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

Episode 0: Trailer

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.

Episode 1: Introduction and Origins

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.

Episode 2: Government of the People and by the People

"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.

Episode 3: The 99%

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.

Episode 4: A New Hope

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.

Special Episode 1: A Short History of Elections in Singapore

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.

Episode 5: The Origins of Malayan Nationalism

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.

Episode 6: Modernist Islam, Malay Islam, and Malayan Nationalism

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.

Episode 7: Politics goes into Labour

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.

Episode 8: Orang Cina Malaya

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 thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Episode 10: Those Dangerous, Subversive, Asian Values

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.

Episode 11: The Enemy of My Enemy

In this episode, PJ Thum takes listener questions. Questions include issues of nomenclature, on nationalism and national identity, on historiography, and why the MCP's brand of anti-colonial nationalism was not more widely embraced by Malayans. Thank you to everyone who sent in questions. The podcast will be on hiatus for the next two weeks and return on 27 November 2015 - coincidentally, Bruce Lee's 75th birthday. Till then, remember, history must have emotional content. Don't just think. Feel! 

Episode 12: Questions and Answers (1)

Singapore was ripped from the hands of one Empire by another on 15 February 1942. The military aspects of Japan’s Malayan campaign have been well studied - but what were its implications for Malayan independence? In this week’s episode, PJ Thum discusses the two major impacts of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore on Singapore’s (and the rest of Malaya’s) subsequent independence movement. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Episode 13: The Yellow Lion and the Red Sun

World War II in Southeast Asia was a minor disagreement compared to what came after. With the defeat of the Japanese and end of World War II came the real conflict in Southeast Asia, one that continues to define Southeast Asia to this day: the battle between Southeast Asians for ownership over the newly independent states. Central to this conflict was the question of identity. If you control the definition of a national identity, you can control the membership of a nation, and thus control ownership of a nation-state. In this episode, PJ Thum discusses the opening salvoes of Malaya’s most vicious, savage, violent battle: the battle over Malayan identity. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Episode 14: Whose Country?

Post-War Singapore was divided into two worlds. In one, rich English-speaking Singaporean elites enjoyed unprecedented political participation and prosperity due to a new constitution; in the other, non-English speaking Singaporean workers were economically exploited, politically neglected, hounded, harassed, detained, and even tortured and deported because of the Malayan Emergency. In this episode, PJ Thum explores these divisions and in particular explains how the events from 1948 - 1952 starkly illustrate the sharp divide that created, in effect, two very different Singapores in one country. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com.

Episode 15: The Two Singapores

The campaign for Nanyang University (“Nantah”) was the first mass-based, locally oriented, popular campaign in Malaya, and resulted in Southeast Asia’s first crowdfunded university. Why were the Chinese so passionate about Nantah? Why did Chinese people from all walks of life give so much of their precious, hard-earned money to bring about its creation? And perhaps most importantly, what does the creation of Nantah tell us about how Malaya’s Chinese saw their place in Malaya and the composition identity? In this episode, PJ Thum delves into detail about the legendary Nantah campaign; explains the opposing visions of Malayan identity held by the Chinese and the British colonial authorities; and concludes with how the success of its campaign, in the teeth of heavy colonial resistance, emboldened and empowered the Chinese, setting up the explosive confrontations of the next few years. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Please note there will be no episodes on Christmas or New Year’s Day. The podcast will return on 8 January 2016.

Episode 16: The Crowdfunded University

To safeguard British interests in Singapore after independence, the British desired to leave behind a reliably pro-British population, who would identify themselves as British. To achieve this, the colonial government embarked on massive social engineering to destroy Chinese culture and education. In this episode of “The History of Singapore”, PJ Thum explains why and how the British sought to transform Singapore’s Chinese into loyal English-speaking British subjects, and how this alienated and radicalised the Chinese-speaking community. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 17: IndoctriNation

On 13 May 1954, the Singapore Police’s Riot Squad charged into a group of 900 unarmed students, brutally beating them, sending 30 to the hospital and arresting 48. The students were not protesting, but were quietly awaiting the outcome of a meeting at nearby Government House. This incident was a turning point in Singapore history - never before had the state conducted such unprovoked and outrageous violence against unarmed students. Worse, in the wake of the incident, the colonial government blamed the students for provoking the riot squad. In this episode, PJ Thum explains the long history of government deceit that led to this act of colonial brutality and its impact on Singapore’s decolonisation. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 18: The "Riot Squad Brutally Beats Up A Group of Unarmed Students on 13 May 1954" Incident

