BiblioAsia+. A Podcast about Singapore History
About
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore stories: some unfamiliar, others forgotten, all fascinating. Does Singapore have a stone age? What’s happened to the murals at the old Paya Lebar airport? Who were the local tennis greats? Find out in this history-focused podcast. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcastsand melisten.
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Season 2
Kueh Pie Tee: A Detective Story
Kueh pie tee is not a pie that goes with tea. So where did the name (and dish) come from? Award-winning cookbook author Christopher Tan combs through old newspapers and cookbooks, in search of the origins of the dish. PS: Dates back to 1570!
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The Tragedy of Singapore’s First Boxing Superstar
Tan Teng Kee was the Mike Tyson of Singapore boxing in the 1920s. Known
as Battling Key, the larger-than-life boxer attracted crowds wherever he
went. Which makes his drastic downfall all the more tragic.
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Chia Boon Leong: The Homegrown Football Olympian
Nicknamed “Twinkle Toes” for his agility, Chia Boon Leong (1925–2022) is widely regarded as one of Singapore‘s most talented football players. Academic and sports historian Nick Aplin talks about the footballer’s sporting achievements, his character and their friendship.
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Singapore Bands in Wartime Vietnam
In the 1960s and ’70s, lured by adventure and money, Singaporean musicians
went to South Vietnam to perform for American troops during the war. They
were met with cheers, bullets and assault.
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Saving Singapore's Film Heritage
Thanks to restoration, classic films like The Teenage Textbook Movie (1998) can still be shown on a big screen 20 years after its cinema run. On a mission to preserve Singapore's film heritage, film archivist Chew Tee Pao saves important movies and gives them a second life.
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The Lost Gold Coins of the Old Singapore Library
In the mid-19th century, two ancient gold coins were found near present-day
Keppel Harbour. Unfortunately, the coins vanished before they were studied
carefully. Their Jawi inscriptions were recorded, though they didn’t make
sense. More than 180 years later, Foo Shu Tieng tries to solve the case.
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The True Story Behind Ubin's German Girl Shrine
A young German girl met an untimely end on Pulau Ubin in 1914. A shrine set up in her honour becomes Internet-famous. Following a deep search into the historical records, writer and researcher William Gibson discovers some inconvenient truths behind one of Singapore’s best-known shrines.
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Artist Yip Yew Chong Paints His Story in History
Yip Yew Chong’s 60-metre-long work, “I Paint my Singapore” comprises 27
scenes of 1970s–1980s Singapore, merging history, memory and nostalgia.
Yew Chong explains how he created this work and reveals what he would love
to paint but has not.
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Season 1
The Great Reclamation: A Singaporean Historical Epic
The Great Reclamation is a work of historical fiction set in Singapore that has received rave reviews. Listen to author Rachel Heng talk about her book and her fascinating research process, which includes a BiblioAsia article on land reclamation she referred to!
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What’s Become of the Seafaring Orang Seletar?
The Orang Seletar used to live on boats that plied the Johor Strait. They
were here when Raffles landed in 1819. Today, however, they have settled
in kampongs in Johore. Some of the older ones still remember playing in
the waters around Seletar island, says writer and educator Ilya Katrinnada.
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Lest We Forget: Kranji War Cemetery
Lt Adnan of the Malay Regiment and Lt Col Ivan Lyon of Operation Jaywick are commemorated here. But so are people like Cpl Raymond Lee and civilian fighter Sim Chin Foo, who joined Dalforce. Librarian Janice Loo profiles those buried or memorialised at the Kranji War Cemetery.
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The Recording Industry in Singapore, 1903–1985
The Crescendos didn’t just rock the airways in Singapore in the 1960s.
They changed the entire music recording industry, says sound archivist
Ross Laird.
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The Stories Behind the Shrines on Kusu Island
People have been worshipping the shrines on Kusu Island since the mid-19th century. The people said to be buried at Kusu Island, however, haven’t always stayed the same, according to writer and researcher William L. Gibson.
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The Mystery of Sarong Island
How can an entire island appear and then disappear? Especially one that
was said to be Singapore’s first island resort? Librarian Lim Tin Seng
solves the mystery of Sarong Island.
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Beyond Firewalking
The Hindu firewalking festival – Theemithi – draws massive crowds every year. But less well-known are the many important rituals that precede Theemithi, some very dramatic, like the sacrifice of Aravan, the chakravarti kottai and the padukalam.
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Stone Age in Singapore
Archaeologists have found stone tools in Tanjong Tajam on Pulau Ubin and
Tanjong Karang (now Tuas). Is this evidence of people living in Singapore
during the stone age? Maybe. Or maybe not.
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Malaya’s Prewar Tennis Greats
Penang-born Khoo Hooi Hye played at Wimbledon and represented China at the Olympic Games in Paris. Snapping at his heels was Lim Bong Soo, who was so famous he had a tennis racket named after him. These two giants dominated Malayan tennis.
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Belacan: Caviar or Vile?
During the 19th century, people were fined for illegally storing belacan
in the city. Toffa Abdul Wahed sniffs out the condiment’s long history.
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The Forgotten Murals of Paya Lebar Airport
The enormous murals at the old Paya Lebar Airport were iconic landmarks for travellers. But after the air force took over the airport, the murals vanished.
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Taoist Folk Goddesses of Singapore
Maiden Lim is said to have killed herself after being wrongly accused
of infidelity. A shrine to honour her then turned her into a local Taoist
goddess. Writer Ng Yi-Sheng talks about Maiden Lim and two other local
Taoist deities in this intriguing podcast.
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My Grandfather Was a Romusha
After Kosman Hassan volunteered to take his uncle’s place to work on the infamous Death Railway, no one heard from Kosman for three years. But his family never gave up hope.
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