Debunking myth of the sleepy fishing village
Click HERE
If can't access above link, click HERE
We keep talking about what 'white men' did as though the Malays did nothing but fish, and the Bugis did nothing but piracy..."The way we handle our history is so neo-colonial and is such an insult. We need to move beyond this colonial gaze once and for all. If there is any way to do this, it should be through the Singapore Bicentennial, if we are truly mature in wanting to look at our longer history in the region."
If u have done the 2018 compre AQ on the value of the past (i.e. history), try recalling the points about how studying history is deemed to be of no value as it is biased, not an accurate capture of the past.....
Some thoughts:
-what was taught in history in our schools (esp in the past) can be deemed misguided as it gave the impression that Singapore only came into existence after the British came in 1819.
-yet it is through a study into history (i.e. greater inquiry) that we can debunk existent versions that are inaccurate or incomplete....
-other than this thing about how Singapore's birth commenced only with the arrival of the British, another example of a contentious part of our history is with regard to Operation Coldstore, where the govt's narrative/version is that the opposition Barisan Socialis are communists, and hence a threat to Singapore during that time......But this has brewed skepticism in some quarters, compounded by how Tan Pin Pin's alternative version of the incident in her documentary film "To Singapore With Love" was banned by the govt.
If can't access above link, click HERE
We keep talking about what 'white men' did as though the Malays did nothing but fish, and the Bugis did nothing but piracy..."The way we handle our history is so neo-colonial and is such an insult. We need to move beyond this colonial gaze once and for all. If there is any way to do this, it should be through the Singapore Bicentennial, if we are truly mature in wanting to look at our longer history in the region."
If u have done the 2018 compre AQ on the value of the past (i.e. history), try recalling the points about how studying history is deemed to be of no value as it is biased, not an accurate capture of the past.....
Some thoughts:
-what was taught in history in our schools (esp in the past) can be deemed misguided as it gave the impression that Singapore only came into existence after the British came in 1819.
-yet it is through a study into history (i.e. greater inquiry) that we can debunk existent versions that are inaccurate or incomplete....
-other than this thing about how Singapore's birth commenced only with the arrival of the British, another example of a contentious part of our history is with regard to Operation Coldstore, where the govt's narrative/version is that the opposition Barisan Socialis are communists, and hence a threat to Singapore during that time......But this has brewed skepticism in some quarters, compounded by how Tan Pin Pin's alternative version of the incident in her documentary film "To Singapore With Love" was banned by the govt.
posted by Dark Shadow | 12:51 PM
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