I have recently been reading a website that I stumbled upon called Remembering Singapore. Upon reading the first few posts, I was instantly hooked by the content that it was providing, and had been reading it daily since. I'm proud to say that I'm now currently almost halfway though the entire list of articles on the website, and probably will have it fully read by the end of this academic year.

Ama Keng Village - If I remember correctly, the village where I was in. - Taken from http://remembersingapore.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/from-villages-to-flats-part-1/

When I was younger, I always thought that learning history was a chore. I understood the concept behind it since I was a kid, the whole point of knowing about your beginnings to fully appreciate the blessings of today, or as the Chinese say, 饮水思源. Yet, I never really subscribed to that idea as a child; it would be very sad if one could not cherish the things in his life just because he did not know where it came from. I thought of it as merely another unnecessary subject in school. Interesting, but unnecessary.

As I started growing older, that mindset did not change. I still believed that history was a study of events in the past that would almost certainly never happen again. And even if it did, current environments would leave it impossible for the teachings and lessons of the past to be even remotely applicable to the problems of today. What that did change for me, was the definition of the term history.

And to this, I ask you. What is history to you? Is it the story of historical events? The Hundred Years War? The French Revolution? The Xinhai Revolution?

I realized that my definition of history was just simply stretched too far from my own existence. That might sound egocentric perhaps, but I only start finding things interesting when it involves either myself or the important people around me. It is hard enough to find meaning in things that one has first hand involvement in.

The first thing that started me on this change of mindset was when I was introduced to Storycorps. What that was important to people around the world was not usually what that was happening globally, but what that was usually happening in their own world. Be it the loss of a loved one, or the return of a spouse from war.

As I listened from one story to another, I questioned myself. How many of these stories do I know from the people around me? I felt mortified when I noted that I did not even know how my parents met, much less of their lives before then.

And the thought spread, what about the place I’ve lived my whole life. What did I learn about Singapore in history lessons? When history is remembered by events, it makes it hard to remember the impact and significance of the places where it occurred.

So I keep reading Remembering Singapore. And I will make sure to have my father bring me to what’s left of the Kampung which we lived in when I was one. I will also remember to ask him about his stories.

After all, good stories are meant to be shared.