rare 1840 lithographed States Exploring Expedition, During the hand and pale cheek, the sunken eye and the oldest federal cultural institution in Mission Press edition of the Sejarah Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, was vacant stare...”19 the country and reputedly the largest Melayu (Malay Annals) written in Jawi,23 assembled by Wilkes using the journals library in the world – forming the first a copy of the Hikayat Abdullah (1843) by and records of his officers and others. The Library of Congress and the documented Asian books in its collec- Munshi Abdullah,24 as well as codices The work was issued in five volumes with Singapore Link tion. The materials were rediscovered in such as Hikayat Amir Hamzah (1838),25 illustrations, maps and an atlas.28 Wilkes and his team obtained a number 1966 when they came to the attention Hikayat Johor (1838),26 Hikayat Panca of rare Malay and Bugis manuscripts and of scholars. They are now part of the Tanderan (1835), Hikayat Patani (1839), The Legacy of the U.S. Ex. Ex. books with the help of the Singapore-based Southeast Asia rare collections of the and a handcopied (by Munshi Abdullah) The expedition was not an easy one by any American missionary Alfred North.20 Some Asian Division of the LOC.22 version of Kitab Tib from 1837. measure – the gruelling four-year sea voy- of these beautifully written manuscripts The Malay manuscripts at the LOC age saw the loss of close to 40 men and two were described “as forming a collection consist of 14 codices, six additional codices Home at Last – But No Hero’s ships, the USS Sea Gull and USS Peacock. which is said to be the largest now in and a bound volume containing handwrit- Welcome Despite the immense challenges of the mis- being, that of Sir Stamford Raffles having ten official correspondence and letters The U.S. Ex. Ex. set off from Singapore sion and the difficulties that beset Wilkes been lost”.21 (Raffles’ precious collection of with official seals addressed to then British on 26 February 1842 without the small- on his return, the accomplishments of the drawings, manuscripts, books and wildlife Resident in Singapore, William Farquhar. est ship in the fleet, the USS Flying Fish. U.S. Ex. Ex. would go down in the annals specimens were destroyed when the ship These were sent by heads of state in what She had been sold because her frame of American history for its success in not Fame, taking him and his family back to are now Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia and had weakened considerably and was only promoting American commerce and 20 21 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019

industry, but also for expanding the bor- The items collected from the Wilkes ders of scientific knowledge. Altogether, Expedition were initially kept by some 40 tons of material were brought the National Institute for the back by the expedition, along with an Promotion of Science. In 1858, the astounding amount of data. collection was transferred to the The team surveyed 280 Pacific Smithsonian Institution and housed in the museum (seen here) in the islands, created 180 charts and logged Smithsonian Institution Building, 87,000 miles (140,013 km) without the use nicknamed The Castle. Image of modern navigation aids. The expedition reproduced from Rhees, W.J. (1859). also mapped 800 miles (1,287 km) of the An account of the Smithsonian Pacific Northwest coastline and 1,500 Institution, its founder, building, operations, etc. : prepared from miles (2,414 km) of icebound and frozen the reports of Prof. Henry to the Antarctica coast. A century later, during regents, and other authentic sources the Pacific campaign in World War II, the (p. 20). Washington: Thomas McGill. maps and charts created by the U.S. Ex. Retrieved from Internet Archive. Ex. of the Pacific Islands (Tarawa, Gilbert and Marshall islands) would be used for National Archives of Singapore and National the American island-hopping strategy ON PAPER: SINGAPORE BEFORE 1867 Museum of Singapore, as well as from during the war.29 Among the rare manuscripts and overseas institutions such as The British The Wilkes Expedition played an documents that the U.S. Ex. Ex. Library, National Library of the Republic important role in the development of obtained from Singapore and kept at of Indonesia and National Archives of the science not only in the US but the world the Library of Congress in Washington Netherlands. Comprising manuscripts, over. By making its research publicly avail- D.C. are official correspondence and maps, letters, treaties, paintings, photo- able, the expedition was also instrumental letters addressed to British Resident graphs and other forms of documentation, in the democratisation of science. The William Farquhar. Seven of these these paper artefacts trace the history of specimens and items amassed from the letters will be on display at the National Singapore until its establishment as a Crown expedition formed the core collection of Library’s upcoming exhibition, “On Colony on 1 April 1867. many departments at the Smithsonian Paper: Singapore Before 1867”, which A companion book of the same title Institution, and the work of the “Scientif- opens in the last quarter of 2019 at will be launched in conjunction with ics” would profoundly affect the subse- level 10 of the National Library Building. the exhibition. For more details on the quent development of American science The exhibition will showcase over exhibition opening date, follow us on and, by extension, all scientific discovery 100 items from the National Library, Facebook @NationalLibrarySG. on the global stage.

1840, 1841, 1842 (vols. I to V). Philadelphia: Lea and 517–520. Retrieved from JSTOR; Rony, A. K. (1991) NOTES Blanchard. Retrieved from Internet Archive. NLB has Malay manuscripts and early printed books at the 1 Wilkes, C. (1842). Synopsis of the cruise of the U.S. the condensed and abridged version published by Library of Congress. Indonesia, Vol. 52, pp. 123–134. Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, ’39, ’40, Whittaker and Co. in London, 1845. Chapter 38 is on Retrieved from JSTOR. ’41 & ’42 delivered before the National Institute by its Singapore. This book can be retrieved from BookSG. 23 NLB also has the 1840 edition which has been digitised. Commander Charles Wilkes on the twentieth of June 7 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 411. See Munshi Abdullah. (1840). Sejarah Melayu. 1842 to which is added a list of officers and scientific 8 Wilkes, 1842, p. 40. Singapore: Mission Press. Retrieved from BookSG. corps attached to the expedition (p. 6). Washington, 9 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 411. 24 NLB does not have the 1843 edition. NLB’s 1849 DC: Peter Force. Retrieved from Internet Archive. 10 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 415. edition has been digitised. See Abdullah Abdul Kadir. 2 Stanton, W. (1975). The Great United States 11 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 423. (1849). Hikayat Abdullah. Singapore: Mission Press. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 (p. 63). Berkeley, 12 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 432. Retrieved from BookSG. Los Angeles; London: University of California Press. 13 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 415. 25 NLB does not have the 1838 edition. NLB’s 1865 (Not available in NLB holdings) 14 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 403. edition has not been digitised, but a microfilm copy 3 The roster of the civilian corps, as it appeared on 15 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 408. is available. See Hikayat Amir Hamzah. (1865). [S.I.: the date of sailing and as it remained for the most 16 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 404; Colvocoresses, G.M. s.n.]. (Mcrofilm no.: NL1886) part throughout the voyage was as follows: Charles (1855). Four years in the Government Exploring 26 NLB does not have the 1838 edition. Instead see Pickering and Titian Peale (naturalists), Joseph Couthouy Expedition; commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes, this edition: Muhammad Said. (199-). Hikayat Johor (conchologist), James Dana (mineralogist and geologist), to the island of Madeira, Cape Verd Island, Brazil… dan tawarikh al Marhum Sulan Abu Bakar. London: William Brackenridge (horticulturist), William Rich (5th edition; p. 348). New York: J.M. Fairchild. Oriental and India Office Collections, Reference (botanist), Horatio Hale (philologist), Joseph Drayton Retrieved from Hathi Trust Digital Library. Service Division, British Library. (Call no.: RCLOS and Alfred Agate (artists/draughtsmen). See Feipel, L.N. 17 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 410. [Note: Muharram is the Malay 959.511903 MUH) (1914). The Wilkes Exploring Expedition. Its Progress first month of the Islamic calendar. On the first day 27 Viola, H.J., & Margolis, C. (Eds.). (1985). Magnificent through Half a Century: 1826 1876. United States Naval of Muharram, the Islamic new year is celebrated. voyagers: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 Institute Proceedings, XL, pp. 1323–50. (Not available The 10th day of Muharram is known as the day of (p. 197). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution in NLB holdings) Ashura, which commemorates the death of Husayn Press. (Not available in NLB holdings) 4 USS Porpoise and USS Oregon had arrived in ibn Ali, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad.] 28 Only 100 copies were produced in 1844, and thus were Singapore almost a month earlier on 22 January 18 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 428. much sought after. Beyond the five initial volumes, there 1842 and USS Flying Fish on 16 February 1842. 19 Colvocoresses, 1855, p. 346. were 24 additional volumes planned covering topics 5 King, H.G.R. (1979, January). Autobiography of 20 Of interest to note is that when the American Board of such as ethnography, mammalogy, ornithology, geology Charles Wilkes - Autobiography of Rear Admiral Commissioners for Foreign Missions Singapore mission and botany, but not all were eventually published. Charles Wilkes, US Navy, 1798–1877, edited by W.J. station shut down in 1843, Houghton Library of Harvard 29 Also known as leapfrogging, this was a military Morgan, D.B. Tyler, J. L. Leonhart, and M.F. Loughlin. University became the repository of the remaining strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War Washington: Naval History Division, Department of archives and contains many valuable manuscripts. against the Axis powers (most notably Japan) during the Navy. Polar Record, 19 (121), pp. 396–397. (Not 21 Wilkes, 1845, vol. V, p. 420. World War II. The goal was to control strategic available in NLB holdings) 22 Teeuw, A. (1967). Korte Mededelingen: Malay islands, island-by-island, using each as a base along 6 Wilkes, C. (1845). Narrative of the United States’ Manuscripts in the Library of Congress. Bijdragen a path towards Japan with the eventual aim of Exploring Expedition, During the years 1838, 1839, tot de taal-, land-, en volkenkunde, 123 (4), pp. bringing US bombers within range of an invasion.

22 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Dr Wee Beng Geok is a former Associate Professor of Strategy and Management at Nanyang Techno- logical University. In 2000, she set up the Asian Busi- ness Case Centre, Nanyang Business School, and was its director for 15 years. She has also worked in the corporate sector, including more than a decade in Singapore’s marine industry.

Singapore has always been highly prized for its location. Fortuitously positioned at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, at a key crossroad along the East-West trade sroute, its importance as a port settlement can be traced to the 14th century when the island was known as Temasek. In 1819, the British arrived on the scene, and were quick to grasp Singapore’s potential as an entrepôt and a base to (Facing page top) A large crude carrier at Sembawang Shipyard’s new Premier Dock, a $50-million, 400,000- spread its version of merchant capitalism dwt drydock, at its official opening by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in May 1975. Ministry of Information in Southeast Asia. Land was leased from the and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. indigenous rulers to set up a British trading (Facing page bottom) Albert Dock was built by the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in Tanjong Pagar in 1879. post on the island, and in a treaty signed in It was located to the east of Victoria Dock, the company’s first drydock which began operations in 1868. 1824, Singapore was ceded in full to Britain. Lim Kheng Chye Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. For the next 140 years, the British built insti- (Above) Rows of lighter boats at Boat Quay, 1890. These lighters transported coal from the coal-carrying tutions that would lay the foundations for ships anchored at the mouth of the Singapore River to be stored in godowns along the river banks. When the rise of a modern global city, including a the steamships arrived for refuelling, lighters would transport the coal out to the steamships. Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. market infrastructure that took advantage The Story of of Singapore’s strategic position as a prime node in the global shipping routes. turn transported the coal to warehouses and several companies were willing to Two dockyard entities from the situated along the river bank for storage. take the risk. colonial period became precursors of Lighters then transported the coal out to well-known post-independence companies: the arriving steamships. It was a laborious Competition, Monopoly and a Keppel Shipyard and Sembawang Shipyard. process, made all the worse during stormy Government Takeover Two Shipyards Although the origins and legacies of these weather and choppy seas when the light- New Harbour was deemed a suitable two shipyards could not be more different, ers would sometimes capsize, resulting location for drydocking facilities. In 1859, Keppel & Sembawang their trajectories were shaped by the in tons of lost coal. Furthermore, stored British mariner Captain William Cloughton imperatives of the British Empire as well damp coal combusted easily and became built Singapore’s first drydock, aptly as an industrialising Britain that was at a constant fire hazard. named Dock No. 1, at New Harbour. Keppel and Sembawang shipyards are major players in Singapore’s maritime and shipping the forefront of major technological and In 1845, the Peninsular and Oriental The Patent Slip and Dock Company was industry. Wee Beng Geok traces the colonial origins of these two companies. business innovations. One shipyard had Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in subsequently formed in 1861 to assume purely commercial roots, while the other London began monthly sailings to the Far control of this ship repair facility. was a military naval base established to East, including a stop in Singapore. In 1852, In 1864, a group of investors decided protect British imperial interests in Asia. P&O became the first shipping company to build another drydock at New Harbour. to move its coaling stations from the Sin- To raise funds for the project, they set Early Dockyard Entrepreneurs gapore River to New Harbour (now Keppel up a joint-stock limited liability company The advent of steamships for sea transpor- Harbour3) where it built its own wharf. The – Tanjong Pagar Dock Company Limited tation in the 19th century drew entrepre- new location had a sheltered anchorage, (TPDC) – which became the first local neurs to invest in the ship repair business a pier for bunkering, as well as space for joint-stock company to offer shares to in Singapore. Although steamships were coal storage and godowns (warehouses). the public in Singapore. faster and more reliable compared with Other shipping firms followed suit and The TPDC initially hoped to raise wind-powered vessels, repairs to the New Harbour, with its deep waters, soon $200,000 in Singapore, with 2,000 shares of steamship hull – unlike sailing vessels – became the preferred berthing location $100 each available for purchase. However, could not be done by beaching the vessel1 for ships calling at Singapore. as not all shares were taken up by local but had to be carried out in a drydock.2 With increased steamship traffic, residents, the balance was sold to investors The use of steamships also required several Singapore-based British and Euro- in London. With a reasonably attractive divi- new logistical arrangements. Coal, the pean companies as well as residents dend policy, TPDC shares were considered energy source of steamships, had to be became keen to invest in the construc- a good investment by the 1870s. In subse- first transferred from coal-carrying ships tion of drydocks for ship repair. Although quent fundraising exercises, new shares anchored at the mouth of the Singa- considerable start-up capital was needed, were offered for sale at a premium, with pore River onto small lighters, which in the returns were projected to be good some bought by shareholders in London. 24 25 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Victoria Dock, TPDC’s first drydock facilities became increasingly inadequate The SHB retained TPDC’s monopolistic (Left) When completed in 1938, King George VI Dock located on the western side of Tanjong to compete internationally and the com- ship repair business, and for the next five at the Singapore Naval Base in Sembawang was touted Pagar, started operations in 1868. With pany’s wharf system was under severe decades, it controlled the entire chain of as one of the largest naval docks ever built and capable the opening of this new dock, the Patent strain as no major improvements to its repair business at Keppel Harbour. With of accommodating the biggest ship in the world. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 14 Slip and Dock Company faced intense facilities had been carried out since 1885. its sizeable facilities, the SHB soon edged February 1938, p. 1. competition. It mounted a price war, This situation was exacerbated by out the smaller shipyards and engineering and TPDC was forced to cut its prices. differences with regard to capital spend- workshops in Tanjong Rhu and Kallang. (Below left) King George VI Dock under construction at the Singapore Naval Base, 1933. The National Although TPDC’s drydock business ing between the TPDC Board in Singapore This commanding position lulled the Archives of the UK (ADM195/106). faced losses as a result of this move, its and the London Consulting Committee in SHB to such complacency that by the wharf services still managed to turn in a Britain representing the company’s group end of the 1950s, capital investment had profit and became the company’s main of European and British shareholders.4 slowed down considerably and SHB’s costs prospect of a war with Japan, the income source. In March 1904, TPDC submitted and productivity began lagging behind completion of Sembawang Naval Base With the opening of the Suez Canal a $12-million modernisation plan to overseas dockyards like Hong Kong’s. became a priority for Britain. King George in 1869, more steamships called at Sin- upgrade and expand its facilities, including VI Dock was finally completed in early 1938 gapore and, by the following year, dock a proposed financing scheme. This was A New Naval Base in Asia and was touted as one of the largest naval operations had become profitable. In rejected by the company’s Europe-based After World War I, as the locus of naval docks ever built, capable of accommodating 1870, Patent built its second dock, Dock shareholders, who were concerned that power moved to the Pacific, the Board the biggest ship in the world. No. 2, at New Harbour. Nine years later, in the costs of financing the project would of Admiralty in London, as part of its ap- 1879, TPDC built another drydock, Albert “endanger a dividend of 12 per cent”.5 praisal of British naval policy, proposed The War Comes to Singapore Dock, located to the east of Victoria Dock, TPDC sought financial support from building a new naval base facility in Asia. In December 1941, as Japanese imperial to meet the growing demand. The TPDC the Straits Settlements government, In the light of the growing threat posed forces advanced into Singapore from Ma- began to acquire smaller rivals that owned but instead the government decided to by the Japanese military and rising inter- laya, Sembawang Naval Base came under docks and wharves at New Harbour, but expropriate the company’s assets and take national tensions, Britain grew anxious to heavy Japanese shell and mortar attack. who were less able to withstand the com- over the management of its operations. protect its empire in Asia, and Singapore Just before the British surrendered to petitive business environment. With the passing of the Tanjong was considered the most ideal location the Japanese on 15 February 1942, the Finally, in 1899, TPDC merged with its Pagar Dock Ordinance in April 1905, for its new naval base. retreating British naval personnel blew main rival, the New Harbour Dock Company TPDC became a government organisa- Although British naval ships had previ- up the drydock’s caisson and pumps as (in 1875, Patent Slip and Dock Company had tion known as the Tanjong Pagar Dock ously docked at SHB’s drydocks, the new well as its electrical generating plant. The incorporated itself into a public company Board. TPDC shareholders received from British battleships were too large to berth at intention was to prevent the Japanese bearing this name). With this acquisition, the government $761 for each $100 share these facilities as their anti-torpedo bulges from using the naval base. The Japanese TPDC came to control the entire shipping, – substantially higher than the $600 peak extended out on either side of the ship’s navy, however, managed to repair the dockyard and wharf business at New Har- reached by the share in the stock market. hull. Thus, Sungei Sembawang, facing the damaged facilities at Sembawang Naval bour, except for the P&O wharf. Singapore’s The board was reconstituted in 1913 as Johor Strait, was chosen as the new site to Base and used it to service its naval fleet port and its future prosperity rested heavily a statutory board known as Singapore construct the naval dockyard. Its strategic during the Japanese Occupation. on TPDC’s shoulders. Harbour Board (SHB). In the same year, the location as well as the deep waters of the As the tide of war turned in late 1944, Singapore’s port was the seventh SHB launched King’s Dock, the largest dock Johor Strait would provide good anchorage the naval base became the target of air largest in the world in 1904 but faced east of the Suez. In 1917, another drydock, for the naval fleet, bolstered by facilities raids by Allied Forces, and the dockyard strong overseas competition, especially Empire Dock, was completed. Port facilities such as onshore wharves and workshops. facilities suffered severe damage. When from the port in Hong Kong. TPDC’s port at Keppel Harbour were also enhanced. The Singapore Naval Base Scheme the British returned to Singapore following was announced to the British Parliament in the Japanese surrender in September This wood-engraved print shows the opening of Victoria Dock at New Harbour by then Governor Harry 1923. The plan was immediately met with 1945, they began repairing and upgrading St. George Ord on 17 October 1868. Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board. hostile reactions from the British public, the naval base facilities. By the end of who were weary of war and expected 1951, Sembawang Naval Base was back the government to improve their lives on its feet again. through more social spending. Although The postwar years leading up to the original plan was for the naval dock- when the incoming Labour government construction began with some 5,000 work- the 1960s were the most productive for yard in Singapore to be completed in 1930, blocked the funds that had been earmarked men and 100 British staff. Millions of feet the naval base. With British involvement the construction timeline was extended for the construction of the dock. When of soil were dug, and 1.6 million tons of in the Korean War in 1949 and other by another three years to avoid the imme- the Conservative government returned granite stone were brought in from Johor. regional conflicts, the dockyard serviced a diate need for heavy expenditure. The to power in late 1924, the Singapore Naval In the same year, a newly built floating wide range of naval vessels in the region, completion date of the naval dockyard Base Scheme was revived, but the construc- dock, with lifting capacity of 50,000 tons, including aircraft carriers, commando was thus pushed back to 1933. tion of the drydock was delayed yet again. was commissioned at Sembawang, and helicopter carriers, cruisers, destroyers, To appease its citizens back home, In mid-1926, the largest single con- a floating crane with a lifting capacity of frigates, submarines and minesweepers. Britain sought monetary contributions tribution of £2 million was received from 100 tons also arrived. from its Asian colonies to ease the funding the Federated Malay States. Then in April However, the building momentum Developing a Ship Repair Industry burden. In May 1923, Singapore made a 1927, New Zealand came forward with a almost ground to a halt when a new Singapore inched closer to independence gift of 2,845 acres of land for the naval commitment of £1 million to be disbursed Labour government came into power in from British rule when the first Legisla- base valued at about £150,000, or 1.25 over eight years. Britain in 1929. As the government was tive Assembly general election was held million Straits dollars. This was followed In 1928, the tender for the drydock unable to abort the project, it decided in 1959. The victorious People’s Action by a donation of £250,000 from the Hong and wharf construction in Sembawang was to slow down the pace of construction. Party which formed the government, was Kong government. Domestic issues in awarded to a South African company, Sir In 1931, the Japanese army invaded faced with bleak economic prospects and Britain in 1924, however, impeded progress John Jackson’s Ltd, for £3.7 million, and Manchuria. Faced with the looming severe unemployment, and its key priority 26 27 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

