Abdul Jalil s/o Abdul Kader (Mr)

Thesis Title: The "Invisible" Nationalists of Malaya: An Evaluation of Ibrahim Yaacob, Ahmad Boestamam and Burhanuddin Al-Helmi from a Security Perspective
Supervisor: Associate Professor Albert Lau

My name is Abdul Jalil (Jalil for short) and I am enrolled as a full-time PhD student with the history department. From a tender age of 6, I wanted to be a police officer and on graduation with a business degree from NUS, I joined the Singapore Police Force as a Senior Police Officer in 1993. I have had several stints in various police departments, including postings with investigative, operations and policy assignments. I have a MBA from NTU and a MA (International Relations) from ANU. I am married to an educator and have two very demanding young children. my daughter is 10 and my son is 7. I spend almost all my free time doing my readings while the kids do the homework! Besides that, I run and had participated in marathons in the past.

My research focus is on Malay communalism. I am particularly keen on Malay Political Activism in Singapore from 1940s to 2010. I hope to add to the available literature by using still classified and not publicly available data.

Charles Jason Burgess (Mr)

Thesis Title: "An Epidemic of Planning:" Anti-Japanese Resistance and the Search for Grand Strategy in Southeast Asia, 1940-1945
Supervisor: Associate Professor Brian Farrell

I have a BA in history from American University in Washington DC and an MPhil in history from the University of Glasgow in the UK. After obtaining my MPhil, I began working in the Washington DC area for various consulting firms specializing in international security affairs. I then moved to the US Government where I held various analytic and operational positions specializing in security affairs in Asia, specifically Southeast Asia. My last posting was a diplomatic position at the US Embassy in Manila. After nearly 15 years of government service, I decided it was time to return to my passion for history and combine it with my extensive professional experience in Southeast Asian security affairs. Apart from studying history, I enjoy travel, music, reading, movies, good times with friends, and even playing online video games.

My broad research interests are military, diplomatic history and world history, including grand strategy, coalition warfare, and anti-imperial resistance movements. Specifically, my research focuses on Allied grand strategy in the Second World War, specifically in Southeast Asia. I am especially interested in examining how the British and Americans may, or may not, have integrated the myriad local anti-Japanese resistance movements scattered across the region into their overall grand strategy for the defeat of Japan.

Cao Yin (Mr)

Thesis Title: Red Turbans On The Bund: Sikh Migrants, Policemen, And Revolutionaries In Shanghai, 1885-1945
Supervisor: Dr. Yang Bin

Hello, this is Cao Yin from China. Before I came to Singapore to pursue my PhD Degree I lived in Shanghai and gained my master degree at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. The theme of my master dissertation is mainly about the Silk Road and Chinese Jews. In my doctorate I will concentrate on the interaction of different minority groups in a specific society and the consequence of such interaction. When I am not reading books, I like playing basketball with friends or sometimes enjoy a Hollywood movie with some chocolate at night.

From Policemen to Revolutionaries: A Sikh Diaspora in Global Shanghai, 1885-1945
Publisher: Brill, First Edition (17 August 2017)
ISBN: 978-9004344082

From Policemen to Revolutionaries uncovers the less-known story of Sikh emigrants in Shanghai in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yin Cao argues that the cross-border circulation of personnel and knowledge across the British colonial and the Sikh diasporic networks, facilitated the formation of the Sikh community in Shanghai, eventually making this Chinese city one of the overseas hubs of the Indian nationalist struggle. By adopting a translocal approach, this study elaborates on how the flow of Sikh emigrants, largely regarded as subalterns, initially strengthened but eventually unhinged British colonial rule in East and Southeast Asia.

Chee Pui Yee (Ms)

Thesis Title: Re-Formulations: How Pharmaceuticals and Animal-Based Drugs Changed Chinese Medicine, 1950-1990
Supervisor: Dr. John Dimoia

Hi! My name is Liz (although most professors prefer to call me Pui Yee). I'm a PhD student at the history department. I'm studying the use of animal parts or tissues in Chinese medicine. When I'm not studying, I attend yoga classes. Recently, I've become interested in meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. Tashi Delek!

Chen Che-Wei (Mr)

Proposed Thesis Title: Constructing Malaya: Knowledge Production and the Straits/Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1878-1942
Supervisor: Associate Professor Timothy P. Barnard

My name is Chen Che-wei from Taiwan. After receiving a M.A. in history from National Chi Nan University and completing the mandatory military service, I began to work as an administrative staff in the Department of Academic Affairs and Instrument Service at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. I had worked here for about three years when I decided to pursue a PhD to broaden my horizons. Before I come to National University of Singapore, I had studied a PhD programme in history at National Taiwan University for three years.

My research interest lies in Empires and modern Southeast Asia, particularly British colonization in British Malaya, Japanese interests and colonization in Southeast Asia before WWII, and their knowledge construction in British Malaya and the Malay World.I am also interested in the study of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. My first book, The Colonizer and the Immigrant: Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Sir Cecil Clementi and Singapore Chinese Societies (in Chinese), which is based on my master thesis, discusses two governors' governance of the Straits Settlements with specific examples, especially focusing on their relations with Chinese people and societies in Singapore during the 1880s and 1930s. The book was published by the South Seas Society (Singapore). I am grateful to have the opportunity to share my research with the local society.

In my PhD study, my research will focus on knowledge construction in British Malaya and the Malay culture through a case study of the Straits (Malayan) Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The proposed study aims to examine how the British perceived this region, how the Society introduced and incorporated knowledge of the Malay and British Malaya into a system of modern knowledge production, and how the Society interacted with the tradition of Asian studies and British colonization.

Chen Liang (Mr)

Thesis Title: From a Christian Socialist to a Christian Realist: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Soviet Union, 1930-1945
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Peter Borschberg, Dr. Michael Kelly, Dr. Quek Ser Hwee

I am from Beijing. Before returning to school to study history in 2000, I had worked for several years in industry in Shanghai and Beijing. I came to NUS in August 2003, right after I earned my MA degree from the graduate school of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Besides history, I also enjoy reading novels, especially those written by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Dumas. The thing I like most about Singapore is that I can swim for free everyday. I plan to swim 1,000,000 m until I get my PhD degree.

Building on his famous slogan "politically to the left and theologically to the right," my research attempts to prove that Reinhold Niebuhr's engagement with the Soviet Union played a decisive role in turning him from a Christian radical into a famed Christian realist. Niebuhr's grappling with communism, my thesis argues, not only led this one of the greatest American theologians of the past century to rediscover "sin", the linchpin of Christian Realism, but also greatly impacted his understanding of the dialectic relation between love and justice in the political arena.

Chi Zhen (Mr)

Thesis Title: A Pragmatic Experiment of Rural Construction Movement: The Self-government of Wanxi in Southwest Henan, 1930-1940
Thesis Committee: Dr. Thomas DuBois, Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Dr. Ng Chin Keong

I am from China and joined the Department's PhD programme in August 2003. I like soccer and cooking.

Wanxi locates in the southwestern part of today's Henan Province, China. It includes several counties. In the 1930s, there was a local self-government led by some local elite. The local self-government created a powerful local armed force, and resist successfully the Guomindang's provincial government's effort of resuming its rule in this region. In ten years, Wanxi kept a semi-independent status. The local self-government did its utmost to resume social order, rehabilitate local economy, and develop rural education. Therefore, it was regarded as an important rural reconstruction experiment. This thesis discusses the local self-government of Wanxi from the perspective of central-local relationship and rural reconstruction movement. This thesis argues that it was a practice of local state building. In the short run, local state building ran counter to the power centralization; but in the longer term, it would be helpful for building a strong modern state.

Chui Wing Kin, Tony (Mr)

Thesis Title: Developing a "Borrowed Place": The Shadow of 1997 on Urban and Infrastructure Development in the New Territories of Hong Kong, 1925-1983
Supervisor: Dr. Donna Brunero

I am Chui, Wing Kin and you can call me Tony in English or Ah Chui in Cantonese, which is the lingua franca of my hometown, Hong Kong. Having the passion for investigating the nature and formation process of Hong Kong as a self-contained society, I resigned from my high school teaching job in Hong Kong, which I worked in for several years, and then prepared my PhD research on Hong Kong history. In addition, my eagerness to deeply understand Hong Kong motivated me to start the exploration of Hong Kong's counterparts in the world, i.e. Singapore, Macau, Gibraltar and Goa. In my thesis, which was composed for the MPhil programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, entitled "Urban Council and Public Housing affairs in Hong Kong, 1938-1973", the history of the Singapore Improvement Trust is cited in support of my main arguments. This exemplifies the relevance and significance of the Singaporean experience in interpreting Hong Kong's past.

