About

I don’t belong to the cyber-world, am not on facebook and do not surf the net, so I never thought  that I would set up a blog site. However, there has been a spate of remarks made in the media these days about how important it is to know the past, that made me venture to do so. As a historian, I take an interest in this, especially when the statements are made by people in positions of some authority. I find myself going on and on about things when I come across such instances, so to spare my friends, discipline my thoughts and see what others may have to say about them, I write as mini myna.

The myna is a local bird, which looks rather stern in the picture (from Nature Watch, Nature Society’s magazine), but I’m reliably told  that it is an annoying pest and not very bright for a bird. That isn’t quite me, I don’t think, hence the qualification ‘mini’. Also I used to whiz around in a tiny two-door vehicle until Austin stopped producing them. As did Mr Bean, if I’m not mistaken.

I do not plan to blog regularly–only when I find a subject of interest to write about. Also, I will not try to be terribly current, even though I will be writing in response to newsworthy items. It takes a while for ideas to gel, and to craft something sound that I hope is deserving of the time it takes for you to read them.

I have left employment with the university, and am doing research on my own steam. I take a long time to read and write, so envisage that it will be at least a couple of years or more before a publication materialises, if at all, on Singapore politics in the early 1950s. In the meantime, I am one of those involved in putting out the e-journal, s/pores: new directions in singapore studies.

Hong Lysa