maritime and shipping industry. Recipients By the time Swan Hunter personnel of Keppel Offshore & Marine, one of the The first female apprentices at Sembawang Shipyard, 1970s. The shipyard set up its own apprenticeship DOCKYARD STRIKES training centre in 1972 to train a new generation of Singaporean engineers and managers, who would of various government and the Colombo left in 1978, almost all the managers in core businesses of conglomerate Keppel Plan scholarship schemes were among Sembawang were Singaporeans, except for Corporation. Keppel Shipyard has three The dockyards were not spared the eventually take over the reins from British managing agent, Swan Hunter. Image reproduced from Chew, M. (1998). Of Hearts and Minds: The Story of Sembawang Shipyard (p. 116). Singapore: Sembawang Shipyard the first generation of local engineers and the managing director C.N. Watson, who had yards in Singapore – Tuas, Benoi and Gul highly politicised labour movement that Pte Ltd. (Call no.: RSING 623.83 CHE). managers at the two shipyards. previously been with Keppel. Lim succeeded – which together operate five drydocks. swept through Singapore in the 1950s Before Swan Hunter’s managing Watson as managing director in 1983, thus Sembawang Shipyard was renamed and 60s. On 30 April 1955, around contract with Keppel ended in 1972, a completing the entire localisation process. Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard in 2015. 1,300 port workers employed by the group of Keppel’s key local officers drafted Over the next three decades, Keppel Today, it has five docks, the largest being Singapore Harbour Board (SHB) Staff a localisation plan and submitted the and Sembawang would emerge as major the 400,000-dwt Premier Dock, as well as Association went on strike for better blueprint to the chairman of the board. players in Singapore’s maritime and ship- KG VI Dock, which is one of the deepest in wages and working conditions. In June, The blueprint was accepted and a local ping industry as well as leaders in the Southeast Asia. Admiralty Yard is one of the strike found greater support when management team took over the shipyard global offshore rig construction business. the four major yards in Singapore operated unions representing 40,000 workers on 1 June 1972, helmed by its new chair- Today, Keppel Shipyard is a division by Sembcorp Marine Limited. in Singapore threatened to join their man, a prominent Eurasian named George shipyard counterparts. Bogaars. Chua Chor Teck, a former naval The strike ended on 6 July after A ship undergoing repair dockyard apprentice and naval architecture an agreement was reached between in Keppel Shipyard, graduate, was appointed general manager. the association and the SHB manage- c. early 1990s. Image Briton C.N. Watson of Swan Hunter was reproduced from Lim, R. ment. According to one estimate, retained as interim managing director until (1993).Tough Men, Bold the protracted negotiations over the 1974, when Chua took over. Visions: The Story of three-month period took up nearly Keppel (p. 65). Singapore: Keppel’s new management built a 100 hours, with the SHB forking out Keppel Corporation more than a century of commercial ship appointed as managing agent to help the 150,000-dwt drydock on reclaimed land at least $500,000 a year as a result of Limited. (Call no.: RSING repair experience, were restructured as shipyards build up their capabilities and in Tuas, and the new yard commenced 338.76238309 LIM). the wage increases it offered to the a separate business entity. In Septem- resources. These included the develop- business in June 1977 when the dock was striking workers. ber 1968, Keppel Shipyard Pte Ltd, with ment of international commercial and completed. In 1979, work on another dry- The government became con- shareholdings held by the Singapore marketing networks that were critical for dock for ultra-large crude carriers of up to cerned that labour activism could government, was incorporated to take success in the ship repair business. 330,000 dwt began at the Tuas shipyard. derail its efforts to commercialise the over SHB’s ship repair operations. The SHB By then, decades of monopolistic In 1980, Keppel Shipyard Limited dockyards. With the incorporation of ceased to exist. practices had made Singapore’s ship repair (KSL) shares were listed and traded on Keppel and Sembawang shipyards as After Singapore gained independence business uncompetitive. The same job that the Stock Exchange of Singapore, with the business entities in 1968, house unions in 1965, the British gradually reduced took 20 days to complete in Singapore launch of an initial public offering of 30 were set up to represent employees of its military presence in the region. The required a mere six days in Hong Kong. million shares at $3.30 each. Besides the each shipyard, with the hope of aligning formation of Sembawang Shipyard Pte Furthermore, charges were generally 15 Singapore government, KSL sharehold- the union’s objectives with that of the Ltd in 1968 was precipitated by Britain’s percent lower in Hong Kong compared ers included institutional investors and new business enterprise. surprise announcement in January that to Singapore. private individuals. year of an early withdrawal of its military One stumbling block was caused by Swan Hunter’s contract with Sem- forces in Singapore, including the closure Sembawang’s elaborate naval dockyard bawang Shipyard was for 10 years begin- was the creation of jobs for a young and of Sembawang Naval Base, by 1971. design. In comparison, commercial ning from 1968: the first three years to growing population. In June 1968, the Singapore govern- dockyards had compact designs, making commercialise the naval dockyard and In October 1960, a United Nations ment began the process of converting them more cost-efficient. New skillsets the subsequent seven years to transform Industrial Survey Mission led by Dutch the naval base into a government-linked and business processes in areas such it to a full-fledged ship repair enterprise. economist Albert Winsemius visited Sin- commercial entity known as Sembawang as international networks, marketing, In 1970, senior civil servant Pang gapore to conduct a feasibility study and Shipyard Pte Ltd. The shipyard began commercial estimating and billings had Tee Pow was appointed the board chair- NOTES REFERENCES provide advice on how to steer its fledgling operations in December the same year to be developed, as these capabilities had man of Sembawang Shipyard and Lim 1 “Beaching” refers to the act of laying the vessel Chew, M. (1998). Of hearts and minds: The story of economy. In the final report submitted in after the British government sold the naval not been the concerns of a naval dockyard. Cheng Pah, also from the public service, on its side on a beach to conduct hull repair and Sembawang Shipyard. Singapore: Sembawang June 1961, the team identified ship repair base to Singapore for a token sum of $1. Swan Hunter’s brief included training local became its first local senior manager. maintenance work. Shipyard Limited. (Call no.: RSING 623.83 CHE) 2 A drydock is a large dock from which water can Keppel Shipyard Limited [Advertisement]. (1980, and shipbuilding as a potential industry The assets of the naval base were valued managers and technical staff as well as As the director of personnel and train- be pumped out, and is used for repairing a ship October 27). The Straits Times, p. 15. Retrieved as it would take advantage of Singapore’s at £2 million and included a 100,000-dwt transferring essential skills and knowledge ing, Lim led the localisation initiative to below its waterline. Also sometimes referred to as from NewspaperSG a “graving dock”. Lim, R. (1993). Tough men, bold visions: The story of natural deep harbour and strategic location drydock, five floating docks, a mile-long to a new generation of Singaporean nurture and train local staff. In 1972, 3 New Harbour was renamed Keppel Harbour in 1900 Keppel. Singapore: Keppel Corporation Limited. (Call while providing employment to thousands. deepwater berthside, full cranage and 22 shipyard engineers and managers, who the year that Sembawang first began after Admiral Henry Keppel, who five decades earlier, no.: RSING q338.762383095957 LIM) In line with this vision, one of the govern- hectares of workshop facilities. would eventually take over the reins. commercial operations, the company in 1848, had sailed the naval ship HMS Meander McIntyre, W.D. (1979). The rise and fall of the Singapore into New Harbour for repair and was astonished to Naval Base 1919–1942. London: MacMillan. (Call no.: ment’s first moves was to restructure and The two shipyards set up their own achieved a revenue of $71.2 million, find deep water so close to the shore. He reported RSING 359.7 MAC) reorganise the ship repair operations of the A New Vision for Keppel apprenticeship training centres – Keppel with a profit of $15 million. This positive to the Board of Admiralty in London and then to the National Library Board. (2014). Formation of the Port SHB and Sembawang Naval Base. and Sembawang in 1969 and Sembawang in 1972. Many start gave Sembawang the confidence Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company of Singapore Authority 1st April 1964. Retrieved on the discovery of this deep harbour for steamships from HistorySG. A two-step process to restructure In 1968, Hon Sui Sen, then Chairman of young Singaporeans who completed these to seek public funds through an initial and its potential as a port. Neidpath, J. (1981). The Singapore Naval Base and the the SHB began in 1964. First, the Port of the Economic Development Board, was apprenticeship programmes formed the public offering on the Singapore Stock 4 TPDC’s Articles of Association gave veto rights to the defence of the Britain’s eastern empire, 1919–1941. Singapore Authority (PSA) was set up as a appointed the first chairman of both Kep- backbone of Singapore’s maritime industry Exchange in June 1973. The company London Consulting Committee (which functioned Oxford; New York: Clarendon Press. (Call no.: more like a London Board) for expenditures beyond RSING 359.7 NEI) statutory board to take over the functions, pel and Sembawang shipyards. His first in the 1980s and 90s. raised $51 million through the issue of $20,000. See Bogaars, G. (1956). The Tanjong Pagar Turnbull, C.M. (1989). A history of Singapore: 1819–1988 assets and liabilities of the SHB. The new priority was to transform the two shipyards Keppel and Sembawang shipyards 25 million shares at $2.04 each. In 1975, Dock Company, 1864–1905 (p. 171). Singapore: Govt. [2nd ed.]. Singapore: Oxford University Press. (Call entity would also manage port operations into for-profit business enterprises. The became major beneficiaries of scholarship a new and larger drydock catering to Print. Off. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.51 BOG) no.: RSING 959.57 TUR-[HIS]) 5 Bogaars, G. (1956). The Tanjong Pagar Dock and serve as the government port regulator. same year, British shipbuilding group, programmes aimed at nurturing local the repair market for very large crude Company, 1864–1905 (p. 223). Singapore: Govt. Print. Second, SHB’s dockyards, which had Swan Hunter of Tyneside, England, was talent to fill key positions in Singapore’s carriers was completed. Off. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.51 BOG) 28 29 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

“Contemporary art” has been described their use of materials and forms. Although Nanyang School. Finding the teaching dull as art produced by artists living today. it is difficult to establish the exact influence and unimaginative, the students went on Historically, contemporary art is taken that such practices had on the works of to build a more experimental portfolio in to refer to new art practices such as young artists at the time, it would not be parallel to their mandatory school portfolio.7 installation, performance and video that too far-fetched to assume that some of the As a further gesture of dissent, the emerged in the 1960s in Europe and momentum was carried over to the 1980s, three young rebels, together with two other America. It was a reaction against modern setting the scene for contemporary art to students, Koh Kim Seng and Desmond Tan, art, which was felt to be detached from flourish in Singapore. decided not to participate in their gradua- GROUNDBREAKING the realities of life. tion show. Instead, the five staged their own Contemporary art flourished at diffe­ The Role of Art Institutions “graduation” show – Quintet – at Arbour The beginnings of Contemporary Art in Singapore rent times in different places in Southeast It would take an act of rebellion by a group Fine Art in May 1987. Asia. In Singapore, contemporary art is of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) The founding of LASALLE College of the 1988 has been held as the watershed year in which contemporary art in rooted in the social transformation that took students to radically shift the history of Arts, then known as St Patrick’s Arts Centre, Singapore took root with the establishment of The Artists Village. place during the 1970s and 80s. As a young contemporary art in Singapore. Three of by Brother Joseph McNally in 1984 was a Jeffrey Say nation, the focus then was on generating these students – Salleh Japar, S. Chandra­ catalyst in the growth and development debunks this view, asserting that the art movement began earlier. economic wealth, along with the pursuit of sekaran and Goh Ee Choo – became pio- of Singapore’s contemporary art scene rapid urbanisation and technology. neering figures in the contemporary art (LASALLE has since acquired a reputation Urbanisation invariably resulted in scene. Salleh recounted that the trio had, for its contemporary arts education, while entire communities being uprooted and very early on, begun resisting the teaching NAFA is better known for its more tradi- “[T]he emergence of the Singapore work The Picnic, dismissed it as “a flash In fact, the beginnings of Singapore’s relocated to high-rise housing which, in system at NAFA, which required students tional approach in the training of artists). artist collective The Artists Village1 of avant-gardism within a conservative contemporary art scene can be traced back turn, led to a general weakening of societal to copy what they saw in a naturalistic According to an interview with for- arguably marks the beginning of artistic environment… a form that did not at least two to three years before the forma- and familial relationships. This resulted in manner and to follow the tradition of the mer LASALLE student Ahmad Abu Bakar contemporary art in Singapore.” 2 take hold in Singapore for another decade tion of The Artists Village. Art historian T.K. a sense of displacement, and gave rise to until the establishment of The Artists Village Sabapathy has cautioned that “all too often issues of identity and alienation. in 1988”.3 each and every endeavour of developing In the context of these conditions, Tang Da Wu’s Gully Curtain (1979) was created on-site by hanging seven pieces of linen in a gully in Ang Mo Kio Channels for three months. The resulting soiled and water-stained linens were then displayed at the National Museum Similarly, Kwok Kian Chow’s new or alternative methods of making art, young Singaporean artists responded in Art Gallery in the exhibition titled Earth Work in 1980. Tang Da Wu, Untitled, 1979, Gelatin silver print, 39 x 49 This assertion by curator and art critic and Confluences: A History of Singapore Art especially installation and performance, is diverse ways to “issues relating to the cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board. Iola Lenzi reflects a view that has been (1996) points to the contributions of The invariably and unthinkingly attributed to nature of art, and questions regarding long accepted in writings on Singaporean Artists Village and its founder Tang Da Wu the influence of the Village and/or Da Wu”.5 the self in relation to social, cultural and tcontemporary art. Art curator Russell to the contemporary art scene in Singapore, environmental conditions”.6 By the mid- Storer, in his discussion of sculptor and while generally overlooking other significant What is Contemporary Art? 1980s, these artists began using a variety painter Tan Teng-Kee’s 1979 performative developments prior to 1988.4 Contemporary art is complex in its defini- of new artistic techniques that were vastly tion. While it is not within the scope of different in their intent and approach this essay to delve into the theoretical compared with the abstract art forms of Jeffrey Say is an an art historian and lecturer at LASALLE College of the Arts, where he helped develop its art history programmes. He undertook the first extensive study of the history of sculpture in pre- debates about the term, it would be useful the preceding decades. and post-war Singapore, and is co-editor of Histories, Practices, Interventions: A Reader in Singapore to arrive at some definition that takes the Contemporary Art (2016). context of Singapore art into consideration. Precursors and Antecedents Even before the emergence of a well- defined contemporary art scene in mid- 1980s Singapore, there have been several A wooden box made by young artists – Tang Mun “flares” or “moments”, as it has been Kit, Baet Yeok Kuan, Lim Poh Teck and Chng Chin described, of contemporary art as early as Kang – being pushed from the former St Joseph’s the 1970s. However, it would be inaccurate Institution to Marina Square for the More Than to regard these instances as the budding 4 event staged as part of the 1988 Arts Festival of contemporary art in Singapore as Fringe. Courtesy of Koh Nguang How. they did not lead to the proliferation of a sustained critical practice of the form. The three early works (see text box overleaf) often cited as belonging to the genre of contemporary art are Cheo Chai-Hiang’s 5′ x 5′ (Singapore River) (1972), Tang Da Wu’s Earth Work (1980) and Tan Teng-Kee’s The Picnic (1979). These works incorporate aspects of conceptual, performance and installa- tion art, and are generally regarded as a departure from conventional painting and sculpture. In the 1980s, a number of artists – such as Teo Eng Seng and Eng Tow – began moving away from the modern towards the contemporary by creating works that can be described as bold and experimental in 30 31 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

(Diploma of Fine Arts, class of 1989), now well as emerging artists, many of whom crossed from one discipline to the other. a ceramicist and sculptor, the school could have been influenced by the experi- The Fringe was exactly what the term focused more on conceptual thinking mental works on display. stood for – non-mainstream events that rather than artistic skills during its early Foreign cultural institutes in Singa- encouraged greater experimentation and years.8 The highly influential artist Tang pore, such as Alliance Francaise, The British diversity of visual expressions, which in turn Da Wu, who began teaching at LASALLE Council, the Australian High Commission expanded the scope of contemporary art in 1988, encouraged students to think (which organised the Australian Art Award practice in Singapore. out of the box and invited them to his for Young Artists)12 and the Goethe-Institut, In the 1986 edition of the Fringe, the performances and events.9 LASALLE stu- also served as platforms for learning and works of 12 young artists were shown dents also became involved in a number exhibitions. The Goethe-Institut was in five venues14 here. One of the shows, of external contemporary art events and especially instrumental in providing an Not the Singapore River, held at the now activities during this period.10 Interes­ alternative space for the display of con- defunct Arbour Fine Art in Cuppage Ter- tingly, much of the study of contemporary temporary art: its exhibitions of works by race, would become part of local art his- art practices were taking place outside German artists and film screenings would tory. Although short-lived, Arbour Fine Art the classroom. undoubtedly have been seen by young and its co-owner, Lim Jen Howe, played an Before the establishment of the local artists and, in turn, energised their instrumental role in providing a platform Singapore Art Museum in 1996, the own practice. In addition to hosting the for untested young artists brimming with National Museum Art Gallery was the state graduation shows of NAFA and those of fresh ideas to exhibit their works. museum where art exhibitions were held. young emerging artists,13 the Goethe also By naming the exhibition Not the The role played by this art gallery, which had a library that was well stocked with art Singapore River, Lim had intended to opened in 1976, in the development of books – a useful resource for young artists usher in a new era in the local art scene, contemporary art in Singapore cannot looking for ideas from outside Singapore. representing a break from the so-called be understated. Although the gallery did second-generation artists who were not provide a platform for young local Groundbreaking Art either painting abstractions, or cliched artists, the numerous shows it staged Interestingly, many of the visual art exhi- and idyllic scenes of the Singapore River practices prevailing in Singapore. The that featured the works of well-known bitions that featured cutting-edge works and Chinatown. The five artists featured use of objects such as sand, stones, dried international artists would have inspired by young and emerging artists during this in Not the Singapore River were Goh Ee leaves, barbed wire and even a kitchen students from LASALLE and NAFA.11 It is period were organised as part of the Fringe Choo, Oh Chai Hoo, Katherine Ho, Yeo wok, arranged as installations on the floor highly plausible that exposure to these segment of the Singapore Festival of Arts. Siak Goon and Peter Tow. Although the or as constructions on the wall – and the international shows would have had an The Fringe showcased events featuring works exhibited were primarily paintings, creation of a total and immersive art envi- impact on more intrepid art students as visual and performing arts that frequently their experimental interplay of form and ronment in the process – were the key elements that made it so revolutionary. Significantly, too, Quintet was THREE ARTWORKS AHEAD OF an exhibition titled Earth Work at the about the exhibition of several of Tan’s the precursor of the well-documented THEIR TIME National Museum Art Gallery. Earth Work paintings and sculpture, what was highly Trimurti that was staged in 1988 – featured lumps of earth, soil and clay as unusual was the inclusion of a series of the same year The Artists Village was In 1972, Cheo Chai-Hiang submitted a well as linens and wooden boards that actions that is today regarded as the first launched. Trimurti is regarded today proposal, titled 5′ x 5′ (Singapore River), had been exposed to the sun, rain and documented instance of performance as a seminal exhibition in the history of to the annual exhibition of the Modern soil. One of these works, Gully Curtain art in Singapore. One of the works fea- Singaporean contemporary art (see text Art Society. The proposal contained a set (1979), was created on-site by hanging tured was a 100-metre-long painting, box overleaf). of instructions directing the exhibitors seven pieces of linen in a gully in Ang Mo The Lonely Road, which Tan sliced into In 1988, an unsung figure in to draw a square measuring five feet by Kio, which was then being developed into smaller paintings in response to what Singaporean contemporary art history, five feet straddling the wall and the floor. a public housing estate. Left in the gully potential buyers wanted. The climax of (Top) Quintet – by (from left) Koh Kim Seng, Goh Ee Choo, S. Chandrasekaran, Desmond Tan and (behind in the French-born multidisciplinary artist Cheo’s work was an example of conceptual for three months, the resulting soiled and the event was Fire Sculpture, which saw glasses) Salleh Japar – was staged at Arbour Fine Art in May 1987, with works displayed on the wall, floor and Gilles Massot, conceived and organised art, in which the idea or the concept was water-stained linens became part of his one of Tan’s constructions – wrapped ceiling in seemingly random fashion. According to The Straits Times, Quintet was a “coordinated attempt… to Art Commandos, a group of about 30 more important than the actual execution exhibition at the gallery. in newspaper and supported by long shape new approaches to art display and appreciation in Singapore”. Source: The Straits Times © Singapore individuals who launched “raids” into the or aesthetics. At one level, the work was Tan Teng-Kee staged The Picnic as an wooden poles – incinerated with a torch. Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission. city area as part of the 1988 Arts Festival a parody of the cliched representations of outdoor event at the field outside his flat in The Picnic, however, was an isolated (Above) The Art Commandos during one of their outdoor performances a the 1998 Arts Festival Fringe that Fringe. The “raids” constituted one of the the Singapore River popular among pain­ Normanton Estate on 14 September 1979. occurrence in Tan’s practice, which was combined music, dance, drama and visual arts. The paraphernalia and artworks seen in the photo were all first instances of intervention by a group ters then. On another level, it was a critical While there was nothing extraordinary primarily sculpting. made using materials that had been salvaged. Courtesy of Koh Nguang How. of creative individuals in a public space. work meant to provoke discourse about the After having trained for a week general state of art in Singapore, which had space, and the use of motifs and symbols components of Quintet,15 with its works under different mentors in an experimen- In 1972, Cheo Chai-Hiang’s proposal 5′ x 5′ hitherto been dominated by international (Singapore River) ­– which provided instructions as metaphors for self-reflexivity leaned displayed on the wall, floor and ceiling tal workshop in Sentosa that combined abstraction. Given its iconoclastic nature, for a blank square measuring five feet by five feet towards contemporary art. in seemingly random fashion. visual art, music, drama and dance, the 5′ x 5′ (Singapore River) was not selected to be drawn over a wall and adjoining floor – to The aforementioned Quintet exhibi- While the art works of Desmond Tan Art Commandos settled into their “base for the 1972 Modern Art Society exhibition. the Modern Art Society for its annual exhibition tion by NAFA’s five young artists, held at and Koh Kim Seng of Quintet conformed camp” at the former St Joseph’s Institu- Even before Tang Da Wu returned was rejected due to its iconoclastic nature. This Arbour Fine Art in May 1987, was argu- to the conventions of easel paintings, tion (now Singapore Art Museum), from display is a recreation of the original work. Cheo from undergraduate studies in the UK in Chai-Hiang, 5′ x 5′ (Inched Deep), 1972, remade ably the most significant art exhibition those of Salleh Japar, Goh Ee Choo and where they fanned out into various parts 1979, he had begun engaging in experi- for display in 2015, mixed media, 150 x 150 cm. in the second half of the 1980s, and its S. Chandrasekaran broke new ground of the city, including Orchard Road. The mental art forms such as performance Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Courtesy radical origins have been noted by vari- in Singaporean art. Drawing from Asian performances were spontaneous and and installation. In 1980, Tang presented of National Heritage Board. ous writers. The reviewers of the show heritage and philosophy, their works were involved members of the group express- were quick to point out the innovative a direct reaction to Western-centric art ing themselves in song, dance and drama, 32 33 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