In the aftermath of the 13 May 1954 incident (aka “The “Riot Squad Brutally Beats Up A Group of Unarmed Students on 13 May 1954” Incident), the government insisted on seeing the incident as being about maintaining internal order and security in Singapore. It completely ignored the underlying factors which contributed to the incident, including the long history of discrimination, harassment, and oppression towards Chinese students. In this episode, PJ Thum explores what happened after 13 May; how the government’s refusal to understand the causes of the event radicalised the Chinese students, giving birth to a new force in Singapore’s decolonisation; and how this set the scene for future political upheavals and riots. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 19: A Force Awakens

The outcome of the 1955 general election was a massive shock to the British colonial government of Singapore. They had held the elections precisely because they had expected conservative, pro-British parties to win. They had believed that the silent majority of Singaporeans were conservative. But Singapore was not a conservative society and were not interested in conservative policies. Singaporeans voted in droves for the progressive, left-wing parties. The Labour Front, led by the great David Marshall, was the big winner. In this episode, PJ Thum explains why the British so badly misunderstood the electorate; why the Labour Front won the election; the significance of the 1955 elections; and why Singapore cannot be characterised as a conservative society. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 20: Our Only Free and Fair Election

Is it right to use illegal means to resist evil? Or is law and order paramount? Where do we draw the line? How do we decide? This is the moral quandary that faced the actors of the Hock Lee Bus Strike. The law was on the side of the deceitful, exploitative, underhanded owners of Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company. The workers felt they had no choice but to resort to an illegal strike to uphold their own rights and dignity. Who was right? Your answer to that question is shaped by your values. Hock Lee demonstrates how history is formed of multiple overlapping perspectives, and that reasonable people can disagree very strongly about the same events and both be correct. In this episode, PJ Thum discusses the context and events of Hock Lee, the many different perspectives on the strike and riot, and how the strike altered Singapore’s anticolonial politics. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum. 
"Living in a Time of Deception" by Dr Poh Soo Kai:
https://www.facebook.com/events/214541525557653/

Episode 21: The Hock Lee Bus Litmus Test

1955-56 was the peak of mass participation in Singapore’s democratic process. Singapore has a long tradition of highly politicised mutual associations, with fierce internal and external competition. From 1955, thanks to the new government, space for legitimate political activity rapidly expanded in Singapore. Yet the public also understood that the constitution heavily circumscribed what elected ministers could achieve in the Legislative Assembly. In this episode, PJ Thum explains how and why associations became the focus of political activity in Singapore, and how they transformed the organisation and practice of politics in Singapore. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum. 
“Living in a Time of Deception" by Dr Poh Soo Kai: www.facebook.com/events/214541525557653/

Episode 22: de Tocqueville in Singapore

Dr Poh Soo Kai was the president of the University of Malaya Socialist Club in 1954-55 and its secretary general in 1955-56. He was a member of the eight-person editorial board of the Socialist Club newsletter, Fajar, who were charged by the colonial government in 1954 with sedition. He was a founding member of the People’s Action Party in 1954 and was later the Assistant Secretary-General of Barisan Socialis when it was established in 1961. In 1963, he was detained without trial under Operation Coldstore and was held for a total of 17 years. He has recently published his memoir, “Living in a Time of Deception”, has just launched in Singapore and Malaysia. In this episode, recorded live at the book launch, PJ Thum sits down with Dr Poh to discuss his book, his political career, and what he’s learnt from his long life. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 23: Living in a Time of Deception

The Afro-Asia Conference, held in Bandung in April 1955, was hugely inspirational for anticolonialism around the world and for Singapore's anticolonial movement. What is the spirit of Afro-Asia? Why was Bandung so inspirational? And how did it change the anticolonial movement in Singapore? In this episode, PJ Thum answers these questions, and visits the entirely fictional state of “Singalaysia” and asks what lessons the spirit of Bandung might offer to a theoretical opposition “Democratic Worker’s Action Party” on how they might successfully defeat the neo-colonial government at a General Election. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 24: The Spirit of Afro-Asia

Lord Selkirk, UK Commissioner to Singapore, hosted James Puthucheary, Lim Chin Siong, Fong Swee Suan, and S. Woodhull at his official residence for tea at 4.30pm on 18 July 1961 - an event that become known in Singapore as the “Eden Hall Tea Party”. It was part of a long sequence of events that ended with the PAP splitting into two and the formation of the Barisan Sosialis. In this episode, PJ Thum tells the story of the Eden Hall Tea Party twice - first as we think we know it, then as it really happened - and demonstrates how history is not just about what is written down, but what is not written down - or indeed, what is deliberately left out. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum .

