Jason Lim
University of Wollongong, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, Faculty Member
- Jason Lim is a historian whose research interests include the modern history of Singapore, overseas Chinese history, ... moreJason Lim is a historian whose research interests include the modern history of Singapore, overseas Chinese history, Chinese business history and Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations during the Cold War.edit
When Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence in 2015, there were reminders of how the People\u27s Action Party (PAP) government had effectively implemented policies on social integration and economic change, and saved Singapore... more
When Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence in 2015, there were reminders of how the People\u27s Action Party (PAP) government had effectively implemented policies on social integration and economic change, and saved Singapore from the twin threats of communism and Chinese chauvinism. Such reminders were not new. In a statement issued in 1983, the party declared that \u27if there were no PAP there would be no Singapore as we know it today\u27. The historiography of Singapore remains overwhelmingly about the achievements of the PAP. Little is said about the opposition parties in Singapore over the last 50 years
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In June 2011, Wang Pengfei, a student from the People\u27s Republic of China (PRC) at the EASB East Asia Institute of Management in Singapore, posted a video of himself on YouTube wearing a pair of thick glasses and putting on black... more
In June 2011, Wang Pengfei, a student from the People\u27s Republic of China (PRC) at the EASB East Asia Institute of Management in Singapore, posted a video of himself on YouTube wearing a pair of thick glasses and putting on black lipstick. In the two and a half minute clip, he mocked the different racial groups in Singapore, resulting in an uproar from netizens in Singapore. He was eventually hauled up for questioning before the school authorities, expelled from the EASB and then sent back home to the PRC as his student visa had been cancelled
Research Interests: History, Law, Singapore, China, Music and identity, and 8 moreRepublic, Identity, People, Chinese, Ethnic, Arts and Humanities, Ethnic Group, and Question
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The defeat of the Chinese in the Opium War and the signing of an AngloChinese treaty at Nanjing in 1842 forced China to cede Hong Kong to the British and open five ports for international trade. The concession of these Treaty Ports to the... more
The defeat of the Chinese in the Opium War and the signing of an AngloChinese treaty at Nanjing in 1842 forced China to cede Hong Kong to the British and open five ports for international trade. The concession of these Treaty Ports to the British, and subsequent territories to Western powers and Japan, forced China to open its doors to the outside world. For more than a century the British settled in these territories when they arrived in China, regardless of whether they came for trade, missionary work, local government or service in the Chinese Maritime Customs. The result was a dual economy in China. Ports, cities and regions occupied by Western powers such as the British and other cities along the Chinese coastline formed Core China and developed at a faster rate than the rest of the country, or Periphery China
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The results of the 2011 General Election (GE2011) stunned the nation.1 The political landscape had changed as the PAP suffered a major electoral setback. It won 81 out of the 87 seats at stake, including a walkover in the five-member... more
The results of the 2011 General Election (GE2011) stunned the nation.1 The political landscape had changed as the PAP suffered a major electoral setback. It won 81 out of the 87 seats at stake, including a walkover in the five-member Tanjong Pagar GRC helmed by Lee Kuan Yew, but it won just 60.1% of the total votes cast, the lowest percentage since Singapore achieved independence in 1965
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This thesis traces the rise and demise of the trishaw industry in Singapore between 1945 and 1983. Trishaws ("Sor leng Ngia" in the Henghua dialect) first appeared in significant numbers in the streets of Singapore during the... more
This thesis traces the rise and demise of the trishaw industry in Singapore between 1945 and 1983. Trishaws ("Sor leng Ngia" in the Henghua dialect) first appeared in significant numbers in the streets of Singapore during the Japanese Occupation between 1942 and 1945. In this history, I attempt to demonstrate how the industry was bound up with major events and changing perceptions in the transformation of Singapore since 1945. Two distinct phases of the industry are chronicled in the thesis. The first, from the end of the war to independence in 1965, charts the rise of the industry following the ban of rickshaws in 1947. In that year, the Singapore Trishaw Owners Association was established and three years later, the riders founded the Singapore Hired Trishaw Riders Association. The trishaw industry was formally recognized by government agencies and the public with the establishment of these two associations. However, the industry actually began to be marginalised from the...