screamed into her face…” He then grabbed The Straits Times, expressing disappoint- NOTES TRIMURTI: A RETURN TO Trimurti was an assertion of the ethnic S. Chandrasekaran performing at the Yin Yang the girl and said: ‘This is live art’.”17 ment with the Art Commandos, criticising Festival at the National University of Singapore 1 The Artists Village (TAV) is an artist colony founded by artist and cultural identities of the three In September 1988, Cheo Chai-Hiang the artistic quality of the performers and Tang Da Wu in 1988 at Lorong Gambas in Sembawang. ASIAN AESTHETICS Guild House in November 1987. He is seen here artists (Indian, Chinese and Malay), presented an installation titled Gentleman the lack of good content.21 Tang invited young artists such as Wong Shih Yaw, Lee laying a trail of stones into the children’s pool at Wen, Amanda Heng and Zai Kuning to set up their studios In March 1988, Goh Ee Choo, Salleh Japar combined into a syncretic unity – an the Guild House. Not surprisingly, the exhibition in Suit and Tie. Artist and archivist Koh Much of the criticisms, particularly in a kampong setting there. In the following year, TAV and S. Chandrasekaran staged an exhibi- acknowledgement of Singapore’s invited much negative feedback from a public and Nguang How recalls how, at the open- in newspapers and magazines, took aim at became active with open studio shows, installations and tion at the Goethe-Institut titled Trimurti. multiethnic and multicultural society. press unused to such experimental art forms. (See ing event, 60 audience members, each the seemingly gimmicky and experimental performances held at Lorong Gambas and venues such as the National Museum Art Gallery. In 1990, Lorong Gambas was The exhibition was, in many ways, a crys- Unlike Quintet, Trimurti had all three The Straits Times, 24 November 1987, p.25). Photo equipped with a charcoal stick and a piece nature of the works, which themselves below courtesy of Neo Kim Seng. repossessed by the government for redevelopment and TAV tallisation of the ideas and concepts that artists engaged in ritual-like perfor- of paper pre-printed with a man’s image, were a barometer of a growing interest moved to a number of different temporary locations. they had been working on in Quintet that mances, in addition to installations as simultaneously started running their in forms and practices that were shifting 2 Lenzi, I. (c. 2009). The Artists Village and the birth of contemporary art in Singapore: Koh Nguang How in took place in May 1987. In Quintet, these well as painted and sculptural works charcoal sticks over the image – in effect from the more familiar art of the 1970s conversation with Iola Lenzi. In I. Lenzi (Ed), Concept, context, three artists drew extensively from Asian that are charged with symbolism – producing 60 portraits in one fell swoop – and early ’80s that were expressed contestation: Art and the collective in Southeast Asia (pp. 190–195). Bangkok: Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre philosophical systems relating to ideas of all geared towards transforming the as guest-of-honour and then principal of mainly through paintings, sculptures and Foundation. (Not in NLB holdings) creation and the cosmos, but with Trimurti, gallery into what the artists called an LASALLE College Brother Joseph McNally salon photography. The reactions from 3 Storer, R. (2016). Melting into air: Tan Teng-Kee in Singapore. these ideas became more fully fledged “energy space”. walked the length of the gallery while a both audience and journalists ranged In R. Storer, C. Chikiamco & A. Tan (Eds.), A fact has no appearance: Art beyond the object (pp. 55–67). Singapore, and explicit as concepts underpinning After this event, Goh, Salleh flautist played in the background. from utter bewilderment to complete National Gallery, Singapore. (Call no.: RSING 709.5909047 FAC) the exhibition. and Chandrasekaran never exhibited Cheo’s work can be framed within denial that what they were witnessing 4 Kwok, K. C. (1996). Channels and confluences: A history of Trimurti is a Sanskrit word that collectively again, but went on to what is known as relational aesthetics, in was art. But ironically, headlines such Singapore art. Singapore, Singapore Art Museum. (Call 22 no.: RSING 709.5957 KWO) describes the Hindu triumvirate of Shiva forge successful individual careers which the artist is viewed as merely a facili- as “Art or gimmick?” and “A year when 5 Sabapathy, T.K. (1993, June). Trimurti: Contemporary art in (the Destroyer), Vishnu (the Preserver) as artists. The only exception was tator and art is regarded as the exchange the young hogged the limelight”23 were Singapore. Art and Asia Pacific, pp. 30–35. (Not in NLB holdings) and Brahma (the Creator). These roles in 1998, when the artists reprised of information between the artist and ample evidence that new art forms were 6 Sabapathy, Jun 1993, pp. 30–35. 18 7 Sheares, C. (Interviewer). (1998, April 15). Oral history were symbolically appropriated and Trimurti in the exhibition Trimurti the audience. “The artist, in this sense, emerging in Singapore. interview with Salleh Japar [Transcript of recording no. executed by Chandrasekaran, Goh and and Ten Years After at the Singapore gives audiences access to power and the Among those who contributed art 002018/4/1, p. 8]. Retrieved from National Archives Salleh respectively in the exhibition. Art Museum. means to change the world.”19 It is clear reviews and columns to The Straits Times of Singapore website. Art history has shown that new movements – from the Impressionists to the Vienna that Cheo was years ahead of his time. was the prolific art historian T.K. Saba­ Secessionists – invariably started when students and young pathy, whose incisive remarks and criti- artists rebelled against prevailing art practices that they Goh Ee Choo during one of his ritualistic performances for Trimurti in 1988. Courtesy of Goh Ee Choo, S. Public Reception and Perception cal tenor were hallmarks of his writing. deemed to be conservative, constraining and outmoded. Chandrasekaran and Salleh Japar. 8 Interview with Ahmad Abu Bakar, 16 February 2019. The public reception to contemporary art Sabapathy’s reviews were a reflection 9 Interview with Ahmad Abu Bakar, 16 February 2019. in Singapore has been mostly overlooked of the personal relationships that he had 10 These included Art Commandos, Yin Yang Festival and Cheo Chai-Hiang’s Gentleman in Tie and Suit. in existing writings. One of the strongest forged with many contemporary artists 11 Interview with artist and archivist Koh Nguang How, 13 indicators that a contemporary art scene during their formative years. February 2019. In 1978, the National Museum Art Gallery held had emerged in the mid-1980s was It is clear that the growth of Singa- an exhibition of noted American artist Helen Frankenthaler. In 1987, it co-organised a show by prominent contemporary the public discourse that took place in pore’s contemporary art scene cannot be Chinese painter Liu Haisu and also showcased a contemporary response to its development. By its very single-handedly attributed to the establish- German kinetic art exhibition in the same year. In 1978, it held nature, contemporary art is meant to be ment of The Artists Village in 1988. There is an exhibition of German expressionist prints. 12 A biennial art competition organised by The Singapore provocative and interactive, demanding, sufficient evidence that contemporary art Business Art Council in association with the Australian as it were, the audience to participate. was already beginning to take root in the High Commission. The top prize was a 12-week The coverage of the visual arts in the early 1980s and made especially significant scholarship to study at the City Art Institute in Sydney and at the Canberra School of Art. press and other writings during this inroads between 1986 and 1988 when 13 Interview with Koh Nguang How, 13 February 2019. period were largely attempts to make young artists, disillusioned with outmoded Ms Moh Siew Lan, a cultural officer at Goethe-Institut, sense of some of the avant-garde and ways of making, displaying and viewing art, approached Goh Eee Choo, Salleh Japar and S. Chandrasekaran – course mates at NAFA – to hold a group experimental art practices that had began experimenting with new techniques show at Goethe as a follow-up to Quintet. This resulted in begun surfacing. The cutting-edge quality and forms that would in time be regarded the seminal exhibition Trimurti. of contemporary art inevitably elicited as contemporary art. 14 Arbour Fine Art, Gallery Fine Art, Art Forum, Chesham Fine Art and Saxophone Bar and Restaurant. that involved active audience engagement. strong reactions from the public. A confluence of various factors – 15 Sabapathy, T.K. (1987, May 14). Art on the ceiling, walls and Titled More Than 4, it was staged by four During S. Chandrasekaran’s perfor- institutional support and reception by floor. The Straits Times, p. 25. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Chua, B.H. (1987, Aug/Sept). Young artists make a break: young artists – Tang Mun Kit, Baet Yeok mance for the Yin Yang Festival in Novem- the media, innovative individuals and Installation at Arbour. Man, 18–20. Kuan, Lim Poh Teck and Chng Chin Kang. ber 1987, for instance, players at a nearby groups, and cutting-edge exhibitions – 16 The Yin Yang Festival included art and photography Occupying old classrooms, corridors tennis court got into a heated exchange were responsible for the development of exhibitions, dance and music performances, talks, an art camp, video shows, and installation works. See Ong, C. (1987, and other spaces, the artists responded with members of the artist’s procession, contemporary art in Singapore during this November 24). The clashing of cultures. The Straits Times, to the building’s former life as a school questioning whether splashing paint over a period. This would provide the momen- p. 25. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. and using a variety of artistic props made the background. They then proceeded by using materials and furniture salvaged heap of stones can be considered art.20 In tum needed to carry contemporary art 17 Wong, M. (1988, 20 June). Art or gimmick. The Straits Times, p. 29. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. from readily available materials. to arrange the stones in a mound while from the premises in their installations. July 1988, a member of the public wrote to forward to the 1990s and beyond. 18 Relational aesthetics was coined by the French curator and Massot had earlier co-curated a six- throwing “bits of plastic, sponge and Experimental works were placed alongside art critic Nicholas Bourriaud in the 1990s to describe art day interdisciplinary event from 19 to 24 paint over them in a random fashion”.16 school remnants such as blackboards, desks based on human relations and their social contexts. 19 Tate. Art term: Relational aesthetics. Retrieved from November 1987 called the Yin Yang Festi- Another innovative event that was and notice boards. The artists also made The author hopes this essay will lead to further discourse on the individuals, exhibitions Tate website. val, organised by the National University part of the 1988 Fringe took place on personal interventions in public spaces; in and institutions that have contributed to the growth of the contemporary art scene 20 The Straits Times, 24 Nov 1987, p. 25. of Singapore Society. It included an out- the premises of the former St Joseph’s one instance, a girl wrapped in white and in Singapore. As part of his research, he interviewed three individuals who have been 21 Commandos: antics or art. (1988, July 1). The Straits Times, p. 31. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. door performance by S. Chandrasekaran, Institution in June. It was one of the first strapped to the front of a wooden box was instrumental in this area: artist and photography historian Gilles Massot; artist and 22 Wong, M. (1988, 20 June). Art or gimmick. The Straits Times, which saw the artist leading a procession instances where a group of artists took over pushed from the school to Marina Square. archivist Koh Nguang How; and ceramicist and sculptor Ahmad Abu Bakar. The author p. 29. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. of chanting performers carrying stones a vacated building and transformed it into a Outside Raffles City, a shirtless Tang Da would also like to thank Salleh Japar and Goh Ee Choo for allowing access to their ar- 23 A year when the young hogged the limelight. (1987, December 27). The Straits Times, p. 9. Retrieved from while clashing cymbals resonated in dynamic art space with site-specific works Wu “ran up to the girl at top speed and chival materials, and to Seng Yu Jin and S. Chandrasekaran for sharing their knowledge. NewspaperSG. 34 35 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

“travelling dispensaries” twice a month. college days at the University of Malaya in cloth round and round my foot. They hadn’t These dispensaries were ships kitted out Singapore: “My medical cohort had 100 cleaned it first. But the wound healed; no with a pharmacy and medical equipment. students. I took the bus to college every tetanus or anything like that.” With it, she visited Singapore’s outlying islets, day… I was doing open heart surgery, Housewife Yau Chung Chii including Semakau, Sebarok, Sudong and practising on dogs.” remembered well the kitchen-table Seraya. The ship would berth itself some When Singapore attained self- wisdom passed down to her generation. distance away from the shore, so she had government in 1959, its leaders had to Speaking in Cantonese, Yau said, for to “go right up to the island in a motorboat, overcome the most fundamental problems example, that pregnant women would Doctor, Doctor! and then on to the community centre”. to give the nation a fighting chance to avoid lamb, lest it gave their babies Well into the 1960s, healthcare in thrive. Founding Prime Minister Lee epilepsy. Upon giving birth, women would Singapore was largely rudimentary, and Kuan Yew listed his Cabinet’s priorities be fed pig’s trotters stewed with ginger Singapore’s Medical Services not just on the nation’s outlying islands. as the setting up of defence forces; the and black vinegar, a dish thought to be Renowned gynaecologist Dr Tow Siang provision of affordable public housing effective in ridding their bodies of gas. Hwa, who headed KK Hospital in the for all; the restructuring of the education She added that, however, some mothers Milestones in Singapore’s medical scene – among other subjects 1960s, said that at the time, “women system; more stringent family planning to told their doctors that they feared the – are captured through fascinating oral history narratives in a new walked into KK Hospital to have their 12th curb over-population; and the creation vinegar would be so acidic that “it would book written by Cheong Suk-Wai and published by the National or 15th baby. Maternal complications of of jobs for the tens of thousands who melt their plastic stitches”. She added: Archives of Singapore. the most horrendous kind were a common were unemployed then. Against all these “The doctors said, ‘No such nonsense. experience. Maternal deaths from bleed- pressing necessities, Lee judged the But if you believe it, don’t eat it’.” ing, from obstetric complications, from development of medical services and The Malays had plant-based pastes Life is a race against time. That much was obstructed labour and from malpractice improvement in healthcare to be, perhaps, and potions for women in confinement. clear to midwife Sumitera Mohd Letak outside.” Speaking to the Oral History fifth or sixth on his list of to-dos. To Midwife Sumitera remembered two – after she helped a patient with dangerously Centre in July 1997, Tow added: “All this compound matters, the government was param and jamu. “Param was a herbal lhigh blood pressure who had just given is never seen again today.” strapped for cash. concoction that you rubbed all over the birth. “She was bleeding like hell,” Sumitera Singapore’s colonial administrators So Singaporeans made do, as they mother’s body. It opened the pores, out recalled. “Her baby was gasping away had provided free clinics for the needy, always had, with traditional folk medicine of which impurities oozed… if you went and I had to suck mucus out of her baby’s but these were few and far between. “The or, more often, store-cupboard remedies. near those using param, they smelled so mouth… I had to, by hook or by crook, take colonial government did give us free medi- Eugene Wijeysingha, a former Prin- sweet, [with] none of that fishy afterbirth them to hospital.” cal care at Outram Park outpatient clinic,” cipal of Raffles Institution, recalled that, as smell which was caused by the poor flow Alas, the mother, baby and midwife Chinatown resident Soh Siew Cheong a boy, he cut his foot deeply while running of blood.” were on St John’s Island, which is about recalled. In the 1960s, Tow recalled that around barefoot playing cops and robbers Jamu was consumed to expel any 6.5 km south of mainland Singapore. What fewer than 50 medical specialists prac- with his mates. “Blood was dripping and blood clots after giving birth. “It’s a spicy was worse, it was the middle of the night. tised in Singapore. Among those training we went to someone’s house nearby,” he herbal paste; you mixed it with water and Sumitera added: “It was low tide, so I had to be one was Dr Yong Nen Khiong. Yong, said. “They got a piece of cloth, put coffee drank it. It also helped the womb contract to wake up the whole row of people in the who became a heart surgeon, recalled his powder and sugar on it, and wrapped the and return to normal size faster.”Sumitera quarters there to give me a helping hand.” The roused boatmen put the ailing mother (Facing page) A van and baby in a big sampan. Sumitera and converted into a travelling the woman’s husband and mother climbed dispensary to reach those in too and they rushed to Jardine Steps at living in the rural areas Keppel Harbour. Upon their arrival, the of Singapore. Ministry of Information and the ambulance from Kandang Kerbau (KK) Arts Collection, courtesy Hospital was nowhere in sight, so Sumitera of National Archives of left the woman in the care of her husband Singapore. and the harbour police. (Right) Many swore She flagged down a taxi and, with the by traditional Chinese baby in her arms and its grandmother in tonics brewed from roots, tow, rushed to KK Hospital. Sadly, the baby barks and seeds, such as died there, but its mother was saved. “She those dispensed here in 1983 by Eu Yan Sang was in hospital for three weeks because (余仁生) medical hall her blood pressure did not come down,” on South Bridge Road. Sumitera recalled, adding that, fortunately, This medical hall was “the hospital treated her for free”. founded by Eu Tong Sen, Sumitera, who was born in 1942, joined after whom the street is named, who treated the Singapore’s medical service as a midwife ailments of the humblest in the 1960s. She was among those in the folk. Eu Yan Sang has since Public Health Division who went out in grown into a globally renowned brand. Ministry of Information and the Cheong Suk-Wai is a lawyer by training and a writer Arts Collection, courtesy by choice. A former ASEAN Scholar and Thomson of National Archives of Foundation Scholar, she has been a construction Singapore. litigator, a journalist and a public servant.

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never forgot how basic the islanders’ later named after him. Tay’s Syndrome, SARS: All Hell Breaks Loose lives were even after Singapore became as it became known, is a disease associ- The yearly panic about HFMD is nothing independent. Women and girls who were ated with intellectual impairment, short compared to the terror that seized many menstruating folded cloth, into which stature, decreased fertility, brittle hair, Singaporeans when the Severe Acute they crumpled newspaper, to stanch their and dry, red and scaly skin, making an Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) began bleeding. They would not heed Sumitera’s eight-year-old child look 80 years old. infecting people here in March 2003. advice to use the sanitary pads that she In 1972, Tay made newspaper head- The very contagious SARS, which distributed to them regularly. “They said lines when he saved many Singaporeans originated in diseased civet cats in China, they would keep it and use it only when from over-the-counter pills and tonics hit Singapore in March 2003, after air they travelled to mainland Singapore.” that had life-threatening levels of arsenic. stewardess Esther Mok caught it from These included Sin Lak pills, which killed an elderly man in Hong Kong, with whom Singaporean Trailblazers a woman who had taken them to cure she had shared an elevator. Mok, also Amid this rough-and-ready approach to her asthma. He fingered poverty as the known as Patient Zero then, survived personal hygiene, some Singaporean doc- root of such drug-related deaths. “It has SARS but watched her parents, uncle tors were already blazing trails in caring to do with the cost of living,” he mused. and pastor die from the disease, which for patients. “So such over-the-counter drugs are the spreads through infected droplets. Pathologist Prof Kanagaratnam first line of treatment.” Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) in Shanmugaratnam, for one, made sure that Fortunately, he noted, “Singapore is Novena, where Mok had sought treat- anyone in Singapore who had cancer could good with regulating” and so there were ment, was designated SARS Central, the seek treatment for it without difficulty. fewer deaths than there might have been nerve centre for treating SARS patients, Shanmugaratnam, whose son Tharman from such self-medication. although the disease subsequently spread is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Also, in 1972, Tay became the first to Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Singapore (and currently Senior Minister), doctor to identify Hand, Foot and Mouth Changi General Hospital and National set up a population-based cancer registry Disease (HMFD) in Singapore. His wife, University Hospital, in that order. Ironi- in 1968. At the time, he said, “there were who is also a doctor, alerted him that she cally, according to hospital administrator hardly any private clinics in Singapore”. was treating many babies with mouth Liak Teng Lit, he first got wind of SARS at His fellow doctors, however, were “very ulcers and rashes on their backs and legs. a dinner thrown by TTSH on 14 March supportive” in voluntarily notifying him Jurong was the site of Singapore’s first 2003: “My friend Francis Lee had heard a and his team of anyone who developed HFMD epidemic in the 1970s, but the conversation at his table during this din- cancer. He also personally scrutinised disease – caused by the coxsackievirus – ner that staff of TTSH were falling sick.” hospital discharge forms, as he put it, “so soon spread islandwide. In 1974, together Healthcare officers moved as swiftly we did not miss a case”. with six other doctors, Tay published a as the spread of the SARS virus after that The highly contagious Severe Acute Respiratory Another trailblazer was Dr Tay Chong paper on the outbreak of the disease in and, Liak recalled, on 21 March 2003, the Syndrome (SARS) dominated newspaper headlines Hai. In 1969, he was among the first Sin- the September issue of the Singapore public finally heard about the epidemic. in Singapore between March and July 2003, including a rundown former nursing quarters said why not set up a drinks stall with this frontpage story in The Straits Times on 27 March gaporeans to discover a disease that was Medical Jounal. “Basically, all hell broke loose,” he said. 2003. This report documented the unprecedented within the hospital’s grounds to house thermo-scanners, so that we could check closure of all pre-schools, and primary, secondary the stranded nurses. the motorists for fever while they drank and pre-university schools. During those four fretful Liak ordered new beds and their liang teh (cooling tea).” Pathologist Kanagaratnam months, SARS claimed the lives of 33 of the 238 people Shanmugaratnam greeting furnishings for them from IKEA, the For his part, Liak – who usually did infected with the virus in Singapore. The Straits Times, Swedish flat-pack furniture giant. Enter not walk around the hospital grounds President Benjamin 27 March 2003, p. 1. Henry Sheares at a unsung hero Philip Wee, who was then much – made it a point to stroll through conference on cancer in General Manager of IKEA in Singapore. its corridors two or three times a day “to Singapore in 1975. Prof Bus driver Ang Chit Poh said the “He and his team personally brought and show confidence” to all. Things were, Shanmugaratnam, whose private bus business plunged such that installed the beds in the hospital,” Liak nevertheless, tense. He tried to ease it with son Tharman is a former Deputy Prime Minister most drivers switched to other trades said, his voice breaking as he recalled some black humour. “I said, ‘If we die, it’s (and currently Senior for good. Those who remained in the this. “We tried to pay for the beds, but game over. If we live, COEs will be cheap Minister in the Cabinet), business had to disinfect their buses they said, ‘Compliments from IKEA for and property prices will crash, so we will initiated a cancer registry day after day in the hope that it would helping the country fight SARS’.” be able to buy bungalows on the cheap’.” in Singapore in 1968 so restore the confidence of passengers who Once the quarters were fully habit- Liak realised that Singaporeans were that no one with cancer here would have to had abandoned this transport option. able, Liak invited Jennie Chua, then Gen- in the grip of such fear because they knew go without treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner eral Manager of Raffles Hotel – and the next to nothing about SARS, and their Ministry of Information Tan Siew Mong recalled the prices of first woman to have held that post – to, as imagination was working overtime. So he and the Arts Collection, popular herbs and roots going through the he put it, “declare Hotel Alexandra open”. partnered the South West Community courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. roof as, once again, people resorted to folk Besides IKEA’s Wee, Liak was also Development Council in a campaign to remedies as their shields against SARS. very impressed with Ho Ching, the Chief demystify the coronavirus that causes Liak, who was then Chief Executive Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings and SARS. They worked with a cartoonist to Officer of Alexandra Hospital – the only wife of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien depict the virus as a silly creature with a Singapore hospital whose patients did Loong. He recalled Ho updating everyone crown, and then got members of parlia- not die of SARS – recalled how landlords concerned about the SARS situation in ment and ministers to “whack” an effigy were so fearful, they kicked out nurses various countries “late into the night”. of this cartoonish creature. who rented their rooms. He recalled: “She was also very creative,” he recalled. He and his colleagues also exhorted “They had no place to stay.” So his staff “People were worried about Malaysian everyone to wash their hands as often as and the hospital’s volunteers cleared motorists coming into Singapore, so she they could. “If you can’t do anything, you 38 39 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

