The metric…
Whether one likes it or not, scholars are measured by what and where they publish their research in. It used to be that PhD students weren’t expected to publish anything until they were done with their dissertations…but well, times have changed. So here is the research I’ve produced that has appeared in academic journals and edited volumes. It’s a small list for now, but I do intend for it to grow in coming years.
“Nation, Nature, and the Singapore Zoological Gardens, 1973-2018”
in Singaporean Creatures edited by Timothy P. Barnard. Singapore: NUS Press, 2024. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.11249302.
The concluding chapter of Singaporean Creatures and a reworked version of my undergraduate Honours’ Thesis, this chapter examines how Singaporeans articulated anxieties and aspirations of their new nation through the Singapore Zoological Gardens, and the panthers, orang-utans, and polar bears that were homed and displayed there. In 2024, Singaporean Creatures was shortlisted for the Singapore History Prize.
“Fishes of Empire: Imperialism & Ichthyological Introductions in British Malaya, 1923-1942”
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 54, no. 1 (2023): 44–63. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463423000115.
This double-blind peer reviewed article, adapted from material in my Master’s thesis, explores how the colonial introduction of three categories of exotic fishes – the sepat siam, Chinese carp, and English trout – was entangled with peoples, places, and policies profoundly influenced by imperial power. Coincidentally, this piece was published a century after the Fisheries Department of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States, mentioned in this article, was founded in 1923.
Akan Datang (coming soon)…
“Trees, Singapore, and the World”
A book chapter that explores how the global circulation of three tree species found in Singapore across three centuries–the gutta percha, rain tree, and double coconut– reflected new patterns and transformations in Singaporean society.
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