In Search of A Singapore Martial Tradition
By Associate Professor Kevin Blackburn
Humanities & Social Studies Education (HSSE) Academic
Group
National Institute of Education, NTU
Date: 20 May 2005
Time: 1500 - 1630 hrs
Venue: SAFTI Library Briefing Room
The Singapore Armed Forces is perhaps the most modern and one of
the youngest forces in Southeast Asia. As a young national defence
force, one may ask if there is a martial tradition honouring
Singapore military heroes and heroines of the past, and holding
them up as models in whose footsteps that the younger generation of
servicemen and women can follow. These war heroes include
personalities such as Lim Bo Seng in Force 136 and Lieutenant Adnan
in the Battle of Kent Ridge.
The recent focus on Tan Kay Hai, the Singapore fighter pilot who
flew over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and Cheng Seang Ho, the
66 year old woman who fought the Japanese invasion in Dalforce,
reveals that there have been Singaporeans who could be sources of
inspiration in any attempt to construct a Singapore martial
tradition.
Let the speaker share with you on the topic " In search of a
Singapore Martial Tradtion".
About the Speaker:
Dr Kevin Blackburn is Associate Professor in History at the
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. He co-ordinates the oral history programme for training
Social Studies teachers at the National Institute of Education. He
has taught and researched on oral history and the Japanese
Occupation since coming to Singapore from Australia in 1993. His
most recent publication is co-authored with Karl Hack, Did
Singapore Have to Fall? (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004).
Admission is free.
To register, call the library @ 6799 7432 or email
[email protected]
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/saftilibrary/viewpoints8.html