had tried to produce an anti-diphtheria Disease Centre, said that despite his father’s would be present for about a week in serum by injecting the diphtheria organ- diphtheria breakthrough during World War housing estates. ism into a goat named Mephistopheles. In II, the disease was “a growing problem” in “And these nurses would actually the play Faust by German writer Johann Singapore from the mid-1950s. This was, he climb the stairs or go up in lifts and Wolfgang von Goethe, Mephistopheles added, in spite of doctors’ pleas to parents tell parents there, ‘Bring your children was an agent of Satan. to get their children immunised against down for immunisation.’ That was the Monteiro tried that same experiment. diphtheria. In the 1960s, he recalled, “only sort of service that was provided – on After cultivating diphtheria, he extracted its 55 per cent of children had that immunisa- your doorstep and for free. That set toxins and injected that into the necks of tion”. To eradicate the scourge, the younger the stage for these childhood diseases goats. Then, once the goats were produc- Monteiro knew the immunisation rate had to be eradicated.” By 1977, he recalled, ing serum to combat the toxins in them, to be at least 90 percent. diphtheria and polio had become things Monteiro extracted the serum from the So, in 1962, the government made of the past for Singaporeans. goats and injected that into a child with immunisation against diphtheria compul­ Dr Koh Eng Kheng, a doctor in severe diphtheria. The child recovered. sory on pain of paying a $2,000 fine, a private practice, said the government’s In 1958, Monteiro introduced the oral sum too high for most families in those anti-diphtheria drive was a fine example polio vaccine in Singapore, developed by days. “As far as I can remember,” said the of how concerted public health campaigns American medical researcher Albert Sabin. younger Monteiro, “no parent has ever had to be. Quoting former American Some 250,000 children were immunised been brought to court and fined.” Better President Theodore Roosevelt, he said against the disease, which was endemic yet, he noted, once a child turned up at the success of such campaigns hinged then. This was despite much opposition a doctor’s for immunisation, he or she on the government penalising anyone from his compatriots in medicine, as the would most likely accept being immun- who tried to dodge immunisation. “You vaccine had not been tested on a large ised against tetanus, polio and so on. In cannot soft-pedal these things,” Koh said. population in the United States. The vaccine, this way, he said, Singapore soon eradi- Lawyer Nadesan Ganesan, a former however, proved effective in blocking the cated diphtheria. He recalled further: “In Chairman of the Football Association of poliovirus and Singapore became polio-free. those days, when they published details Singapore, remembered government His son, Dr Edmund Hugh Monteiro, about the immunisation programme in nurses vaccinating him against cholera Anxious Singaporeans waiting to be screened for who once headed TTSH’s Communicable The Straits Times, immunisation teams during the Japanese Occupation, which feel helpless,” he mused. “So when you was all so inconvenient, she added, that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) at the wash your hands, you feel better.” This is at some points, she would just fling her Accident & Emergency Department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 2003. Source: The Straits Times © how Liak and his team boosted commu- mask aside as it kept getting in the way (Far left) Trailblazing doctor Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with Ernest Steven Monteiro had nity morale during the crisis. Liak, in fact, of saving lives. “I will never forget the permission. the brainwave to develop believed that that rigorous handwashing SARS period,” she stressed. an anti-diphtheria serum saved his colleagues’ lives. “We actually In June 2003, SARS was finally in goats. With this serum, had four patients with the SARS virus at contained in Singapore, but not before meaning “I wouldn’t know who has got it he and his team eradicated Alexandra Hospital – they even coughed claiming the lives of 33 among the total until it’s too late,” he said. diphtheria in Singapore. Courtesy of National in the faces of my staff.” Not one among of 238 reported SARS patients. Archives of Singapore. them succumbed to the virus, though. Liak explained that SARS illustrated The Goats That Saved Lives Many called them “lucky”, but Liak said it how much the world had changed due to More than most countries, perhaps, Sin- (Bottom left) Dr Edmund Hugh Monteiro, who is was more likely thanks to their vigilance globalisation. “Germs will always mutate gapore has had an excellent track record the son of Prof Ernest and, yes, hand-washing throughout. and, often, viruses exchange material of mounting successful health campaigns. S. Monteiro, was just as While everyone in Singapore’s with human beings and animals… but in Among its biggest wins by far has been driven as his illustrious healthcare system was reminded repeat- the past, whenever it mutated and killed the eradication of diseases such as polio, father in that he was edly to don protective masks and gowns, an entire village, it could not spread after diphtheria and rheumatic heart disease. among the earliest doctors in Singapore to and keep washing their hands, some that because it had nowhere to go. But Diphtheria, in particular, was endemic treat HIV/AIDS patients, chafed against the sheer inconvenience because transport became globalised, in Singapore as tuberculosis was in the at a time when they of it all. Nurse Loo Yew Kim, who began SARS could go from a Guangzhou village early half of the 20th century. The person were shunned by most. her career at Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital in [in China] to towns and then cities. That to thank for its eradication is Prof Ernest Courtesy of Edmund Hugh 1969 and worked there until she retired is how dangerous the world has become.” Steven Monteiro. During the Japanese Monteiro. more than 40 years later, was at first Worse, he added, people were now Occupation, Monteiro was in charge of (Left) One of the many peeved at the nagging of younger doctors eating more meat, leading to increas- Middleton Hospital, which was TTSH’s inoculation centres for for her and her fellow nurses to wash ingly intensive animal farming, which infectious diseases wing. The Japanese cholera in 1963. Lawyer Nadesan Ganesan, who their hands after every step they took was unhealthy and stoked the spread of had taken two of his brothers away, and was vaccinated against in caring for patients. “I really resented viruses which, once mutated, would be he never saw them again. He thinks the cholera during the that,” she recalled in Mandarin in 2014. very hard to curb. Japanese spared his life because “they Japanese Occupation, “We were by then in our 50s and 60s, so Prof Tan Ser Kiat, who was SGH’s chief were very short of doctors… and also very remembers that the jab it was not as if we didn’t know that we during SARS, mused: “If a terrorist infected health-conscious, especially about infec- was very painful as the needle was blunt, causing should wash our hands.” himself with smallpox, the incubation period tious diseases such as diphtheria”. his arm to swell up. Ministry Loo and other nurses also fumed of the virus would be long enough for him At the time, Monteiro was among of Information and the at having to don protective gear every to mingle with everyone else. Smallpox the very few doctors in Singapore special- Arts Collection, courtesy minute of every day during the SARS epi- would then spread like wildfire. This is what ising in the study of infectious diseases. of National Archives of demic. “Sweat would be dripping down we are afraid of.” That was because, unlike He hit upon a solution to cure diphtheria Singapore. my face from the mask,” she huffed. It droplet-borne SARS, smallpox is air-borne, after reading a book in which a doctor 40 41 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

was another illness that plagued gloved, gowned and masked whenever He then cautioned: “You need to Brown, the first baby created from aged him to submit the discovery for Singapore right into the post-war you went to see the patient.” In fact, he put them off at certain stages, and not sperm fertilising a human egg in a test a prestigious lecture in Britain. Before period and into the 1970s. “There were noted, it was far easier to be infected with make it out that medicine is a profession tube, was born in Manchester, England. long, inspectors from Britain’s Royal only two or three nurses vaccinating Hepatitis B and C then it was to get AIDS. where everyone is to be heroic and Back in Singapore, the brilliance of College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology us, and their needles were blunt to The stigma against its patients, self-sacrificing. You need to draw a surgeon Prof S.S. Ratnam meant that this recognised KK Hospital as being of begin with. You could hear the sound however, persisted. Monteiro especially line, I mean, you will just be burnt out artificial method of conception, known as the highest medical standards, from ‘tok’ whenever they poked your arm… rued the unfeeling attitude of some doc- with patients’ problems… if I draw a in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), was available the way it ran its operations to how it because the needle was so blunt, our tors towards AIDS sufferers. “We talk to line somewhere, I can actually function to the Lees from the early 1980s. cared for patients. Tow said: “Now this arms swelled and we were all sick for people very early in their medical careers, better than if I just didn’t know what I Samuel was born on 19 May 1983 at was a major, major advance. It meant three days. But we recovered lah and tell them that if they are going to become was supposed to do.” KK Hospital. He was a triumph for medicine that obstetrics & gynaecology were on it was good because they helped us doctors, sometime in their career, they Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam in Singapore and so captured everyone’s a par with medicine and surgery. So we not get cholera.” are going to have to treat a person with the pathologist thought that a doctor’s imagination the moment he came into the were able to train our specialists locally. In 1984, measles struck Singapore AIDS. It’s unlikely that you will go through empathy for his patients’ predicaments world. Samuel recalled: “From the age of “So, from that day, instead of in a big way. The government ordered a medical career for 20, 30 years without was a hallmark of great medicine. three or four, I kept hearing the words having five specialists for the whole the compulsory immunisation against having to manage a person with AIDS.” “We inspire them to be interested in ‘IVF’ and ‘test-tube baby’.” population of Singapore, today, in 1997, measles and, once again, measles went There was, he recalled, “one young the nature of disease because that’s At the age of six, he finally met we have 200 specialists.” the way of diphtheria and polio. doctor who wanted to specialise in infec- how they can be good surgeons or Ratnam the surgeon who had made Unbeknownst to Singapore’s tious diseases ‘as long as I don’t have physicians. To understand suffering, his birth a reality. “He asked me some medical service, it was about to have to manage AIDS patients’. So we closed to speak freely, to ask us things which questions, like ‘How have you been This essay is an extract from the book, The Sound of Memories: Recordings another terrifying battle on the cards, the door on that person and said, ‘You’d require clarification.” doing?’ He was quite friendly and treated from the Oral History Centre, Singapore, published by the National Archives against which immunisation was power­ better find another discipline if you can’.” He added: “And it’s a huge pleasure me very nicely… When I was young, I was of Singapore and World Scientific Publishing. The hardcover, paperback and less – Acquired Immune Deficiency to be able to solve problems for the quite shy, but he made me laugh so I felt ebook retail for $46, $28 and $19.95 respectively. The book is also available Syndrome (AIDS). First, Do No Harm medical students. Medicine is not a nine- very comfortable with him.” for reference at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (Call no.: RSING 959.57 The case of that young doctor with an to-five job; you cannot be a specialist Given a choice, though, Samuel CHE) and for loan at selected public libraries (Call no.: SING 959.57 CHE). The Could Mosquitoes Give Me AIDS? aversion to AIDS patients begs the ques- with that kind of mentality. So one has to would rather not have been Singapore’s ebook is available for loan on the NLB Mobile app. Edmund Hugh Monteiro remembers tion: what makes a good doctor? work long hours, studying in the evenings, first test-tube baby. “It’s so that I would Singapore’s very first AIDS patient. It Edmund Hugh Monteiro recalled keeping up with medicine.” not get so much unwanted attention,” he was a man admitted to then Toa Payoh his father giving him this advice: “You rued. As recently as 2015, he was in the 9 Nadesan Ganesan (Accession no.: 003279) is a lawyer Hospital in 1986 for fever and diarrhoea, want to do medicine? Okay, two things. First Test-Tube Baby spotlight again, as his profile was included LIST OF INTERVIEWEES and former Chairman of the Football Association of 1 Ang Chit Poh (Accession no.: 004159) was a bus Singapore. He survived the Japanese Occupation, and and shingles to boot. But the hospital One, you never stop learning. Two, you For many years, the parents of Samuel in Singapore’s official SG50 book, Living driver who witnessed how private bus business vowed never to touch tapioca or sweet potato again. transferred him to the Communicable may have to sacrifice your lunch… I Lee Jian Wei could not conceive a child the Singapore Story. were affected during the Severe Acute Respiratory 10 Samuel Lee Jian Wei (Accession no.: 003407) is Asia’s Syndrome (SARS) crisis from March till July 2003. Diseases Centre – where Monteiro was think what he meant was that patients naturally. Fortunately, they were in Access to Ratnam’s September first test-tube baby, born on 19 May 1983 to a security 2 Edmund Hugh Monteiro (Accession no.: 001956) supervisor and a secretary. He was named Samuel by the Director – when they found that he can sometimes be overpowering in an age when science had made much 1997 interview with the Oral History treated many among Singapore’s first HIV/AIDS Professor S.S. Ratnam, the surgeon who carried out in- had a salmonella infection. Monteiro their demands.” progress. On 25 July 1978, Louise Joy Centre is restricted, so his views on sufferers. He is former Director of the Centre for vitro fertilisation to aid his conception. Communicable Diseases. He got his smarts, wisdom 11 Soh Siew Cheong (Accession no.: 003274) grew up thought about how the man’s immune Samuel and other subjects cannot be and compassion from his father, the trailblazing doctor in Chinatown in the days when gangsterism was system could have broken down so quoted here for now. But fellow doc- Ernest Steven Monteiro. rife. He trained as an engineer and was among the Prof S.S. Ratnam (left) bouncing Samuel Lee Jian Wei, his first test-tube baby, on his lap while the baby’s badly. He tested the man for AIDS. “And tor Tow Siang Hwa, who handpicked 3 Ernest Steven Monteiro (Accession no.: 000488), the pioneering batch of local civil servants in Singapore. mother Tan Siew Ee looks on. Prof Ratnam was a fertility expert who introduced in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) to father of Edmund Hugh Monteiro, was the first Asian 12 Sumitera Mohd Letak (Accession no.: 001915) it was positive.” Singapore, giving much hope to spouses for whom conception was difficult. Ministry of Information and the Ratnam to succeed him at KK Hospital to hold the Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University started out as a midwife, travelling to and from It was not long before the centre’s Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. from 1969, can shed light on how skil- of Malaya, and later Dean of the Faculty of Medicine mainland Singapore to the outlying islands to senior staff wanted to transfer out ful Ratnam was. Speaking in July 1997, at the same university. He succeeded in cultivating an care for women there. She later took up nursing anti-diphtheria serum in goats. and continued to help mothers in need, winning because they feared having to care for Tow recalled: “S.S. Ratnam was my 4 Eugene Wijeysingha (Accession no.: 001595) began his volunteerism awards along the way. AIDS patients. “AIDS was something handpicked trainee… He was intelligent career as a teacher at Raffles Institution (RI) in 1959. 13 Tan Ser Kiat (Accession no.: 003084) was the Group which they were not used to and it was and had the makings of a professor.” He was later Principal of Temasek Junior College from Chief Executive of SingHealth from its inception 1980 till 1985 and then Principal of RI from 1986 till in 2000 till 2012. An Emeritus Consultant in the too terrifying. Some among them were In 1969, when Tow left KK Hospital to 1994, when he retired. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Singapore not personally panicking, but their family start his own practice, he told Ratnam: 5 Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam (Accession no.: General Hospital, he is also President of the Singapore members were saying, ‘You better get “Ratnam, I am going to leave, but you 001562) was a pathologist who came to be known Medical Council. as Singapore’s “Father of Pathology”. His son 14 Tay Chong Hai (Accession no.: 002537) is the first out.’ So there was, unfortunately, a will succeed me. Tharman was Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Southeast Asian to have had a disease named after lot of ignorance as to how the disease “That was the vision I had, that he from 2011 till 2019. him – Tay’s Syndrome. In the late 1990s, he discovered 6 Koh Eng Kheng (Accession no.: 002000) was among was spread.” That was triggered by the would succeed me,” Tow mused. “By another disease, eosinophilic arthritis. With his wife, Singapore’s most beloved family physicians. He Dr Caroline Gaw, they first alerted Singaporeans to the government designating his centre in then, the ship was high and sailing; the opened Chung Khiaw Clinic in 1957 and was still seeing existence of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. 1985 as the lone place in Singapore to groundwork had been done and now it patients a few months before his death in July 2006. 15 Tow Siang Hwa (Accession no.: 001920) was among In 1972, he was appointed President of the Singapore Singapore’s pioneering gynaecologists. As Head of treat AIDS patients. was for him to keep it going. And he sailed Medical Association and was later President of the what is now KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital The flurry of fearful queries the ship well because in no time, he was College of General Practitioners Singapore. from 1960, he secured accreditation for it from continued from his staff. “If the mosquito reaching the highest levels.” 7 Liak Teng Lit (Accession no.: 003867) is the former the prestigious Royal College of Obstetrics and Chief Executive of Toa Payoh Hospital, Changi General Gynaecology in Britain. He later left for private practice bites an AIDS patient and then bites me, Tow, who helmed KK Hospital in Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat and set up Tow Yung Clinic. will I get HIV?” was the biggest worry. the 1960s, had raised the reputation Hospital. Under his watch, Alexandra Hospital had 16 Yau Chung Chii (Accession no.: 000427) was Monteiro said that what he found “most of the nation’s medical capabilities. In the fewest patients suffering from Severe Acute steeped in Chinese kitchen wisdom. She was by Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) when the epidemic hit turns a salesclerk at Daimaru departmental store, a assuring” about AIDS was that, apart 1960, his expertise in molar pregnancy Singapore in 2003. telephonist and a typist. from sexual intercourse with the AIDS – in which an embryo is abnormal, 8 Loo Yew Kim (Accession no.: 003501) grew up in the 17 Yong Nen Khiong (Accession no.: 003548) was among patient, “you’d have to stick yourself resembling a cluster of grapes, and grounds of Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, where her foster the Chinese residents of Singapore who settled in the parents were cleaners. Upon leaving school, she Japanese wartime settlement of Endau in Johor in the with a needle” to be infected. “In other cannot develop fully – stunned an became a patient care assistant – a post we would now mid-1940s. He later became a heart surgeon. words,” he said, “you didn’t have to be expert at Leeds University, who encour- refer to as a nurse – at the hospital. 42 43 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

