Rajandeeren Kanayan – Silat & Gan Eng Seng School, Blair Plain Part 1 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Rajandeeren Kanayan traces his roots in the old Tanjong Pagar, from his grandparents arriving from India to his father working in the Singapore Harbour Board and then the Port of Singapore Authority. He himself grew up in Queen’s Crescent, Blair Plain and Silat Integrated School after the war. What filled his early years was a sense of adventure, initiative and independence common to many of his generation. Part 1 | https://youtu.be/fnQd1vRvS-Q Part 2 | https://youtu.be/h3zEdSfmoMc 00:00 Introduction 03:15 My Grandparents from India to Singapore 10:36 My Parents 15:13 Silat Walk to Queen’s Crescent 19:48 Blair Plain 23:35 Being Out 27:29 A Sense of Adventure 33:41 Silat School 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