The greatest challenge to a city state is the scarcity of land. To comprehend this issue in Hong Kong's history and its present relevance, my PhD research is aimed at unearthing and accounting for the decision-making processes concerning the land use and development in the New Territories, which makes up about 90% of the whole colony's territory and was leased from China for 99 years, between 1925 and 1984. This research will generate a new insight on the process of the urban expansion and urban-rural interactions in Hong Kong.

Apicha Chutipongpisit (Ms)

Thesis Title: Rice from Siam to Singapore 1855-1918: Intra-Regional Trade, Operational Modes and Business Connections
Supervisor: Associate Professor Medha Kudaisya

My name is Apicha Chutipongpisit from Thailand. I graduated with a B.A. in history from Srinakarinwirot University and an M.A. in history from Chulalongkorn University. After graduation, I taught Thai history of the Ayutthaya and Ratanakosin periods, in secondary school for 4 years and then I obtained an unexpected opportunity to be a lecturer at Department of History at Kasetsart University. When I was a secondary student, I thought history was only the old story like a novel. But when I attended university, I knew history was not only an old story, but it also taught me critical and rational thinking. For my teaching, whether secondary school or university, I try to teach my students to realize the significance of history and the benefit of historical study.

For my master thesis, I studied about Siam - Singapore relations in both political and economic aspects. I focused on the expansion of the Siam economy after the signing of the Bowring treaty which affected the British political policy towards Siam's southern boundary. It was the beginning of my interesting in economic history. At that time, I came to Singapore to search historical documents such as newspapers and pictures about Siam - Singapore relations during the reign of King Rama V. It was the great experience for me! After teaching the History of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia at the university for 2 years, I'm interested in Chinese community and my research proposed to NUS is about the commercial and entrepreneurial roles of Chinese from the Straits Settlements in Siam.

Siriporn Dabphet (Ms)

Thesis Title: The Legal Foundation of State Stability in the Early Bangkok Period
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart, Professor Maurizio Peleggi, Dr. Michael Feener

I did my B.A. and M.A in history at Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok. In December 2000, I started my career as a lecturer at the Department of History in my University. Don't be surprise if you know that I taught East Asian history, history of modern China and Japan, contemporary world affairs, early civilizations of Asia, and some topics in Thai history. I also researched in ancient Thai law, wrote history textbooks and cartoon plots. In 2006, I came to further my 2nd M.A. at NUS. Because PhD is my goal, in January 2009 I returned to NUS to pursue my degree. I love eating, especially Thai food and dessert, and traveling. I also love to stay home with my lovely dogs and reading my favorite books (surely, not history book).

This dissertation offers a new perspective on the history of early Bangkok, through studying the usage of laws. It studies the relationship between law, religion, and the state in early 19th-century Siam, and the use of laws by the state and rulers, to assess the effectiveness of law enforcement, and to offer an alternative interpretation of pre-modern Thai history by making a clear and consistent distinction between the ?monarch? and the ?state? as separate entities within the law. This work argues that a distinction exists in traditional Thai law, implicitly though not explicitly. This study also examined how the state established and maintained its stability through Buddhist concepts of kingship and Thai law. It argues that the king possessed great authority in theory, but the facts show that his authority was not as absolute as it was presumed.

Sittithep Eaksittipong (Mr)

Thesis Title: Textualizing The "Chinese Of Thailand": Politics, Knowledge, And The Chinese In Thailand During The Cold War
Supervisor: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

Hi! My name is Sittithep from Thailand. My background is in political science and history. I completed my BA in Political Science from Chulalongkorn University before receiving an MA in History from Chiang Mai University. My MA thesis focused on the social history of ordinary Sino-Thais during the Cold War era which I hoped to construct a different interpretation about Sino-Thais, departing from the assimilation paradigm proposed by G. William Skinner in his famous book Chinese Society in Thailand: An Analytical History. After graduation, I was offered a lecturer position at the Division of History, Chiang Mai University. After working there for a year, I was lucky enough to be awarded NUS-HYI joint doctoral scholarship which enabled me to pursue my PhD degree at the Department of History, NUS.

My researches interests lie in historiography, modern East Asian history, and ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia especially Thailand. For PhD thesis, I plan to explore Sino-Thai historiography. In Thailand, mainstream Sino-Thai history often portrays the Sino-Thai as apolitical, homogenous group, assimilated and docile citizens. Most scholars have been so dominated by this myth that they could not see the heterogeneity of the Sino-Thai, the variation of their memories, and nonlinearity of Sino-Thai history, which changed over time depending on social, economic, and political contexts. Thus, for me, the challenge is to demystify the myth and unveil the complexity of Sino-Thai historiography.

Fang Xiaoping (Mr)

Thesis Title: Barefoot Doctors in Chinese Villages: Medical Contestation, Structural Evolution, and Professional Formation, 1968-1983
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Gregory Clancey, Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Dr. Thomas DuBois

Fang Xiaoping is an Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese History in the Division of Chinese at the Nanyang Technological University. He received his PhD in History from the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he majored in modern China and the history of science, technology and medicine in East Asia from 2002 to 2008. He studied and worked at the Needham Research Institute of the University of Cambridge, UK (2005-2006), the Asia Research Institute of the NUS (2008), and the China Research Centre of the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia (2009-2013). His research interests focus on the history of medicine and health in twentieth-century China. He is the author of Barefoot Doctors and Western Medicine in China (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2012). He is currently working on a new project, the working title for which is "Global Cholera Pandemic, Population Mobility, and Transnational Politics in China during the 1960s."

This dissertation explores how the medical world of Chinese villages was transformed through medical contestation, structural evolution, and professional formation, in the dynamic period from 1949 to 1983. The advent of "barefoot doctors" during the Cultural Revolution marked the completion of a tremendous reshuffling of village healers and the fulfilment of the "state medicine" concept. Contrary to the propaganda of the time, barefoot doctors actually helped marginalize Chinese medicine vis-a-vis western medicine, in terms of knowledge, pharmaceuticals, and healing styles . The barefoot doctors changed the two-tier rural medical system that prevailed under union clinics in the 1950-60s into a three-tier system, in which they gained medical dominance. Moreover, the barefoot doctors constituted a nascent rural medical profession, establishing new identities, practices, and relationships in closed village societies under a revolutionary imperative. Their profession was only strengthened by post-Mao rural reforms.

Barefoot Doctors and Western Medicine in China
Publisher: University of Rochester Press (2012)
ISBN: 978-1580464338

In 1968, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party endorsed a radical new system of healthcare delivery for the rural masses. Soon every village had at least one barefoot doctor to provide basic medical care, which integrated the villages into a regional network of healthcare services for the very first time. The barefoot doctors were portrayed nationally and internationally as revolutionary heroes, wading undaunted through rice-paddies to bring effective, low-cost care to poor peasants. This book is the first comprehensive study to reach beyond the nostalgic view of barefoot doctors that dominates present scholarship on public health in China. Author Xiaoping Fang provides evidence drawn from local archives during the Cultural Revolution and personal interviews with patients and doctors, contextualizing it within the broader history of medicine in revolutionary and post-reform China. His data demonstrates that the key impact of the barefoot doctor program was its introduction of modern Western medicine into villages that were hitherto dominated by traditional Chinese medicine. Although traditional methods were marginalized by the innovations and improved outcomes Western medicine brought, Chinese medicine continued to exist as an alternative approach. This book ultimately offers a powerful and carefully contextualized critique of conventional views on the role of barefoot doctors, their legacy, and their impact, both in rural areas and in China as a whole, while making theoretical contributions to the Chinese social historiography of medicine. Xiaoping Fang is a research fellow in the China Research Centre of the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia.

Benjamin Frued (Mr)

Thesis Title: Master of Indochina After God: Decoux's own Brand of Authoritarianism to Maintain French Sovereignty in Indochina
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart, Professor Brian Farrell, Dr. Anne Raffin

I am originally from France but moved to the US in 1989.  I completed my undergraduate degree in International Affairs from Lewis & Clark College in Oregon before receiving my Masters in the same field from the University of Denver, writing my thesis on the influence of Che Guevara as a myth and a historical figure.  After a couple of years working in San Francisco during the Internet boom I pursued my MBA at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.  I subsequently worked in London and Tokyo for four and three years respectively before moving to Singapore in 2007.

