Director's Column

It is our pleasure to bring you a speech delivered by Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, entitled “Knowledge Economy: Linchpin of ASEAN Integration”. His speech highlights the importance of libraries in building a sociocultural community in this region.

Four of our Research Fellows – Chiam Ching Leen, Daw Win, Ma. Theresa R. Milallos and Dr Zhang Liyan – have contributed their research pieces to this issue. Chiam’s article, “Knowledge Sharing in Singapore’s Post-secondary Educational Institutions”, provides interesting insights on the complex social negotiations that strongly influence the practice of knowledge sharing in Singapore’s educational institutions. In another article, “Social Innovation in Singapore: Two Case Studies of Non-governmental Organisations”, Dr Zhang examines the function of nongovernmental organisations in Singapore by analysing Chinese clan associations and grassroots organisations, which play significant roles in the nation-building of the city-state.

In Daw Win’s article, “Selected British Colonial-Era Overseas Chinese Personalities and their Links to Communities and Establishments in Singapore, Penang and Yangon”, she chose a few Chinese entrepreneurs from the three cities during the British rule to discuss the business empires they built, the legacies they left behind, and the lessons we could learn from them. In the article, “Women and Islam in Pre-19th-century Aceh”, Ma. Theresa R. Milallos examined how Islam played a part in influencing gender relations in Aceh in the pre-19th century and highlighted that women in Southeast Asia and Aceh did enjoy more economic power and personal freedom before colonisation than their counterparts in the West, East and South Asia.

In this issue, we are also happy to present to you articles written by our Reference Librarians. In Roberta Balagopal’s article, “Building the Mosaic: In Search of Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Writing and Publications”, she discusses the sources of Southeast Asian contemporary art writing and publications, its audience, and provides possible ideas on how it can be sustained. In our collection highlights, Makeswary Periasamy brings us the Williams-Hunt Aerial Photograph Collection. This contains photographs taken mostly during and after World War II, while Eunice Low contributes a piece on the collection of the Singapore Town Club, founded in 1862.

We hope you will enjoy reading this issue and we welcome your valuable comments and feedback.

Ms Ngian Lek Choh
Director, National Library