Syamala Senan – Involuntary Migrant, Kerala to Singapore Part 1 | Chronicles of Old Singapore

Welcome to Chronicles of Old Singapore. Syamala Senan was an ‘involuntary migrant’ from Kerala, joining her husband in Singapore in an arranged marriage in 1979. She talks about her struggles to adapt to a foreign land, find a job, connect with the Malayalee community, and raise her children. Today, she is, in her own words, half Singaporean, half Indian and happy. Ep1 |    • Syamala Senan – Involuntary Migrant, Keral...   Ep2 |    • Syamala Senan – Involuntary Migrant, Keral...   00:00 Intro 00:12 Involuntary Migration 07:23 My Education 10:05 Whether Singaporean or Indian? 16:29 Finding Work in Singapore 21:35 The Malayalee Community I’m Dr Loh KS, a people’s historian. I’m interested in the history of Singapore and the lives of its people. In Chronicles of Old Singapore, I speak to people about their memories of Singapore before it became a global city today. We discuss three topics: 1. People and places. 2. Change and continuity. 3. The importance of heritage. As a historian, I try to stay true to the oral history method on a video format and social media platform. I let the interviewee speak, as the ‘voice of the past’ as Paul Thompson put it. No clickbait, no BS, no posturing. The aim is to canvas a wide range of voices on various aspects of Singapore history and heritage – physical, social, cultural, economic. Do like the video, share your memories below and subscribe to the channel for future episodes. Write to me if you have questions or thoughts on Old Singapore or want to come onto the podcast: [email protected] Support Chronicles of Old Singapore on Patreon:   / chroniclesofoldsingapore   Follow the channel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... Chronicles Research & Education is my research consultancy on the history of Singapore: https://www.chroniclesresearch.com/ Caveat: this is above all a podcast based on personal memory. As has been well-documented in oral history, memory is not always reliable and what is recalled here should not be taken as fact. However, as Alessandro Portelli noted, the subjectivity of oral history is also its great strength, and what is inaccurately remembered may point to how deeply meaningful the past is to people. #singaporehistory #memory #heritage #nostalgia #oralhistory #socialhistory #history #singapore