This dissertation examines how Admiral Jean Decoux mixed ideology and pragmatism to design policies elevating the colonial oeuvre in Indochina to fulfil his only mission: ensure French sovereignty in the region in the post-World War II era. This study begins by establishing that Vichy France had neither the will nor the capability to export Pétainism abroad and explains that the Decoux regime is best understood in light of ultraconservative Charles Maurras' ideological influence on the Admiral. This dissertation shows how Decoux used Vichy's National Revolution as a vehicle to build an administrative machine geared toward winning the hearts and minds of the peoples of Indochina and overcoming the colony's slide into autarky. It also examines his desperate attempts to create the illusion of a nascent spirit of federalism under the leadership of a united French community as one of his only weapons against the mounting threat of independentism.

Hema Kiruppalini (Ms) 

Thesis Title: Military Fraternity, Migrant Alterity: A Transnational History Of Gurkha Families In Asia During British Decolonization (1947 - 1971)
Supervisor: Assistant Professor John Prabhu Solomon

My motivation in pursuing a doctorate in History stems from my long-term interest and research experience in this discipline. It has been a decade since I graduated from the NUS History department where I obtained my Bachelors in History (Hons) and a Minor in - what is now recognized as - India Studies. As an undergraduate, I did a Research Internship with the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), during which time I travelled to Nepal to conduct fieldwork. This first trip to Kathmandu inspired me to undertake postgraduate studies and further my research interest on Nepal. By 2010, I completed my Master of Arts in South Asian Studies, and my thesis critically examined the history and development of the Nepali 'diaspora' in Singapore.

Thereafter, I worked as a Research Associate at ISAS for three years (2010-2013). During this period, I was tasked with the key responsibility of managing and co-editing a pioneering book project - The Encyclopaedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora (2013). After being based in Texas for 2 years, I returned to Singapore in 2015.

My doctoral dissertation aims to explore the transnational Gurkha community in Southeast Asia. There is a lacuna in scholarly literature concerning them in this region. By means of an archival and multi-sited ethnographic field research, this study seeks to document the multivalent migrant experiences of the Gurkha community in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

I enjoy travelling, doing yoga and learning about different types of traditional medicine. I am also a local history enthusiast. I worked on a book project on 'Fort Tanjong Katong' a few years ago. Now, disconcerted by the redevelopment of older housing estates, and in an effort to contribute to the built heritage of Singapore, I am involved in a pictorial book project on the soon-to-be demolished Siglap HDB flats.

 

Erik Holmberg (Mr)

Thesis Title: A Community of Prestige: A Social History of the Cosmopolitan Elite Class in Colonial Singapore
Thesis Committee: Professor Tan Tai Yong, Associate Professor Gregory Clancey, Professor Maurizio Peleggi

I am from the USA, working on my PhD here at the Department of History of the National University of Singapore. I earned my BA at the University of Hawaii and my MA here at NUS. My main interest is the social and political history of colonial Singapore in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially involving the intermingling of different communities.

Elites of different races in colonial Singapore made social connections amongst themselves and developed a sense of fellow membership in a cosmopolitan community of prestige by taking part together in a system of status symbols. These elites created and sustained their system of status symbols; and, in the absence of a shared culture, these elites were socially integrated by their shared symbolic system, which gave cohesion to their class. This fact is especially socially significant, given that colonial Singapore was a multiracial and culturally diverse Settlement, where the population was divided by cultural boundaries. Since the leading members of different sections of this population were represented among the elites, the elite class could not base its sense of community upon shared cultural heritage or identity. Thus, colonial Singapore presents a case which highlights the importance of social and symbolic integration, rather than cultural or ethnic foundations of elite class cohesion.

Hu Wen (Ms)

Thesis Title: For Better Silk : Sericulture Reform in Sichuan, 1901-1945
Supervisor: Dr. Thomas DuBois

My Bachelors degree is from Nanjing University. After I received the degree of Master of Arts at NUS, I worked in a TV station for a while. I have to say, work is boring, not as interesting as studying. That's the reason I returned to NUS to work towards my PhD degree. I am busy, but happy at NUS. I practice traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy, but my skills are a bit rusty nowadays. I love delicious food, enjoy traveling, watching movies, and reading fiction. I want to see the world with my own eyes, myopic eyes.

This project is a social history of the silk industry in Sichuan province, concentrating on the Leshan region during the first half of the 20th century. This study is significant as there has been little scholarly attention on the silk industry in the small cities of Interior China. I will focus on the individual social and economic motivations of three distinct social groups which had played important roles in the silk industry: the peasants, local elites, and bureaucratic capitalists of the Guomingdang regime; and in turn examine the interactions between the three groups.

Hwang Eunshil (Ms)

Thesis Title: "Sharing the Same Predicament": Mutual Perceptions and Interactions between Korean and Vietnamese Intellectuals, 1900-1925
Supervisor: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

Hello, my name is Hwang Eunshil from South Korea. I'm pleased to have an opportunity to study my interest. I studied history (undergraduate) and history education (MA) in Korea. After graduate school, I taught Korean history in public secondary school for a couple of years. At that time I met some students of multicultural families whose mothers were from Southeast Asia and these situations were new to Korean Society. I realized I needed to know Southeast Asia history for a better understanding of multicultural families. At the same time I wanted to study more because I found SEA history so interesting. So I applied for Korean government scholarship last year and was selected one of beneficiaries (but sadly, the amount of scholarship is not much).

My main concern is the history of exchange between Southeast Asia (mainly Vietnam) and Korea from 1850 to 1950. Nowadays mutual interchange between Korea and Southeast Asia has been rapidly increasing, but many Korean don't know much about SEA. I believe the present growing interchange has an historical basis and want to prove that we already have known each other for a long time. In particular, during the period after the 19th century, Korea and Southeast Asia were colonized and shared common aims of independence. In addition, some Korean intellectuals were interested in Southeast Asia and they began to write articles about Southeast Asia. So I am expecting to find vivid interchanges between both.

Kang Minji (Ms)

Thesis Title:  The Economic Dimensions of Theravada Buddhist Trusts in Myanmar: The History of Shwedagon Pagoda's Gawpaka
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

My great pleasure to introduce myself, KANG Minji, from South Korea. During my undergraduate and graduate studies in Korea, I was interested in the religious aspects of Myanmar and their historical background. Therefore, my master’s thesis dealt with the popularity of a new belief system (centering on Thaik) in Myanmar. While performing the fieldwork in Myanmar, I found a lot of historical resources or records as inscriptions, parabaik, peza, etc. Without the proper knowledge or understanding of historiography, it seems to be meaningless for me to pursue the field of Myanmar studies. That is why I decide to apply for the History (PhD) at NUS under the supervision of Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin.

The topic of my research is to explore the Economic Dimensions of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar in the Modern Era by examining mainly the trust of Shwedagon Pagoda, the national and Buddhistic symbol of Myanmar, and other kinds of materials or sources: historical records, existing research results, and fieldwork findings. I want to show the economic scale and activities of Buddhist temples, uncovering the dynamic, secular aspects of Buddhism unlike its static, spiritual ones often argued by Western scholars.

Kho Ee Moi (Ms)

Thesis Title: Construction of Femininity: Girls' education in Singapore, 1959-2000
Supervisor: Associate Professor Huang Jianli

Kho Ee Moi graduated from the University of Singapore with a B.A. (Hons) in history and subsequently obtained her postgraduate diploma in education from the Institute of Education, Singapore. After teaching in secondary school for a few years, she pursued a Master of Arts degree at the University of Auckland. She obtained a PhD from the History Department of the National University of Singapore and is currently a senior lecturer in the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Ee Moi has sat on numerous curriculum development and steering committees in the Ministry of Education and was involved in the conceptualization and establishment of the MOE Heritage Centre. She continues to be active in the history scene through her work in the History Association of Singapore.

The Construction of Femininity in a Postcolonial State: Girls' Education in Singapore
Publisher: Cambria Press (2013)
ISBN: 978-1604978513

This is a study of the influence of education on girls' construction of their gender ideology. It shows that for a long time, women played an important but subordinate role in Singapore, be it in the economic, political or social sphere, and the government's support for equal opportunities for girls was and is based on pragmatic economic considerations and not on adherence to any dogma or theory. The study shows that for many years, education for girls had entrapped them in constructing a gender identity that upheld a patriarchal social structure. However, since the turn of the century, this construct has unraveled as the provision of modern education, especially in science and technology and the opportunities for employment have enabled women to become independent in many senses of the word, and this has brought about changes in society's gender ideology.

Jeff Khoo (Mr)

Thesis Title: The Late Eighteenth Century French Search for a Southeast Asian Entrepôt
Supervisor: Associate Professor Peter Borschberg

I am interested in the entrepôt, as a concept, as a historical phenomenon, and as yet another way of framing Singapore history.  I am intrigued by the challenge of composing national histories that transcend ethnic, linguistic and religious categories.  I am fascinated by world history, within which I am more attracted by the stories of small places than those of great empires.  I sometimes claim to be working on eighteenth century Singapore.

