Hear from academics and researchers in this series of video lectures on Singapore's history and culture, primarily recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 Recorded Lectures
Banten, the Forgotten Kingdom
9 January 2020. Lim Chen Sian, Associate Fellow at the Archaeology Unit, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute
Join archaeologist Lim Chen Sian as he explores the rise and fall of the forgotten kingdom of Banten in this fascinating talk.
Imagining the East Indies
16 January 2020. Daniel Tham, Curatorial Lead, National Museum of Singapore.
This talk demonstrates how the artwork of the period reveals the European imagination of the East Indies.
In Service of John Company: Life in the English East India Company in Asia (c1800s)
13 February 2020. Dr Donna Brunero, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, National University of Singapore
What was it like to work for the EIC? Dr Donna Brunero explores a deeper understanding of the EIC and the lure (and sometimes trials and tribulations) of a career in Asia.
Shakespeare & Singapore, 1900–1975
5 March 2020. Dr Emily Soon, Research Fellow, National Museum of Singapore
How did individuals from Singapore’s diverse ethnic communities respond to, and rework, the plays of this English Renaissance playwright?
Recovering the Complex Legacies of Kampong Melaka and Kampong Bengkulu: Two Forgotten Neighbourhoods of Early Communities
29 July 2020. Imran bin Tajudeen, Visiting Senior Fellow, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore.
Through the micro-histories of Kampong Melaka and Kampong Bengkulu, Dr Imran Tajudeen reconsiders the conventional narratives and framing of the colonial city of Singapore.
Songs of Singapore
8 August 2020. Bernard Tan, Emeritus Professor of Physics, National University of Singapore. Moderated by Eugene Dairianathan, Associate Professor, National Institute of Education, National Technical University.
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the National Day songs sung at the National Day Parade each year?
75 Years on: Reflections on World War Two Commemoration in Singapore
28 September 2020. Hamzah Muzaini, Assistant Professor, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, National University of Singapore
Dr Hamzah Muzaini shares the evolving ways in which World War II has been commemorated in Singapore since 1965.
Other Lectures
These lectures were conducted live in 2022–2023 and were not recorded.
The Syonan Sports Association (1942 – 1945)
22 September 2022. Dr Nick Aplin, Deputy Director, Sport Heritage at Sport Singapore.
The Syonan Sports Association represented one of the few examples of sympathetic treatment bestowed by the occupying Japanese forces on the local population during World War II. Dr Nick Aplin talked about how sports sustained the community during the war – including even the prisoners of war in Changi Prison – and how the Association provided opportunities for young members, such as 17-year-old Chia Boon Leong, to replace hardship and brutality with the joy of unrestrained physical challenge.
Photo: The Syonan Sports Association before their departure on a "goodwill tour" to Malaya, 1943.
Constituting a Nation
31 August 2023. Kevin Y. L. Tan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore.
How did the Singapore Constitution come to be, and how did it take its current form? From a colony to self-government, to a state in Malaysia and then finally an independent nation, the road of Singapore’s constitutional development has seen many twists and turns. In this talk organised in conjunction with the Founders’ Memorial’s pilot exhibition Semangat yang Baru: Forging a New Singapore Spirit, constitutional law expert Kevin Y. L. Tan takes you through some of the ups and downs of this journey.
Forging the Social Structures of a Nation
26 October 2023. Dr Ho Chi Tim, Senior Lecturer, Singapore University of Social Sciences.
The late colonial period of Singapore's history is usually and unavoidably focused on key events and the personalities involved. Parallel to those were equally epochal yet understated structural changes intended to refashion Singapore's colonial society into something that was more cohesive. This talk outlines the social policies and their underlying philosophies and objectives as introduced by the British from 1945. As the objective of forging a nation was shared, those policies have been adopted and adapted by successive governments, resulting in lingering legacies we still experience in the contemporary Singaporean nation.
Photo: A street market in Chinatown, 1954. Arthur B. Reich Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.