Temasek is NOT Mentioned in the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư
The other day I was looking for information about “Temasek,” an early name associated with Singapore, and I came across a webpage hosted by the National Library Board (NLB) of…
Getting High (on Music) at the Pink Pussycat in 1970s Singapore
On 18 November 1973, The Straits Times ran an article on its front page announcing that the Liquor Licensing Board was cancelling the liquor licenses for 12 discotheques and nightclubs…
(Regulated) Blood and Sex in 1930s Singapore
I came across this advertisement recently for a medicine for treating syphilis. The man in the picture is supposed to have third-stage syphilis. In reading about syphilis on Wikipedia, it…
Grandma in 1933 Singapore
I came across this advertisement in a 1933 issue (August 25) of the Union Times, a Chinese newspaper from Singapore. It is for Milkmaid Brand Condensed Milk, and it praises…
Drunk Russians and Loyal Natives in 1901 Singapore
I was looking at some documents from the Straits Settlements that are held in the Colonial Office in London and came across some letters and other documents related to the…
Mahjong and Dondang Sayang
A few weeks ago I wrote about a new book with accompanying CDs called Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia. One of the songs in…
Electrifying the Male Body in Early-20th-Century Singapore
A few months ago I wrote about an advertisement that I found in a Chinese-language newspaper from Singapore in the early twentieth century for a “manhood creator.” Today I came…
Kiều Chinh and the International Asian Film World in the 1960s-70s
I came across some articles from The Straits Times in 1975 that were talking about a movie that was being made in Singapore at the time called Full House. Apparently…
A Chinese College in Late-19th-Century Singapore
The internationalization of higher education is a major trend around the globe at the moment. One of the manifestations of this phenomenon is that Western universities are setting up programs…
Mixed Messages about Sex in Advertisements from 1930s Singapore
I like to relax by looking through old newspapers from Singapore (that have been beautifully digitized by NUS). In doing so today, I just realized that there is something odd…