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Raffles

‘Bicentennial’ is 2019’s ‘it’ word, and it’s annoying
Longform

‘Bicentennial’ is 2019’s ‘it’ word, and it’s annoying

Four years ago, we had ‘SG50’ plastered all over every possible physical and digital space around us. This year, we have the b-word; yes, you guessed it, the word is ‘bicentennial’. 2019 saw many new and recurring Singaporean events jumping on board the ‘Bicentennial edition’ bandwagon. Is it just me, or is the b-word starting to become so overused? If I had a dollar every time “Bicentennial Edition” is said, I’ll probably have enough to buy a S$20 bicentennial note from Carousell’s black market. I’m not exaggerating here. With the exception of Bicentennial-special events such as the Raffles in Southeast…
Raffles in Southeast Asia: An exposé of Singapore’s founder, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
Exhibitions

Raffles in Southeast Asia: An exposé of Singapore’s founder, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

What do we really know about Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and his role in 19th-century Southeast Asia? What else was he doing in the region, beyond establishing a British East India Company outpost on the island of Singapore? The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) seeks to answer these pressing questions with Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesman. Director of the ACM, Kennie Ting, explains, “There are two main intents for this exhibition. The first is to objectively address the figure of Raffles, presenting him as a complex and multifaceted personality, rather than the mythical, one-dimensional ‘founder figure’ most…
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