Monday 22 April, 2024

This is an FOM member-only event. The lecture will be held on-line 11am-12 pm (SGT).  To register for the event please click here.

In A New Light: Rediscovering Francis Light with the Penang Chronicles

The story of Captain Francis Light, founder of Penang, is known mainly through colonial era biographers. They make scant mention of his enigmatic wife, Martinha Rozells or the

peoples of the 18 th century Straits. The Penang Chronicles (Dragon, Pearl and Emporium) revisit the narrative anew, asking some new questions of the historical evidence in a fresh look at this pivotal moment in the history of the region.  In this lively presentation, Rose Gan will offer a different perspective and take us through her personal journey of recreating an authentic Martinha Rozells for a modern audience.

About the speaker

British by birth, Rose Gan has been based in South East Asia for many years with her Malaysian husband and family, having lived in Bangkok, Penang and Jakarta. With an academic background in Ancient and Medieval History and Classical languages, Rose worked for many years as a teacher and then later as a docent at various museums in Malaysia and Indonesia. Rose has also contributed to various museums publications as both writer and editor. Now based in Kuala Lumpur, Rose is mostly tied to her desk writing her next novel when not travelling, knitting (a singularly useless hobby in Malaysia) and inevitably perfecting her sourdough bread.

Monday 29 April, 2024

The lecture is open to the public and will be held at the ACM Ngee Ann Auditorium at 11am (SGT). 

My Grandma’s Startup: a personal journey as a 4th-generation apprentice craftsman

After 4 years helming a charity, Ng Tze Yong joined his family business as its 4th-generation apprentice craftsman, picking up an ancient craft from his 93-year-old grandmother and 72-year-old dad.  Established in 1896, his family business - Say Tian Hng Buddha Shop - is one of Singapore's oldest heritage businesses.  It hand-crafts wooden effigies of Taoist and Buddhist deities using traditional techniques dating back to the early Qing Dynasty, a method which is listed as an official Intangible Cultural Heritage of China used to craft gifts to foreign dignitaries.  In this personal sharing, Tze Yong will take you on his unconventional journey, giving a glimpse into the secrets of the ancient craft, which revolves around a splendidly-inclusive cast of characters comprising fearsome warlords, fair maidens, drunken monks and filial parrots.

About the speaker

Ng Tze Yong is the 4th-generation apprentice craftsman at Say Tian Hng, a small family business established in 1896 that hand-crafts Taoist and Buddhist wooden statues via early Qing Dynasty techniques.  Besides preserving the ancient craft, he is modernising the business via product design, digitalisation, and the setup of an education arm, the Academy of Classical Chinese Culture.  He works full-time in the non-profit sector and is a Board Director at the Kim Mui Hoey Kuan, a Chinese clan established in 1876. A former journalist and CEO of a charity and Institution of Public Character, he studied liberal arts at Brown University and was a President's Scholar at New York's Parsons School Of Design.