The story of the Raffles statue in Singapore is a story of memory, not history. From its creation in 1887, the statue has been part of an official colonial and later post-independence narrative, created and reinterpreted by successive governments as a basis for civic unity for the island.
Author Archives: Gareth Knapman
Dr Gareth Knapman is a researcher with the Australian National University specialising in nineteenth century Southeast Asia and Australia. Gareth’s current research explores the idea of land ownership and Indigenous sovereignty in eighteenth and nineteenth India, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Posted inResearch
John Crawfurd and Anti-Colonialism in Sarawak
After a successful career as a colonial administrator, John Crawfurd forged a second career as a staunch anti-colonial activist, in particular in opposition to Sarawak’s “White Raja”, James Brooke.