Loo Zhi En (Mr)

Proposed 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.