What is history? How is it made? And why does it matter?

Reimagining Singapores Historybrings together leading historiansto discuss these questions within the context of the decades-long project torediscover pre-colonial Singapore.2019 was a milestone in Singaporeshistory as it marked the 200th anniversary of Stamford Raffles landing in1819.

However, in a powerful turn of events, government-sponsoredcelebrations used the occasion to highlight Singapores longer pre-colonialstory, in the process officially pushing back the modern countrys origins tothe 14th-century trading post of Temasek.

Contrary to popular belief, Singapore was not a forgottenland between Temasek and Raffles; it remained a rich crossroads of trade,culture, religion, and merchant empires (both Asian and European).

The discovery of this pre-1819 period has led to Singaporesnew history, also known as its 700-year narrative. While this narrative haslong been common knowledge among academics, it was only in the past decade thatit began to make its way into the public consciousness.

Why and how did these changes come about? Where did they come from? Why did ittake so long to bridge academic and public knowledge? And what is pre-colonialSingapores relevance for us in the 21st century? Surveying topics from archaeologyto post-colonial theory, this essay collection explores the above questions andintroduces the sources, discoveries, and ideas that led to the literalre-writing of Singapores official historical narratives over the past decades.

Contributors include renowned National University of Singapore professors andpublic historians:
Professor Wang Gungwu recognized as one of Asias most important public -intellectuals
Professor Peter Borschberg pioneer of using non-English European archivesto study pre-colonial Singapore
Professor Kwa Chong Guan leading proponent of the long-cycles, 700-yearapproach to Singapores history
Professor Syed Farid Alatas sociologist and among Singapores toppostcolonial theorists
Chris Hale documentary filmmaker and non-fiction writer, author of A BriefHistory of Singapore and Malaysia
Tim Hannigan travel writer and author of numerous books on Southeast Asia,including Raffles and the British Invasion of Java

About the Author

Matthew Oeyis an Associate Editor at TuttlePublishing, part of Periplus Publishing Group. Previously, he was a ResearchAssistant at Columbias Graduate School of International and Public Affairs,where he worked with Professor Stuart Gottlieb and U.S. National SecurityAdvisor Robert OBrien.

Matthew was the lead organizer of the Reimagining SoutheastAsian History conference at the Asian Civilisations Museum, held on August 23,2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History summa cum laude from ColumbiaUniversity and is a Juris Doctor candidate at Harvard Law School.