architect George D. Coleman’s, were Lim Tin Seng is a Librarian with the National Library, preserved for their historical value.3 Singapore. He is the co-editor of Roots: Tracing Family Histories – A Resource Guide (2013), Harmony and In 1954, the committee was given Development: ASEAN-China Relations (2009) and another assignment. Headed by members China’s New Social Policy: Initiatives for a Harmonious Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill and T.H.H. Han- Society (2010). He is also a regular contributor to cock – curator of zoology at the Raffles BiblioAsia. Museum and senior architect of the Public Works Department respectively – the team was asked to draw up a list of historic sites in Singapore.4 The purpose was to put up plaques at these sites describing their significance. The plaque inscriptions would be in English but if the site was of Malay or Chinese origins, then Malay and Chinese Historic and nationally significant buildings text would be correspondingly inserted Giving New Life to Singapore’s Built Heritage A 1980s aerial illustration of Kreta Ayer, the core of Chinatown. The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s are among Singapore’s most important alongside the English inscription. 1986 conservation plan of the city centre identified cultural assets, and the protection of its The committee identified some 30 six historic areas for conservation, one of which was built heritage is an integral component of sites, most of which were built in the 19th Chinatown. Courtesy of the Urban Redevelopment h 5 the nation’s overall urban planning strategy. century. These included secular buildings Nearly 70 years have passed since a committee was set Authority. up to look into the preservation of buildings and sites The beginnings of the city’s preserva- and structures like Victoria Theatre, Elgin with historical value. charts the journey. tion efforts can be traced back to 1950, Bridge, H.C. Caldwell’s House, 3 Coleman Lim Tin Seng when a committee was set up to look into Street (also known as Coleman House) and the preservation of individual buildings Old Parliament House, as well as places of and sites with historic value. In the ensuing worship belonging to the major religions decades, these efforts grew to encompass practised in Singapore, such as St Andrew’s more concrete initiatives that emphasised Cathedral, Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, both the conservation and preservation (see Sri Mariamman Temple, Thian Hock Keng text box on page 50) of entire areas, along Temple and Masjid Hajjah Fatimah. Iskan- with a greater focus on heritage buildings dar Shah’s tomb and the gateways of the and their relationship with the surrounding Christian cemetery at Fort Canning were built environment. also included in the list.6 Besides identifying historic sites, Early Colonial Efforts the committee was also keen to restore The idea of conserving and preserving historic buildings and preserve them for Singapore’s built heritage is not a recent posterity. However, it admitted that the initiative. It did not emerge with the unveiling endeavour would be difficult and could of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s only be undertaken if there were sufficient Conservation Master Plan in 1986, nor funds. Tweedie noted that many of the did it surface when the Preservation of buildings were owned privately, which Monuments Act was enacted earlier in 1971. meant that the government would have Its history in fact goes back to the postwar to pay exorbitant sums to the owners in period when the colonial government order to acquire them.7 formed the Committee for the Preservation Despite the lack of funds, the need to of Historic Sites and Antiquities in 1950.1 preserve historic sites was included in the Headed by Michael W. F. Tweedie, who urban planning process when the Singapore was then Director of the Raffles Museum, Improvement Trust (SIT) – predecessor the committee was tasked to recommend of the Housing & Development Board ways to maintain the tomb of Sultan Iskandar – was tasked to “prepare… and amend Shah, the last ruler of 14th-century Singa- from time to time a list of ancient monu- pura, and a 19th-century Christian cemetery. ments… and buildings of historic and/or Both these sites on Fort Canning Hill were in architectural interest” for the 1958 Master a dilapidated state due to years of neglect Plan.8 Although the list did not guarantee and exposure to the elements. preservation, but only the consideration In 1951, the committee concluded for the possibility of preservation, the 1959 that “the best way of commemorating Planning Ordinance nevertheless provided the people who were buried there” for the enactment of rules relating to the was to turn Fort Canning into a public protection of the sites and buildings identi- park.2 As part of the scheme, crumbling fied on the list.9 tombstones from the Christian cemetery To compile the list, the SIT took into were salvaged and embedded into the account the age of the sites as well as their walls of the new park, while tombs that historical and architectural significance. It were still intact, such as that of pioneer also consulted members of the Commit- 44 45 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

tee for the Preservation of Historic Sites public figures, including Song Ong Siang, a of the people”, the society planned to Development Board (HDB) replaced the potential of the land. As the aim was “the Peninsula Hotel, while other buildings, and Antiquities, including Gibson-Hill prominent member of the Straits Chinese restore Coleman House and turn it into “a SIT, while the Urban Renewal Department gradual demolition of virtually the whole such as Raffles Institution and Killiney and Hancock.10 For this reason, the SIT’s community who later served as the society’s home of the arts”, where exhibitions and (URD; the predecessor of today’s Urban 1,500-odd acres of the old city and its House, were pulled down in the 1970s heritage list was quite similar to the one first president. The society had included in concerts could be held. To support its case, Redevelopment Authority) was created as a replacement by an integrated modern to free up space for commercial projects. drawn up by the preservation commit- its charter “the preservation of historical the society published a pamphlet detailing department under the HDB to spearhead an city”, 20 the priority to preserve historic In less than a decade after the urban tee, with 20 of the 32 sites identified by buildings and sites” as one of the projects the historical significance and the architec- urban renewal programme for redeveloping sites was very low. renewal programme was officially launched the SIT found on the earlier list. The new it could initiate “for the embellishment or tural value of the house.14 As for the Pasir the central area. When the 1964 redevelopment of in 1966, nearly 300 acres of the central area additions included Outram Gaol, 3 Oxley the cultural improvement of Singapore”.12 Panjang battle site, the society opposed In the initial years, urban renewal Precinct South 1 was rolled out, Outram had been redeveloped.21 During the same Rise (or Killiney House), Kampong Radin During its formative years, however, the War Department’s plan to construct a mainly concerned itself with the demoli- Gaol, which was on the heritage list of the period, the HDB built more than 130,000 Mas cemetery and the Indian cemetery in Friends of Singapore achieved little in terms mess hall there and recommended that a tion of old buildings, clearing of slums, 1958 Master Plan, was demolished along flats in new housing estates. These Geylang.11 SIT’s list, like the one drawn by of conserving Singapore’s historic land- commemorative park be created instead.15 resettlement of the people from the city with many colonial-era shophouses to make provided accommodation for some 40 the preservation committee, comprised marks. It was only in 1955 that the society Besides Coleman House and the centre, and the planning of new buildings way for flats. In 1965, the privately owned percent of the population, most of whom both secular and non-secular sites and made some progress when it launched a battle site, Friends of Singapore also made that maximised the redevelopmental Coleman House was razed to build the previously lived in the central area.22 buildings, underlining the deference the public campaign calling for the preserva- public calls for nature sites such as Bukit colonial government accorded to the reli- tion of Coleman House (built in 1829 as Timah and Ulu Pandan to be preserved and gions observed by its resident communities the private residence of prolific colonial turned into proper nature parks to attract * indicates a site that is common to both lists. (see text box opposite). architect George D. Coleman) and the tourists.16 In addition, in 1957, the society Heritage Sites Identified in Postwar Singapore SIT’s heritage list was drawn up in commemoration of the 1942 battle site in came out to support the SIT when Char- consultation with a society known as Pasir Panjang, where the Malay regiment tered Bank Trustee Company, the owner Committee for the Preservation of Historic Sites and Antiquities (1954) Singapore Improvement Trust (1958) 13 Friends of Singapore. The society was fought the Japanese Army. of Killiney House at 3 Oxley Rise – built 1 Raffles Institution* 1 Raffles Institution* founded in 1937 by the well-known lawyer Arguing that the scheme was for the by Thomas Oxley, surgeon-general of the 2 H.C. Caldwell’s House* 2 H.C. Caldwell’s House* Roland St John Braddell and other leading “improvement of the city and the benefit Straits Settlements – tried to have the 1842 3 Cathedral of the Good Shepherd* 3 Cathedral of the Good Shepherd* property removed from the 1958 Master 4 St Andrew’s Cathedral* 4 St Andrew’s Cathedral* Plan heritage site list as he was worried (Below) 3 Coleman Street (or Coleman House) was the former personal residence of Singapore’s first Government 5 Victoria Theatre* 5 Victoria Theatre* Superintendent of Public Works, George D. Coleman. When he left Singapore in 1841, the landmark building that the “ancient monument” status of the 6 Tanah Kubor Temenggong, Telok Blangah* 6 Tanah Kubor Temenggong, Telok Blangah* was occupied by a succession of hotels and residences, including Hotel de la Paix shown here in the 1880s. house would affect its sale price. 7 Church of St Gregory the Illuminator (Armenian)* 7 Church of St Gregory the Illuminator (Armenian)* The building was demolished in 1965 and the Peninsula Shopping Centre currently occupies the site. Lee Kip During the inquiry, the society gave 8 3 Coleman Street (Coleman House)* 8 3 Coleman Street (Coleman House)* Lin Collection, all rights reserved, Lee Kip Lin and National Library Board, Singapore. evidence to explain why Killiney House 9 Hokkien Temple, Telok Ayer Street* 9 Hokkien Temple, Telok Ayer Street* (Bottom) This stately house at 3 Oxley Rise (Killiney House) was built in 1842 by Dr Thomas Oxley, Surgeon- should be preserved, pointing out that it 10 Teochew Temple, Phillip Street* 10 Teochew Temple, Phillip Street* General of the Straits Settlements and after whom Oxley Rise was named. When Jewish businessman was one of the last surviving “planter’s 11 Silat Road Temple* 11 Silat Road Temple* Manasseh Meyer bought the house in 1890, he renamed it Belle Vue. The house was demolished in 1982 to home” from the 1840s, and among the 12 Tua Pek Kong Temple, Palmer Road* 12 Tua Pek Kong Temple, Palmer Road* make way for a private housing estate. Ronni Pinsler Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. first residences built in the island’s interior. 13 Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, Java Road* 13 Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, Java Road* In addition, the house had a dovecote to 14 Keramat Habib Nor, Tanjong Malang* 14 Keramat Habib Nor, Tanjong Malang* house pigeons and stables for horses, which 15 Chulia Mosque, South Bridge Road* 15 Chulia Mosque, South Bridge Road* made it architecturally unique in the Straits 16 Chulia Mosque, corner of Telok Ayer Street and Boon Tat Street* 16 Chulia Mosque, corner of Telok Ayer Street and Boon Tat Street* 17 Settlements. 17 Sri Mariamman Temple, South Bridge Road* 17 Sri Mariamman Temple, South Bridge Road* Demolition and Urban Renewal 18 Sri Sivam Temple, Orchard Road* 18 Sri Sivam Temple, Orchard Road* 19 Keramat Iskandar Shah, Fort Canning* 19 Keramat Iskandar Shah, Fort Canning* When the People’s Action Party (PAP) 20 Corner of Ellenborough Building* 20 Corner of Ellenborough Building* came into power in 1959, preserving 21 Gateways of Fort Canning Cemetery* 21 Gateways of Fort Canning Cemetery* Singapore’s built heritage was initially 22 Chettiar Temple, Tank Road* 22 Chettiar Temple, Tank Road* accorded little, if any, attention. The new 23 Elgin Bridge 23 Outram Gaol government had other more pressing 24 Buddhist Temple, Kim Keat Road 24 Killiney House (3 Oxley Rise/Belle Vue House) concerns, chief of which was to improve 25 Tan Seng Haw, Magazine Road 25 Geok Hong Tian Temple, Havelock Road the housing situation.18 26 Ying Fo Fui Kun, Telok Ayer Street 26 Indian Temple in Kreta Ayer It was estimated that in 1960, a quarter 27 Ning Yueng Wui Kuan, South Bridge Road 27 Arab Street Keramat of a million people were living in over- 28 Benggali Mosque, Bencoolen Street 28 Sultan’s Gate House (or Istana Kampong Glam) crowded slums in the 688-hectare city 29 Assembly House (Old Parliament House) 29 Cemetery, Kampong Radin Mas centre, and another one-third in squatter areas – all of whom urgently needed rehous- 30 Yeo Kim Swee’s Godown, North Boat Quay 30 Indian cemetery off Lorong 3, Geylang ing. Many structures in the city centre were 31 Sun Yat Sen Villa at least a century old and falling apart or 32 Sri Perumal Temple, 397 Serangoon Road had been crudely built by the squatters. Besides being potential fire hazards, these homes also lacked proper ventilation and sanitation. In addition, most were only two or three storeys high, and thus made uneconomical use of valuable land.19 To solve the problem, the government launched an aggressive public housing programme in 1960 to build housing estates beyond the city centre. The Housing & 46 47 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

A Move Towards Conservation, The recommendations raised in the preservation measures that would of compensation and acquisition. As early The old Thong Chai Medical Rehabilitation and Rebuilding 1963 UN findings were supported by “sustain and improve the colourful as the first meeting, the committee agreed Institution building at 50 Eu The seemingly random demolition of Singaporean architects such as William character of Singapore”.26 that the identified historic sites could either Tong Sen Street (formerly 3 Wayang Street) in 1967. The historic buildings, however, did not mean Lim and Tay Kheng Soon. Notably, the In fact, the URD had already moved to be preserved fully so that the complete building was gazetted as a that the government was completely Singapore Planning and Urban Research preserve some buildings, including Hajjah structure was left intact, or partially such national monument on 28 unaware of the need to preserve the Group (SPUR) – an urban planning think Fatimah Mosque, in Stage 2B of the rede- that only portions of it were retained. For June 1973, one of the first city’s historic sites. When it engaged tank founded by Lim and Tay as well as velopment of Precinct North 2B in 1967. sites that were “allowed to be demolished eight buildings in Singapore Erik Lorange, a United Nations town architect Koh Seow Chuan and others like This won praise from then Prime Minister and replaced by more economic or intensive mandated for preservation by the Preservation of planning adviser, to propose a long-term Chan Heng Chee – published a response in Lee Kuan Yew. In a letter to Choe, Lee wrote uses”, they would be preserved through Monuments Board. Courtesy framework for urban renewal in 1962, the the 1967 issue of its periodical, which noted that he had read the preservation efforts documentation, i.e. “measured drawings” of the Urban Redevelopment Norwegian suggested taking measures to that “redevelopment is necessary as part “with satisfaction”, and commended Choe and photographs. Some of the sites that Authority. “rehabilitate” suitable buildings instead of the evolution of any City”. However, the for taking steps on “preserving what little were preserved in this manner before of tearing them down.23 Similarly, when think tank cautioned that the magnitude of there is of historic interest and recording they were demolished included Outram a second UN team arrived in 1963 to redevelopment should be kept to a mini- in pictorial form for posterity [the buildings Gaol, Coleman House, Raffles Institution, follow-up on Lorange’s work, it advised mum and carried out using the “same three that] must economically be destroyed”.27 Killiney House and the surviving corner of that urban renewal did not necessarily processes” of conservation, rehabilitation Ellenborough Building.33 mean demolishing old buildings in favour and rebuilding as proposed by the UN team. The Creation of a Preservation Board At the outset, the committee also of erecting new structures. Instead, the More critically, on identifying buildings Although it was not publicly made known, agreed that both funds and the means of process should have three imperative that were worthy of preservation, the SPUR Singapore’s town planners had been dis- acquiring the historic sites from private aspects: conservation, rehabilitation emphasised that this should be “by reason cussing with architects and academics on owners should be made available before and rebuilding. of their historical, architectural or other how historic sites should be preserved preservation was carried out. As such, it The process of identifying areas worth special significance”, and the approach during the revision of the 1958 Master proposed forming a national monuments preserving in Singapore, followed by should be taken from the perspective of Plan.28 In 1963, the Committee on Ancient trust with statutory autonomy. Backed by a programme to improve such areas the local context rather than the Western Monuments, Lands and Buildings of Archi- legislation, the trust would have the legal Temple, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque and the as restaurants, nine Tudor-style former with a better environment as well as definition, which tended to focus more on tectural and/or Historic Interest was set up authority to carry out its functions – includ- Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. government quarters on Tanglin Road the demarcation of remaining areas grandiose buildings and monuments. This to review the 32 historic sites identified by ing the ability to acquire properties that In order to document information as offices and a shopping mall, and six to be demolished and rebuilt, was way, even Singapore’s modest vernacular the SIT back in the 1950s. had been identified as historic sites for on the gazetted monuments, the board colonial shophouses on Emerald Hill Road conceived based on the observation buildings, dismissed by some as insignificant, Comprising town planners, surveyors preservation, raising funds and providing teamed up with the School of Architecture as a pedestrian-only mall with a distinct that the districts undergoing renewal could be appropriately assessed for their and representatives from the National financial aid for preservation work, as well at the University of Singapore to produce Peranakan flavour.39 were thriving instead of decaying. The historical significance.25 Museum and the Singapore Institute of as carrying out activities to raise public a series of measured drawings. Comprising In its 1982 review of the urban three-member UN team emphasised Perhaps one of the clearest signs Architects (SIA) – such as the director of the awareness on preservation. In addition, floor plans, elevation sections and other design structure plan of the city that a “commitment [should] be made to that the government was mindful of National Museum, Christopher Hooi Liang the trust would recommend new sites for architectural details, these drawings were centre, the URA expanded its holistic identify the values of some of Singapore’s the need to preserve Singapore’s built Yin, and W.I. Watson from the SIA – the preservation and the most appropriate important as most of the gazetted monu- conservation approach by coming up existing areas and build and strengthen heritage came from the town planners committee felt that the age criterion that preservation methods to be used.34 ments did not have plans that were drawn with a conservation blueprint. The plan, these values”. This would include the themselves. In 1969, Alan Choe, who was the SIT used to select historic sites should In 1969, the government formally to scale. Thong Chai Medical Institution which was unveiled in 1986, identified “recognition of the value and attraction then head of URD, wrote that although be removed, and the cost of preservation announced plans to set up a national is the first monument to have its draw- six historic areas for conservation: of many of the existing shophouses and Singapore had only a “few buildings added as a factor for consideration.29 monuments trust.35 Two years later, the ings completed in 1974. The rest were Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Little India, the way of living, working and trading worthy of preservation” and that many In addition, the committee said Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB) completed by 1977.37 Singapore River, Emerald Hill and the that produced this particularly Singapore of the buildings in the central area were that sites that had been rebuilt should was set up following the enactment of the Heritage Link – the last being a civic and type of architecture”. The UN team also “overdue for demolition”, urban renewal be excluded from the list, while “sites Preservation of Monuments Act. The board From Historic Buildings to cultural belt comprising Empress Place, added that preserving parts of the old city should not just be the “indiscriminate of character” and “places or objects was responsible for safeguarding specific Historic Districts Fort Canning Park and Bras Basah Road.40 such as Chinatown would be beneficial as demolition of properties of historical, of interest to tourists”, including small monuments as historic landmarks that Shortly after the PMB announced the Covering four percent of the central area, they could function as “escape hatches architectural or economic value”. Instead, monuments, be considered as historic provided links to Singapore’s past. It identi- first national monuments to be gazetted, the blueprint aimed to preserve the from sameness and order”.24 town planners were urged to introduce sites.30 Based on this new selection fied buildings and structures of historical, the Urban Redevelopment Authority architecture and ambience of these areas criteria, the committee ended up cultural, archaeological, architectural or (URA) – which replaced the URD in 1974 through various means. These included removing some of the historic sites from artistic interest, and recommended them – began looking into the conservation improving pedestrian walkways and the SIT’s heritage list. These included for preservation as national monuments. and rehabilitation of entire areas and signage, as well as organising activities Coleman House, Raffles Institution, The PMB’s functions also included districts.38 This holistic approach took that would raise awareness of the Outram Gaol, Killiney House and a the documentation and dissemination of the preservation of Singapore’s built character of these places.41 number of places of worship as these information on these monuments, the pro- heritage to another level by providing The URA introduced conservation had been substantially renovated or motion of public interest in monuments, and protection not only to buildings of guidelines to help developers conserve rebuilt.31 However, new ones – such as the provision of guidelines and support on historical, architectural and cultural their properties while, at the same time, the Istana, Old Parliament House, City the preservation, conservation and restora- significance, but also to their traditional preserving the historical character of Hall, Telok Ayer Market, Tan Kim Seng tion of monuments. The board’s definition settings, thus allowing the distinct the area.42 In 1987, the URA embarked Fountain, Lim Bo Seng Memorial and the of national monuments comprised religious, identity and character of an entire area on a project to restore 32 dilapidated Cenotaph – were added.32 civic, cultural and commercial buildings.36 to be preserved. shophouses in Tanjong Pagar. As part of a Besides revising SIT’s list, the commit- Among the first monuments to be The first holistic conservation larger programme to rejuvenate all the 220 tee also began to “examine and recommend gazetted by the PMB on 28 June 1973 projects that the URA undertook were state-owned shophouses in the vicinity, the the manner of controlling or regulating were the Old Thong Chai Medical Insti- the rehabilitation and conversion of 17 project was considered the first to show Raffles Institution at its first site bounded by Stamford, North Bridge, Bras Basah and Beach roads in 1971. development” at the identified historic sites. tution, Armenian Church, St Andrew’s Melaka-style terrace houses on Cuppage concrete proof that it was both technically Established in 1823 as the Singapore Institution, the building was demolished after the school moved to Grange This included identifying the various forms Cathedral, Telok Ayer Market (Lau Pa Sat), Road for commercial use, 14 Art Deco possible and commercially viable to restore Road in 1972. On the site now stands Raffles City complex. Courtesy of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. of preservation, and resolving the problems Thian Hock Keng Temple, Sri Mariamman colonial shophouses on Murray Street old shophouses that occupy several streets 48 49 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

