History & Geography

Where I Was is a rich, entertaining and compelling account of the life of an extraordinary woman. In a land of many cultures, many races, many religions; in a state where politics and public policies impinge, sometimes callously, on the daily lives of its denizens, Constance Singam is an individual marginalised many times over by her status as a woman, an Indian, a widow and a civil society activist. Through humorous and moving accouts, Constance captures in words the images of the people, places and events that are the source of her most powerful memories. These images are connected to key turning points in her personal journey, set against or within the context of important historical events.

The outpouring of the Spirit on some Anglo-Chinese School students in 1972 was the beginning of the charismatic movement in Singapore. It was arguably an unexpected

Foreword by Michael Poon A Note on Thaumaturgical Movement Introduction Part One: Origins of the Charismatic Renewal Movement Chapter 1 In the United States Chapter 2 In Singapore

Introduction Part One: Hendrik Kraemer on John Sung Part Two: Cornelia Baarbé on John Sung

ntroduction My Testimony Appendix: The Straits Times Review of Tipson’s My Testimony

The planet faces a 21st century global water crisis - but to what extent is this really new? Renowned archaeologist and prehistorian Steven Mithen examines the history of water management in the ancient world, exploring its relationship to climate change and the quest for political power. Having tracked the origin of water management in the Near East from the time of the first Stone Age occupation to the earliest urban settlements, he then tours the ancient world, visiting past civilisations to explore the role of water in their rise and fall.

This thoughtful memoir offers descriptions of the author's life and upbringing in Queenstown in the 1960s and 70s. It highlights some almost-forgotten issues and patterns of family life in times past as well as some nostalgia for the early low-rise public housing which has now largely been replaced. Black-and-white photographs.

Fort Canning Hill: Exploring Singapore's Heritage and Nature is the first coffee table book dedicated to the rich heritage and biodiversity of Singapore's beloved park on a hill. It takes the reader through a holistic journey through the park - from uncovering the layers of its military, architectural, trading and natural heritage to getting an intriguing look at its diverse botanical life and previous inhabitants.

By the late 19th century, Penang had become a thriving port trading in rubber, spices and tin. Its prosperity attracted immigrants from around the world and the island was a rich melting pot of Chinese, Indians, Malays, Europeans and many other peoples. The postcards reproduced in this book are drawn from the huge collection of Penang-born Professor Cheah Jin Seng, and vividly capture the charm and diversity of Penang. This book is a valuable collector's item as well as an important historical reference, particularly for philatelists and deltiologists.

World at War: 1914-1939 uses contemporaneous reports and photographs, including many eyewitness accounts, to show how these conflicts developed, describing the key battles, tactical decisions and turning points that settled the outcomes.

On 2 Feb 2013 a meeting took place at Hong Lim Park, Singapore, to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Cold Store when at least 110 men and women were arrested under the Internal Security Act when Singapore's People's Action Party government was still under the British colonial umbrella. The speeches of six of the surviving detainees, some of whom were imprisoned for many years, are set out together with an account of the Detention-Writing-Healing Forum organised in February 2006 by The Necessary Stage, Singapore. Six poems written by detainees are included. Bilingual in Chinese. With archival black-and-white photographs.

A gripping account of China's 19th-century Taiping Rebellion, one of the largest civil wars in history. The story begins in the early 1850s, the waning years of the Qing dynasty, when word spread of a major revolution brewing in the provinces, led by a failed civil servant who claimed to be the son of God and brother of Jesus. The Taiping rebels drew their power from the poor and the disenfranchised, unleashing the ethnic rage of millions of Chinese against their Manchu rulers. This homegrown movement seemed all but unstoppable until Britain and the United States stepped in and threw their support behind the Manchus: after years of massive carnage, all opposition to Qing rule was effectively snuffed out for generations. Stephen R. Platt recounts these events in spellbinding detail, building his story on two fascinating characters with opposing visions for China's future: the conservative Confucian scholar Zeng Guofan, an accidental general who emerged as the most influential military strategist in China's modern history; and Hong Rengan, a brilliant Taiping leader whose grand vision of building a modern, industrial, and pro-Western Chinese state ended in tragic failure. This is an essential and enthralling history of the rise and fall of the movement that, a century and a half ago, might have launched China on an entirely different path into the modern world.

