Singapore Heritage: Books

Ever since the days when tigers stalked the land and pirates roamed the southern seas, travellers from far and wide have been drawn to Singapore, the melting-pot of the east. In this new expanded Bicentennial edition of Travellers' Tales, more than 80 visitors from the past provide readers of today with authentic portraits of old singapore. These vivid first-hand accounts - in letters, diaries and memoirs - bring the past fully alive.

This book features 50 short essays written by in-house archivists on selected records from the archives that commemorate major milestones in Singapore’s history. Also included is a chapter on the history of the National Archives from the time it first started as an archives unit at the Raffles Museum and Library in 1938 to its present status.

Classic vintage photographs of Singapore have been carefully matched with the same viewpoint today to reveal the incredible changes that have taken place to this fascinating city over the last 100 years. Sites include: Elgin Bridge, Empress Place Building, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, Fullerton Hotel, Johnston's Pier, Singapore Cricket Club, the Supreme Court, Capitol Theatre, Raffles Hotel, Masjid Sultan Mosque, Ellison Building and many others.

Over Singapore: 50 Years Ago is a view of old Singapore from a new angle. Many of the streets and buildings have changed; but many others are still instantly recognizable, and this book helps the reader make connections between places as they were and as they are today.

In less than two centuries, Singapore has transformed itself from a small coastal kampong into a modern metropolis. After the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles. Singapore grew from a humble village into a thriving colony, was then designated a Straits Settlement, and in 1965 became an independent nation state. Over 1,200 images--photographs, paintings, lithographs and engravings--and accompanying text, tell the story of Singapore.

Presenting for the first time through the illustrations of 500 postcards from the author's private collection, this book offers a rare and comprehensive glimpse into the changing landscapes and lifestyles of Singapore's past, right up to the Second World War.

Singapore Through 19th-Century Photographs is a comprehensive photographic record of Singapore from the early 1840s to the 1900s. Paired with lively commentary, the more than 120 rare photographs from leading institutional and private collections recreate a compelling portrait of 19th-century Singapore, the pre-eminent colonial port-city of Southeast Asia.

This title introduces readers to food as a window to the social and cultural history and geography of Singapore. Readers will be captivated by chapters that deal with the intersections of food and ethnicity, gender and class, food hybridity, innovations and creativity, heritage and change, globalization and localization, and more. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Singapore culture and society.

This bestselling classic cookbook by Singaporean cookery doyen Sylvia Tan provides recipes for the well-loved dishes of Singapore and traces the development of the culinary heritage of the food paradise.

Singapore’s reputation as a food paradise reflects its position at the intersection of four culinary cultures: Chinese, Malay, Indian and European. This book discusses these influences and traces changes in cooking practices and eating habits that have produced a sophisticated and cosmopolitan city known for the variety of the dining experiences it offers. These range from fish-head curry and laksa lemak to chilli crab, raw fish salad and mee goreng. Dishes such as these attest to a unique culinary heritage which lives on in both high-end restaurants and the hawker centres that dot the gastronomic map of Singapore.

This updated edition relates the history of multicultural Singapore through dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of Singapore history from the earliest times to the present.

This Kristang dictionary represents a valuable resource on the language and culture of the Eurasian community. Fully illustrated with entries on Kristang songs, poems, cuisine, names, idioms and rituals, this title encapsulates the living legacy and memories of one of Asia's most vibrant cultures.

This is the annotated edition of Song Ong Siang's "One hundred years' history of the Chinese in Singapore" that was originally published in 1923. The book continues to remain popular as it provides information on the key personalities of the Chinese in Singapore who were active between 1819 and 1919. This annotated version contains additional biographical information and “accurate references to the source material used by Song in his compilation of the work”.

The Singapore shophouse is an architectural gem a particular building form that is unique to the island. This book traces its development from rudimentary shophouse through various incarnations of decorative style Neoclassical, Chinese Baroque, Jubilee-style, Edwardian, Rococo, Tropical Modern while commenting on the various influences that fueled its evolution. The change from rudimentary out-of-China structure to sophisticated dwelling house is examined in this book.

The Black and White house in Singapore is the most distinctive and imposing of the island's colonial architectural legacy. Surviving examples are testament to their physical and aesthetic durability - a unique tropical style with a colorful pedigree of architectural influences. This book traces the evolution of these houses through the architects and practices that designed them.

Accompanied by stunning photographs, this publication animates the story of the origins and physical transformations of the neoclassical City Hall and former Supreme Court into National Gallery Singapore, which overseas the largest public collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian modern art.

Singapore is among the world's very few great cities blessed with an equally great, historic waterfront. The Fullerton Heritage Precinct, Singapore's downtown necklace of heritage gems, stretching from Collyer Quay along Raffles Quay to Shenton Way, captures this jewel within a ritzy 21st century setting.'Fullerton' was the name given to this site from the settlement's earliest days, with the establishment there of the British colonial government's great Fort Fullerton in 1829. This book gives readers an insight into the history and heritage of the monuments in this precinct.

