Chronicles of Old Singapore | Mejar Singh – Sikhs of the Naval Base & Singapore Part 2

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. LTC (Retd) Mejar Singh Gill relates how the Sikhs were classified as a martial race by the British and how this changed when Singapore became independent and then the British closed down their bases. He also talks about other aspects of the Sikh community – their other professions, festivals, the women (the Kaurs) – and the need to document its rich heritage.

00:00 The Sikhs’ Martial Spirit
08:28 Loyalty to the British & Desire for Law & Order
12:27 The Jagas & Moneylenders
17:07 Impact of the British Withdrawal
21:32 God Save the Queen to Majullah Singapore
27:04 The Kaurs
32:13 Sikh Culture & Festivals
36:09 Documenting Sikh Heritage

Singapore’s ‘Northern Sikhs'’ and their Gurdwaras by Mejar Singh
https://gsy.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GSY-Northern-Sikhs-book.pdf

I’m Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today.

We discuss three topics:
1. People and places.
2. Change and continuity.
3. The importance of heritage.

As a historian, I try to stay true to the oral history method on a video format and social media platform. I let the interviewee speak, as the ‘voice of the past’ as Paul Thompson put it. No clickbait, no BS, no posturing. The aim is to canvas a wide range of voices on various aspects of Singapore history and heritage – physical, social, cultural, economic.

Do like the video, share your memories below and subscribe to the channel for future episodes.

Write to lohkahseng@chroniclesresearch.com if you have any of these stories to share:
• Old places or kampongs.
• Communities – their way of life & culture.
• Childhood & schools.
• Work or business.

Support Chronicles of Old Singapore on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore
Follow the channel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551786759344
Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lks992002

Chronicles Research & Education is my research consultancy on the history of Singapore: https://www.chroniclesresearch.com/

Caveat: this is above all a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable and what is recalled here should not be taken as fact. However, as Alessandro Portelli noted, the subjectivity of oral history is also its great strength, and what is inaccurately remembered may point to how deeply meaningful the past is to people.

#singaporehistory
#memory
#heritage
#nostalgia
#oralhistory
#socialhistory
#history
#singapore

Видео Chronicles of Old Singapore | Mejar Singh – Sikhs of the Naval Base & Singapore Part 2 канала Chronicles of Old Singapore