Theatres of Memory
Published by: Pagesetters Services
Most of the old factories are long gone and many workers have retired. Combining history, memory and heritage, Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore takes a stroll through Singapore’s industrial past. From Jurong to Redhill and Kallang, the book uncovers the many hands that enabled the island’s transformation from a colonial entrepôt to an industrial nation.
Along the way, we will meet the pioneers of industry—government officials and production workers, men and women, Singaporeans and foreigners. We will hear laughter on the assembly line, descend into the quiet dark of the night shift, and relive the products once made in Singapore, from Rollei cameras and Acma refrigerators to carbonated soft drinks and Bata shoes.
Theatres of Memory
Slide to see
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
Reviews
“As an economics researcher who wandered around Singapore’s factories in the 1970s and 1980s, interviewing managers about their investment decisions and operations, it was a nostalgic delight to revisit in this book those times, places, enterprises and brand names. The book vividly brings to life and gives voice and salience to the work and life experiences of that generation of Singapore’s industrial workers, who contributed so much to, and benefited from, our economic development. It documents, from a grounds-up perspective, with many photographic illustrations and original personal quotes, how mass manufacturing rapidly took hold, transforming the physical and social face of the island and with it, individual skills, lives, families, lifestyles and aspirations. This imaginative and warm-hearted work rightfully puts workers, including easily-forgotten foreign workers, at the centre of our modern economic history. It deserves to become a classic.” —Linda Lim, Professor Emerita of Corporate Strategy and International Business, University of Michigan
“An important intervention into the field of Southeast Asian history, Theatres of Memory retraces the past along the archival grain by weaving together the recollections and narratives of both officials and ordinary people who shaped one of the most dramatic and crucial periods of Singapore’s development. Powerful and often poignant, Loh et al. offer an epistemic challenge in this tapestry of stories about the city-state’s past.” —Dr Ernest Koh, Head, Global Studies, University of Canberra
“Can seemingly non-descript shipyards and flatted factories constitute ‘industrial heritage’? This book makes a convincing case that they do, turning the history of Singapore’s first major industrialisation drive into a fascinating and colourful narrative, backed by many rare photographs. What is outstanding in this book is its attention to the less known actors who made industrialisation possible—managers, engineers, technicians, clerks, production workers, suppliers, small entrepreneurs. This is a compelling book that expands the notion of heritage to include industry and work. Singapore’s industrialisation had many ‘firsts’, and the book captures many key moments in national, family and personal history. It reads like a story, with the theatres of memory triggering the reader’s own memories of work and life. The book is also socially relevant. Many contemporary labour issues, such as foreign-local collaborations and tensions, salaries, safety, work cultures, foreign labour policy and heavy reliance on cheap migrant labour, have their precedents in the earlier period.” —Lai Ah Eng, Adjunct Senior Fellow University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore
Non-Fiction
paperback
$27.00 SGD
E-book
$27.00 SGD
Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore
paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Khairat Kita: A History of Malay/Muslim Mutual Aid in Singapore
Paperback
$14.02 SGD
E-book
$14.02 SGD
What We Inherit: Growing Up Indian
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
Theatres of Memory
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-Book
$30.00 SGD
Voting in a Time of Change: Singapore’s 2020 General Election
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Raffles Renounced: Towards a Merdeka History
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
E-book
$23.36 SGD
Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
E-book
$25.00 SGD
Air-Conditioned Nation Revisited
Paperback
$28.04 SGD
A Guide to the Employment Act and Its Related Legislations (2nd Edition)
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
They Told Us To Move: Dakota—Cassia
Paperback
$18.69 SGD
Siglap at the Crossroads: Memories of Its Only HDB Estate
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
A Quest for Freedom
Paperback
$14.95 SGD
I am not a label, I am Gary
Paperback
$26.00 SGD
E-book
$26.00 SGD
This Is What Inequality Looks Like
Paperback
$11.21 SGD
Lancing Girls of a Happy World
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
The Art of Advocacy In Singapore
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
Singapore, Incomplete: Reflections on a First World nation’s arrested political development
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
E-book
$30.00 SGD
My Nantah Story: The Rise and Demise of the People’s University
Paperback
$11.21 SGD
A Penniless Boy, Chew Joo Chiat
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
Living with Myths in Singapore
Paperback
$13.00 SGD
A Watershed Election (新加坡政治的分水岭: 林宝音政论文选)
Paperback
$35.00 SGD
Godsmacked
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
Singapore: A Portrait In Diversity
Paperback
$16.56 SGD $18.00 SGD
Remains: A Singapore Journey
Paperback
$14.02 SGD
Under A Shadow
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
Faith In Architecture
English
$20.00 SGD
Chinese
$20.00 SGD
Teacher Thinker Rebel Why: Portraits of Chee Soon Juan
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
A Guide to the Employment Act and Its Practical Applications
Out of print
Paperback
$26.17 SGD
LGOU: Let God Owe You
Out of stock
Paperback
$14.02 SGD
Growing Up Perempuan
Out of stock
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
Budi Kritik
Out of stock
Paperback
$28.04 SGD
Walking With Singapore: The Workers' Party 60th Anniversary
Out of stock
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
Local Encounters in a Global City. Singapore Stories.
Out of stock
Normal
$23.36 SGD
Pay It Forward
$23.36 SGD
The Birthday Book 2017: What should we never forget?
Out of stock
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
1987: Singapore’s Marxist Conspiracy 30 Years On
Out of stock
Out of print
Paperback
$23.00 SGD
Making Sense of Life @ / & SMU: A Partial Guide for the Clueless
Out of stock
Paperback
$18.00 SGD
Speaking Out & Speaking Up: Xinjiao Perspectives
Out of stock
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
The Birthday Book 2016: What is Singapore’s Next Big Thing?
Out of stock
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
World War II @ Bukit Brown
Out of stock
Default Title
$10.00 SGD
Human Resource Case Studies
Out of stock
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
Change in Voting: Singapore's 2015 General Election
Out of stock
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
In Pursuit of NEW LIFE
Out of stock
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
WITHIN & WITHOUT Singapore in the World; the World in Singapore
Out of stock
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
Happy Long Life to You
Out of stock
Out of print
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
The Politics of Defeat
Out of stock
Paperback
$25.00 SGD
25 Years of The Substation: Reflections on Singapore's First Independent Art Centre
Out of stock
Out of print
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
Multiculturalism through the Lens: A Guide to Ethnic and Migrant Anxieties in Singapore
Out of stock
Paperback
$32.71 SGD
Democratically Speaking
Out of stock
Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Magical, luminous things
Feb 19, 2022
I have flown across an ocean this week. This still sounds surreal to say.
Read more
No negotiation for blood debt
Feb 14, 2022
The Burmese language resistance poetry is deeply embedded in the country’s colonial past. When mo...
Read more
Burning holes in the darkness
Feb 7, 2022
Poets killed in broad daylight, writers tortured and maimed. I wonder if their ghosts watch on fr...
Read more