In this book, the full range of Chinese cultural and scientific achievements, as well as its military conquests, wars, rebellions, and political and philosophical movements, are told through the eyes of real people who created or were involved in them. The subjects include emperors and empresses, concubines, officials and political figures, rebels, exiles, philosophers, writers and poets, artists, musicians, scientists, military leaders, and committed pacifists. From Fu Hao, an early warrior lady of the thirteenth century BC, to the late twentieth-century leader Deng Xiaoping, their careers, achievements, misdeeds, disasters, punishments, ideas and love stories make this an unforgettable read.

A beautifully illustrated volume of Maoist iconographic art, including a remarkable collection of contemporary art from China. Each item is accompanied by a description.

This commemorative book archives the milestones of C.K. Tang through the past 80 years. With photographs and innovative inserts, it charts the journey that started with two old trunks filled with quality linen and lace that Mr CK Tang himself carried from Swatow to Singapore to peddle, to the respected and cherished retail giant that Tangs is today.

This study revisits one of the most extensive examples of the spread of ideas in the history of civilization: the diffusion of Indian religious and political ideas to Southeast Asia before the advent of Islam and European colonialism. Hindu and Buddhist concepts and symbols of kingship and statecraft helped to legitimize Southeast Asian rulers, and transform the political institutions and authority of Southeast Asia. But the process of this diffusion was not accompanied by imperialism, political hegemony, or colonization as conventionally understood. This book investigates different explanations of the spread of Indian ideas offered by scholars, including why and how it occurred and what were its key political and institutional outcomes. It challenges the view that strategic competition is a recurring phenomenon when civilizations encounter each other.

Translated from Malay, this is a biography of Natrah aka Nadra aka Bertha Hertogh (1937-2009). The author, who had a personal friendship with Nadra and sees her life through caring Muslim eyes, tells how the 1950 decision of the Singapore High Court took Natrah from her Malay husband and devoted foster-mother, and returned her to her Dutch natural parents in Holland, thus precipitating major riots in Singapore. Natrah's subsequent life in Holland, her years as a wife and mother, her troubled marriages, her visits to Malay foster-siblings in Kemaman, her return to Singapore, her years living in the US where she was interviewed by the author, and then her return to Holland where she died in 2009 are all discussed. Family photographs and archival material help to shed new light on the tragedies, with some happiness, which made up Natrah's life-experience. With appended documents, a verbatim interview with Natrah, black-and-white photographs, bibliography and index.

The great Malay saga of the Hang Tuah has been part of Malay culture for some six centuries. Some surviving manuscripts date from the 17th century and this scholarly translation brings the epic into the contemporary international literary world. The introduction discusses the origins and significance of the saga and locates relevant manuscripts. The 28 chapters of Hang Tuah's feats and legends are then set out in modern English followed by a glossary translation notes, and index.

This is a journal of the Singapore Society of Asian Studies. With papers in Chinese and English.

The Victorian period, viewed in the West as a time of self-confident progress, was experienced by Asians as a catastrophe. Pankaj Mishra's fascinating, highly entertaining new book tells the story of a remarkable group of men from across the continent who met the challenge of the West. Incessantly travelling, questioning and agonising, they both hated the West and recognised that an Asian renaissance needed to be fuelled in part by engagement with the enemy. Through many setbacks and wrong turns, a powerful, contradictory and ultimately unstoppable series of ideas were created that now lie behind everything from the Chinese Communist Party to Al Qaeda, from Indian nationalism to the Muslim Brotherhood.