A VOICE OF OUR OWN : RETHINKING THE DISABLED IN THE HISTORICAL IMAGINATION OF SINGAPORE

Abstract

People with disabilities are strangely absent from the historical imagination of Singapore. This thesis probes their absence from history. Using various theoretical frameworks drawn from the field of disability studies, it traces the marginalization of people with disabilities in academia to powerful discourses on disability evolved by the state from 1945 onwards. Until the 1980s, people with disabilities, were seen as passive subjects of welfare, pity, aid and rehabilitation. In the 1980s, people with disabilities, became more vocal and advocated for their rightful place in society. The advocacy of the disabled marked the beginnings of civil society in Singapore. In their interactions with state and society, the disabled create a discourse of disability. This discourse of disability permeated into their everyday lives and influenced the identities of the disabled.