Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. How did it start? Dr Loh Kah Seng looks at the evidence for the most controversial part of the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire: the rumours that the government wanted to remove the kampong for public housing.

00:00 Introduction

03:00 Researching the Rumours

03:51 Arson?

09:28 The Historical Context

10:25 The Thinking Behind the Rumours

15:20 Police Investigation

16:58 40 Years Later

21:58 Wild Talk

23:59 My Professional Opinion

26:49 Debating the Rumours

30:53 Further Research

32:17 Outro

My books, Squatters to Citizens:

https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/squatters-into-citizens

Controversial History Education in Asian Contexts:

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780203753491/controversial-history-education-asian-contexts-mark-baildon-kah-seng-loh-ivy-maria-lim-g%C3%BCl-i%CC%87nan%C3%A7-junaidah-jaffar

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. This is Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian, and I speak to people on their memories of Singapore before it became a global city.

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Write to [email protected] if you have any of these stories:

• Old places or kampongs.

• Communities – their way of life & culture.

• Childhood & schools.

• Work or business.

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