Loh Kah Seng

I am a PhD candidate in History at the Asia Research Centre. My dissertation, The 1961 Kampong Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore, is a study of the social history of postwar Singapore.
I have a keen interest in Singapore history and have written and published on the official use of history, the early 1930s Great Depression, the postwar left-wing trade union movement, and leprosy. I have also conducted interviews with former leprosy sufferers in Singapore and Malaysia under the International Leprosy Association’s Global Project for the History of Leprosy.
I received my BA (Hons) and MA degrees from the Department of History, National University of Singapore, in 1996 and 2005 respectively. In between, I was a junior college teacher and hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education (1998). I still teach now and then after leaving the teaching service in 2002.

Publications, conference papers presented and media contributions:

Articles

• 'Failures, Survivors and Successes: Businesses in Singapore during the Great Depression', Paper submitted to The Heritage Journal in August 2006.
• ‘They Called Us Thai-Ko: Leprosy Sufferers in Singapore’s History’, Paper submitted to Modern Asian Studies in February 2006.
• ‘Beyond Rubber Prices: Negotiating the Great Depression in Singapore’, South East Asia Research, 14 (1), 2006: 5-31.
• ‘Records and Voices of Social History: The Case of the Great Depression in Singapore’,Tonan Ajia Kenkyu (Southeast Asian Studies),. 44 (1), 2006: 31-54.
• ‘Within the Singapore Story: The Use and Narrative of History in Singapore’, Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 12 (2), 1998: 1-21.

• ‘“Black Areas”: The Urban Kampongs and Power Relations in Postwar Singapore Historiography', Paper submitted to SOJOURN in August 2006.
• ‘ New Winds in Economic History? A Look at Writings on the Great Depression in Southeast Asia’,Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies,. 17 (2), 2006: 66-92.

• ‘The Left-Wing Trade Unions in Singapore, 1945-1970’, Paths Not Taken: Political Pluralism in Postwar Singapore, Singapore: Singapore University Press.(Forthcoming) (with Michael Fernandez)
• ‘ Voices of Survivors: Oral History and the Great Depression in Singapore’, Reflections and Interpretations: Oral History Centre 25th Anniversary Publication, Singapore: National Archives of Singapore, 2005: 212-226.
• ‘Rethinking Singapore’s History from Below: Traditional Culture in an Immigrant Society’, New Perspectives and Sources on the History of Singapore, Singapore: National Library of Singapore, 2006: 29-40.

• ‘Fresh Questions, New Accounts: History from Below in the Singapore Context’, New Insights into Singapore History: Perspectives of Young Emerging Scholars, Department of History, National University of Singapore and National Library Board, 16 August 2005.
• ‘When Good Times Did Not Last: Singapore during the Great Depression’, “Asians Horizons: Cities, States and Societies”, FASS-ARI Centennial Conference, Asia Research Institute and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, 1-3 August 2005.
• ‘The Left-Wing Trade Unions in Singapore, 1945-1970’. Paths Not Taken: Political Pluralism in Postwar Singapore, Centre for Social Change Research, Queensland University of Technology & Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 14-15 July 2005. (with Michael Fernandez)

• ‘“Black Areas”: The Urban Kampongs and Power Relations in Postwar Singapore Historiography', Asia Research Centre Working Paper 137, Unpublished Dissertations
• 'Beyond ‘Rubber Prices’ History: Life in Singapore during the Great Depression Years', Unpublished Master of Arts Thesis. Department of History. National University of Singapore, 2004.
• 'The Use of History by Singapore’s Political Leaders since Independence', Unpublished Honours Thesis, Department of History, National University of Singapore, 1996.

• ‘Silra Home Revisited: Final Journeys after the Segregation, after the Stigma', Paper in preparation for Newsletter of WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Elimination of Leprosy.
• ‘Fuzzy History in Singapore’, Malaysiakini, 11 August 2006, http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/55233
• ‘The Ambivalence of Relocation: The Experiences of Individuals Affected by Leprosy in Singapore’, Translated into Japanese by Kay Yamaguchi, Seisho (??), 63 (4) 2006: 23-30.
• ‘The Ambivalence of Relocation: The Experiences of Individuals Affected by Leprosy in Singapore’, The STAR, Carville, 64 (2), July-Dec 2005: 9-14.
• ‘Teach full breadth and depth of Singapore’s history’, Straits Times, 27 July 2005.
• ‘Haw Par attractions teach Chinese culture’, Straits Times, 1 March 2005.

Postgraduate Researcher, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150. Fax: 9360 6381, Email: K.Loh@murdoch.edu.au