I did an earlier round of graduate studies at Sciences Po and the London School of Economics, and later spent a decade with the Singapore foreign service.  Assignments as Political Counsellor in Beijing and Deputy Trade Representative in Taipei were especially rewarding.  I am also a studio potter, a father of two, and an inveterate drinker of cheap wine. I can be reached at khoo@u.nus.edu

Naoko IIoka (Ms)

Thesis Title: Literati Entrepreneur: Wei Zhiyan in the Tonkin-Nagasaki Silk Trade
Thesis Committee: Dr. Anthony Reid, Dr. Thomas Dubois, Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

After I graduated from Osaka University in Japan, I took my first chance to study abroad. I moved to Bangkok. Studying in Thailand for three years eventually led me to Singapore. My research interests are Chinese junk trade and Siamese-Japanese relations in the 17th century. I love movies as my pastime. But when I have time, I usually go diving. I am looking forward to having good time both at school and at sea in Singapore.

I am interested in the Chinese commercial networks and maritime business activities in the East and South China Seas during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. My research questions include: how maritime commerce integrated into the early modern East and Southeast Asian polities, what roles the Chinese traders played in it, and how they operate their business.

Hussain Ahmad Khan (Mr)

Thesis Title: Artisans, Sufis and Colonial Art Institutions in nineteenth-century Punjab
Thesis Committee: Professor Maurizio Peleggi, Professor Tan Tai Yong , Dr. Tania Roy

I never thought of becoming an academic until I enrolled in the MA History Programme in the Government College University (GCU), Lahore, Pakistan. It was my initiation to colonial and postcolonial discourses. As part of my MA degree, I conducted research on Siraiki identity in South Punjab, which was later published as a book, "Re-Thinking Punjab: The Construction of Siraiki Identity." Soon after completing my Masters in 2001, I joined the National College of Arts Archives (NCAA) and Research and Publication Centre in Lahore as a research assistant. My stay at the NCAA not only further developed my interest in theory, art history and archival research, but it also gave me opportunities to participate in many national and international conferences. Meanwhile, I also completed my MPhil in History from the University of Punjab, Lahore. In September 2005, I returned to the GCU as Lecturer in History. There, I taught subjects like Pakistan Studies, Medieval India, Philosophy/Discourses of History, Social and Intellectual History of Modern Europe, and Political History of Modern Europe at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. I also worked as an associate editor of "The Historian," a biannual research journal published by the Department of History in GCU.

Opacities in the folktales indicate a deeply embedded historical relationship between the Sufis and the artisans in pre-colonial Punjab. The construction of shrines in the nineteenth century shows that Sufi beliefs, aiming to define a Muslim identity, were symbolized in the buildings. With some contestations, Sufi shrines were perceived by the artisan-builders and the visitors in the same way. The colonial state established various art institutions (such as exhibitions, an art school, and the Lahore museum) to incorporate the local artisans into the global economy, revive the local crafts; to counter the influences of European imports; and introduce their utilitarian ideas. The artisans resisted colonial art institutions in different ways which significantly altered these objectives. So, the Sufis could effectively engage the local artisans vis-à-vis the colonial administrators.

Artisans, Sufis, Shrines: Colonial Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Punjab
Publisher: I.B. Taurius (2015)
ISBN: 978-1784530143

Originally written as a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of A/P Maurizio Peleggi at Department of History, National University of Singapore, this book sheds new light on the dynamics of power and culture in the British Empire. In nineteenth-century Punjab, a cultural tug-of-war ensued as both Sufi mystics and British officials aimed to engage the local artisans as a means of realizing their ideological ambitions. When it came to influence and impact, the Sufi shrines had a huge advantage over the colonial art institutions, such as the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore. The mystically inspired shrines, built as a statement of Muslim ruling ambitions, were better suited to the task of appealing to local art traditions. By contrast the colonial institutions, rooted in the Positivist Romanticism of the Victorian West, found assimilation to be more of a challenge. In questioning their relative success and failures at influencing local culture, the book explores the extent to which political control translates into cultural influence. Folktales, Sufi shrines, colonial architecture, institutional education methods and museum exhibitions all provide a wealth of sources for revealing the complex dynamic between the Punjabi artisans, the Sufi community and the colonial British. In this unique look at a little-explored aspect of India's history, Hussain Ahmad Khan explores this evidence in order to illuminate this web of cultural influences. Examining the Sufi-artisan relationship within the various contexts of political revolt, the decline of the Mughals and the struggle of the Sufis to establish an Islamic state, this book argues that Sufi shrines were initially constructed with the aim of affirming a distinct 'Muslim' identity. At the same time, art institutions established by colonial officials attempted to promote eclectic architecture representing the 'British Indian empire', as well as to revive the pre-colonial traditions with which they had previously seemed out of touch.

Kim Jong Ho (Mr)

Thesis Title: Negotiating Between Regimes and Wars: Changing Regulatory Environment and Foreign Exchange Flow of Overseas Chinese Remittance, 1930S-1949
Supervisor: Associate Professor Huang Jianli

Hi! My name is Kim Jong-ho from South Korea. I hold a Master's degree in History from Kyungpook National University. The thesis was about the economic network of overseas Chinese until 1937. I was particularly interested in the relationship between remittances network of overseas Chinese and the Nationalist government through foreign exchange.

The main focus of my dissertation will be same as my Master's topic, but the research will look at a later period from 1938-1949. I came to NUS because it is playing an important role in the research on overseas Chinese.

Loo Zhi En (Mr)
Thesis Title: Empire's Embellishments: The Highland Bagpipe in The Indian Army and the Global British Empire
Supervisor: Dr Donna Brunero

My PhD project investigates the imperially mediated cultural encounters and transfers through which the Scottish Highland bagpipe and its associated performance practices were disseminated and received in the Asian half of the British imperial world from the second half of the 19^th century up to Indian and Pakistani independence in 1947. The project pays special attention to the pipe bands of the pre-1947 Indian Army both as representative sites of cultural encounter and transfer and as facilitators of the global mobility of the military musicians in these units.

I graduated from NUS in 2018 with a BA (Hons.) in European Studies and a minor in History. I proceeded to pursue and finish an MRes in (Scottish) Gaelic at the University of Glasgow, where I wrote a dissertation on emotional practices in late 20^th century and early 21^st century Scottish Gaelic autobiographies. I am also an active musician in Singapore's small Irish and Scottish traditional music circle, where I play the bellows-blown Scottish smallpipes and various whistles.

Megumi Hagiwara (Ms)

Proposed Thesis Title: From Passive Subjects to Active Participants: Reconsidering Taiwanese History through the Oral History of Wulai Atayal Youths from 1945 to the 1950s
Supervisor: Associate Professor Hajimu Masuda

I am Megumi from Japan. I am interested in modern East Asian history, especially Japan-Taiwan relations, the Japanese imperial military and their battles during the Second World War. My research often takes an oral history and biographical approach to explore individual stories which have been neglected.

I completed my M.A. in Taiwan, where I collected testimonies of elderly Taiwanese who grew up during the era of Japanese rule. Through the process of listening to their precious voices of colonial and war experience, I realized that there have been lots of overlooked/hidden aspects in the history, which taught me the importance of inheriting history to next generation as faithfully as possible. Having questions to such gaps, I decided to pursue my study to record personal history.

My PhD research investigates the Japanese imperial military, but the one composed of Taiwanese indigenous group, called "Takasago Volunteer Soldiers" who served Japan during the Second World War. I intend to record the life stories of the veterans, most of whom have been largely unknown due to turmoil throughout the war, focusing on the inside details of their post-war life.

I am committed to engaging with a broad scholarly community. I am one of the governmental research project members in Shokei-kan, the Historical Materials Hall for Wounded and Sick Retired Soldiers. Knowingthe pains and psychological conflicts of Japanese veterans throughout the war, I started to widen my knowledge, such as the issues of war reparation and historical recognitions. I am also a member of 'Reconsidering the Cold War' project, currently collecting the testimonies from the elderly Taiwanese who experienced the White terror.

