Chronicles of Old Singapore | The Bukit Ho Swee Fire Part 2 – Black Areas

What this episode covers

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. By looking at life in the urban kampongs after WWII, Loh Kah Seng unpacks the myth that they were black areas. While there were poor housing, insanitation and secret societies, the kampongs were legitimate communities. There were many efforts towards self-help and gotong royong: celebrations of Chinese festivals, tontines and voluntary fire-fighting squads. Though jobs were few, kampong dwellers generally worked hard and sent their children to school, so they might find a way to a better future. 00:00 Introduction01:36 Urban Kampongs as Black Areas02:21 A Children’s World08:08 Housing & Living Conditions11:23 Battle for Space16:22 Living with Pigs and the Dead19:00 Samseng & Pai Kia20:46 Wa m chai22:17 The Kampong Economy25:32 Kampongs as Communities28:30 Education & Progressive Kampongs29:49 Further Research31:10 OutroMy book, Squatters to Citizens: https://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/squatters-into-citizens Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. This is Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian, and I talk about my research on the little histories of the Lion City.Do like the video and subscribe for future episodes. This will help the channel a lot.YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ChroniclesOldSG Spotify | https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ksFacebook | https://www.facebook.com/61551786759344/ Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore

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