Mejar Singh Gill – Soldiering in the Early SAF Part 1 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. LTC (Retd) Mejar Singh Gill remembers his callup to National Service in 1967 and signing up as a regular in the Singapore Armed Forces. Historically-minded as always, he traces his journey to the military histories of the Punjab Empire, the colonial armies of the past and the Singapore Naval Base in Sembawang. He talks about the tough training (he took it well), a little-known group of instructors called the Boxers, and meeting other young men from all walks of life. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/XcXl6KVlekc Part 2 | https://youtu.be/gW4QIH0UU6I Part 3 | https://youtu.be/oapXReFCjfA 00:00 Introduction 02:25 My Last Rank & Command 06:47 Sikh Military Traditions 12:41 Race in the Colonial Armies 18:38 The Military in the Naval Base 22:50 National Service Callup in 1967 30:59 All Walks of Life 35:30 The Boxers 40:33 The Training 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 of Old Singapore is also the name of 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