The Hawkins Road camp in Sembawang was home to thousands of Vietnamese refugees until it closed in 1996. Researcher Rebecca Tan talks about how the refugees spent their days in the camp and their lives after Singapore. 

Rebecca Tan is Digital Preservation Archivist at the National Archives of Singapore. She was previously Children and Teens Librarian at Toa Payoh Public Library, and Digital Heritage Librarian at the National Library.

What Rebecca Talked About

• 01:17 – Overview of Hawkins Road camp
• 02:26 – Conditions in the camp
• 03:18 – Life in the refugee camp
• 08:08 – Singapore’s plan for long-term refugees
• 10:17 – What the refugees said about Singapore
• 11:20 – Singapore's evolving refugee policy
• 14:41 – How Rebecca knew about the refugee camp
• 15:25 – Rebecca’s research
• 16:49 – Interview with a Hawkins Road camp refugee who still lives in Singapore
• 22:07 – Being a librarian at Toa Payoh Public Library
• 24:26 – The libraries and archives are...

Transcript and Resources

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/25-hawkin-road-home-to-vietnamese-refugees-rebecca-tan/transcript
• Read the BiblioAsia article: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-20/issue-3/oct-dec-2024/hawkins-road-refugee-camp/

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This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Rebecca for coming on the show.

BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library Singapore.