in an entire conserved area. The project areas of historical significance for conser- increased from eight to 72. In addition to conserved buildings, irrespective of scale Road, 161 Lavender Road, 149 Neil Road In many countries, conservation also sought to “educate the public and vation, set guidelines on how conservation the monuments, the PSM also erected and complexity – is maximum retention, and 11 Kim Yam Road. To date, more than efforts initially viewed buildings as indi- industry on the importance of heritage works should be carried out, and act as heritage markers at places of historical sensitive restoration and careful repair.49 100 buildings, including the Cathedral of vidual entities with scant attention paid conservation by revealing the buildings’ the approving authority for developers significance describing important events To recognise monuments and the Good Shepherd, Sultan Mosque and to the relationship between buildings or long hidden beauty”.43 The URA selected who wanted to carry out works on their and key personalities associated with buildings that have been well restored Chijmes, have received the awards.51 to the relationship between buildings and the shophouse at 9 Neil Road to be restored properties located in conservation areas.45 the place.47 and conserved, the URA launched the In addition, the URA launched an their immediate surroundings. The same first as the prototype. This set the standard As for the URA, it is continuously Architectural Heritage Awards in 1995. The annual event in 2017 that celebrates thinking applied to Singapore. While a on how restoration work should be carried The Way Forward identifying new areas to be conserved annual awards honour owners, developers, Singapore’s built heritage and sensitively building conservation policy had existed out on the other shophouses in Tanjong Since the first conservation areas were and updating its conservation guidelines architects, engineers and contractors who restored buildings. Known as the in Singapore since 1950, the policy for Pagar and the conserved areas. gazetted in 1989, the work of the PMB and to improve the standard of conservation have displayed the highest standards in Architectural Heritage Season, the festival conserving specific areas only developed In subsequent years, the conserva- the URA have continued unabated. The works. As at 2018, some 7,000 buildings conserving and restoring heritage buildings organises a variety of activities – talks, from the 1960s onwards. The first initia- tion blueprint was implemented through PMB remained a statutory board under in more than 100 locations have been for continued use. The awards also promote seminars, exhibitions and tours – for the tives to holistically conserve areas took a comprehensive master plan launched in the Ministry of National Development conserved.48 An integral part of the URA’s public awareness and appreciation for the public. For the inaugural festival, the place in the 1970s and early ’80s when the 1989, which saw Chinatown, Little India, until 1997 when it was transferred to conservation strategy is to ensure that restoration of monuments and buildings URA invited community partners such as URA embarked on a several small projects Kampong Glam, Emerald Hill, Cairnhill, the Ministry of Information and the Arts the essential architectural features and in Singapore.50 The first recipients of the professionals, students and volunteers, to to restore rows of colonial shophouses in Boat Quay and Clarke Quay gazetted (now Ministry of Communications and spatial characteristics of the buildings awards in 1995 were River House in Clarke conduct guided tours and to share their Murray Street, Cuppage Road, Emerald as Singapore’s first historic districts.44 Information). In 2009, the PMB merged are retained while allowing flexibility for Quay, Armenian Church, 77 Emerald Hill expertise in technical restoration.52 Hill and Tanglin Road. This subsequently At the same time, the Planning Act was with the National Heritage Board, and adaptive reuse, i.e. the process of reusing turned into a full-scale master plan that substantially amended in the same year to was renamed Preservation of Sites and an existing building for a purpose other An artist’s impression of Sultan Mosque in Kampong Glam as seen from Bussorah Street. Kampung Glam was saw larger areas such as Chinatown, Kam- 46 enable the URA to function as the national Monuments (PSM) in 2013. than what it was originally designed one of six historic areas identified by the Urban Redevelopment Authority for conservation in 1986. Courtesy pong Glam and Little India designated as conservation authority. The amendments Between 1973 and 2018, the for. In fact, the URA’s fundamental of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. conservation areas. included empowering the URA to identify number of gazetted national monuments conservation principle – applicable to all Today, Singapore continues to carry out its mission to protect its built heritage and the conservation of historic districts PRESERVATION VS CONSERVATION work includes the examination, Instead of percei­ving a property as through the twin efforts of the PSM and documentation, treatment and an individual entity, its historical URA. While what has long met the wrecker’s The term “conservation” is often used preventative care of a property. and cultural value is considered in ball cannot be rebuilt, the future holds interchangeably with “preservation” In Singapore, the Preservation tandem with the surrounding built bright for historically important buildings when it comes to matters pertaining to of Sites and Monuments is the environment. Conservation can be and heritage areas that have survived the urban planning. However, these terms national authority that advises on the applied to buildings (individually or ravages of time. can hold different meanings. preservation of natio­nally significant in clusters), localities (streets, blocks, Preservation can be seen as a monuments and sites. It is guided by environments or precincts) and even The author would like to thank Kelvin Ang, narrower concept involving physical the Preservation of Monuments Act special gardens or landscapes. In other Director of the Conservation Department work carried out or guidelines drawn up that provides "for the preservation and words, conservation does not just (Conservation Management), Urban to ensure that a property of cultural value protection of National Monuments". focus on the physical aspects of the Redevelopment Authority, for his valuable is preserved for posterity. Supported by Conservation, on the other structures that are worth preserving, advice and inputs in the research and research and education, preservation hand, is a much broader concept. but also the stories behind them. writing of this essay.

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(Call no.: RCLOS 307.1216095957 SIN) and Lands and Buildings of Architectural and/or Historic preserved. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from Authority website. 8 Colony of Singapore. (1955). Master Plan: Written Straits Times, p. 6; Scenery to draw the tourist. (1957, 26 Choe, A.F.C. (1975). Urban renewal. In J. B. Ooi & H. D. Interest, 17 Mar 1964. NewspaperSG; Urban Redevelopment Authority. (1988). 50 Kong, 2011, p. 65. statement (p. 17). Singapore: Govt. Print. Off. (Call no.: July 15). The Singapore Free Press, p. 2. Retrieved from Chiang (Eds.). Modern Singapore (pp. 165–166) Singapore: 34 Report of Sub-Committee on Preservation of Buildings and Annual report 1986–87 (pp. 11–13). Singapore: Urban 51 Urban Redevelopment Authority. (n.d.). Architectural RCLOS 711.4095957 SIN) NewspaperSG. University of Singapore. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 OOI) Sites of Architectural or Historic Interest, 21 Sep 1967. Redevelopment Authority. (Call no.: RCLOS 354.5957091 Heritage Awards. Retrieved from Urban Redevelopment 9 Untitled memorandum. (1963, May 30). In Ancient 17 This house with a past has an uncertain future. (1956, June 27 Untitled letter. (1967, June 3). In Preservation of building 35 Campbell, W. (1969, February 7). Singapore plans to URASAR); Kong, L. (2011). Conserving the past, creating Authority website. monuments and lands and buildings of historic architectural 21). The Straits Times, p. 9. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. of architectural or historic interest, 254/67. Retrieved from save its history. The Straits Times, p. 12. Retrieved from the future: Urban heritage in Singapore (pp. 40–41). 52 Urban Redevelopment Authority. (n.d.). Architectural interests: Committee to re-examine the list of 32 items, 18 Kong, L., & Yeoh, B.S.A. (1994, March). Urban conservation National Archives of Singapore. (Microfilm no.: AR82) NewspaperSG. Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority. (Call no. Heritage Season. Retrieved from Urban Redevelopment 276/63. Retrieved from National Archives of Singapore. in Singapore: A survey of state policies and popular 28 See Blackburn, K., & Tan, P.H.A. (2015, August). The 36 Republic of Singapore. Government Gazette. Acts RSING 363.69095957 KON) Authority website; Ministry of National Development. (Microfilm no.: AR66) attitudes. Urban Studies, 31 (2), 247–265, p. 248. (Call no.: emergence of heritage conservation in Singapore and Supplement (pp. 481–490). (1970, December 11). The 41 Urban Redevelopment Authority. (1986). Conserving (2017, October 31). Speech by 2M Desmond Lee at the 10 Minutes of the 1st meeting of Committee on Ancient RART 307.1205 US) the Preservation of Monuments Board (1958–76). Preservation of Monuments Act 1970 (Act 45 of 1971). our remarkable past (pp. 1–2). Singapore: Urban URA Architectural Heritage Awards 2017. Retrieved from Monuments and Lands and Buildings of Architectural 19 Teh, C.W. (1975). Public housing in Singapore: An Southeast Asian Studies, 4 (2), 341–364. (Call no.: RSEA Singapore: Govt. Print. Off. (Call no.: RSING 348.5957 Redevelopment Authority. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.57 CON) Ministry of National Development website. and/or Historic Interest. (1963, August 26). In Ancient overview. In S.H.K Yeh (Ed.), Public housing in Singapore: 959.005 SASKJS) SGGAS); Republic of Singapore. Government Gazette. 42 Kong & Yeoh, Mar 1994, p. 250.

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Zhuang Wubin is a writer focusing on the photographic practices of Southeast Asia. He is a former Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow at the National Library of Singapore, and a recipient of the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant 2018.

In 1989, exactly 30 years ago, the late In 1947, Wong and his friends Earlier in June 1988, the National Minister S. Rajaratnam officiated the open- opened Straits Photographers, a photo Archives had purchased over 2,000 From the Archives ing of a solo exhibition by photographer studio at Amber Mansions on Orchard photographs, mostly of Singapore, from The Work of Photographer K.F. Wong Wong Ken Foo, more popularly known as Road. An advertisement in The Straits Wong. Leading up to the exhibition, iK.F. Wong (1916–98). Organised by the Times on 10 June 1948 highlighted his between 1988 and 1989, the Chinese National Archives of Singapore, “Light on “artistic portraits and transparent oil daily Lianhe Zaobao published many K.F. Wong shot to international fame with his images of Historical Moments – Images on Singapore” painting[s]”.2 Wong ran the business as of his old photographs of Singapore. Borneo, though not without controversy. Zhuang Wubin featured 159 photographs that Wong had the studio manager until 1956, when he Showcasing Wong’s old photographs examines Wong’s work and sees beyond its historical value. taken from the mid-1940s to the 1960s. decided to return to his photography was timely as the images bore testament This was a tumultuous period in business in Sarawak. to the country’s rapid growth and Singaporean history: the British had Before opening Straits Photogra- development since independence in returned after the end of the Japanese phers, Wong and his partners had already 1965, and provided an important visual Occupation in 1945, and instead of being established the well-known Anna Studio narrative of the young nation.5 welcomed with open arms, they found in Kuching in 1938, followed by a branch a population resentful of their colonial bearing the same name in Sibu in 1941. A Self-made Photographer masters. The political awakening among Shuttling between the three studios kept K.F. Wong was born in the Henghua the people sparked a series of events that Wong busy, but whenever he was in Sin- agricultural settlement of Sungai Merah would eventually lead to self-government, gapore, he would head out before dawn in Sibu, Sarawak, in 1916. His parents were and then full independence in 1965. to photograph street scenes, festivals among the first group of Henghua migrants In his speech, Rajaratnam pointed out and markets in the early morning light.3 who had arrived from Fujian province in that an understanding of the “history of the In 1946, during a visit to Singapore, China and settled in Sibu in 1912. Most private, everyday lives of Singaporeans”, Wong photographed two bulls pulling of them were poor Christian farmers who however humdrum their daily routines a turf roller at the Padang. That photo- were recruited by missionaries through might be, would be crucial in “moulding graph was a winner, clinching the top the regional Methodist network, spanning a Singaporean consciousness”.1 It is prize in the 1987 Historical Photographs Xianyou county in the Putian region of interesting that Wong, who was born in Competition organised by the National eastern Fujian province to Sarawak in Sarawak, would be selected for this nation- Archives.4 Wong’s participation in the Borneo. In Sarawak, these farmers were building endeavour, even though he was competition led to his aforementioned employed by Charles Brooke, the “White by no means unfamiliar with Singapore. solo exhibition in 1989. Raja” of Sarawak,6 to clear forested areas for agriculture. Life was extremely tough in this part (Below) Photographer K.F. Wong. Image reproduced from Wong, K.F. (1979). Borneo Scene (p. 9). Kuching: Anna Photo Company. (Call no.: RSEA q959.52 WON). of Borneo, with tropical diseases and headhunters threatening the survival of (Right) The poster publicising K.F. Wong’s solo exhibition, “Light on Historical Moments – Images on Singapore”, the new immigrants. So many lives were organised by the National Archives of Singapore in 1989. The exhibition featured 159 photographs on Singapore that Wong had taken from the mid-1940s to the 60s. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

K.F. Wong’s photo of two bulls pulling a turf roller at the Padang in 1946 clinched the top prize in the 1987 Historical Photographs Competition organised by the National Archives of Singapore. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

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Anna Studio open. Business remained brisk A Chinese street storyteller regaling his enraptured audience with legends, folktales, Chinese classics and martial arts stories by the Singapore River, 1960. Photograph by K.F. Wong. Courtesy of National Archives in Kuching as the Japanese soldiers enjoyed of Singapore. having their portraits taken. They would frequent his studio, often accompanied by “comfort women” – girls and women who were forced to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers in occupied territories – some of whom were abducted from as far away as Bandung in West Java.11 It was during the Japanese Occupation when the studio moved to 16 Carpenter Street, the address that would witness the glory years of Kuching’s Anna Studio until its relocation in 1986 to Rubber Road. Wong’s cordial relationship with his customers held him in good stead during the war years: towards the end of the Occupation, some of the younger Japanese officers who frequented Wong’s studio warned him to escape after learning that he would be arrested.12 lost at the time that there arose a popular master photographer. He had set his eyes Making his Mark Chinese saying in the community:“今日 on Brilliant Studio (巴黎照相商店) on South After the war, Wong’s reputation as a pho- 去 埋 人 ，明 日 被 人 埋 ”[“Today you help Bridge Road, but was rejected even though tographer grew. From around 1947 to the to bury someone, tomorrow you would he offered to work without salary for three 1980s, his photographs were published in be buried by others”]. Nevertheless, the years. The Cantonese, who dominated the The Straits Times and the popular Straits migrants persevered, opening up more photo studio business at the time, were Times Annual.13 Many of his single images farming areas along the banks of Igan River unwilling to accept an apprentice from a featured political events, landscape views in 1928 and Sungai Poi in 1929.7 different dialect group.10 and portraits of important personalities Twice, Wong’s father moved the Towards the end of 1935, Wong in Sarawak and Brunei. He also published family back to China in the hope that his ended up in Quanzhou, China, and started several photo essays detailing, for instance, children would receive a better education. apprenticing at Xia Guang Studio (夏光照 a Malay wedding and the historical land- However, widespread banditry at his home 相馆). To appease his father, Wong also marks of Penang. village in Xianyou finally convinced him to studied art in a private art school, majoring Wong continued to receive com- bring his two boys back to Sarawak in 1932. in charcoal drawing. In 1937, he found work missioned jobs through his studios in While completing his lower secondary at the popular Anna Studio in Xiamen (the Singapore and Sarawak to take portraits studies at the Chung Hua School in Sibu, experience made such an impact that he of colonial officers, and photograph state Wong would spend his vacation time in his named the photography business he would functions, archaeological expeditions, father’s plantation, where he befriended later open in Sarawak as Anna Studio). movie stars and army servicemen. Some indigenous Iban8 workers and became Not long after, the Second Sino- of these images appeared in The Straits enchanted by their stories and way of life. Japanese War (1937–45) broke out, forcing Times as well as other publications out- Wong’s artistic talent was already Wong to flee Xiamen, bringing his wife side of Singapore, taking on a journalistic apparent in school. Both his teacher and and one-year-old daughter back to the slant. His photographs of Sarawak and, father wanted him to study at the Art countryside of Xianyou county before to a lesser extent, Brunei, helped to bring Academy of Shanghai but he had already returning alone to Sarawak. He would be these territories closer to readers of The fallen in love with photography. Wong’s reunited with them only in 1975, almost Straits Times in Malaya and Singapore. first encounter with the camera occurred 40 years later. Like most postwar practitioners when the school hired a studio photogra- The Anna Studio in Kuching, which of art photography, Wong was closely pher to take some pictures. Wong’s interest Wong opened in 1938, was originally involved in the Pictorialism movement in photography was immediately piqued located across the post office on Rock or, more colloquially, salon photography. and he bought a Kodak box camera to Road (on the stretch that has since been In Southeast Asia, salon photography dabble with. Winning the first prize of a renamed Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg). As became increasingly popular with the rise school photography contest boosted his his business grew, Wong became friends of amateur photo clubs and competitions, confidence. Unfortunately, his father dis- with people of all political persuasions and which led to numerous exhibition approved of photography as a profession, social class. The fame of Kuching’s Anna opportunities. In 1950, Wong established dismissing it as an idle pastime for those Studio spread far and wide, even reaching his name in the First Open Photographic who were not interested in proper work.9 the ears of Japanese soldiers when Malaya Exhibition hosted by the British-backed In 1935, Wong left Sarawak to further and subsequently British Borneo fell to the Singapore Art Society, clinching the silver A roadside Chinese herbal tea stall in Chinatown, his studies and hone his photography skills. Japanese Imperial Army in December 1941. medal for his work “Beauty’s Secret” – a 1962. Photograph by K.F. Wong. Courtesy of His initial plan was to find a photo studio During the dark years of the Japanese still-life study of a vase of flowers – in the National Archives of Singapore. in Singapore where he could learn from a Occupation, Wong was forced to keep Pictorials section. 54 55 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

It was at the First Open Photographic evidential value, his work is often clouded (Clockwise from left) A Dayak mother and daughter; Exhibition when Wong became acquainted by his attempts to celebrate their primitive an Iban in full war costume – complete with a with Malcolm MacDonald, Commissioner- ways. Sunny Giam, a fellow salon photo­ ceremonial headdress of hornbill feathers and silver belts and chains – performing a war dance; General for Southeast Asia and a well- grapher and frequent writer of photo­ a Kayan girl separating padi husk from rice in her known art patron. MacDonald, who graced graphy for newspapers in Singapore in longhouse; and an Iban wedding couple. Dayak or the exhibition opening, would became a the 1950s and ’60s, wrote: “This genuine Dyak is a loose term for the more than 200 ethnic firm supporter of Wong’s works, helping love for the natives, his desire to see the sub-groups in Borneo – Iban, Kayan and Punan being to entrench the latter’s name in the world truth with his eyes, his rejection of all just three examples. Images reproduced from Wong, K.F. (1960). Pagan Innocence. London: Jonathan of photography. MacDonald also wrote that is tragic in life and his exaltation Cape. (Call no.: RCLOS 991.12 WON-[GBH]) the introductory chapters to the two pho- of the happiness of the pagans, have tobooks that Wong would later publish. enabled him to produce excellent pho- In the Second Open Photographic tographs of them.”17 that he rued the day when Sarawak Exhibition in 1951, Wong bagged the silver Visual sociologist Christine Horn, might be “invaded by the kind of leer- medal again, this time in the Landscapes however, was more critical, taking Wong ing tourists” who had “done so much to section for his work titled “A Symbol of to task for romanticising the “traditional destroy the unselfconscious beauty of Peace”, depicting a farmer tending to his Indigenous lifestyle while suggesting that Bali”.21 Through their circulation in the field in Bali. It was the highest award given its extinction through the influence of print media, Wong’s photographs of out for that year’s event, as there was no development and modernisation was both indigenous peoples helped put Sarawak gold medal winner. unavoidable and desirable”. Horn also notes on the global tourism map. In 1955, Wong was made an Associate that Wong’s photographs were “created In 1953, on the occasion of Malcolm of The Royal Photographic Society of Great for the commercial market, and provided MacDonald’s visit to Kapit, the Sarawak Britain (RPS) – one of the most prized picturesque compositions of good-looking colonial government appointed Wong accolades in salon photography. The people in serene surroundings”.18 as the official photographer. In one following year, together with a few other Indeed, many of Wong’s photographs particular photograph, Wong captured amateur photographers, Wong helped were sold as souvenirs in his photo studios. MacDonald walking hand in hand with to establish the Sarawak Photographic Some of them were also submitted two bare-breasted Iban girls as they wel- Society. In 1958, the society organised for salon competitions, which placed a comed him to their longhouse. The con- the first British Borneo Territories premium on aesthetics and technical servative papers in Britain seized upon Photographic Exhibition in Kuching, with competency. In this sense, it is perhaps this image, insinuating that MacDonald Wong as one of the jury members. Further not surprising to learn that one of his had enjoyed a far-from-innocent relation- recognition came in 1959 when he was iconic portraits of a Dayak girl was in fact ship with the girls.22 Ironically, because elected a Fellow of RPS, having received created through darkroom manipulation, of the controversy, Wong received even full marks for each of his 12 entries that he the analogue precursor to the cut-and- more requests from media agencies had submitted in his bid for accreditation. paste of modern-day Photoshop. The girl around the world to purchase the image, At the time, Wong was only the second was photographed in Kapit in Sarawak, further enhancing his reputation. Chinese in Southeast Asia to have been while the sakura tree in the same image awarded the fellowship.14 had been shot in Kyoto, Japan.19 Two Landmark Photobooks Nevertheless, Wong’s photographs Wong produced two acclaimed photo­ Photographing the Indigenous attained an ethnographic dimension books from his collection of photographs Peoples when they were published in newspa- of indigenous peoples, which have By 1960, Wong had become one of the pers, accompanied at times by “expert” since become collectors’ items. Pagan most decorated photographers in Asia. accounts of the Sarawak indigenous Innocence was published in London in Although his winning submissions to peoples written by Christian priests and 1960,23 possibly the first photobook on salon contests included still-life studies colonial officials.20 As Wong’s photo- the Dayaks.24 In his introduction to the and landscape photography, Wong truly graphs circulated through newspapers publication, Malcolm MacDonald pro- distinguished himself from other competi- and periodicals, his authority as the claimed emphatically: “Mr K.F. Wong is tors with his striking photographs of the pre-eminent ethnographer of indigenous a magician with his camera. Every pho- indigenous Dayak peoples of Sarawak communities was further cemented. To tograph that he takes is a work of art.”25 and, to a lesser extent, Sabah.15 this end, The Straits Times Annual played Pagan Innocence is indeed an Wong first began taking pictures of a crucial role. impressive photobook. Wong’s photo- the Dayaks during the Japanese Occupa- In 1957, Vernon Bartlett, a former graphs are beautifully reproduced on the tion, and continued to visit the different Member of Parliament in England and right-hand side of each spread, with the communities, probably until the 1970s. a journalist with The Straits Times in left page unadorned except for a single Describing them as leading a “near-primitive the 1950s, reviewed the 1957 edition line of caption. The nudity depicted in life”, Wong wrote in 1960: “To feel satis- of The Straits Times Annual. He praised Pagan Innocence made the book all the fied with life, they need only food to feed it as a must-have Christmas gift for more infamous. Partly in anticipation of themselves, the bare minimum in terms of readers living in the West, who knew a backlash, a reviewer of the photobook clothing, and shelter from the sun. Without “Malaya only by proxy, through the took aim at those “fuddyduddies” who the material desire of the civilised man, they letters of relatives and friends”. In the considered the female bosom as some- are the happiest people in the world.”16 same review, Bartlett also expressed thing shameful.26 The photobook became While Wong’s photographs of the concern over Wong’s pictures of win- so popular that French and Swiss editions indigenous communities have important some Iban girls, which were so lovely were later published. 56 57 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