Moe Thuzar (Ms)

Thesis Title: Pragmatic Nationalism and the Making of the Myanmar's Foreign Policy, 1944-1988
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

Moe Thuzar has been a diplomat, a regional civil servant, and a policy researcher. She has been with the Myanmar Foreign Service where she was part of the team that prepared for Myanmar's admission to ASEAN; then served at ASEAN Secretariat, in the social and human development areas, and most recently with the ASEAN Studies Centre of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, during which she was involved in advising Myanmar's preparations to chair ASEAN in 2014. Moe's research interests span Myanmar's foreign policy as well as regional integration moves under ASEAN's socio-cultural sphere. Moe has contributed extensively to compendia and edited volumes on ASEAN and on Myanmar. She will research Burma/Myanmar's post-World War II diplomatic history for her PhD.

Morrogotwong Phumplab (Ms)

Thesis Title: Making Cold War Alliance: Regional Anti-Communism for Nation-Building Between Thailand and South Vietnam, 1955-1975

Hello, I am Morragotwong Phumplab from Thailand. I was born and grew up in Chiang Rai. I studied my Bachelor Degree in Southeast Asian Studies Program (SEAS) at Thammasat University. After that, I continued to study Master Degree in Linguistics (Southeast Asian Linguistics) at Research Institute of Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Thailand. In 2007, I was luckily offered the ASEAN scholarship from Asia Research Institute (ARI) for three months. This program gave me the great opportunity to pursue my second M.A. at Department of History under the NUS Research Scholarship in 2008, which I studied about the diplomatic worldviews of Siam and Vietnam in the pre-colonial period (1780s-1850s). After gained my invaluable experience in NUS, I went back to Thailand and started my academic life. I taught at Regional Studies Program, Walailak University for a year. Then, I moved to teach about Southeast Asian and ASEAN Studies at the faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, Bangkok. After 5 years of teaching experience, I decided to come back to my student life again at NUS. Upon my Ph.D. graduation in the future, I will continue my work at Thammasat University.

My interests include diplomatic history, socio-political and cultural history in Southeast Asia especially Vietnam and Thailand. For my doctorate study, I am interested in the diplomatic history and the social interaction during the Cold War period. Based on Vietnamese, Thai and other foreign archives, I will explore about political and social history between Thailand and South Vietnam. Moreover, the diplomatic relations between these two countries also affected to their neighbouring country, Cambodia.

I love to read, travel, take photos, eat and write my journey experience to my friends.

It is my pleasure to come back to NUS again!

Jennifer Rachel Morris (Ms)

Thesis Title: Museumising Sarawak: Objects, Collectors and Scientific Knowledge-Production Under the Brook State, C.1840-1940
Supervisor: Associate Professor Timothy P. Barnard

I grew up in England and studied for my BA and MPhil in history at the University of Cambridge. I later completed an MA in museum studies at the University of Leicester. My MA thesis focused on the interpretation of the Second World War in Singaporean museums and heritage sites. I moved to Singapore in 2010 to work as an English curriculum developer at a tuition centre. Having worked here for four years, I decided to return to my passion for history and embark on a PhD. In my spare time I love visiting museums, exploring Singapore and cooking (especially baking!).

My research focuses on the history of national museums in Singapore and Malaysia, comparing the development of the museums in the context of political and social change in the region during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I am particularly interested in the ways in which colonial museum practices were altered and adapted in order to construct national identities in the period following independence.

Deepa Nair (Ms)

Thesis Title: Political Agenda of History Textbooks in India Since Independence
Supervisor: Dr. Yong Mun Cheong, Dr. Peter Reeves, Professor Tan Tai Yong

I am from India with a Masters Degree in Modern Indian History from Panjab University, Chandigarh. Over the past three years I've been involved with various organizations dealing with social, environmental and animal issues. I am used to a nomadic life ... owing to my army background which reflects in my passion for traveling ... besides traveling I enjoy music, books and coffee!

This work seeks to delineate and analyze multiple readings of the Indian past as reflected in various history textbooks commissioned by the Indian state. It explores the divergent images of nationhood and the use and abuse of historical narratives by the state and also the historians. It discusses the nature and politics of historiography, historical truths and construction of historical identities by revisiting the pedigree of discordant voices, which characterize the present textbook debate in specific historical contexts in India. An analysis of some textbooks prescribed by the post-colonial Indian state is used to identify the different themes focusing on the character of Indian civilization and the idea of an Indian citizen. The imprint of the ideology of various governments in power on the selection/omission of actors, periods, events, and communities in the broader narrative of Indian history is attempted.

Pang Yang Huei (Mr)

Thesis Title: The Taiwan Strait Crises, 1954-1958: China, the United States and Taiwan
Supervisor: Dr. Teow See Heng, Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Dr. Yang Bin

I signed on as a teacher on 8 July 1996. Along the way, I obtained my B.A. Dip. Ed. (Hons) and M.A. from NIE, Nanyang Technological University. (Diss. Supervisor: Prof. Daniel K. R. Crosswell) I left the education service on 1 Jan 2006.

This thesis re-examines the Taiwan Strait Crises and offers new perspectives to understanding the crises through the use of newly available primary sources, the simultaneous presentations of the perspectives of the PRC, US and ROC, the re-evaluation of some of the major arguments in existing scholarship, and the incorporation of analyses relating to ?culture,? ?tacit communication-tacit accommodation? and ?ritualization.? Hitherto, most accounts have depicted the PRC-ROC-US relations in the 1950s as mired in hostilities and nuclear threats. However, this thesis contends that the situation was more complicated: tacit communication that was discernible during the Geneva Conference of 1954 had allowed for tacit accommodation to take root by 1958. Such developments in the PRC-ROC-US relations were contested and negotiated at every stage of the Crises. Facilitating this process was the ritualization of discourses, embodied in signaling and symbolic gestures. Such a ritualization of foreign policy often happened in a ?symbiotic? manner, consisting of ?soft? and ?hard? elements, as an untidy confluence of nationalistic discourse, symbols, cultural images, military posturing, canvassing for international support, and diplomatic negotiations. The emphasis on ?untidy? underscored that the process of tacit accommodation was not an inexorable process destined to succeed, but one influenced by a plethora of factors ? international relations, domestic developments and issues of national identity of Beijing, Taipei and Washington. Such an analytical lens has enabled this thesis to appreciate the complexity of adversarial and alliance diplomacy, so aptly captured in the many nuances of the PRC-ROC-US relations, as revealed in the unfolding of the many turbid diplomatic episodes of the Taiwan Strait Crises from 1954 to 1958: the ?silent poetry? of diplomacy, the tacit allowances for withdrawals, the muted back-channel negotiations, the paradoxically loud denunciations, and the sound and fury of artillery bombardments.

Ruel V. Pagunsan (Mr)

Thesis Title: Colonizing The Philippine Environment: Natural History, Science And The Nation
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

In my home country, I am affiliated with the Department of History, University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) where I handled general courses on Philippine and Asian history. I obtained my bachelor and master's degrees in history at UPD. Apart from history, I enjoy travelling, discovering new cuisines and playing with my baby daughter.

My research interests are on economic history and the colonial Southeast Asia. In recent years, I have been particularly interested on the non-territorial and economic form of Western imperialism in Southeast Asia. My candidature at NUS allows me to develop this interest as my dissertation project focuses on the British informal dominance in the region.

Pham Thi Thanh Huyen (Ms)

Thesis Title: Champa and the Islamic World, 7^th - 15^th Centuries
Supervisor: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

My name is Pham Thi Thanh Huyen and I came from Vietnam. I graduated with a B.A from Vietnam National University (VNU, Hanoi) and gained master degree from Alzahra University in Iran in 2011. My M.A thesis was about the role of America in the relationship of Iran and Vietnam from 1953 to 1979. After graduation, I have been working as a lecturer at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University since 2012. This semester I received NUS-HYI Joint Doctoral Scholarship so that I can pursue my PhD at the Department of History, NUS.

In my doctorate, I will focus on the interexchange between the Islam World and Vietnam in history in general and Champa in particular. I am particularly interested in doing survey on the role of Persian, Arab merchants in this relationship.

Phyo Win Latt (Mr)

Thesis Title: Protecting AMYO: The Rise of Xenophobic Nationalism in Colonial Burma, 1906-1941
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

My name is Phyo Win Latt and I am from Myanmar (Burma). I hold a Bachelor's degree in Burmese Language and Literature from University of Distance Education (Yangon) and a Master's degree in Political Science specializing on International Development Studies from Chulalongkorn University.

My research plan is to explore the contested and problematic ways of Burmese identity formation process as seen through cultural products like literature, film, songs, modernization ethos and its discontents, and anti-colonial political and social movements. My research will put the limelight on the role of cultural representations and perceptions of the 'west' and 'modernity' in the eyes of both admirers and despisers among the colonial Burmese community.

