Michael Wise (2) (1918–2015)

This is an anthology of extracts from the diaries, autobiographies and travel writings of 66 people who have visited or lived in or experienced an adventure in Singapore from 1819 to 1942 and in that sense it captures the romance and history of an older Singspore . Some of the writers are well known . Isabella Bird, Mrs Brassey, R H Bruce Lockhart were ones I had encountered and enjoyed in their other travel writings . There are some nice new surprise contributions from people I shall be on the look out for and where it may be worth tracing the original source. This book is a good selection of diverse writing and captures rather well the 100 years plus of Singapore history. But it is the outsiders or visitors view of Singspore. There is a map dating from 1846, numerous black and white illustrations, a glossary and a time line of Singapore history. The book was published in 1985 and sadly the paper is already an acid eaten sick yellow , though my copy is in mint condition.

I visited Singapore a few years ago and loved the city and island state ... strategically positioned on the Straits of Malacca, it is a Harbour gateway to the East. Life has always revolved around trade and shipping , the Harbour and the river . My impressions of Singapore were of tropical humid moist heat, gin slings at Raffles hotel, wonderful museums to trade , exploration , superb Eastern artefacts and fhe city's history , eating jack fruit and durian , riding on the all steel underground . You can have a silk sarong dress or a western style suit made to measure in 24 hours . Shop on Orchard Road. The botanical garden is a dream with its lakes, rich tropical exotic greenery, and above all the extraordinary variety of orchids. Singapore is the orchid centre of the world. Its a well organized , tightly managed placd (you do not chew gum or eat on the modern trains or sleep on park benches ) and it is a highly developed place today with the confidence to grow investment in a maze of dense high rise business blocks on the river . There is a rich amalgam of the different cultures who made modern Singapore , the Chinese, the Indian cultures , the British colonial immigrants, the original Malayan living in small sampans on the water have all left an impression . As a English person I was interested in the second world war history and paid a visit, almost a pilgrimage to the notorious Changi prison ... It is now a touching and poignant museum to the prisoners of war interred here and a memorial to the many who died here.

That post 1942 history of Singapore is not in this book. This book captures pre Second World war life in and travellers' impressions of the Straits settlement . Read it along with your Lonely Planets guide and a biography of the founder of Singapore Sir Stamford Raffles , Noel Barber's account of the Fall of Singapore and perhaps throw in a biography of Lee Kwan Yew to get an overview of history and the making of modern Singapore . This nostalgic book allows you to sniff the texture of old Singspore in these Tales.… (mehr)