Addendum: Introduction to Singapore lectures

If you’re still interesting in attending the Introduction to Singapore lectures starting this Saturday, senior curator Cheryl-Ann Low sent me some extra info for the first session that she’ll be presenting. I made a little mistake by saying that the lecture will focus on archaeological data, but it’s actually more than that, including literary sources like the Desawarnana (Negarakrtagama) and Wang Dayuan’s memoirs.

Here’s the blurb for Saturday’s lecture:

The 14th century history of Singapore can be derived from various sources such as archaeological findings, accounts of people who witnessed Singapore centuries ago, records of neighbouring courts, and the Malay Annals (otherwise known as the Sejarah Melayu and Sulalat’ul Salatina).

Together, these sources present us with a multi-faceted view of early Singapore. The archaeological surveys present us with the locations and a glimpse into the material culture of the early settlements, the eye-witness accounts give us descriptions of the people and the life, while the legends and remembered histories give us insights about some of the beliefs held by
the people of early Singapore. Using these sources, the lecture will seek to give the audience an understanding of the world of Temasek.

Still not too late to sign up at the National Museum of Singapore!

Related books:
– Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula by P. M. Munoz
– Early Singapore 1300s – 1819: Evidence in Maps, Text and Artefacts by J. N. Miksic and C. Low (Eds)
– Cultural Sites of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia by J. Dumarcay and M. Smithies