The Colonial Subaltern.

Prof Anand A Yang on his latest book ‘Empire of Convicts’ with Prof Aparna Vaidik ji.
A book I look forward to read in conjunction with The Collie’s Great War.

Fascinating personal narrative of Cheena Bhavana in Shantiniketan; where my cousin studied and my parents are Visvabharati alumni, and I am based in Singapore as a PhD Scholar 🙂 Profound as Prof Yang was born in Shantiniketan himself.

Podcasts as Archives.

#Podcasts are current day oral archives. I am really petrified of amazing conversations which find a safe space in the realm of the digital, being lost in the absence of well thought out knowledge management frameworks especially in South Asia and the Gulf.

It would be generative to have good ones transcribed and edited into books. Knowledge production and dissemination is faster via podcasts. Atleast as raw data, they are fertile fodder for theory building, if not only for spreading the word aka PR.

Excellent Migrant Workers in Singapore Talk by Prof Brenda Yeoh.

Spatial Politics and Transient Migrant Workers in Global City Singapore’ talk at the LSE by Prof Brenda Yeoh, Raffles Professor of Social Sciences at the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore.

Tuas View dormitory was mentioned, where i have been on research in 2016, many a time- a mega dorm. This is a different sort of a Global City Singapore.

The Vibrant Shadow of a Global City: A Photo Essay of Geylang

The Back Alley.
The Migrant Mart.
The Meat List.

The field trip to Geylang, the legal red light district of Singapore revealed many layers to the neighborhood. The tour facilitator Mr. Cai is a 30 year social entrepreneur who made the right connections at multiple levels from sex work to a slice of migrant life. The trip with fellow theorists and senior scholars was a unique experience. Having been a researcher in Singapore for many years, this was a great lens to view the city beyond the brand. The subaltern is also transnational in Singapore.