January 21, 2020

A review of Associate Professor Timothy P. Barnard’s (NUS Department of History) Imperial Creatures: Human and Other Animals in Colonial Singapore 1819 – 1942 (NUS Press, 2019) by Mr Johannes Riutta from The Well-Read Naturalist describes the book as “deeply researched, well annotated, and surprisingly…readable”. Mr Riutta also details some examples from the book that show how colonial rule in Singapore had transformed the island.

In Imperial Creatures, A/P Barnard examines the lives of the animals and focuses on a variety of common animal such as dogs, cattle, and horses. Mr Riutta recalls a section on feral dogs in colonial Singapore, where their expanded population threatened the human inhabitants of Singapore. However, while this issue was viewed differently by the British, Chinese, Malays, Tamils, and Klings, the British still opted for regulations that tended towards absolutism rather than nuance – a theme that pervades throughout the colonial period.

Mr Riutta also points out that A/P Barnard paid particular attention to the ponies and bullocks that pulled the small carts in colonial Singapore – essentially the backbone of its public and commercial transportation then. The issue of regulating what was proper and acceptable treatment of these animals had implications throughout colonial Singapore as it cut across economic and social status, as well as ethnicity.

Mr Riutta believes that the information presented by A/P Barnard in the book is applicable to a wide range of disciplines, including sociology and urban planning. Furthermore, the book offers a slice of history from a time and place that was highly significant to the development of Singapore but still unfamiliar to many today.

To find out more about Imperial Creatures, you can attend the book launch on the 12th of February by registering here.

Read the review here.