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The History programme at the School of History and Politics at the University of Wollongong (UOW) introduces students to the history, culture, traditions and societies of East Asia. Under the discipline-specific guidelines of the Tertiary... more
The History programme at the School of History and Politics at the University of Wollongong (UOW) introduces students to the history, culture, traditions and societies of East Asia. Under the discipline-specific guidelines of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), the History Discipline Reference Group (DRG) of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) outlined eight Threshold Learning Outcomes in 2010. Two Learning Outcomes are relevant to this chapter - to show how history and historians shape the present and the future, and to analyse historical evidence, scholarship and changing representations of the past (Keirle and Morgan 2011: 2). As the co-ordinator, lecturer and tutor of a second-year module on \u27The History of Modern China\u27 (HIST252), it is my responsibility to teach students about personalities and events that have shaped China since the republican Revolution ofl91l. The aim of this module is to show how events in the past do not remain in the past; they remain highly relevant to a China that is proud of its rising global profile. To teach Chinese history as if there are no controversial events is to mislead students and misrepresent the nature and development of history as an academic discipline and its method of enquiry (Stradling 1984: 1). The aims of this chapter are to reflect on how a controversial issue was approached in the module and to examine the students\u27 response to a historical controversy
Research Interests: Law, Reflection, Teaching, University, Controversy, and 3 moreArts and Humanities, Routledge, and Nanjing
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This article is about the contestation of two different forms of nationalism in Singapore during and after two elections in 2011. Manufactured nationalism is top-down, state-defined and economically driven, concerned mainly about... more
This article is about the contestation of two different forms of nationalism in Singapore during and after two elections in 2011. Manufactured nationalism is top-down, state-defined and economically driven, concerned mainly about accumulation of national wealth through globalization that would eventually ‘trickle down’ to the masses. This view is promoted by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). The PAP projects Singapore as a state born out of the party's triumph over colonialism, racial violence, and communist insurgency. Popular nationalism, on the other hand, is bottom-up and people driven, concerned about local issues concerning national identity, social cohesion, and an appreciation (or at least an understanding) of local heritage. Proponents of popular nationalism emphasize a common beginning (birth of independent Singapore on 9 August 1965), shared historical memories (local heritage), several elements of a common culture (such as the use of Singlish), and an assoc...
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ethno-national development between the Mainland and Hong Kong. The authors find a process of interactive consensus-seeking and balancing of opposites that constitutes a hybrid composite national consciousness of commonalities and agreed... more
ethno-national development between the Mainland and Hong Kong. The authors find a process of interactive consensus-seeking and balancing of opposites that constitutes a hybrid composite national consciousness of commonalities and agreed differences in Hong Kong. Students are taught to accept both democracy and Chinese national identity while acknowledging the incompatibilities of the notions in certain situations. “Teachers act as significant cultural leaders of nation building in support of the local popular movement by putting in place a democratic education setting for students’ learning. They helped advocate a liberal democratic variant of the ‘one country two systems’ China ... by, for example, encouraging students to learn a national identity in their own way” (p. 163). These findings would be useful for teachers who are puzzled about the teaching of democracy and patriotism, especially for those societies faced with the challenges of both globalisation and nationalism. Although patriotism usually carries some negative connotations, the concept of the “critical patriot” (see Fairbrother, 2003) may be useful in blending together the concepts of democracy and patriotism. The final chapter compares citizenship education and governance in Hong Kong and Singapore. This chapter highlights the centralisation under inclusionary corporatism in Singapore and Hong Kong, which revealed common features such as “an emergent trend of opening up for more transparency, tolerance, flexibility, criticality, creativity, heterogeneity, and divergence” (p. 197), although the authors also acknowledge that “it is too early to say there is a paradigm shift of governance ideology from authoritarian centralisation to democratic de-centralisation” (p. 197). Yet, given the changing nature of Hong Kong government-civil society relationships – in which increasing oppositions were found – and the politicisation of National Education following the introduction of the Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide in 2012, the authors suggest that the stated aim of achieving a consultative consensus with civil society and indirect central control (“soft centralised governance”) is problematic.