Mercedes Planta (Ms)

Thesis Title: Prerequisites to a Civilized Life: The American Colonial Public Health System in the Philippines, 1901 to 1927
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Gregory Clancey, Dr. Hong Lysa, Dr. Paul Kratoska

You can call me Merce and I come from a family of six. My parents initially wanted a medical degree for me, and though I know I could survive it (through a slow death process), I realized early on that people should not listen to the "beat of their own drums." My interest in research, then is not a matter of accident. I like to read; my preferences are eclectic, although it has been a while since I have read for the pure enjoyment of it. I also like to swim and take long walks as I find both relaxing.

This study examines American strategies of governance through the colonial public health system from 1901 to 1927. It focuses on sanitation, health, hygiene, medical and scientific institutions, as well as health and medical professions. As a rationale of the civilizing mission to prepare Filipinos for independence, public health became the arena in which Filipino progress was gauged. This study is positioned within the larger political concern of Philippine independence. At the same time, it is also being enfolded in the bigger theme of the United States Empire, race, colonial medicine, and public health in the context of the global phenomenon of imperialism in the late nineteenth century. As these fields come together, the study aims to participate in the development of a new cultural-political history of Southeast Asia in general and American colonialism in particular, in the 20th century.

Anisur Rahman (Mr)

Thesis Title: Reconfiguring Muslim Marriage: Law, Islam, and Modernity in Bangladesh, 1833-2015
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

Hello, this is Anisur Rahman from Bangladesh. I was born and brought up in Kushtia, the land of great poet Rabindranath Tagore. Before my coming to Singapore I spent two years in Delhi, India while pursuing my MPhil study in the Jawaharlal Nehru University. In my MPhil thesis I looked at how the Islamic Family law had been shaped by the judicial interpretation in colonial India. I have obtained my LL.B. and LL.M. degree from the Department of Law of the University of Dhaka. I have been associated in the Department of Law, Eastern University since 2012. I used to teach Islamic Family Law and Jurisprudence. Before pursuing an academic career I spent some time in a USAID project as a research associate and in a widely-circulated newspaper called The Daily Star as Assistant Editor. I also served as Associate Editor of a bi-annual journal called Stamford Journal of Law. I am also a member of LASSnet, a platform for South Asian scholars. My research interest lies on the transformation of Islamic Family Law in South Asia. In my PhD study I will look at how judicial activism has contributed in transforming Islamic Family Law in Bangladesh. Particularly, my focus will be on the contribution of the Privy Council and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to secularise Islamic Family law.

Besides reading, I like singing and listening to songs. I am fond of Indian Classical Music. Sorod is my favourite musical instrument. I also like to watch movie and to travel with friends.

Sandeep Ray (Mr)

Thesis Title: Celluloid Colony: Occluded Histories of the Netherlands East Indies from Moving images (1912-30)
Supervisor: Associate Professor Timothy P. Barnard

By studying the extraordinarily rich film archives created by Dutch, Japanese and Indonesian documentarians from the early to mid-1900s, I wish to examine how propaganda films continually created and re-created the perception of 'Indonesia' as a geopolitical entity. I hope to shed some light on the motivations and effectiveness of those image-makers who traversed the large archipelago attempting to capture and inform history.

Having lived in Malaysia, India, the United States and Indonesia, my sense of 'home' has often been in flux but I am inexorably drawn towards the sentiment of 'nation'. I have a BA in filmmaking from Hampshire College and an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Michigan. I have worked previously as a filmmaker, editor and archivist.

Marek Rutkowski (Mr)

Thesis Title: "Getting In The Ring With The Big Powers:" India, Canada, Poland And The International Control Commission In Vietnam (1954-1964)
Supervisor: Dr. Quek Ser Hwee

I am originally from Poland, but have been living in Singapore for almost 3 years now. I graduated with a Master's degree in International Relations from Copernicus University, Torun, Poland in 2009 where I conducted research on Poland's involvement in the final phase of the Vietnam War. An internship in the Embassy of Poland in Singapore (Summer 2008) fueled my interest in Asian politics and history and separately influenced my personal life. As a result, a year later I was on the way to Singapore to experience living in Asia first hand. After 2 years of work in different fields and in touch with Asian culture I am very glad to come back onto the academic path and pursue my PhD in history at NUS.

My main area of interest is the diplomatic history of Cold War with a particular focus on Asia. As my goal I perceive working on little known aspects of the East-West conflict which allow me to link my Polish background with an interest in Asia.

Natasha Sarkar (Ms)

Thesis Title: Fleas, Faith and Politics: Anatomy of An Indian Epidemic, 1890-1925
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Gregory Clancey, Dr. John DiMoia, Associate Professor Medha Kudaisya

Painting, music and sports add life to my years. Such happiness is the state I choose to be in. My experience thus far, has been in teaching. The challenge of helping my pupils grow to become independent and discerning thinkers is something I look forward to every single day. More importantly, I have realized that recognition is not the only barometer of brilliance or human worth. I therefore hope to contribute to efforts that might help the greater cause of humanity, while assisting the lives of a few people directly.

Many a fascinating aspect has escaped the South Asian historian in his attempt to capture the essence of the late-nineteenth-century plague epidemic in India. The thesis attempts to engage social, medical, legal and political perspectives. In colonial narratives, there has been an inclination towards the creation of homogeneous representations of the Indian response to colonial anti-plague measures. Current research, therefore, aims to locate disparate voices from within the Indian community. Medical philanthropy engaged the urban elite as well as missionaries, and it is the kind of motivation that supported these initiatives that has been explored. An analysis of the administrative mechanics of the government in addressing the epidemic and the subsequent response of the Indian community to Western medicine, remedies offered by the indigenous medical practitioners, homoeopaths as well as peddlers of popular medicine, have also received attention; the aim being-to provide a comprehensive study of the plague years.

Mala Rojo Sathian (Ms)

Thesis Title: Socio-Economic History of the Southern Thai Provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat (c.19th - 20th Century)
Supervisor: Dr. Paul Kratoska

I obtained my BA (Hons) in History in 1991 and an MA in 1996, both from the Department of History, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. While pursing my MA, I tutored at the Department of History, University of Malaya. For ten months in 1997, I was a visiting-research fellow attached to the Faculty of Liberal Arts Thammasat University. Currently, I am working on my Ph.D., on the southern border states of Thailand, at the Department of History, National University of Singapore. My research interests include, study of minority communities and history, politics, culture and economy of Thailand.

Ethnic Malay-Muslims of southern Thailand (Thai Muslims) comprise Thailand's largest indigenous minority group. The provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, located at the southeastern end of the country and bordering Thailand's neighbour to the south- Malaysia- is home to the majority of Thailand's ethnic Malays. These areas have long inherited the political nomenclature of Thailand's "recalcitrant provinces", referring to the Malay-Muslims' persistent agitation for separation from the Thai state. Malay-Muslim resistance to Thai rule is believed to have stemmed from Siamese injustices and misrule of these people, particularly in the period following the introduction of the centralization policy (1890s) of the Thai state. A close reading of documentary evidence, however, suggests that the implicit factors for the discontent were closely connected to the issue of revenue and the fear of foreign concession hunters flooding the south and appropriating the resource-rich areas in the south from Siamese control. By exploring the economy and the trade networks of the southern region, focusing in particular on the tin mining industry and the overland cattle trade, this study suggests that political decisions made regarding the southern provinces were determined by economic considerations, thus offering a more comprehensive explanation for the problems in the south vis-a-vis Siamese administration. The study also attempts to provide a clearer perspective of the livelihood of the people, the economic diversity of the southern region and the constant construction and reconstruction as well as the contestation of the socio-political identity of its inhabitants.

Shen Huifen (Ms)

Thesis Title: Engendering Chinese Migration History: "Left-behind Wives of The Nanyang Migrants" in Quanzhou before and after the Pacific War
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Dr. Ng Chin Keong, Dr. Liu Hong

Born in a beautiful village in South Fujian, China, I studied for my B.A. and M.A. at History Department, Fujian Normal University before enrolling at National University of Singapore for my Ph.D in 2002-2007. I greatly benefited from excellent guidance in the History Department, the stimulating intellectual environment of NUS, as well as friendship and kindness from many people in the country. Since 2008, I have been working in the Research School for Southeast Asian Studies/Faculty of International Relations at Xiamen University, China. My monograph "China's Left-Behind Wives: Families of Migrants from Fujian to Southeast Asia, 1930s-1950s" has been published by NUS Press in 2012 (co-published by the University of Hawaii Press and Hong Kong University Press) and is based on my Ph.D dissertation. It explores the complex experience of an outstanding group of women who lived in South Fujian when their husbands emigrated and worked in Southeast Asia countries. It shows that the women had played an important role in the men's migration process and in sustaining their families and the wider communities in China in the twentieth century.

