Chronicles of Old Singapore | James Kwok – Victoria School & Kwong Avenue School Ep1

00:00 Introduction
10:46 Rayman School
23:59 Old Photos of Victoria School
33:00 School Discipline
39:17 Parents’ Expectations
44:20 My Teachers
53:16 Politics in School

I’m Dr Loh KS, a 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.

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

[SubramaniamMunian]

Dr. You have narrated an excellent interview.
The ex-teacher had given a good interview to learn:
1. Learning
2. Students relationship
3. His teachers’ teaching
4. His teaching
5. About sports and many
others things like:
- comparison of
boys and girls
schools
- good job means
govt jobs
One incident he brought up was like Kesavan Soon, Earnest Freda.
I had competed with him and other runners like Mansor Suhaime in 1500 m for Combined Schools Sports at Perak Park Stadium.
The famous slogan at 1963 - 1965 were - Battle for Malaysia and Malaysian Malaysia. These words had used to challenge the everyday used of words in Malaya radio - Tanah Malaya.
There was a great meeting was organised at the defunct National Theatre where speakers from Malaya like Dr Seenivasan brothers, LKY, Rajaratnam, etc had given spell bound speeches.
Lots more.
Thank you.

[SubramaniamMunian]

Dr. You have narrated an excellent interview.
The ex-teacher had given a good interview to learn:
1. Learning
2. Students relationship
3. His teachers’ teaching
4. His teaching
5. About sports and many
others things like:
- comparison of
boys and girls
schools
- good job means
govt jobs
One incident he brought up was like Kesavan Soon, Earnest Freda.
I had competed with him and other runners like Mansor Suhaime in 1500 m for Combined Schools Sports at Perak Park Stadium.
The famous slogan at 1963 - 1965 were - Battle for Malaysia and Malaysian Malaysia. These words had used to challenge the everyday used of words in Malaya radio - Tanah Malaya.
There was a great meeting was organised at the defunct National Theatre where speakers from Malaya like Dr Seenivasan brothers, LKY, Rajaratnam, etc had given spell bound speeches.
Lots more.
Thank you.