Ai Ling Sim-Devadas said:

Have you ever wondered what makes Singapore food ticks? Why is hawker food (street-food) so popular? What did people of Singapore eat in the early 20th century? How did laksa come about? Singaporefoodhistory.com is a resource for anyone interested in Singapore food history. It includes reference to useful books (including the first bibliography of Singapore's cookbooks), events, traditional recipes and links.

Recommended by menofclay: "A look at the history of our Singapore food; includes recipes from yester-years. Ai-Ling is also looking for clues to the origin of our humble curry puff (and its mysterious similarities to the Cornish pastry)"

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Chao said:

The Rita & Sakura Show - LP cover:

Recommended by Mr Miyagi: "This fella's collection of LP covers from the 60s is awesome! Check out the Singapore and Malaysian singers, especially 'Rocky Teoh - Malaysia's Elvis Presley!'"

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sheilaX said:

1819 is the year most Singaporeans associate with the awakening of the proverbial sleeping dragon- a creature that was, by all accounts, totally alien to the natives who lived during Raffles' tenure. Before this almost mythic date, however, we are led to believe that Singapore has no past worth mentioning or even remembering....

A thick mist stands between present-day Singapore and her past. An ordinary Singaporean only has a hazy, unformed and certainly romanticized grasp of history, and this baggage must be cleared away if one wants to get to the bottom of things. Like it or not- politically correct or not- Singapore's humble beginnings is inextricably linked with the Malay kingdoms that flourished in the region since two thousand years ago.

Recommended by tinkertailor: "Long article, but worth reading especially if you're interested in Singapore's history before Raffles."

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National Heritage Board said:

Don't miss this double bonanza of not one BUT two Open House Days at NHB museums next (sic) week!

Recommended by yuhui: "Learn more about the holidays. Free admissions at Singapore History Musem, Singapore Philatelic Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum, and more!"

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GeckoZ said:

恐怖片把重心放在听觉和视觉的特效。 严格来说，就连电影也要让观众觉得 鬼不曾纯在。 戏里没有说服力，没证据说明鬼在戏里的纯在。 有些还把故事主角见到鬼，说成是一总幻觉，又或者是一场梦，《姐魅情深》就是个好例子。 自相矛盾。 鬼戏在说鬼？胡说！

当画面放慢的时候，一边制造 suspension，一边让你幻想多多。 （读好哦，是幻想。） 然后加上声音特效，刺激你的脑神经。 你的幻想就会慢慢实现，变成恐惧。 其实故事的 “乱” 是有原因的。 故事越乱就越让你陷入催眠状态。 边看就边思念鬼的出现。 然后出现了你又会觉得意外而被它吓好一大跳。

Recommended by Blogasm: "The "analysing" part of horror movies now-a-days are quite true and i reckon i'd strongly agree with him on his point of view."

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synapseman asked in the LJ community sg_ljers...

I've always wondered: was S'pore legally acquired by the British when they came in 1819? IIRC, the Brits installed some fella as Temenggong because the original one was not around.

Any history buffs or legal experts can answer this?

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Au Waipang said:

Each naming fashion is a marker of its time. Each is like a sediment of history laid onto our ground. Singapore must be particularly rich ... we've had ... a very changeable history.

Although as a city, we are not even 200 years old, this place has seen many phases. What's more, it appears that the fads in road naming are accelerating. We've had more fads in the last 40 years than the 150 before that.

Recommended by Otterman: "Wai Pang discusses the different naming ages that have flavoured our streetnames with enough diversity to challenge our tongues on a daily basis. I particularly liked the box on "Seletar or Shilida?" This article is one of a collection he has been posting since July."

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The Yorkshire Ranter said:

Just north of the city centre in Singapore is a park on a hill. The hill is the site of Fort Canning, the first seat of British colonial power there. In that park is the place where the biggest military defeat in British history was mismanaged, the Malaya Command Battle Box. This headquarters was created shortly before the second world war, as a secure command centre for both the Malaya Command and (more importantly, as the staffs of the time thought) the fortress of Singapore.

Recommended by ssf: "A look at one of the historic sites in Singapore"

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Yawning Bread said:

The Sedition Act was enacted in 1948, and this clause against hate speech has been in the Act since the beginning. The same law was simultaneously promulgated in both Malaya and Singapore, and this fact gives you a clue as to the reasons behind it. A significant event happened in Malaya on 16 June 1948: three British plantation-owners were killed by pro-communist guerillas, signaling the start of a long guerilla war known as the Malayan Emergency.

Recommended by chrisloup: "you don't learn this in O level history.."