The text makes clear the relationship days in Chinatown, during the frenetic SELECTED EXHIBITIONS OF between tourism and photography, Thaipusam procession, or when story- K.F. WONG pointing out the picturesque sights in tellers spun their magic on their earnest different parts of Borneo for readers audiences by the Singapore River. 1948: “Annual Regatta Photographic to visit and photograph. Given Wong’s Wong’s oeuvre was broad; he also Exhibition” (with Hedda Morrison), life-long interest in indigenous peoples, photographed labourers working in a Chung Hua School, Sibu, Sarawak. there is also an ethnographic slant to pepper factory and documented the 1958: “My Friends, The Dyaks”, Raffles the photobook. A closer look at the grittier side of life, such as the infamous Museum, Singapore. photographs reveal, for instance, the Chinese death houses30 along Sago Lane gradual covering up of exposed bosoms by in Chinatown. Esteemed local photog- 1959: K.F. Wong Solo Exhibition, the native women, a legacy of the impact rapher Kouo Shang-Wei (1924–88), Chinese Photographic Association of of the “outside” world. Wong focused who shared a similar beginning in salon Hong Kong, Hong Kong. mainly on portraiture and festivities in the photography, held a much different view, 1983: 黄杰夫作品展览 [K. F. Wong book, avoiding scenes showing the daily chastising those who brought foreigners Exhibition], National Art Museum of routine and hardships of the indigenous to places like Sago Lane.31 China, Beijing, China. communities, except on rare occasions such These days, Wong’s photographs as when he chanced upon a Penan tribe in the National Archives tend to be 1989: “Light on Historical Moments of nomadic hunter-gatherers preparing featured in exhibitions and publications – Images on Singapore”, National for the birth of a newborn in the forest.28 that illustrate the progress Singapore has I hasten to beg Archives Exhibition Hall, Singapore. made over the decades. Although Wong “ 2017: “Indigenous Grace”, Old Court Scenes of Singapore was the most titled salon photographer House, Rainforest Fringe Festival, Most of the images credited to K.F. Wong of his generation, and his photographs Sarawak. found in the National Archives feature of indigenous peoples are still highly your indulgence Singapore’s street scenes taken between sought after by collectors today, his … 1945 and 1966. Apparently, by the late works are rarely shown at the National ” Wong’s studio in Kuching was 1980s, Wong had given up staging his Gallery Singapore (NGS). This is surprising When Declassifying Can Also Mean Decoding credited as the publisher of his second shots, a widespread practice in salon given NGS’ focus on the modern art of photobook, titled Borneo Scene (1979), photography even today. Instead, he Southeast Asia. with the printing undertaken by Chung shifted his focus to the capture of fleeting The fact that Wong’s images are held Hwa Book Company in Hong Kong.27 Mak moments and the myriad expressions of in the National Archives conditions how When the National Archives embarked on the declassification initiative to unlock Fung, a veteran Hong Kong publisher and human life taking place on the streets.29 we think about his work today – as archi- documents previously labelled as “secret” and “confidential” for public access, it esteemed salon photographer, was the Nevertheless, Wong’s earlier photo- val and evidential in content. Perhaps it is also had to decipher what was actually written says . editor. Borneo Scene served a dual purpose: graphs of Singapore prior to this change time to reassess Wong’s work vis-à-vis his K.U. Menon it not only showcased some of Wong’s in direction still appear candid and natu- photographic contemporaries collected greatest works, but was also pitched as a ral. This is because Wong photographed by the NGS to examine how photography travel guide for potential visitors to Borneo, situations and events where his presence is perceived by the arts community as especially photographers. would not be an issue – on busy temple well as the wider public in Singapore.

11 Fong & Lim, 1995, p. 39. 23 Wong, K.F. (1960). Pagan innocence. London: NOTES 12 K F Wong’s reflection of life. (1998, October 18). Sarawak Jonathan Cape. (Call no.: RCLOS 991.12 WON-[GBH]) 1 Knowledge of past important in shaping Tribune, Panorama. (Not available in NLB holdings) 24 Sarawak Tribune, 18 Oct 1998. consciousness, says Raja. (1989, November 17). The 13 K.F. Wong’s photographs also appeared in Straits 25 MacDonald, M. (1960). Introduction. In Pagan Straits Times, p. 30. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. Times Pictures 1948 and Straits Times Pictures innocence (p. 7). London: Jonathan Cape. (Call no.: 2 Page 12 advertisements column 1. (1948, June 10). The 1949. Published by The Straits Times, these are RCLOS 991.12 WON-[GBH]) “Those who control the present, history, warring nations have plundered proposed a framework for the systematic Straits Times, p. 12. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. annual compilations of photographs taken by staff 26 Romney, H. (1960, October 24). Caught with the control the past and those who or destroyed the archives of other nations declassification of public records under 3 莫美颜 [Mo, M.Y.]. (1989, November 12). 快门霎 photographers and other prominent practitioners camera: The Dyaks in a passing moment. The Straits 那捕捉永恒 [Shutter in a split-second captured from Malaya and British Borneo. Times, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. control the past control the future.” in their bid to expunge the identity of the the care of the National Archives of eternity]. Lianhe Zaobao, p. 6; 李永乐 [Li, Y.L.]. (1989, 14 Sarawak Tribune, 18 Oct 1998. 27 Wong, K. F. (1979). Borneo scene. Kuching: Anna vanquished. In World War II Europe, the Singapore (NAS). November 12). 拥抱往事 [Embrace the past]. Lianhe 15 Giam, S. (1960, August 4). Genuine love for the Dyaks Photo Company. (Call no.: RSEA q959.52 WON) Nazis looted not only art and historical The intention is to gradually Wanbao, p. 11. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. made him outstanding photographer. The Singapore 28 Wong, 1979, pp. 180–81. – George Orwell 4 Hoe, I. (1987, March 6). 41-year wait for the big Free Press, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. 29 Loh, T.L. (1989, November 16). Life seen through a treasures from the countries they invaded release information that will enhance winner. The Straits Times, Home, p. 10. Retrieved 16 Wong, K.F. (1960, September). 风土摄影十五年 Leica. The New Paper, p. 11; 莫洁莹 [Mo, J.Y.]. (1987, but also their precious manuscripts. Singaporeans’ understanding of the from NewspaperSG. [Fifteen years of photography in Borneo]. Photoart, September 22). 摄影家黄杰夫的新路向：反映人生 王玉云 黄杰夫辗 rationale behind certain government 5 [Wang, Y.Y.]. (1988, November 20). 12. (Not available in NLB holdings) 百态 贵在追求自然 [The new direction of master Singapore Policy History Project 过历史 [K.F. Wong traverses history]. Lianhe Zaobao, 17 The Singapore Free Press, 4 Aug 1960, p. 8. photographer K.F. Wong: Reflect the different policies and how they have evolved. It p. 6. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. 18 Horn, C. (2015). The Orang Ulu and the museum: dimensions of human life, with an emphasis on George Orwell’s famous line from his dys- These were some of the underlying is also about setting the record straight: 6 The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Investigating traces of collaboration and agency in the pursuit of candid moments]. Lianhe Wanbao, topic novel 1984 is a sobering reminder concerns that led to the establishment declassifying previously inaccessible Brooke family, who ruled Sarawak from 1841 to 1946. ethnographic photographs from the Sarawak Museum Domestic News, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. The first White Rajah was James Brooke, who ruled until in Malaysia (p. 139) [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. 30 These were funeral houses where people without kin of how important it is to be aware of of the Singapore Policy History Project public records – including those his death in 1868. As a reward for helping the Sultan of Melbourne, Australia: Swinburne University of would live and wait out their last days. In the late 19th the origins and sources of information (SPHP). Initiated by the Ministry of categorised as “secret” or confidential” Brunei suppress “insurgency” among the indigenous Technology. (Not available in NLB holdings) century, death houses began sprouting on Sago Lane. we receive. Communications and Information (MCI) – will provide people with factual peoples, Brooke was proclaimed the Rajah of Sarawak. 19 Fong & Lim, 1995, p. 106. Many shops selling funeral items also opened along 7 房汉佳 & 林韶华 [Fong, H.K., & Lim, S.H.]. (1995).《世 g 20 Howell, W. (1948, June 21). The Sea Dyaks of Borneo. the street. Death houses were banned in 1961. It is also a warning about the muta- just prior to Singapore’s 50th anniversary information on the political and historical 界著名摄影师黄杰夫》 [World famous photographer The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. 31 郭尚慰 [Kouo, S.W.]. (1981, July 3). 我为全斗焕总统 bility of information. Through much of of independence in 2015, the SPHP development of Singapore. K.F. Wong] (pp. 9–10). 福州: 海潮摄影艺术出版社. 21 Bartlett, V. (1957, October 27). It is really a winner. The 访新铺路 [I paved the way for President Chun Doo- In short, the declassification initiative (Not available in NLB holdings) Straits Times, p. 12. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. hwan’s visit to Singapore]. Nanyang Siang Pau, p. 8 The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a subgroup of the 22 Sanger, C. (1995). Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing 10. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. See Zhuang, W. Dr K.U. Menon is a Senior Consultant at the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). After will open up aspects of our history that were Dayaks, the indigenous peoples of Borneo. Most an end to empire (p. 329). Liverpool, UK: Liverpool (2018). Kouo Shang-Wei: An introduction. In Shifting four decades in the civil service, he is currently one of the supervisors of the Singapore Policy History previously locked up and placed beyond Ibans are located in Sarawak. currents: Glimpses of a changing nation University Press. (Call no.: RSING 941.082092 SAN). . Singapore: Project at MCI and is also an Associate Trainer at the Civil Service College. 9 Fong & Lim, 1995, p. 24. [Note: I would like to thank Alexander Shaw for National Library Board, p. 21. (Call no.: RSING 915.957 the reach of the ordinary man in the street. 10 Fong & Lim, 1995, p. 25. pointing out this reference.] KOU-[TRA]) 58 59 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Many key decisions made in govern- December 1950 ment today, for example, in relations Postwar Singapore with other countries and dealings with The Government Printer Here are two samples of correspondence multilateral agencies, are based on that illustrate the delightful use of Babu “The consecrated reverence associated with ever succeeding nativity anniversaries assessments of personalities and prec- English in colonial Singapore. of the LORD is again about to be revived on the 25th instant for the one thousand edents that go back many decades. For nine hundred and fiftyieth occasion, and in view of this auspicious day, I, on instance, in 2014, many Singaporeans behalf of the Union offer you and through you to the other senior officers our did not grasp the gravity of the situation 1 A letter addressed to the Government heartiest wishes… when Indonesia named two warships Printer (a British official responsible after the men who bombed MacDonald I also pray that HIS most gracious and Divine Majesty who hast been infinitely for the Government Printing Office) merciful to us all the years of our life, would be pleased to accept our most unfeigned House in March 1965 until the historical during the reign of King George VI, thanks for HIS innumerable blessings to all of us, graciously pardoning the context was made clear from archival from the President of a Singapore manifold sins and Infirmities of our life past and bountifully bestowing upon all of records for all to see. In March 2015, trade union organisation. This mis- us all those graces and virtues which may render us acceptable to HIM, there was a sense that many younger sive was sent just before Christmas. Singaporeans who stood in long queues We also pray that HIS holy image may be again renewed within everyone of us, to pay their respects to the late former and by contemplating HIS glorious perfections, we may all feel daily improved Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew were within us that Divine similitude the perfection whereof we all hope will at last probably unaware of the extent of his make us forever happy in that full and beatific vision we all aspire after. contributions to the nation. In conclusion it is their fervent prayer that the Omnipotent Providence would Citizens, researchers and academ- grant your Excellency that strength and fortitude, wherewith to carry out the ics, especially historians, have long been manifold responsibilities of your Excellency's high office. lobbying for greater access to our public I am. Sir, records. Archival research is primary Malaysian Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin (fourth from left) visiting Jurong Industrial Estate with 2 A letter from the President of the research based on substantive evidence Your Excellency’s most obedient his Singapore counterpart, Dr Goh Keng Swee (fifth from left), in 1964. Goh’s vision of Singapore Singapore Government Printing Office from original archival records. It is a and Malaysia having a common market was blocked by Tan. The two men clashed on this and over and humble servant Employees Union to the Colonial methodology used by researchers to several key economic issues, convincing Goh that the only way Singapore could survive was to break Secretary complaining about the collect data directly from the sources, away completely from Malaysia. Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. infringement of the rights of non- rather than depending on data gleaned pensionable employees. from previously published research. Recognising the rights of citizens postcolonial period of our history was how administrators, clerks and lawyers in India. to access their own history, a National the use of language in the civil service “Babu” or “Baboo” came to be a term Dec 1952 Museum exhibition in 2015 featured has evolved over the years. They were of derision used by the British to refer The Honourable the very important declassified secret struck by the archaic and formal language, to impertinent “natives” who had the The Colonial Secretary document known as the “Albatross often liberally peppered with humour or temerity to imitate traits which perhaps Singapore File”. Belonging to one of Singapore’s sarcasm – and sometimes a blend of the only God and ethnology had assigned Sir, founding fathers Dr Goh Keng Swee, two – employed by civil servants. exclusively to the English gentleman. the secret file offered insights into I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter jPC.C4S2/50/19 of the 12th instant, clarifying the negotiations leading up to sepa- Language as a Weapon the issue pertinent to the justification of the above salaries structure by hypothetical deduction, and ration from Malaysia in 1965. It was For Britain, close to two centuries of GRAND OPENINGS to observe that the assumption created by the above exposition is one of invidious distinction between a defining moment in our history, and colonial rule did not rest entirely on the the non-pensionable and pensionable offices. Much of the formal correspondence the exhibition included, among other might of its military forces. Britain also between civil servants and the public As this issue was raised specifically to improve the lot of those who, at the moment of their promotion things, handwritten notes of meetings wielded power through other means, during the late colonial and immediate were in the non-pensionable status, the subsequent declaration set out in your letter under review, with Malaysian leaders. and language was a powerful weapon. to the effect that there is overlapping, but, that itself, is not contributory to any loss, is therefore postcolonial period in Singaporean In an interview in 1980, Dr Goh Extending the use of the English language untenable. history invariably begins as follows: admitted that the Albatross referred to to the seemingly underdeveloped and The committee is also greatly perturbed over the policy which imposed a res’iliarity of promotion Malaysia. He said: “By that time, the great backward colonies of Asia was seen as “I am directed to inform you that…” based on a definitely retrograde step, and in the circumstances it urges the government to consider expectation that we foolishly had – that a way of bringing order, political unity “I am directed to acknowledge receipt the indemnifying of those who, before their emplacement into the pensionable establishment were Malaysia would bring prosperity, common and discipline to its colonies. of your letter of…” promoted to the post of assistant Composing Room Foreman. market, peace, harmony, all that – we The British viewed its rule as a form were quickly disillusioned. And it became of “autocratic nationalism”, and man- “I have pleasure in sending you here- The committee is further of the opinion that under whatever form of policy this administration may an albatross round our necks”. This is the dating English as the official language with…” have been guided in the past, with regard to its civil service, it nevertheless has left behind that first time in history that the existence of enabled it to monopolise public discourse heritage of a permanent and disparaging mark of its indubitable character upon the successive “Honoured and much respected Sir, the file was revealed to the public. and to impose arbitrary definitions on fortunes of the holders of this office, which it is our sincere hope that those concerned would be with due respect and humble submis- The MCI began the pilot phase of terms that framed British policy.1 As one adequately recompensed, even at this distance of time. sion, I beg to bring to your kind notice” declassifying files under its purview in scholar aptly observed, “colonial struc- I am further enjoined to submit that, even as all obnoxious and iniquitous laws of every civilised late 2013 with a team of researchers, tures depended on native scaffolding”.2 “With regards to… I am directed to countries are repealed and substituted from time to time by a more judicious and equitable form of including retired senior public officers, in One offshoot of that native scaffol­ state that…” statutes to meet varying circumstances of justifiable cases, it would therefore seem obvious in similar the first-ever systematic declassification ding was Babu (or Baboo) English – a circumstances to introduce regulations befitting this particular case, which assuredly calls for an “I beg of you to dispatch to me at your project undertaken in Singapore. particularly florid, sometimes pompous immediate substitution of the existing regulations. earliest convenience…” Interestingly, one of the things that and unidiomatic version of English I am. Sir struck the team while trawling through incorporating extreme formality and “I hasten to beg your indulgence…” old documents from the late colonial and politeness that was widely employed by Your obedient servant 60 61 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Pre-independent Singapore Independent Singapore Sept 1970 Parliamentary Secretary The team found many letters written in elegant English, as seen in these two examples 5 here, while researching the files of the final years leading to independence. A spirited riposte from a senior “My personal representative has given me an account of the meeting held in staffer of a local publication to your office ……The account given, and I have no reason to doubt its veracity the Parliamentary Secretary (Cul- is most distressing…. 1961 3 ture). The context of this episode Here is a well-crafted Instead of putting across your objections in a reasoned manner, it would is perhaps better understood from “At a state function where a Minister is the host, no special precedence is reply from the Secretary appear that yours was mainly a diatribe and tirade against this newspaper. subsequent developments. The accorded to the Parliamentary, Political and Permanent Secretaries of to Prime Minister to the Specifically, you objected to our having published part of the text in its publication’s top three executives his Ministry. I would even say that it is not quite correct to imply that the Permanent Secretary original English version. I cannot fathom your rationale here. To accuse us of were detained under the Internal Minister himself takes precedence over all guests on such an occasion. He (Culture) on the correct a lack of character in so doing is uncalled for and indefensible, not to mention Security Act in 1971 and the publi- takes a seat which would enable him to discharge his duty as the host to attend protocol with regard to that your charge is, in fact, a non sequitur. on the guest of honour; it should not be taken to mean that the Minister is cation ceased operations two years the seating of senior civil arrogating to himself precedence over all the guests, some of whom may rank later. The government statement So long as the contents do not contravene the laws of this country, it is not for above him in the Table of Precedence. servants at state functions. us to dictate to our clients in what manner and in what language their paid made clear that the publication advertisements should take. You must have followed Chinese papers enough You realize, no doubt, that there can be no departure from strict protocol at “… has made a sustained effort to to know that using English in parts is not unknown, but this is merely an a state function without the express approval of his Excellency The Yang di- instil admiration for the communist incidental point. Pertuan Negara. There may, of course, be occasions when certain individuals system as free from blemishes and voluntarily waive their rightful precedence. I would suggest, for instance, that endorsing its policies…”3 It is ironical that at other times we are accused by Authority of being when your Minister is the host, his Parliamentary, Political and Permanent chauvinistic in our language emphasis. I rather suspect therefore the cause Secretaries may consider it a gracious gesture to seat themselves immediately of your displeasure lies elsewhere. Could it be that we did not seek prior permission from your office to accept such advertisements, as was intimated? below all other Parliamentary, Political and Permanent Secretaries 6 And finally, this crisp, pointed note respectively. Your suggestion that they should be given precedence over from the Assistant Director of the We cannot accept authoritarianism in which all thinking and decision making all the other guests is, if I may say so, not only wrong but churlish.” must be done on our behalf. Are we to turn ourselves into mindless regimented Ministry of Culture to the editor of rigid digits? Can any authority lay claim to absolute fallibility? Indeed, can a Chinese newspaper. Never mind any bureaucratic authority have the time, the energy, the wisdom to rule on the flawed grammar. Its genius lies myriad questions if they are all to be brought before its august presence? in its brevity. …With due respect Sir, I have often wondered why those in authority could not simply develop and exercise a little empathy for those whose goodwill is, December 1979 though not essential, helpful in the aggregate. Is it not easier all round to go 4 A terse letter from the Director of Information Services (Culture) to the Perma- Dear Sir about things in a pleasant rather than nasty way? nent Secretary (Home Affairs) on why a printing permit should not be granted It is noted that your paper has been Co-operation you can have, willing or begrudging, depending upon the to a certain individual. publishing news sensationalizing tone you set for the conduct of our relationship. You could resort to robbery, rape, sex and murder etc. dictation, of course, as we are often reminded, but then wouldn’t it mean Such news are unhealthy. If you persist too hefty a weapon for the target in view; too high a price to pay in June 1959 in reporting news of this nature, we will terms of democratic ideals for the gain in mind? D.I.S. (for PS Culture) to PS (Home affairs) seriously consider revoking your permit. Yours Faithfully Reference your minute CSO.267/53 of 15.6.59. On the ground that every man Yours faithfully XXX is free to make a fool of himself this permit could be granted. The editor is of no standing and appears to use the paper to indulge his political whims and XXXXX personal feuds. It exhibits the kind of irresponsibility that might lead it to become an instrument of others who are less innocent in their political activities. 2. I would have thought that the breach of the previous permit in transferring the printing press from Singapore to India was serious enough to norm, proper conversations and carefully The Death of Writing NOTES justify a refusal of any further permit. Moreover the content seems to indicate To be sure, the abundance of jargon and thought out and crafted communications 1 Ferguson, N. (2003). Empire: How Britain made the that the editor is more concerned with the affairs of Southern India and obfuscation that can accompany the use seem to have taken a back seat. modern world. London: Allen Lane. (Call no.: RCLOS those whom he considers Southern Indian expatriates than with any essential of English in the civil service is nothing Sadly, one of the causes of the loss 909.0971241 FER-[USB]) Singapore purpose. 2 Al-Jubouri, F.A.J. (2014). Milestones on the road to new. It is something that was first raised of clarity in writing today must surely be dystopia: Interpreting George Orwell’s self-division in The documents submitted with your minute are returned herewith. by Singapore’s first-generation leaders, the demise of letter writing. As email an era of ‘Force & Fraud’. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. (Not available in NLB holdings) Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Dr Goh Keng Swee replaces snail mail, the price of speed is 3 Three newsmen held. (1971, May 3). The Straits in particular, in the early 1980s. the slide of composition into truncated Times, p, 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. But is the problem worse today, given note. In this age of ephemerality, words the pervasiveness of the internet, social appear to be designed to be short-lived. media and mobile phone messaging? How And so it is – given the short screen life has technology impacted the way we use of electronic mail, one might well ask, the English language? In a world where where are the gems of elegant writing to VISIT THE SINGAPORE instantaneous responses have become the be found today? POLICY HISTORY PROJECT

62 63 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

Kam Kit Geok, who discovered and joined the archival profession by chance, works at the National Archives of Singapore. She finds archival work meaningful and interesting, and enjoys learn- ing new things through the archives.

