All tagged Colonialism

Emerald Hill’s Colonial Link with Deforestation and Suburbanization

If it wasn’t for a leaf and a nut, Singapore would not be what it is today, and I learned this by looking at Emerald Hill Road. This history starts with the introduction of colonialism to Singapore in 1819, connecting the small tropical island with the European economy. Once the profitable relationship with the East India Company became available, colonizers and Chinese Immigrants alike took to the disastrous task of deforestation to satiate the demand for gambier leaves and nutmeg seeds. By fitting in the middle of three distinct periods, the history of Emerald Hill represents how suburban Singapore is connected to the colonial origins of the nation through agricultural deforestation, suburbanization, and urbanization. 

Singapore' UFO-Topped Supreme Court Building

What’s that in the cover photo? No, it is probably not a UFO parked on an office building. The official story, if you believe it, is that the dome is the symbolic crescendo for the new Supreme Court and the focus of today's post. For today, you can expect me to go into the research behind the building’s history and symbolic intent.

Connecting British Colonialism with Singapore's Heartlands through Dakota Crescent

How could a building possibility hold cultural value? Architecture is not just about bricks and mortar. The structural design imbues ideologies and beliefs into our built environments, and from that our human responses are what define us. Culture comes from the peculiar habits and ongoings that are afforded by the places we call home, which is why Dakota Crescent is of such great significance to the history of architecture.

Pulau Ubin: A Test of Singaporean Modernity in the 21st Century

Pulau Ubin is a small island northeast of mainland Singapore accessible to tourists by bumboats from the Changi Point Ferry Terminal. The boat is the first environment to signal the island's identity. The fare is a mere $3 per ride, and passengers are to sit on a basic wooden bench facing each other. It appears like a miracle that anything in Singapore could be in such a condition considered the harsh domination of modernity in mainland Singapore. There are none of the HDB flats and expressways so common to the city. The island’s identity is as an escape into the past, but its very existence is dependent on Singapore’s Modernity.