Vol. 14 Issue biblioasia01 APR–JUN 2018 10 / Lee Brothers Studio 18 / Secret War Experiments 24 / Malayan Mata Hari 36 / Chinese Renaissance Architecture 44 / Rani of Jhansi Regiment 50 / Four National Taps The Truth About Miss Joaquim and her Orchid p. 2 BiblioAsia Director’s Note Editorial & CONTENTS Vol. 14 / Issue 01 APR–JUN 2018 Production The proliferation of fake news isn’t a recent phenomenon. Fictitious accounts of how Agnes Managing Editor Joaquim stumbled upon her namesake orchid in her garden began circulating several Francis Dorai decades after she was credited for creating the hybrid by crossing two orchid species. FEATURE Writers Nadia Wright, Linda Locke and Harold Johnson separate fact from fiction in their Editor search for the truth. Veronica Chee Blooming Lies: The Vanda Similarly, not enough people know that Singapore was a base for nefarious experi- 02 Miss Joaquim Story Editorial Support ments in biological warfare during the Japanese Occupation. Between 1942 and 1945, a Masamah Ahmad laboratory was set up to breed bubonic plague-infected fleas and other deadly pathogens Jocelyn Lau Portraits from the for use as biological weapons. Cheong Suk-Wai finds out more from Singaporean war 10 Lee Brothers Studio history researcher Lim Shao Bin. Design and Print Oxygen Studio Designs Covert operations is also the subject of Ronnie Tan’s essay, as he recounts the fascinat- Pte Ltd Secret War Experiments ing story of Lee Meng, a Malayan Communist Party agent who headed its network of secret 18 in Singapore 02 10 18 couriers during the Emergency and the elaborate efforts hatched to trap her. Against this Contributors same backdrop of anti-British sentiment, Meira Chand pays tribute to the Rani of Jhansi Barbara Quek Cheong Suk-Wai Hunting Down the Regiment. These intrepid women soldiers were recruited by Indian freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose during the Japanese Occupation in Singapore to fight for independence in Chua Chee Lay 24 Malayan Mata Hari Gretchen Liu the motherland. Harold Johnson Singapore’s quest for water began when Stamford Raffles ordered his troops to dig a St John’s Island: From Julian Davison well when he landed in Singapore on 29 January 1819. Just a day earlier, his fleet of ships Lim Tin Seng Gateway to Getaway 30 had docked at St John’s Island. Lim Tin Seng tells us how far the nation has come in its Linda Locke quest for water, while Marcus Ng documents the history of St John’s Island – a corrup- Lu Wenshi Marcus Ng Chinese Renaissance tion of its early Malay name, Pulau Sekijang, or “barking deer island’. At various times St Architecture Meira Chand 36 John’s has been used as a quarantine, opium treatment and detention centre, and, today, Nadia Wright as a recreational spot. Ronnie Tan Warrior Women: The Chinese Renaissance architecture originated in China in the 1900s and later sank its Rani of Jhansi Regiment 30 roots in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Julian Davison charts the history of this archi- Please direct all 44 correspondence to: tectural style and provides shining examples of Chinese Renaissance buildings in Singapore. National Library Board Four Taps: The Story Still on the subject of Chinese heritage, Chua Chee Lay provides valuable lessons gleaned 100 Victoria Street #14-01 of Singapore Water from the teaching of Classical and Modern Chinese in China and Taiwan. National Library Building 50 The Lee Brothers Studio Collection of some 2,500 images forms the largest single Singapore 188064 Email: [email protected] 文言与白话的抗争与磨合： collection of photographic portraits in the National Archives of Singapore. Gretchen Liu recalls the glory days of Lee Brothers Studio, a prominent landmark on Hill Street before Website: www.nlb.gov.sg 近代华文教学语体的 58 World War II. 蜕变历程 On the cover: One of the statutory functions of the National Library is Legal Deposit, which mandates Portrait of Agnes Joaquim that two copies of every work published in Singapore must be deposited with the library. and a colourised rendition Barbara Quek showcases a selection of first issues of magazines and journals from the of the original drawing of Legal Deposit Collection – many of which have ceased publication. the Vanda Miss Joaquim as featured in the 26 June 1897 24 36 44 Finally, Lu Wenshi interviews Eric Khoo and finds out what inspired his latest film, issue of The Gardeners’ Ramen Teh – scenes of which were shot at the Former Ford Factory in Bukit Timah. Chronicle. We hope you enjoy reading this edition of BiblioAsia. Errata: In the article, “Living it up at the Capitol”, published in BiblioAsia, Vol. 13, Iss. 4, we incorrectly stated that Mrs Wai Yin Pryke the construction cost of Capitol Theatre and Namazie Director Mansions was 1,250 Straits National Library dollars when it should have been 1.25 million Straits dollars. The online edition has been revised. We