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... ERA - University of Wollongong (restricted). Title. Digging up the past in Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan: research into the overseas Chinese merchants in the China-Singapore trade. Authors. Jason Lim, University of Wollongong.... more
... ERA - University of Wollongong (restricted). Title. Digging up the past in Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan: research into the overseas Chinese merchants in the China-Singapore trade. Authors. Jason Lim, University of Wollongong. Document Type. Journal Article. RIS ID. ...
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[extract] The Brethren movement began in Singapore when four believers met to break bread in a place known simply as the Mission Rooms on 3 July 1864. It is not clear how these four people met, but their act in remembering the Lord Jesus... more
[extract] The Brethren movement began in Singapore when four believers met to break bread in a place known simply as the Mission Rooms on 3 July 1864. It is not clear how these four people met, but their act in remembering the Lord Jesus Christ that Sunday was significant in that they met simply as believers, as a \u27non-sectarian\u27 assembly. While the only other places where the Lord was remembered were the denominational churches that had their own buildings, these four believers met in a little room at 108 Bencoolen Street on the outskirts of the city
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role in pre-Ming periods is scant. During late imperial China and in a localised context, one sees that they played important roles in different rituals ranging from funerals and ancestral rites, to jiao festivals of communal offerings.... more
role in pre-Ming periods is scant. During late imperial China and in a localised context, one sees that they played important roles in different rituals ranging from funerals and ancestral rites, to jiao festivals of communal offerings. They also often worked with ritual specialists from other religious traditions including Daoist priests and Buddhist monks. Their rituals texts displayed considerable similarities between their rituals and those performed in official religion, and to a lesser extent, those of the Daoists and Buddhists. They are no doubt the mediators between official religion, local religion and other religious traditions. Part III, which includes Chapters 5 and 6, discusses the process of lineage building and its influences and limits in Sibao. Building ornate ancestral halls and compiling genealogies were introduced into Sibao by two native sons who became high officials in the fifteenth century. Their display of cultural prestige was quickly imitated and reproduced by other low-level officials and degree holders throughout the region. The influence was so wide that by the eighteenth century almost every Sibao agnatic group had become a descent group marked by recognisable symbols. Part IV (Chapter 7) then turns to how another major Neo-Confucian-initiated social project, the community compact, took on its own meaning in Sibao society. Apart from performing the regular functions of the compacts, such as giving lectures on the Sacred Edicts and settling local disputes, they evolved into units that were in charge of irrigation works, organising the worship of local gods, and even the opening of a new market. The last part (Chapters 8 and 9) addresses the issue of local religion, reconstructing the meanings of the three layers of Sibao’s territorial cults. Chapter 10 is the concluding chapter that further discusses the theoretical implications of this study on the lisheng. In sum, the book contributes greatly to our understanding of how the cultural and social fabrics were woven and were constantly changing in a rural setting in late imperial China. This hybridisation of cultures has also given us a deeper understanding of the larger encounter between the state and local society. Not only is the book important to social historians and anthropologists; it also has a lot to teach intellectual historians.
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Sir Stamford Raffles established a trading station for the East India Company on the island of Singapore in 1819. Singapore became a free port and the British colonial authorities adopted a laissez-faire policy with regard to immigration.... more
Sir Stamford Raffles established a trading station for the East India Company on the island of Singapore in 1819. Singapore became a free port and the British colonial authorities adopted a laissez-faire policy with regard to immigration. As a result large numbers of Chinese entered Singapore. By 1824, the Chinese comprised 31 percent of the island's population. By 1840, half of the island's population was Chinese, and the proportion of ethnic Chinese has remained in the majority until today. In 1867 the administration of the island was transferred to the Colonial Office in London but the practice of allowing Chinese to enter Singapore continued. By 1871, the proportion of Chinese in the island's population was 56.2 percent. Keywords: Asia; political economy; capitalism; borders; labor
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Asia. Personal names in Asia: History, culture and identity. Edited by Zheng Yangwen and Charles J.-H. Macdonald. Singapore: NUS Press, 2010. Pp. 339. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index.Rebuilding the ancestral village: Singaporeans in China. By Khun Eng Kuah-Pearce. Singapore: NUS Press, 2...more
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Chinese merchants in Singapore were involved with the China trade after the British established a trading post in Singapore in 1819. These merchants were regarded as Chinese citizens by the Chinese state and expected to be engaged in... more
Chinese merchants in Singapore were involved with the China trade after the British established a trading post in Singapore in 1819. These merchants were regarded as Chinese citizens by the Chinese state and expected to be engaged in patriotic activities such as the promotion of Chinese goods as “national products” in the 1930s, and comply with Chinese government regulations during the Sino-Japanese War and after the communist victory in China in 1949. This paper traces the vicissitudes of the China trade for the Chinese merchants in Singapore as the island went through phases of political and economic stability, international competition, military conflict and the early years of the Cold War.