This study intends to discover a history of Chinese women who were left-behind in male-dominated migration from south China to Southeast Asia (Nanyang). This will be achieved by a close examination of the "left-behind wives of Nanyang migrants" (fankeshen 番客婶) in Quzhou before and after the Pacific War from a gender perspective. It focuses on women's autonomy and wisdom to handle the challenges left behind by their husbands. It will be noted that these women faced a variety of situations and their adaptation and survival strategies in the complex environment of modern China, made even more complicated by the international migratory process, is rather admirable. Changes in gender relations and gender roles within migrant marriages and families will be studied. The positioning of these women in the public sphere will be used to shed light on their socio-political life and to explore the intricate relationship between gender, state and migration.

China's Left-Behind Wives: Families of Migrants from Fujian to Southeast Asia, 1930s-1950s
Publisher: NUS Press (2012), co-published by the University of Hawaii Press and Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 978-9971695613, 978-0824837341

For roughly a century starting around 1850, large numbers of young men from southern China travelled to Southeast Asia in search of work. Some were married and others returned to marry, but they routinely left their wives in China to handle family affairs. Drawing on in-depth interviews, archival materials, local gazetteers, newspapers and periodicals, the author describes the experiences of left-behind wives in the Quanzhou region of Fujian from the 1930s to the 1950s. Ultimately, the experiences of the left-behind wives drew them into public life and business, and as Overseas Chinese policies, and attitudes towards women, changed in China, they came to play an increasingly significant part in the processes of development and modernization.

Sim Dao Wei Joshua(Mr)

Thesis Title: Making Chinese Evangelicalism Global: Transnational Chinese Evangelical Careers in a Global World, 1920s to 1960s
Supervisor: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

Hello! I'm Joshua and I have been studying in the NUS History department for the past two years, writing my M. A. dissertation on the history of Chin Lien Bible Seminary and the Singapore Christian Evangelistic League. These two institutions constitute an important part of the history of the Chinese-speaking Protestant churches/organisations in Singapore which have been largely neglected by scholars. I plan to trace the evolution of evangelicalism - particularly the fundamentalist strand - in China and amongst the Chinese-speaking communities in Southeast Asia for my proposed PhD dissertation. In particular, I'm interested in the cross-cultural processes that were involved in the creation of an indigenous evangelical Christianity amongst the Chinese - one that became increasingly fundamentalist/orthodox after 1920 when revivalist-evangelists such as Watchman Nee and John Sung rose to nationwide and international prominence.

In my free time, I serve actively in church and I am a sports (science) enthusiast.

Su Fei (Ms)

Thesis Title: Navigating Through a Planned Culture Official and Unofficial Opera Troupes in Socialist China, 1949-1966
Supervisors: Associate Professor Lee Seung-Joon

Over the course of 7 years studying history, I became intrigued by many related subjects including: literature, cultural studies, political science, anthropology, and opera theory. I am most interested in the study of the history of art, to be exact, the history of traditional Chinese opera. I began to pay attention to this field while I was preparing my undergraduate dissertation. Over that period, I obtained an initial sense of the "context" of opera performance and drafted a plan to do fieldwork in Zhejiang Province to enrich my research on the Theater Reform of contemporary China. In the summer of 2014, I executed this fieldwork plan. I interviewed several artists in Zhoushan who had experienced the Theater Reform in the 1950's and 1960's. The artist's life stories were very moving. It made me feel a sense of responsibility to write and explain this piece of history, and find the meaning of it.

When I lived in Shanghai, I kept frequent contact with Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre. I also got a precious chance to learn a role from a famous Peking Opera by following a young Tsing Yi actress. My life consisted of doing research on opera history, going to the theatre and learning the singing and performance of Tsing Yi. I hope to continue my research on traditional Chinese opera as a doctoral student in NUS and make a contribution to the promotion of this art form.

Kathryn Dawn Sweet (Ms)

Thesis Title: Limited Doses: Health and Development in Laos, 1893-2000
Supervisors: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart, Dr. Vineeta Sinha

I want to better understand how the Lao Ministry of Health and the Lao 'modern' health system developed under the rubric of post-colonialism, conflict, and international development support. I will use a combination of archival research and in-depth interviews to investigate the key forces that have shaped the policies, programs, administrative organisation, staffing and education and training programs.

Research interests: History of health; medical anthropology; Lao society and social change; contemporary Lao politics; Lao government policy and planning; rural and community development, oral history.

Previous work/study: Prior to commencing my PhD at NUS, I worked in the Lao PDR for 15 years in the fields of rural and community development, sexual and reproductive health, community health, and government planning and implementation systems with international organisations, bilateral governments, and international NGOs. I also worked as a Lao/English interpreter/translator. I have a BA (Hons) in Social History from the University of Melbourne, and an MA (Asian Studies) from the Australian National University in Canberra.

Theara Thun (Mr)

Thesis Title: Bangsavata: The Evolution of Historiographical Genres in Colonial Cambodia
Supervisor: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart

Hello, this is Theara THUN, from Cambodia. Since I was a very little, I had a dream to become a professional tour guide functioning as a messenger explaining Cambodian history, culture and politics to foreign tourists. That is why I decided to do my undergraduate education in History. However, after I obtained my B.A. in 2008, my interest changed and I attempted to do further studies to become a lecturer and researcher in a higher educational institute. In 2009, my dream was fulfilled when I got a scholarship, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, to pursue an M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. These graduate studies took almost two years, and in July 2011, I successfully completed my degree. Coming back to Cambodia, I was recruited as a lecturer in the Department of History of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP). The subjects that I taught were something related to classical Khmer Arts and modern Southeast Asian history. I worked at RUPP almost one year, and then I was awarded a Ph.D. scholarship of Harvard Yenching Institute-National University of Singapore Joint Doctoral Scholar.

I am particularly interested in intellectual and cultural history of postcolonial Cambodia. Besides spending most of my time on studying and working, I have some favorite activities, including photography, traveling, swimming and watching movies. I also like going to coffee shops to have conversations with friends.

Kisho Tsuchiya (Mr)

Thesis Title: Constructing East Timor: History, Identity, and Place, 1850-1999
Supervisor: Associate Professor Maitrii Aung-Thwin

I think my interest in Southeast Asia started when I was exposed to Balinese culture in 1991, but I was not particularly interested in history up until the completion of my B.A. in international politics at Hosei University in Tokyo. In 2009, I took one year leave from the university, and worked with the Electoral Support Team of the United Nations in East Timor while I stayed at a house of a Timorese ex-guerrilla soldier. During my M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies at the NUS, I started reading about recent academic debates on history writing under the guidance of excellent professors from several departments including Southeast Asian Studies, Malay Studies, and History. This experience made me convinced that history could be something very interesting. Then, I reflected about my experiences and what I was taught about Timor and Indonesia, and felt that I am able to contribute to this debate as most of the history books on West and East Timor still belong to what the historians of Southeast Asia have called "neo-colonial historiography." This is why I was inclined for an academic career at the Department of History.

My research interest lies in cultural history, historiography, rebellion studies, religion and modern Southeast Asian history. For my PhD dissertation, I plan to study rebellions in Timor Island with more emphasis on contributions of non-Portuguese speaking people by means of the source materials in Tetun language. Aside from my research project, I love writing, playing basketball, watching Japanese animations, and reading philosophy books and detective fiction.

Cuauhtemoc Tonatiuh Villamar (Mr)

Thesis Title: A Portuguese Merchant Network in the Initial Times of the Manila Galleon System
Supervisor: Associate Professor Peter Borshberg

Hello. I'm a former Mexican diplomat with about 20 years dedicated to Asia. I was posted in China twice (1989 and 2012), Singapore (1993), Thailand (1994) and Canada (2001). With a degree in economics in Mexico, and a Master in Public Policy in NUS, my specialty was international cooperation, trade, and cultural promotion. My personal research has since lead me to the study of historical interactions across the Pacific, focusing on the Manila Galleon trade system. My passion became my discipline, studying the variety of angles of that global connection of early modernity. I have a blog on this subject, La Nao Va (The Ship Sails). I decided to take a History PhD at NUS, attracted by its high standards of education and research, and because I'm convinced that a cross-cultural approach will enhance my research of this complex system of global connections.

Taking an early retirement, I have moved recently to Thailand, to the hometown of my wife. We have two children. My research is related to the role played by western merchants in Asia, mostly Portuguese, in the formative period (1580-1600) of the Manila Galleon System.