Established in 1859, Singapore's Botanic Gardens has been important as a park, a scientific institution, and as an economic testing ground and launchpad for tropical plantation agriculture. Setting the Singapore gardens alongside the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and botanic gardens in India, Ceylon, Mauritius and the West Indies, this book tells the story of nature's colony.

Embark on a spectacular journey of Singapore's culture and heritage as you follow this guide that explores more than 70 of the country's national monuments. This is a collection of colourful stories and specially curated photos designed to take the reader on a grand retelling of Singapore's built heritage while celebrating the city's communities and their contributions to its physical landscape.

This book brings the reader through the changing landscapes of Singapore from its early colonial roots, its overcrowded squalor and its aggressive demolition-and-rebuilding phase to the greater sensitivity that characterises urban planning today, acknowledging the place of history, memory and heritage in the making of the city.

The Singapore House is a comprehensive study of the various domestic architectural styles that thrived in Singapore from 1819 until the outbreak of the Pacific War. Beautifully illustrated, this book is a major attempt to document a rich and beautiful architectural legacy. The illustrations include rare historical materials, photographs and architectural drawings.

This book aims to bring us to the deeper, human level of Singapore's history -- thus also its future. With over 150 photographs from Singapore's National Heritage Board and hitherto unpublished private collections, Singapore's social history goes under the lens of eleven ethnographers, unfolding hidden and forgotten facets of the nation's early years.

The Straits Chinese or Peranakan community is perhaps one of the oldest overseas Chinese communities in history, having established itself in the Malay archipelago as early as the seventeenth century. By the end of the nineteenth century, this community had gained prominence, not only for the wealth, education and lavish lifestyles of its most successful members, but also for its active participation in civic life and government. The Straits Chinese are distinguished by their rich culture rooted in Chinese tradition, yet indelibly influenced by Malay, Portuguese, Dutch and British cultures. This volume gives unique insight into their lifestyle and traditions.

This book captures the rich heritage of the Peranakans or Straits-born Chinese. Full colour photos detail the Peranakans' strong sense of customs and etiquette and introduces readers to their way of life. Exquisite pieces of embroidered clothing, stunning jewellery and pretty porcelain artifacts are showcased alongside unusual items used in daily living.

With the 200th anniversary of Singapore being celebrated in January 2019, it is a timely opportunity to re-examine what makes this country unique: all the city-state’s heritage encapsulated in one volume. Tapping into the global interest in heritage in general, this book explores all the many facets of Singaporean heritage — from built heritage to historic sites, personages, cultures and communities, arts, leisure, flora and fauna, and more. The book delves into the global and regional origins of many national and everyday aspects of Singapore’s heritage.

This book the history and essence of life from the colonial times to the present day of Ann Siang Hill and the surrounding environment. Included are personal narratives of residents who grew up in the Ann Siang Hill area and descriptions of sights and sounds of the neighbourhood in the past.

This book aims to provide an account of major aspects of Malay life in Singapore, drawing upon a rich history and regional ethnic cultures that shaped the Malay community. The early Malay settlers were engaged in trade and politics and set up the old port town in the Kampong Gelam, Rochor and Kallang area, bringing witht them many sub-cultures from their oiriginal homes in island Southeast Asia. Over time, independence and nationhood, the Malay community thrived alongside other migrant communities in Singapore, its rich heritage a part of the nation's cultural assets today.

Singaporean society's distinctive identity rests on its ability to balance past traditions with modern goals. Interspersed amidst the new skyscrapers are pockets of community space which allow Singapore's special brand of pluralism to flourish, such as Little India. The authors reconstruct its past -- those days of convict labour, cattle-men, commercial traders, and pioneer families; analyse its present -- where craftsmen, cottage industries, and restaurateurs provide access to a fascinating Indian way of life for both Indians and non-Indians alike; and speculate on its future.

This book is the definitive record of Eurasian history and heritage in Singapore, and serves to educate the younger generation of Eurasians about their roots, the community's achievements and its collective hopes and dreams for the future, as well as provide a useful resource for others to learn more about the Eurasian community.

Heritage means different things to different people. This book provides a guide to Singapore heritage and its preservation and promotion since 1959, when Singapore first attained full self-government and thereafter for the first 50 years of Independence.

In Singapore, the coexistence of various races, cultures and languages, as well as its history of colonisation, immigration and nationalism, have given rise to a complex tapestry of place names. First published in 2003 as Toponymics, this updated and expanded edition of the book incorporates a wealth of new findings, from archival research and interviews, and sets out to answer these questions - and any question that might be asked about the origin, meaning or significance of place names in Singapore.