POLITICS OF NARRATIVES AND ISSUES IN INVESTIGATING HISTORY IN SINGAPORE: AN EXAMINATION OF THE BOYCOTT OF THE CHINESE SCHOOLS SECONDARY FOUR EXAMINATIONS (1961)

Abstract

History is a deliberate piece of work that involves not only historians but everyone as well. It is a highly contested field where historical scholarship often finds itself both competing and complementing different strands of history. To pursue what had happened, we create the narrative, an account of what is said to have happened. In Singapore, the Singapore story stands tall as the dominant narrative despite increased challenges from other narratives in recent years to "tell history". A little known event; the 1961 Chinese Middle School Students Boycott of the Secondary Four Examinations will be used to locate the dominant national narrative, to acknowledge and examine the emergence of competing narratives, and to analyze how these narratives were constructed. Oral history will be examined through scrutinizing the oral history centre and issues of politics of language and translation. In conclusion, this exercise seeks to provide insights into production process of history and how an awareness of the production process, and the issues associated with it, is required for manufacturing history in Singapore.