apologise 50 58 for the error. All rights reserved. National Library Board, NL NOTES Singapore, 2018. ISSN 0219-8126 (print) ISSN 1793-9968 (online) Ramen Teh: Food, War and Memory The views of writers and contribu- 60 tors do not reflect the views of the BiblioAsia is a free quarterly publication produced by the National Library Board. Publisher. No part of this publica- tion may be reproduced in any form First Issues: Publications It features articles on the history, culture and heritage of Singapore within the larger or by any means without prior writ- from the Past Asian context, and has a strong focus on the collections and services of the National ten permission from the Publisher 62 and copyright owner(s). Library. BiblioAsia is distributed to local and international libraries, academic institutions, Whilst reasonable care has been 60 62 government ministries and agencies, as well as members of the public. The online taken to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publica- edition of BiblioAsia is available at www.nlb.gov.sg/biblioasia/ tion, the Publisher accepts no legal liabilities whatsoever for the contents of this magazine. BIBLIOASIA APR – JUN 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 01 / Feature 2 Nadia Wright, a historian, Linda Locke, a Joaquim. Intrigued as to why Ridley’s In an 1894 paper delivered to the great grand-niece of Agnes Joaquim, and account had been replaced by a tale prestigious Linnean Society in England, Harold Johnson, an orchid enthusiast, of chance discovery in various stories Ridley reiterated that Vanda Hookeriana collaborated in this historiography of about the flower in Singapore, Wright had been “successfully crossed” with V. Singapore’s national flower, theVanda Miss decided to investigate. teres, Lindl., “producing a remarkably Joaquim. Locke is a former advertising CEO handsome offspring, V. x Miss Joaquim.” and the co-author of the recently released children’s book: Agnes and her Amazing This paper was published unaltered in The Birth of a Bloom 4 Orchid. Johnson and Wright’s second 1896. Ridley, who lived to be 100 years edition of Vanda Miss Joaquim: Singapore’s In 1893, Agnes Joaquim, or possibly her old, never wavered in his statement. National Flower & the Legacy of Agnes & brother Joe (Joaquim P. Joaquim), showed When Isaac Henry Burkill (Ridley’s suc- Ridley will be published in late 2018. Locke Henry Ridley a new orchid. After carefully cessor at the Botanic Gardens) checked and Johnson are Singaporeans, while examining the bloom, having it sketched, all of Ridley’s herbarium specimens Wright is an Australian. and preserving a specimen in the her- and redid the labels, he saw no reason barium of the Botanic Gardens, Ridley to dispute Ridley and recorded Joaquim sent an account of the orchid’s origin and as the creator. appearance to The Gardeners’ Chronicle, a Ridley sent cuttings of Vanda Miss respected English horticulture periodical Joaquim to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Presi- While doing research on the Armenian founded in 1841. He wrote: dent of the Royal Horticultural Society community in Singapore back in the and one of the world’s leading orchidists, 1990s, Australian historian Nadia Wright “A few years ago Miss Joaquim, where it was nurtured in his orchid house read an account of how the daughter of a a lady residing in Singapore, at Burford Lodge, in Dorking, England. prominent Armenian family in Singapore, well-known for her success as a Flowering for the first time in Europe in wAgnes Joaquim1(Ashken Hovagimian), had horticulturist, succeeded in cross- 1897, Vanda Miss Joaquim was displayed stumbled upon a never-before-seen orchid ing Vanda Hookeriana, Rchb. f., and at the Royal Horticultural Show in Lon- bloom by accident in the family garden. V. teres, two plants cul tivated in don, winning a First Class Certificate. In the authoritative The Gardeners’ almost every garden in Singapore. In describing the event, The Gardeners’ Chronicle, published on 24 June 1893, Unfortunately, no record was kept as Chronicle noted that “the plant was however, Henry Nicholas Ridley, the first to which was used as the male. The obtained from a cross between V. teres Director of the Singapore Botanic Gar- result has now appeared in the form and V. Hookeriana some years ago by dens (1888−1911) stated unequivocally of a very beautiful plant, quite inter- Miss Joaquim at Singapore”.5 that Agnes Joaquim had crossed two mediate between the two species In Singapore, Joaquim’s orchid different orchids, the Vanda Hookeriana and as I cannot find any record of debuted at the 1899 Flower Show. The with the Vanda teres and produced the this cross having been made before, Straits Times commented that "one of orchid which he later named Vanda Miss I describe it herewith.”3 the most noticeable flowers was the (Facing page) Vanda x Miss Joa- quim.