As Singapore and the rest of the world battle the covid 19 pandemic, the history of infectious diseases provides some lessons on how their spread is affected by social and cultural factors, and cannot be resolved with purely medical responses. Today, we speak to historian Dr Loh Kah Seng and Associate Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert, on their book “Tuberculosis – The Singapore Experience, 1867–2018, Disease, Society and the State”.

In 2015, the graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye captured public attention when its grant was withdrawn by the National Arts Council. Despite this, the book gained widespread critical acclaim both locally and internationally for its creative take on Singapore’s history. Today, we speak to its author Sonny Liew on his research process and whether the book sparked the right kind of debate over Singapore’s history.