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Youth.SG said:

If you grew up watching Transformers, He-man, Mask, My Little Pony, and other old-school 6.30pm cartoons, you must remember these kitsch icons that defined your/my/our generation. Where you could just about memorise entire ultra-gahmen commercials & songs on TV, and campaign mascots like Singa the Lion and Teamy the Bee adorned your FREE National Day/Childrens’ Day/whatever-day stationery.

The SG History Museum brings back the memories with this collection of not-so-old-but-old-enough exhibits.

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Divya said:

I request the armchair graphic designers of Singapore to get up and get shooting! Contribute to the encyclopedia of type design and win the blessings of countless of designers worldwide! =D

I just started a flickr pool to catalog typefaces that momentarily flicker past our eyes. Believe it or not, a lot of effort goes through to develop a design to capture that one second of our attention. And this flickr pool celebrates the diversity of the typefaces in Singapore. Do join and contribute typefaces that you enjoy or find interesting in Singapore.

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synapseman mourns the loss of Tyersall House, built in 1854 by William Napier, rebuilt in 1892 by Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor, and bombed in 1942 by the Japanese:

I just read in today's Strait's Times (9 August, NDP supplement) that Tyersall House is going to be torn down.

I'm very upset with that because I feel that the place is really, really, really beautiful. And it's not just another big house. It's got history behind it. So what's next? Condo? Shopping centre?

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synapseman's photos of Tyersall House

Mudder recalls life in the armed forces under the British:

The Chief Instructor of the Electronics Dept was an ang-moh Cpt Campbell (not quite sure.. long time ago...forget ) , a chee-ko-pek and always drunk.. He approved my job application without second thought and promised that I won't need go for Basic Military Training.. but unfortunately ( or maybe not) the British forces withdrew six months after I joined and the Singapore Government took over.. I felt that the name change was a let down .. From Singapore Air Defence Command to Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and for the navy from Maritime Command to RSN...Such a boring title..

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Jan Morris in Time magazine said:

I am a chronicler of Empire, and for me the most vividly fateful spot in Asia, a landmark where one empire allegorically gave way to another, is an unprepossessing industrial building in the heart of Singapore island not far from the skyscrapers and tumultuous energies of the Lion City. It was once the factory of the Ford Motor Co., and in it, on the evening of Feb. 15, 1942, the commander of the British forces in Singapore, Lieut. General Arthur Ernest Percival, surrendered the city to General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Imperial Japanese Army. The moment truly prefigured the end of the British Empire in the East—and falsely suggested the arrival of a comparable successor, Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Insight into a crucial moment in Singapore, and the World's, past.

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Yaevlejunce said:

I saw a boy of no more than three years of age, wearing rags totally unfit for wearing altogether, reduced to bones till I could see his ribs and his almost fleshless arms, bending down just outside my door picking up the bits and pieces of the mere crumbs of the cookie I threw out. "God have mercy on this boy.", I whispered to myself and I wept uncontrollably. Why was this boy suffering like this? Why is it that while we waste food without even batting an eyelid back home this boy may not even live to see the sunrise tomorrow?

A reminder on how fortunate we Singaporeans are and that so many people out there in this world need our attention.

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Screen Singapore said:

Screen Singapore offers a retrospective of local cinema which had its roots in pre-independent Singapore, one that experienced a 'golden era' during which an average of 15 to 20 films were produced a year; a near fatal demise of the industry with the closure of the studio giants: Shaw Organisation and Cathay-Keris; to its recent re-naissance. It is with this in mind that Screen Singapore brings together, on the same platform, historically significant films and contemporary productions documenting Singapore in her transition from colony to nation state.

Watch a whole bunch of Singapore films including 12 Storeys, 15, etc etc.

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A Gecko's Tale said:

a new building come with old place - people's park is no longer with us. i count myself fortunate that i'd snapped this pic just a few months(i think) before they tore it down.

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kyntheman said:

A lady wrote in to the ST Forum. She had been to China and realized how well-versed Chinese youths were in their own history and culture. All she could offer, when probed about Singapore history, was that Stamford Raffles founded the city in 1819. So lo and behold, not to my surprise, she blames the Government for her paucity of historical knowledge. I blame the forum editor for publishing the letter. Eh xiaojie, I remember learning more than just Stanford Raffles in school lor. Don't anyhow blame Gahmen for your lack of attention during history lessons. Also, if you are really that interested in Singapore history, you can jolly well read up on your own.

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National Heritage Board said:

Journey Of Faith: Art & History from the Vatican Collections 18 June to 9 October 2005 ACM, Empress Place Special Exhibitions Gallery

"Explore the magnificent collection from the Vatican Museums to discover the importance of Rome as a place of pilgrimage - a journey of faith that was and is still performed by many Christians around the world."

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Axegal said:

Joelle's little sunday parable.

Joelle, the author and illustrator of this story, is 7. As her mom puts it, "Her awareness of self and metaphors often astounds".

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