The History Of Singapore

The Spartans and Athenians vs the Persians. The Wildlings and Night's Watch vs. the Others. The Autobots and Decepticons vs the Quintessons. This week's episode is all about enemies joining up to defeat a common foe. The right wing capitalists and the Kuomintang; the left-wing anti-colonial working class, intellectuals, and the Malayan Communist Party; and the colonial British joined hands to fight the Japanese in 1941. How did this happen? In this episode, PJ Thum traces how the barriers towards cooperation between these three existential enemies slowly fell throughout 1937-1941, leading to the creation of their unlikely alliance just as the Japanese arrived at Malaya’s gates, and how this set the stage for Malaya’s independence movements after the war. Also, a brief word on what the Malay nationalists were doing while all this was going on. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Highly influenced by the nationalist movements of China, Indonesia, and elsewhere, nationalist demands and aspirations for self-determination grew in Singapore throughout the first third of the 20th century. These demands threatened British rule, and the colonial government sought to repress the growing nationalist movement. They saw the Asian nationalist movements and their values of democracy, justice, and self-determination as subversive and alien to Singapore; Instead, colonial policies valued stability, harmony, the community above the self, and an emphasis on socio-economic development above political development. In this episode, PJ Thum explains how this position was backed up by the aggressive use of repression and regulation, aimed at choking the life out of a nationalist movement the British barely understood, and how this had long term repercussions on the colonial government's relationship with the Chinese community in Singapore. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingap

The "Left" is a broad term that we apply to a wide range of anti-colonial movements that originated in Malaya in the first third of the 20th century, who would go on to have a major influence on the decolonisation movements of both Singapore and the Federation after the war. They are the defining forces of Malayan history, but despite their massive importance, we know relatively little about them. In this episode, PJ Thum discusses their origins, sketches out broad patterns by which we can define the "Left", and discusses the two pre-WWIImain strands of the "Left": The Chinese/Indonesian Malayan Communist Party, and the Malay Kesatuan Melayu Muda. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

China’s response to the events and forces of the late 19th and early 20th century took the form of royalist, reformist, and revolutionary movements. The leaders of the latter two, Kang Youwei and Sun Yat Sen, came to Singapore to rally support and funding for their movements. They brought with them new ideas, built new structures and organisations, and left behind a changed political landscape. In this episode, PJ Thum explains how this combined with local demographic, economic, and social change; how it challenged the identity and beliefs of Malaya’s Chinese; how it interacted with local circumstances to begin transforming Malaya’s Chinese into Chinese Malayans, beginning Malayan nationalism among the Chinese; and how the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Balestier, Singapore, is actually a shrine to left-wing revolutionary socialism. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

The greatest force in Singapore’s decolonisation movement in the 1950s was organised labour. Workers coming together to fight to be treated as human beings provided the main impetus for change. But the colonial capitalist system was built on oppressing, abusing, overworking, and exploiting workers, and so the only way to gain workers’ rights was to change the government. But where did the political labour movement come from? In this episode, PJ Thum goes back to the origins of the labour movement in Singapore in the early 1900s. He explains how traditional forms of labour organisation were also explicitly political; how modern trade unionism arrived from Britain, China, India, and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia); and the impact of political labour on Singapore in the first quarter of the 20th century. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com.

One of the most powerful threads of Malayan nationalism was of Islamic modernism. Originating in the Middle East - particularly at Al-Azhar University in Cairo - the movement attempted to reconcile Islamic faith with the forces of nationalism, democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality and progress that were sweeping the world. Entering Southeast Asia through Singapore (the hub of regional communications), it would not only provide a response to nationalism and self-determination, but would also challenge and undermine traditional forms of Islamic identity in Malaya, driving conflict within the Malay/Muslim community and bringing forth new forms of identity and organisation. In this episode of "The History of Singapore", PJ Thum sits down with Dr Nurfadzilah Yahaya, expert on the history of the Arab and Muslim community in colonial Singapore, to discuss Malay, Muslim, and Malayan identity in Singapore in the late 19th and early 20th century.

From the early 20th century, global and local forces of historical change were being unleashed. Singapore was open, and wealthy, and cosmopolitan, a centre for regional and global communications, and hence a magnet for the agents of these forces. These new political, cultural, economic forces of change would disrupt the lives of Singapore’s residents in very fundamental ways. This is the age of nationalism and revolution; of industrialisation and changing economic relationships; of reform and transformation. People responded by asking fundamental questions about the nature of their societies, their economies, their political units. In this episode, PJ Thum describes the wealth but also inequality of Singapore in the 1930s, and gives a broad overview of the forces from which the different threads of Malayan nationalism would spring. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Machiavelli's Prince noted that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it. Singapore is no different. In a special edition of "The History of Singapore," entitled "A Short History of Elections in Singapore", PJ Thum discusses how elections in Singapore have been shaped by two opposing forces: the will of the people to have a voice, and the desire of those in power to deny them that voice. He traces two major turning periods in Singapore history in the 1950s and 1980s to show how, even as Singaporeans fought and won the right to vote, their ability to vote for candidates of their choice and the fairness of elections has been constrained. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Nationalism is what gives nation-states their power. It’s like a belief created by all members of the nation. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the nation together. It has a light side, which inspires and liberates. It has a dark side, which oppresses and destroys. In this week’s episode of “The History of Singapore”, PJ Thum heads to a long time ago in a country far, far away to illustrate nationalism, its significance to decolonisation, how nationalism and decolonisation are double-edged swords which have defined Singapore and Malaysia, and why the price of freedom is eternal vigilance against tyranny. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

"Welcome to Singapore!" said Chow Yun Fat in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Indeed, for most of the 19th century, Singapore was an archetypal pirate port and frontier town. The British provided only the minimum government they could get away with. So who did Singapore’s people turn to when they needed leadership, security, arbitration? Who decided who got to be in charge and how? In this episode of "The History of Singapore", PJ Thum discusses how the 99% of Singapore worked out their own systems of government, giving birth to Singapore’s strong brand of locally-oriented, indigenous politics - and how the British responded to it.

The seeds of Singapore's independence movement were sown in the very first years of its existence. Raffles, Farquhar, and Crawfurd all had major impact on the contours of politics in Singapore, which would in turn have a huge impact on the nature and trajectory of Singapore's colonisation movement. In this episode of "The History of Singapore", PJ Thum traces how Raffles' radical vision, Farquhar's good sense and courage, and Crawfurd's shrewd pragmatism gave birth to Singapore's history of freedom, liberty, and republicanism. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

In this first episode for "The History of Singapore", PJ Thum introduces the series with a discussion about the partition of Malaya in 1946, its importance, and how it illustrates two central conflicts in Singapore/Malayan history: The meaning and purpose of government, and national identity. The radio time slot required a commercial break about halfway through, which is why the theme music plays just after 9:30 - that's where the commercial break is. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

In this trailer for "The History of Singapore", PJ Thum talks about why he is making the show, and plays excerpts from upcoming episodes.