Tuesday 24 February 2015

[Straits Times] Complete S'pore Story with pre-colonial heritage

I WAS intrigued to read about the archaeological evidence that has been unearthed, pointing to Singapore being a kingdom with a bustling port in the 14th century until it was attacked by Javanese forces in the 15th century ("Preserving Singapore's heritage: Digging up our history"; last Saturday).

However, generations of Singaporeans have learnt that Singapore was a quiet fishing village until its founding in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles.

Unless we have paid attention to information boards on Fort Canning Hill and in the National Museum, many of us may have little knowledge of our pre-colonial history other than the account of Sang Nila Utama naming our island Singapura after he spotted what he thought was a lion.

In this 50th year of Singapore's independence and with the discovery of more archeological evidence, it is time we made it known to Singaporeans and the world that Singapore is much more than just a young nation with a British colonial past.

We also have an ancient legacy as the thriving kingdom and port of Singapura that we can be proud of, and which we can tap, not only for sociocultural reasons, but also for a tourism-related, economic purpose.

For a start, could we consider revising our history textbooks to teach our students more about our pre-colonial heritage, if it is not already being done? Tourist brochures and guidebooks could also be rewritten.

In addition, when the National Museum is reopened after its revamp, I hope it will have an expanded section on ancient Singapura.

As for the artefacts excavated in the recent archeological digs pointing to the existence of the kingdom and its port, would the authorities consider building a replica of the ancient palace on Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill), as Fort Canning Hill was known in the past, and housing the artefacts in it? This will give visitors a much clearer impression of what the old kingdom and port were like, compared with existing storyboards.

Finally, we see on the bank of the Singapore River, a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles at his purported landing site.

Perhaps, we could also commemorate the founding of Singapura with a tableau of its first king, Sang Nila Utama, and his entourage when they landed on what was then known as Temasek, or Sea Town.

Ultimately, more being done to promote our pre-colonial heritage will make for a more complete Singapore Story and anchor our roots more deeply to this land we call home.

Edwin Pang