Wei Bingbing (Mr)

Thesis Title: The Bifurcated Theater: Urban Space, Operatic Entertainment, and Cultural Politics in Shanghai, 1900s-1930s
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Associate Professor Lee Seung-Joon, Dr. Yang Bin

After receiving my bachelor and master degrees from Nanjing University in China, I left my parents and came to Singapore, not only to pursue a Ph. D degree, but also to make new friends, encounter new cultures and enrich my life. I have a huge number of interests, from rock music to Chinese traditional operas, from Michael Jordan to Hollywood, from Confucianism to modern Chinese history ……So, I am sure that we will find something in common.

Public life is the best demonstration of local culture, and public space constitutes an ideal site for us to observe social changes. By examining the transformation of theatres in modern Shanghai and the relations between theatres and various social groups, I wish to find out more aspects of the social changes in modern Shanghai so as to deepen our understanding of the urban history and the social history of modern China.

Wu Hongsheng (Mr)

Thesis Title: Chan Monks, Warriors and Imperial Aristocrats: Southeastern East Asian Continental Chan Monks' Interactions with Japanese Political Players and the Accommodation of the Chan Monks from the Mid-Seventeenth Century to the Mid-Eighteenth Century
Supervisor: Associate Professor Lee Seung-Joon

Hello, this is Wu Hongsheng from China. I received my Bachelor's degree of history in China and my Master's degree specializing in East Asian history in Japan.

My interest in history inspires me all the time, dating back to the days when I was a child. At that time, my grandparents used to take me to watch Chinese Yue Opera about ancient Chinese historical events, and from those sagas and legends I learned my initial historical knowledge. My interest in history was intrigued since then, and when I was about to begin my undergraduate study, I chose history as my major without any hesitation.

Since my hometown Ningbo is an important port city in East Asia, I am curious about maritime history of this region. In order to understand East Asian maritime stories in the Age of Discovery better, I first decided to explore the historical background in early periods. Thus, at the beginning of my Master's program, I chose Sino-Japanese cultural interaction of the Yuan-Ming transition period as my research topic.

The rigorous methodology of Japanese historians benefited me well during my Master's period. Moreover, I am interested in historiography, with a preference to broaden my horizon, think "out of box", and combine a wider historical perspective with concrete historical incidents in my study. I intend to deepen my understanding of both regional and world history, by conducting a PhD research project focusing on maritime history.

In my spare time, I like reading novels, listening to music and going jogging. By the way, when I am running, I really enjoy the feeling that a breeze embraces my cheeks.

Fumihito Yamamoto (Mr)

Thesis Title: The Japanese Road to Singapore: Japanese Perceptions of the Singapore Naval Base, 1921-41
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Brian Farrell, Dr. Malcolm Murfett, Dr. Teow See Heng

Hi. I am Fumihito from Japan. I spent seven years taking BA and MA degrees at Dokkyo University, Saitama Japan. I am very happy to be in NUS studying history. I enjoy the International atmosphere of NUS, multicultural, multilingual and multinational - so many students from all over the world. Furthermore, NUS has a marvelous campus, a splendid mixture of modern buildings and tropical plants.

My thesis topic is on the history of Singapore Naval Base and Japanese perception toward the British 'Singapore Strategy'. Britain built a new naval base in Singapore in the inter-war period. How did the Japanese government, especially the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, perceive the British Far Eastern policies? How did they make their policies toward British 'Singapore Strategy'? Since the Washington Conference, there was rivalry and antipathy between the 'Fleet Faction' and the 'Administrative Faction' within the Japanese Navy. Did this rivalry affect their policies? It was in April 1936 that Britain first became the hypothetical enemy of Japan. How did the Japanese consider the 'Singapore Strategy' before that time? I will have to answer these questions. It is high time that we should consider the British 'Singapore Strategy' from the Japanese point of view to broaden our understanding of the history.

Zhang Beiyu (Ms)

Thesis Title: Encountering Chinese Performing Troupes in Nanyang: Transnational Circulations, Diasporic Localizations and Changing Chineseness, 1850s-1980s
Supervisor: Associate Professor Huang Jianli

Hi, my name is Zhang Beiyu from China, Shantou University. I did my undergraduate study in English language and literature in China from 2007-2011. During my undergraduate study, it was an American anthropologist Felix Giron who first led me to the world of humanities and social sciences. Later I developed a keen interest in the study on Southern Chinese culture: lineage, community, religion and belief systems. Sponsored by the Li Kang-Shing Foundation, I came to NUS with the Southeast Asian Studies, Master of Arts program. It was this intensive training that equipped me with a profound theoretical knowledge of the Southeast Asian region. My experience of studying and living in Southeast Asia while travelling to neighboring nations gave me this privileged chance to further enrich my own research interest: the contrasting moral and religious landscapes between Chinese society and the Southeast Asia diaspora. Specifically, my concern is on the social history of diaspora Chinese religious life where conflicts and violence with colonialism and state formation are further complicated by race, politics and economic gains. To Study Chinese belief systems, commonly known as Chinese tradition combining Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, one has to go back to the great empire history in late the Qing Dynasty and Early Republican period where social movement, anxieties and confrontations are most active with multiple religious implications. It is also my interest to look at these aspects with a comparative angle on diaspora Chinese societies.

Apart from this, I am a big fan of travelling around Southeast Asia. Probably affected by the academic training, I am especially fond of the culture, religious diversity as well as the lovely peoples from this region. Also, I can cook different kinds of Chinese dishes. Cooking is one of my top leisure activities.

Zhang Jing (Ms)

Thesis Title: Aspiration for a New Fuzhou: Local Print and Urban Changes, 1927-1937
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Huang Jianli, Dr. Teow See Heng, Dr. Yang Bin

I am from Fujian, China. I received my B.A. and M.A. from Fujian Normal University in Fuzhou city, Fujian province, my hometown. I like reading fiction, watching movies and listening to music. My favourite popular song is "The Most Romantic Thing" by Zhao Yonghua, a female singer from Taiwan. I am happy to find that Singapore is a clean city with trees, flowers and birds. And, NUS is a large and beautiful university. I hope to know more about the country and the university in the future.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the influence of the establishment of maritime custom offices on the development of cities in China and Southeast Asia is evident. Considering such a fact, it is significant to discuss the development of these port cities in a comprehensive way by studying Fuzhou, Xiamen, Penang and Singapore.

Zhang Leiping (Ms)

Thesis Title: Trade and Security issues in Sino-Vietnamese relations from 1802-1874
Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Bruce Lockhart, Dr. Ng Chin Keong, Dr. Anthony Reid

Hello everyone! I am a student in the history department of NUS. My research focus is on Vietnamese trade. When I am not studying, I enjoy cooking, classical music, the art of tea and ancient Chinese characters. I plan to visit Vietnam to take in the beautiful landscape and culture. If you have a similar interest, maybe we can visit Vietnam together.

The Nguyen endeavored to expand the commercial contacts with China since they reconditioned the traditional Sino-Vietnamese relationship, namely the Sino-Vietnamese tributary relations in 1802. Besides, Sino Vietnamese authorized commerce also proceeded. Plying junks and itinerated merchants knotted huge commercial network in northern Vietnam. Aside from this legal commercial network, a big invisible network, illegal trade also existed. Commercial activities by illegal merchants such as pirates, bandits and corrupted merchants and officials, did not only influence economic policy but also security concerns in Nguyen Vietnam. Therefore, Vietnam issued a forbidden-items policy of all kinds and consolidated national defense in an attempt to solve problems arising from an expanding Asian economy. These trade and security issues became the signal that Nguyen Vietnam endeavored to amend the traditional Sino-Vietnamese relationship and to seek more commercial profits.

Zou Kunyi (Ms)

Thesis Title: Art, Artist, and Identification: Liu Kang and Nanyang Art 
Supervisor: Dr. Yang Bin

I was born in Xi'an, one of the oldest cities in China with more than 3,000 years of history, where I am always amazed by the civilizations cumulated for thousands of years. I graduated with a bachelor degree majoring in English language and literature, in which I got great exposure to western culture. I studied Chinese literature for my Master's degree, and developed my interest in overseas Chinese communities. Since my arrival in Singapore two years ago, I have been fascinated by such a localized Chinese society in the global context, which made me think about the possibility of doing a PhD. I am an outgoing and enthusiastic person. I enjoy reading, swimming, as well as watching football games.

My thesis plan to study the case of Liu Kang, a local pioneering artist in Singapore. Through the case of Liu, the project aims to shed some light on Chinese migration network, Sino-Southeast Asian interactions in the 20th century, as well as the localization of Chinese community and culture especially fine arts in the second half of the 20th century.