Myths IV 1 of 4: Myths of Race and Place in the Fragments of Old Singapore City - Imran Tajudeen

Myths of Race and Place in the Fragments of Old Singapore City Imran bin Tajudeen National University of Singapore The remnants of the old city in Singapore that survived the urban renewal demolitions of the 1960s to 1990s play a prominent role today in the making and perpetuation of myths about Singapore history through the stories of neighbourhoods and communities, both imagined and real. Renovated, framed and marketed as ethnic-themed heritage districts, they are reimagined and promoted to tourists and Singapore citizens alike as discrete racial blocs. The narratives that have been constructed for these surviving fragments of old Singapore city actually flatten the story of its historical diversity. Simplistic assumptions about how nineteenth century colonial urban policies supposedly produced certain racial enclaves are used to promote exclusionary urban histories based on the supposed ‘habitus’ of different ‘races’. The interpretive violence that have been committed in the name of ethnic district packaging becomes clear if we compare these narratives with the actual socio-cultural landscape and urban histories in colonial Singapore. The use of historical data and archival materials, and the recovery and spatialisation of (former) inhabitants’ memories of lived experience, eviction, and demolition can be mobilized to challenge and complicate the official myths about how we lived among each other and the place of ethnicity in the city. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This took place as part of the seminar on Multiculturalism. The other two lectures were: 1. Maze and Minefield: Reflections on Multiculturalism in Singapore Lai Ah Eng, National University of Singapore 2. Cosmopolitanism: Aspirations, Risks or an Everyday Disposition? Elaine Ho, National University of Singapore #!session-4/c1m6u Friday 24 October 2014, 7-10 pm Venue: Space 3, TheatreWorks 72-13, Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 239007