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Special Madras Week Issue | VOL. XXII NO. 9, August 16-31, 2012
A thought from Singapore in time for Madras Week
By Christopher Toh

Blog... Blog... Blog... heralding your heritage

As a harbinger to the Singapore Heritage Fest 2012 (in late July), a group of bloggers will be giving a talk about Singapore heritage and what it means to blog about this heritage. Called 'Past Forward: A Heritage Blogging and Social Media Workshop', several bloggers both young and old will be sharing their experiences about maintaining blogs that deal with Singapore's heritage, whether it be music, movies, food or just general knowledge.

One of the speakers is Andy Lim, who used to sing with popular 1960s Singapore pop band. He says "to bring the knowledge of our heritage to the youth of Singapore is why I started the blog."

Although the 72-year-old retiree's blog centres on music, Lim says that he wanted his blog to be a little different. "It's more about the scene in those years, not just the music," says the retired teacher. "For example, I talk about these 'moon glasses' – a lot of people don't know what 'moon glasses' are. I also cover the clubbing scene, and even the food scene."

Adds writer Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, 38, who co-wrote the book Singapore: A Biography and is moderating the talk: "Heritage is sometimes overlooked and taken for granted, but (thanks to the bloggers) when you see it described or in a photograph, you can make the connection. It could be right in front of you, but you never noticed it. Then when people point it out, you take notice of it."

For Lim, he said that he hoped the talk will inspire not only younger Singaporeans, but older ones as well.

"Nostalgia is not negative, it's very positive. Nostalgia is personal history and pictures tell stories. I think it's really good for seniors as well as youth," he said. "I think it's important to know about our heritage, to know who we are. We came from kampongs. We need to know our identity. I think a lot of us don't realise who we are.

"There is a line from John Fowls, who wrote The Magus, which says, 'we will never know ourselves if we don't know our past'. Our present is our past."

Agreed Balasingamchow: "We might not like to think so, but I believe that everything we think, do and say is a result of our upbringing, our past, which shapes who we are today." – (Courtesy: Today, Singapore.)

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In this
Special
Madras Week
Issue

Seeking a place in World Heritage
Will Union Finance Minister keep his promise?
Farewell
Vincent D'Souza's thoughts for Madras Week
A thought from Singapore in time for Madras Week
Two at the top
Madras that is Chennai – in today's writing
Namma Madras Nalla Madras – Madras Week 2012

Our Regulars

Short 'N' Snappy
Quizzin' with Ram'nan

Archives

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