Leong Yee Ting (Ms)

Proposed Thesis Title: Fleeting Feminisms: Chinese-Speaking Women Activists, The Left and Anti-Colonialism in Singapore, 1950 to 1963
Supervisor: Assistant Professor Seng Guo Quan

My interest lies broadly in the intersection of gender, colonialism and modernity in the 19^th and 20^th centuries in Southeast Asia. My proposed M.A. research project aims to foreground women and gender in Singapore’s nationalist movement. My goals are two-fold: Firstly, I hope to shed light on the politically active Chinese-speaking women who have been ‘doubly’ marginalised in the current historiography due to their gender and left-wing political inclinations. Secondly and more importantly, I hope to use the concept of gender to pose questions that can help historians reimagine anti-colonial politics in Singapore. Beyond politics, I am interested in how gender interacted with other factors such as class, labour, education and language in that period.

Previously, I had spent three intellectually fulfilling years pursuing a B.A. in History degree at the University of Oxford and another three challenging years in the corporate world. As a deep believer in the public value of history, I also volunteer with the Singapore Heritage Society, and designed and led a walking tour themed on Samsui women with the National Heritage Board.

Outside history, I can be found practicing Ashtanga yoga, learning Indonesian and cycling outdoors. I can be reached at leong.yeeting@u.nus.edu