SINGAPORE, 27 September 2023 – Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) and the Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore (NUS) jointly present a bilingual international conference titled Popular Nanyang: Re-thinking Chinese Cultures in Post-war Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia. This will be the first in-person session following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taking place on 11 and 12 November 2023, from 9am to 6:30pm at SCCC, this conference features close to 30 international scholars and experts who will explore the significance of diasporic and local Chinese popular cultures for both social memory and scholarly research.
Located in the heart of Nanyang, Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia are well-known sites of vibrant Chinese cultural production. Post World War II, a mix of old and new media, such as literature written by intellectuals, as well as other cultural forms with wider appeal have enriched the everyday lives of Chinese in Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia, while entangled in complex commercial and ideological concerns.
Playing host to a dynamic ensemble of media ecologies, enlivened by multiple languages and Chinese topolects, Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia offer a special site to reconsider what it means for culture to be “popular” from 1945 to the 1970s, when “Nanyang” struggled as the most suitable geographical term to frame what later became known as “Southeast Asia”.
“Commemorating its 70th anniversary this year, our department has been running a series of academic activities, which include the forthcoming international conference entitled Popular Nanyang: Rethinking Chinese Cultures in Postwar Singapore and Malaya/Malaysia. The conference enhances our longstanding expertise in the study of Singapore and Malaysian Chinese by aiming to revive interest among scholars and the local public in multiple forms of popular culture.” shared Professor Ong Chang Woei, Head, Department of Chinese Studies, NUS.
“Our close partnership with the SCCC in gathering everyone to share their knowledge and perspectives is especially meaningful as the collaboration will certainly highlight the goals of the conference,” Professor Ong added.
SCCC Chief Executive Officer Mr Low Sze Wee said, “SCCC has co-organised lectures regularly with NUS Department of Chinese Studies to provide an educational platform for experts to share their knowledge of and research in Chinese Singaporean culture. This conference aims to do the same and I look forward to new perspectives being shared.”
Admission is free. Click here to register and find out more.
