Semester 1, AY20112012

SSA2211 Evolution of a Global CityState

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Introductory Lecture What is this module all about?

What are some of the BIG questions well be exploring this semester?

5/6/12

Documentary

WHAT were some of the main ideas? Did you detect any omissions? Take a critical approach to what you view/read.

5/6/12

Did you watch the Discovery Channel documentary (link provided on the IVLE)?

Raffles as the creator of Singapore East India Company and the early settlement of Singapore Singapore (Straits Settlement) as a Crown Colony in 1867
5/6/12

WHAT IS HISTORY?

All that has happened in the past?

5/6/12

Our past/heritage/social memory? As students of history we examine the past through: documents, artifacts, oral interviews and try to understand how and why particular things happened. History as an objective/scientific examination of evidence to find out what happened, when and where. Study based on the idea that evidence is accurate and VERIFIABLE.

Case Study: History in our midstTanjong KTM railway and the

5/6/12

Pagar Railway being returned to Singaporean hands.

HISTORY: Of Politics? Of transportation? Of Singapores role as a trading hub/staple port for Malay rubber and tin? Of local history and community memories? What does this mean to you? What memories would you preserve? What history would you write?

5/6/12

Traditional Approaches

History as elitist, the records of great men and big events. Official documents/memoirs of political leaders. Policies, big picture, official accounts of events.
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Raffles? Lee Kwan Yew?

Traditional Approaches (II)

i.e. Singapore 1819, early settlement, crown colony, Independence 1965, global city in the present. (Mangrove to Metropolis) The story of the development of a nation state

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Linear: we trace the progression of history from early times through to the present.

BUT how do we account for gaps in Singapores story (ie the sleepy fishing village image)

How can we account for such sources?

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and what of the tales contained in the Malay Annals of mystical kings, lions and the founding of Singapura?

Recent approaches: EXCAVATIONS AT FORT CANNING, 1984

Archaeology: uncovering evidence of Singapores pre-1819 settlements. Temasek era (end of 13th Century). A trading emporium catering to regional and China traders.

5/6/12

Recent Approaches (II)

--This island was successful at times, at others it was subordinate, and it has also been sidelined.
Is is possible that sometimes the waters around Singapore were more important than the island?! How can we see Singapores history then? Can we move beyond the 1819 model for understanding Singapore? Do you think we should?

5/6/12

Idea of CYCLES of trade and geo-politics that affected Singapore.

A Peoples History? Rickshaw coolies, early migrants, traders Providing a richer view of the Singapore Story How can these histories help us to consider Singapores development?
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Over the semester well examine Singapore as:

A port city (part of an oceanic network of ports) Part of the China-Southeast Asia interaction with the founding of Temasek in the late 13th Century A contested area and then port in the East-West Trade (17th-20th Century) A global city
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Part of the early Malay World

This module

Presents traditional and non-traditional sources for examining Singapores history. Challenges you to QUESTION your assumptions on Singapores development and history. Is there a better way to narrate the Singapore Story? What role has geopolitics and trade played in Singapores early modern and modern history? Examines the tensions between Singapore as a nation state and its evolution as a Global city state.

5/6/12

Challenges you to examine the arguments for and against 1819 as the traditional starting point for Singapores history.