Episode 41: Lord Selkirk's Tea Party

Needing to negotiate a form and structure for merger that satisfied both the Federation government and the people of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew ended up producing a compromise that gave away Singaporean sovereignty and politically quarantined Singaporeans in Singapore, in exchange for autonomy in commerce, education, and labour policy. In this episode, PJ Thum describes the raging controversy over Lee’s proposed form of merger and how Lee won popular approval in a National Referendum by giving the people a “Hobson’s Choice”. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 42: Hobson's Choice

The British, Federation of Malaya, and PAP leaders agreed to a merger of the Federation and Singapore. But Tunku Abdul Rahman demanded that Singapore’s political opposition be arrested before merger, while Lee Kuan Yew demanded they be arrested after merger, and Lord Selkirk felt arrests were unnecessary and unjustified. In this episode, PJ Thum explains the central political conflict surrounding merger and how this deadlock was eventually broken by a political event which ostensibly had nothing to do with Malaya. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 43: Operation Coldstore I: The Night of Long Knives

The British, Federation, and PAP leaders agreed that Singapore’s political opposition would be arrested, despite the lack of evidence of any wrongdoing, before merger took place. But the issues of who to arrest, when to arrest them, and most of all, who would take the blame for the arrests, would prove so contentious that it would nearly torpedo merger. Lee Kuan Yew, in particular, sought to manipulate the arrests for maximum political gain, to the anger and frustration of his allies inside and outside Singapore. In this episode, PJ Thum describes the endless rounds of arguing, haggling, and brinkmanship that characterised the final negotiations over Coldstore. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum .

Episode 44: Operation Coldstore II: The Blame Game

It is just barely an exaggeration to say that Lee Kuan Yew’s primary reason to pursue merger was to defeat Lim Chin Siong; as a result of this, the lives of millions of people in four different territories would be changed forever. But who is Lim Chin Siong? What did he believe? And why was he so feared that the British, Federation, and PAP leaders would disrupt their stable arrangements to defeat him? In this episode, PJ Thum explores Lim in his own words, and seeks the beliefs behind the man. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 45: The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Who is Lim Chin Siong?

The mutual antipathy between Federation and Singapore ministers nearly sank merger before it happened, and ensured that Malaysia would be birthed into a poisoned atmosphere. In this episode, PJ Thum details how both sides grew increasingly hostile and bitter, how this was rooted in the different political systems in the two territories, and how they limped over the finish line into Malaysia. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 46: Selamat Hari Malaysia

Singapore has never had a race riot - so why do we call the riots of 1964 “race” riots? In this episode, PJ Thum explains how the elections of 1963 and 1964, the starkly divergent political circumstances north and south of the causeway, and most of all the contradictions inherent in how Malaysia had been constructed, led to the outbreak of riots in Singapore in 1964, and why they should be properly termed “political” riots. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 47: The 1964 Political Riots

As late as October 1964, separation was still unthinkable. But from November 1964 onwards, the situation slowly deteriorated. The road to separation was long and there were many opportunities to stop or turn back, but they were not taken. In this episode, PJ Thum outlines the turning points from November to June 1964 that led Malaysia to separation, and in particular puzzles over the behaviour of Lee Kuan Yew - a normally brilliant politician who inexplicably loses all semblance of political skill in May 1965. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 48: The Chinese Ultra

After years of long drawn out sound and fury and violence, the final conspiracy for separation was conducted in absolute secrecy, between a tiny group of people, and in a massive rush. In this episode, PJ Thum narrates the final secret rush to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, and how it relates to 13 May 1969. He then concludes with some thoughts of the broad sweep of the history of Singapore’s independence. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit http://thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at http://patreon.com/pjthum.

Episode 49: Separation

In this episode - the final episode of season 1 -, PJ Thum takes listener questions. Questions include comparisons of Singapore/Federation and Hong Kong/China; on British attitudes to the Barisan and whether Selkirk broke his promise at the Eden Hall Tea Party; and on Alex Josey. The episode concludes with a recording of PJ's live interview on BFM89.9 on 7 October 2016. Please send questions, comments, and feedback to thehistoryofsingapore@gmail.com or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum. The History of Singapore will return.

Episode 50: Question & Answers III

A weekly podcast about Singapore history by Dr PJ Thum. In season 1, the podcast traces the history of Singapore's independence, from its founding as a British port in 1819 to its separation from Malaysia in 1965. To support the podcast, please visit patreon.com/pjthum.

The History of Singapore

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