Hidayah Amin – Old Kampong Glam & Gedung Kuning Part 2 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Hidayah Amin relates her anguish on two occasions – when Gedung Kuning was acquired for public development in 1999 and again when the mango tree in the compound, planted to celebrate her birth, was cut down. She fought to keep the name Gedung Kuning but notes that market forces have gentrified Kampong Glam. Instead of bars and massage parlours, the kampong could have retained its rich heritage if more traditional Malay businesses received assistance to operate there. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/jBpt6Rfy6O4 Part 2 | https://youtu.be/kmMOieN3rtw Part 3 | https://youtu.be/SDb-NsnZ79o 00:00 Acquisition of Gedung Kuning 09:28 How I Fought to Keep the Name 18:31 Cutting Down the Mango Tree 24:50 Tree of Memories 30:25 Conservation of Kampong Glam 37:17 Street Names in Kampong Glam 41:19 Bars & Massage Parlours 45:53 Heritage Businesses Hidayah’s books are available at Helang Books: https://helangbooks.wixsite.com/hello/books Haji Yusoff Memorial Museum https://www.instagram.com/haji_yusoff_memorial_museum/ I’m Dr Loh KS, the people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today. We discuss three topics: 1. People and places. 2. Change and continuity. 3. The importance of heritage. As a historian, I try to stay true to the oral history method on a video format and social media platform. I let the interviewee speak, as the ‘voice of the past’ as Paul Thompson put it. No clickbait, no BS, no posturing. The aim is to canvas a wide range of voices on various aspects of Singapore history and heritage – physical, social, cultural, economic. Do like the video, share your memories below and subscribe to the channel for future episodes. Write to lohkahseng@chroniclesresearch.com if you have any of these stories to share: • Old places or kampongs. • Communities – their way of life & culture. • Childhood & schools. • Work or business. Support Chronicles of Old Singapore on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ChroniclesofOldSingapore Follow the channel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551786759344 Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loh-ks TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lks992002 Chronicles Research & Education is my research consultancy on the history of Singapore: https://www.chroniclesresearch.com/ Caveat: this is above all a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable and what is recalled here should not be taken as fact. However, as Alessandro Portelli noted, the subjectivity of oral history is also its great strength, and what is inaccurately remembered may point to how deeply meaningful the past is to people. #singaporehistory #memory #heritage #nostalgia #oralhistory #socialhistory #history #singapore