Those who lived in Singapore from the mid-1960s to the ’80s will very likely remember shopping at the Emporium tchain of Chinese-inspired department stores and supermarkets, or eating at an Oriental Restaurant – all of which were managed by the Emporium Holdings Group. Sandy Wong, who deposited her memory with the Singapore Memory Project,1 recalled happy times spent at an Oriental Emporium: (Facing page) Seven-year-old Lim Hong Siang poses with his cousin Amy Lim in front of the Oriental Emporium in Raffles Place, 1967. They are dressed in their brand new clothes for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission. “[T]he most popular [department store in the 1980s] would be the (Above) Lim Tow Seng (right) accompanying Minister for Education Ong Pang Boon on a tour of Lim Seng Huat Oriental Emporium. I remembered Industries in Tanglin Halt at its opening in July 1969. This was the first business that Lim started before the Oriental Emporium chain. Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. my aunt mentioning that they opened almost all the stores on the (Above right) Oriental Emporium in Raffles Place, which opened on 1 December 1966. Image reproduced from same day, across various locations in 东方百货有限公司启业特辑 [Oriental Emporium Limited] (p. 2). (1966). Singapore: M.C. (P). (Call no.: RSING q381.141095957 DFB). Singapore. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and… always ask[ed] for toys… Oriental Emporium… was… a a span of 18 years, it grew to become one the former premises of Gian Singh, which favourite for many in the 1980s.”2 of the largest retail groups in Singapore was located just opposite Robinsons. and Malaysia. In his message in the publication Many people remember Oriental commemorating the opening of the Emporium as the go-to shopping des- Emporium Enters the Scene department store, Chairman Lim Tow tination when they were growing up. With the closure of Whiteaways at Fullerton Seng said that Oriental Emporium was This was where they happily browsed Square and Gian Singh on Battery Road in built to complement the government’s the toys section, “[ran] up and down the the early 1960s, Robinsons – which had efforts in promoting tourism and to staircases” or hung out with their fam- acquired John Little in 1955 – became the provide a budget-friendly alternative ily and loved ones after dinner.3 Some sole department store still standing in Raffles shopping option for the ordinary people.9 remember the department store as “a Place. Shopping at Robinsons was considered Now, for the first time, there was a practical and affordable place to shop”.4 a luxury at the time as the range of Western department store in town that catered to The first Oriental Emporium opened products it carried was expensive and both locals and tourists who were looking in Raffles Place in 1966 – the brainchild catered mainly to the expatriate community for reasonably priced goods. Ng Joo Kee of Teochew brothers Lim Tow Seng and and affluent locals.6 for one remembers that he felt more at Oriental Lim Tow Yong, who hailed from Swatow, Mabel Martin, a stenographer, ease shopping at the Oriental Emporium China. Elder brother Tow Seng came to remarked that Robinsons was the place compared to Robinsons, and that his family Singapore first to work as an apprentice where “you had to have enough money preferred the former as the prices were and saved up enough money to open his to buy”.7 Ng Joo Kee, who used to live on lower, and the store carried a wide variety first business called Lim Seng Huat (林信发) Chulia Street in Raffles Place, recalled that of Chinese products.10 Emporium in 1938, an import-export trading house Robinsons catered “more for expatriates, From the start, Emporium sourced specialising in China-made sundry goods. for the Eurasians and not for the locals”, its products mainly from China because of Tow Yong, the younger brother, joined his and as a child, he felt rather intimidated their reasonable prices and relatively good brother’s business in 1941. when shopping there.8 quality and product range. Part of the popu- The End of an Era In its heyday in the mid-1980s, The opening of the first Oriental larity of Emporium was its reputation as Emporium Holdings5 operated more than Emporium in Raffles Place on 1 December the first department store in Singapore to The Emporium chain of department stores entered the scene 70 department stores, supermarkets and 1966 was thus warmly welcomed as sell a wide variety of China-made products, when the retail market in Singapore was still in its infancy. restaurants across Singapore, Malaysia, it provided a new and much more including canned food, cotton garments, Kam Kit Geok takes a closer look at a much-loved shopping icon. Brunei and Hong Kong. These were the affordable shopping experience. The blankets, pillows, stationery, toiletries and boom years for the company, and within department store occupied two storeys in other household items. 64 65 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019 VOL. 15 ISSUE 02 FEATURE

The shopping experience at Empo- Chinese-style department store on Grange The Oriental Emporium department store in the Lion rium was further enhanced by open-shelf Road, just opposite Orchard Cinema. Milestones City Hotel complex on Haig Road, 1994. Lee Kip Lin displays, providing customers with ample Milestones Collection. All rights reserved, Lee Kip Lin and National Emporium Expands and Diversifies Library Board, Singapore. space to browse and handle the prod- 1938 Lim Tow Seng establishes Lim Seng ucts. The strategies paid off: consumers In the wake of Singapore’s rapid economic Huat, an import-export trading house responded most enthusiastically, and growth in the 1970s, consumers became specialising in China-made sundry goods, Store in Lucky Plaza. The glitzy, multi- Emporium raked in sales of $5 million more affluent and shopping evolved in half of a shophouse space on Pickering storey Lucky Plaza mall had just opened in its first year of operations. from being a necessity to a lifestyle Street, before moving to 13 Circular Road in the heart of the Orchard Road shopping later. The Circular Road shophouse later In January 1968, less than two years choice. With greater purchasing power becomes the head office of Emporium belt to much fanfare with its upmarket after its flagship store opened in Raffles and more leisure time on their hands, Holdings Group. shops and boutiques, and a glass-clad Place, Emporium unveiled a second people had higher expectations of the 1950s–60s Lim Tow Seng and his brother Lim Tow external “bubble lift”, purportedly the department store, Eastern Emporium, in quality and variety of products they Yong participate in trade fairs at Great first of its kind in Southeast Asia. the busy shopping district of High Street. could buy, and were also more willing World and New World amusement parks Klasse Department Store was well The three-storey Eastern Emporium to splurge on better-made imported to promote their products. placed to capture a slice of the luxury shop- was touted by The Straits Times as a goods. Emporium Holdings was quick to 1966 Oriental Emporium department store ping segment comprising local consumers comprehensive department store selling seize the opportunity by diversifying its opens in Raffles Place on 1 December. and tourists looking for quality merchan- China-made and local consumer goods.11 retail offerings. To cater to the needs of 1968 Eastern Emporium on High Street opens. dise. It was stocked with expensive designer The store was fully air-conditioned and customers from different segments of 1969 Chinese Emporium Private Limited on goods from prominent American brands Orchard Road is acquired served by modern lifts. society, Emporium established a second (Sears, Burlington, Cannon and Samsonite) 1970 Yuyi Private Limited on Grange Road In the subsequent year, Emporium department store chain. is acquired. to British glassware (Pyrex) and Japanese immensely towards elevating the standard when 24-hour stores were unheard of: (三爱服装) 13 acquired Chinese Emporium Private Limited The Oriental Emporium chain would 1973 Emporium Holdings Group is established products . of living of people in a modern society”. the first 7-Eleven 24-hour convenience at International Building on Orchard Road. continue to sell budget-friendly China- and opens a number of stores: Oriental To align with the store’s branding, store only opened five months later in This marked the company’s first foray into made and local products, while a more Emporium & Supermarket in People’s Emporium Holdings recruited staff who Emporium Comes into its Own June 1983. To prepare for the opening the Orchard Road area. This was followed upmarket brand was launched in 1978 with Park and Jurong; Katong Emporium & were bilingual and comfortable speaking There was no stopping the expansion of the of Yokoso Superstore, senior staff were by the acquisition of Yuyi Pte Ltd in 1970, a the opening of the first Klasse Department Supermarket, Toa Payoh Emporium; languages such as English and Japanese. Emporium Holdings Group. On 28 March sent to Japan to undergo training, and and Sin Hua Emporium at Happy World amusement park. Gone was Emporium’s trademark 1980, it pulled a major feat by opening Japanese retail experts were also brought Mandarin-collared uniform, which was no less than 10 new outlets on the same in. In 1985, Emporium collaborated with (Far left) The paper carrier bag of Emporium Holdings 1974 Oriental Emporium in Balestier and used in the 1980s. Courtesy of National Museum of Queenstown open. replaced with a smart rust-coloured and day: Oriental Emporium & Supermarket the Japanese again, this time with super- Singapore, National Heritage Board. 1977 Oriental Emporium opens in Rochor. beige outfit comprising an A-line skirt, in Clementi, Woodlands, Bukit Timah and market chain Kimisawa, to set up Oriental waistcoat and a short-sleeved shirt. Bukit Merah; Oriental Emporium in Bedok; Kimisawa Superstore in Hougang. (Left) A paper carrier bag from Klasse Department Store 1978 Klasse Lucky No. 1 in Lucky Plaza and in Lucky Plaza, 1970s. Courtesy of National Museum Oriental Emporium in Ang Mo Kio open. In the meantime, the Oriental Empo- Oriental Restaurants in Ang Mo Kio and Another first by Emporium in Sin- of Singapore, National Heritage Board. 1979 Oriental Emporium in Raffles Place and rium chain of department stores and Bedok; a Klasse Department Store and Café gapore’s retail history was the estab- Eastern Emporium on High Street close supermarkets began expanding into De Klasse in Peninsula Plaza serving Western lishment of the Small World Superstore (Below) Lim Tow Seng established Lim Seng Huat, when their leases expired. an import-export trading house specialising in public housing estates and new satellite and local cuisines; S-Mart Supermarket in Parkway Parade shopping centre in 1980 Official opening of eight outlets and China-made sundry goods in 1938. The company towns. In 1973, it opened the first neigh- in Bedok; and Plaza Department Store & December 1983. This was a three-storey two restaurants on the same day participated in various trade fairs at the Great World 14 on 28 March: Oriental Emporium & bourhood store in Toa Payoh – called Toa Supermarket in Ang Mo Kio. children’s department store specialising and New World amusement parks in the 1950s and Supermarket in Clementi, Woodlands, Payoh Emporium – to provide a one-stop To diversify its retail offerings to cus- in children’s merchandise and with facili- ’60s. Image reproduced from《英保良二老板拿督 Bukit Timah and Bukit Merah; Oriental shopping experience for residents. On the tomers, Emporium extended the concept of ties like an amusement and food arcade. 林道荣局绅 : 新马汶百货钜子传奇》[The legend Emporium in Bedok; S-Mart Supermarket of Dato’ Lim Tow Yong JP, founder of Emporium opening day, The Straits Times reported a “one-stop shopping experience” by setting It housed the American fast food res- in Bedok; Klasse Department Store and Holdings].(2012). Penang: Chang Jiang CPM gong that unlike other emporiums, this one up restaurants and confectioneries within taurant Chuck E. Cheese, a photography Café De Klasse in Peninsula Plaza; Plaza si. (Call no.: Chinese R 381.141092 XSJ). Department Store & Supermarket in “being in a residential estate, great empha- its department stores. Oriental Emporium studio, playground, children’s hair salon, Ang Mo Kio; and Oriental Restaurants sis… [was] made to have on sale household Ang Mo Kio, for example, housed an Orien- mini aquarium and a performance stage. in Ang Mo Kio and Bedok. merchandise, foodstuff, canned goods tal Restaurant and the Gingerbread House Oriental Slasher Emporium in Hong and confectionery and other products on confectionery. The latter sold a wide array The End of an Era Lim Complex; Oriental Emporium & similar lines as a supermarket”.12 of Western-style buns, breads and cakes and When Singapore experienced its first Supermarket in Holland Village; and Oriental Emporium stores were even offered islandwide deliveries, while post-independence economic recession Oriental Restaurants in Clementi and strategically located in high-density areas the restaurant provided catering services in 1985, Emporium Holdings took a severe Bukit Merah open later in the year. in the heart of town centres and near for special occasions such as birthdays and hit.15 Confronted by financial difficulties 1981 15th anniversary of Emporium Holdings; opening of new head office in Ang Mo transport facilities in order to reach out weddings. One could literally shop and eat at on multiple fronts, the company was Kio; Oriental Emporium & Supermarket to residents. The two-storey Toa Payoh the Oriental Emporium in Ang Mo Kio all day liquidated in 1987 and the Lim brothers opens in Geylang; and Home Furnishing Emporium, for instance, was situated in long without stepping out of its premises. who founded Emporium Holdings were Centre opens in Redhill. Toa Payoh Central, near the bus terminal This is nothing new in today’s retail scene declared bankrupt the following year. 1982 Oriental Emporium & Supermarket and other amenities such as the stadium, of course, but back in 1980, this concept The Emporium Holdings Group was opens in Serangoon. two cinemas and a church. was revolutionary. acquired by various entities over the years. 1983 Klasse Department Store opens in The Straits Times reported in glowing To compete with the influx of Japa- In the 1990s, there were sporadic newspa- Centrepoint shopping centre, along with Chao Phraya Thai Seafood Restaurant in terms that Emporium department stores nese department stores, such as Isetan per reports on the Emporium brand, such Ang Mo Kio; Small World Superstore in had become social spaces where one could and Yaohan, which made inroads into as the opening of a refreshed Oriental Parkway Parade; and Yokoso Superstore “renew old acquaintances or to strike up Singapore in the 1970s and 80s, Empo- Emporium in Ang Mo Kio in 1997.16 But in Tanjong Katong Complex. new friendships” and were a “welcome rium launched Yokoso Superstore – Singa- with increasing competition, the brand did 1985 Oriental Kimisawa Superstore opens relief from the drudgery of routine home pore’s first round-the-clock supermarket not survive the times, forcing Emporium in Hougang. chores” for housewives. Shopping had and department store – in Tanjong Katong to shutter the doors of all its department 1987 Emporium Holdings Group is liquidated. become an aspirational goal “contribut[ing] Complex in January 1983. This was a time stores on 22 July 1999 without prior notice 66 67 BIBLIOASIA JUL - SEP 2019

THE TIES THAT BIND The newspaper advertisement by Lim Tow Yong inviting former employees of Emporium The story of Emporium Holdings Group Holdings Group to a get-together dinner in 2006. A memorable quote in the invite stands out: would not be complete without men- “不在乎天长地久，只在乎一起走过闪烁的日子”(“It matters not if it doesn’t last an eternity, what tioning the special bond shared by the matters are the bright days that we have spent together”). Lianhe Zaobao, 17 October 2006, p. 7. company and its employees. When Emporium began battling rumours of financial difficulties during the 1985 economic recession, about 200 staff members organised a special lunch ban- quet at the Oriental Restaurant in Ang Mo Kio to show their unity and support for the management. During the lunch, staff presented the management with a signed declaration to demonstrate their confidence in the company and pledged to be more efficient in their work. Unfor- tunately, Emporium Holdings fell victim to the economic recession in 1987. In September 1996, nine years after the liquidation of Emporium Holdings, ex-employees of the company organised a get-together dinner themed “Sparkling Memories” to show their appreciation for former managing director, Lim Tow Yong (Lim Tow Seng passed away in January 1992). About 800 former staff attended the dinner. packet containing $100.2 The strong bond myself that I must work hard and one Fast forward to 2006, Lim published and camaraderie forged between boss day pay them back.”4 Lim passed away an advertisement in the Chinese newspa- and staff was still palpable 20 years fol- in April 2012. per, Lianhe Zaobao, on 17 October inviting lowing the demise of Emporium Holdings. former employees to a dinner to show his In an interview with The Straits Times NOTES appreciation for their support over the on 29 October 2006, Lim spoke about how 1 第7广告专栏3. (2006, October 17).《联合早报》 [Lianhe Zaobao], p. 7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. years. A quote in the invitation card is par- the dinner organised by his staff in 1996 2 Sim, M. (2006, December 24). $150,000 dinner, ticularly memorable:“ 不 在 乎 天 长 地 久 ，只 had motivated him and ignited his fight- $100 hongbao for 1,400 staff who stood by him. The 在乎一起走过闪烁的日子”, which means “It ing spirit to restart the business in 1999. Straits Times, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. 3 Lim Tow Yong ventured to Sabah, Labuan matters not if it doesn’t last an eternity, (Lim was then aged 75 and had just been and Brunei, partnering local retailers to open 3 what matters are the bright days that we discharged from bankruptcy). He said: “It new stores in 1999. By the age of 82, he had have spent together”.1 Some 1,400 former [the dinner] just touched my heart and I become a millionaire again. 4 Sua, T. (2006, October 29). Bounces back from staff attended the dinner held on 20 have never forgotten it. I’ve thought about bankruptcy. The Straits Times, p. 10. Retrieved December 2006, and each was given a red it every day for the last 10 years and I told from NewspaperSG.

– more than 30 years after the first Oriental 2 Wong, S. (n.d.). Oriental Emporium go to place in the 001970/4/1, p. 7]; Yap, W.C. (Interviewer). (1997, November Emporium opened in Raffles Place in 1966. 80s. Retrieved from Singapore Memory Project website. 3). Oral history interview with Ng Joo Kee [Transcript of 3 Leong, W.H. (n.d.). Emporium at Clementi. Retrieved recording no. 001970/4/2, pp. 6–7]; Yap, W.C. (Interviewer). Although the Emporium retail giant from Singapore Memory Project website. (1997, November 3). Oral history interview with Ng Joo Kee has exited from Singapore’s shopping 4 Raghawan, V. (n.d.). Emporium’ store. Retrieved [Transcript of recording no. 001970/4/3, p. 29]. Retrieved scene, the company is still noteworthy from Singapore Memory Project website. from National Archives of Singapore website. 5 Tow Seng became the chairman of Emporium 11 Lim, B.T. (1968, January 15). Now the Emporium for the innovative concepts it pioneered Holdings, while Tow Yong was the managing director. comes to busy High Street. The Straits Times, p. 14. in the local retail scene. For over three 6 Balasingamchow, Y.-M. (2018, July–September). Retrieved from NewspaperSG. Going shopping in the 1960s. BiblioAsia, 14 (2). 12 Toa Payoh Emporium fulfils a vital need. (1973, June 30). decades, the Emporium chain of depart- Retrieved from BiblioAsia website. The Straits Times, p. 18. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. ment stores, supermarkets and restau- 7 Chew, D. (Interviewer). (1984, January 27). Oral history 13 The Straits Times, 30 Jun 1973, p. 18. rants delighted scores of shoppers and interview with Mabel Martin [Transcript of recording 14 谢诗坚 [Xie, S.J.]. (2012).《英保良二老板拿督林 no. 000388/6/4, p. 45]. Retrieved from National 道荣局绅 : 新马汶百货钜子传奇》[The legend customers – many of whom still have Archives of Singapore website. of Dato' Lim Tow Yong JP, founder of Emporium fond memories of the brand. 8 Yap, W.C. (Interviewer). (1997, November 3). Oral Holdings]. Penang: Chang Jiang CPM gong si. (Call history interview with Ng Joo Kee [Transcript of no.: Chinese R 381.141092 XSJ) recording no. 001970/4/3, pp. 26–29]. Retrieved from 15 National Library Board. (2014). Singapore NOTES National Archives of Singapore website. experienced its first post-independence recession. 1 The Singapore Memory Project, launched in 2011, 9 《东方百货有限公司启业特辑》[Oriental Emporium Retrieved from HistorySG website. is a whole-of-nation movement by the National Limited] (p. 1). (1966). Singapore: M.C. (P). (Call no.: 16 Oriental Emporium to get a new look. (1997, December Library Board that aims to capture and document RSING q381.141095957 DFB) 21). The Straits Times, p. 2; Business as usual at memories and moments related to Singapore from 10 Yap, W.C. (Interviewer). (1997, November 3). Oral history Emporium Holdings outlets. (1998, July 11). The Straits individuals and organisations. interview with Ng Joo Kee [Transcript of recording no. Times, p. 70. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.

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Uncover scenes from Singapore’s diverse past with Fotoalbum Singapur, a 19th-century photo album from the National Library’s Rare Materials Collection. Taken by renowned photography studio G. R. Lambert & Co., which was also the official photographer for the King of Siam, Fotoalbum Singapur is a dedicated collection documenting the diverse communities present in Singapore’s past. These include beautifully shot pictures of Orchard Road, Johnston’s Pier, and various ethnic communities, among other lost historical scenes.

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