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Official narratives in Singapore have included the crackdown by the ruling People's Action Party (pap) government under Lee Kuan Yew against the Chinese chauvinists on the city-state's road to nationhood. From 1959 to 1976, the Lee... more
Official narratives in Singapore have included the crackdown by the ruling People's Action Party (pap) government under Lee Kuan Yew against the Chinese chauvinists on the city-state's road to nationhood. From 1959 to 1976, the Lee government believed that Chinese chauvinism came from three sources: a population that was majority ethnic Chinese in Singapore, pro-communist organizations that exploited Chinese chauvinism for their own ends, and individuals or organizations that praised the People's Republic of China at the expense of Singapore. Using newspaper articles, speeches by government ministers, oral history interviews, and declassified government records held in Singapore and overseas, this article assesses the threat of Chinese chauvinism in Singapore between the years 1959 and 1976. It argues that the Lee government made statements about Chinese chauvinists that were grounded either on truism, or on excoriating individuals, for its own political gain.
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The term "overseas Chinese" refers to people who left the Qing Empire (and later on, the Republic of China or ROC) for a better life in Southeast Asia. Some of them arrived in Southeast Asia as merchants. They were either involved in... more
The term "overseas Chinese" refers to people who left the Qing Empire (and later on, the Republic of China or ROC) for a better life in Southeast Asia. Some of them arrived in Southeast Asia as merchants. They were either involved in retail or wholesale trade, or importing and exporting goods between the Qing Empire/ROC and Southeast Asia. With the decolonization of Southeast Asia from the end of World War II in 1945, overseas Chinese commerce was targeted by nationalists because the merchants were seen to have been working together with the colonial authorities and to have enriched themselves at the expense of locals. New nationalist regimes in Southeast Asia introduced anti-Chinese legislation in order to reduce the overseas Chinese presence in economic activities. Chinese merchants were banned from certain trades and trade monopolies were broken down. Several Southeast Asian states also attempted to assimilate the overseas Chinese by forcing them to adopt local-sounding names. However, the overseas Chinese continued to be dominant in the economies of Malaya (later Malaysia) and Singapore. Malaysia introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has an anti-Chinese agenda, in 1970. The decolonization process also occurred during the Cold War, and Chinese merchants sought to continue trade with China at a time when governments in Southeast Asia were suspicious of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Attempts by merchants from Malaya and Singapore to trade with the PRC in 1956 were considered to have failed, as the PRC had other political concerns. By the time Singapore had gained independence in 1965, the door to investment and trade with the PRC was shut, and the Chinese in Southeast Asia turned their backs on China by taking on citizenship in their countries of residence.
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This article is about the contestation of two different forms of nationalism in Singapore during and after two elections in 2011. Manufactured nationalism is topdown, state-defined and economically driven, concerned mainly about... more
This article is about the contestation of two different forms of nationalism in Singapore during and after two elections in 2011. Manufactured nationalism is topdown, state-defined and economically driven, concerned mainly about accumulation
of national wealth through globalization that would eventually ‘trickle down’ to the masses. This view is promoted by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The PAP projects Singapore as a state born out of the party’s triumph over colonialism, racial violence, and communist insurgency. Popular nationalism, on the other hand, is bottom-up and people driven, concerned about local issues concerning national identity, social cohesion, and an appreciation (or at least an understanding) of local heritage. Proponents of popular nationalism emphasize a common beginning (birth of independent Singapore on 9 August 1965), shared historical memories (local heritage), several elements of a common culture (such as the use of Singlish), and an association with a specific ‘homeland’ (born and raised in Singapore and, for males, the completion of conscription). They view Singapore as a nation-state with a unique and evolving identity destabilized by a liberal immigration policy. The elections generated considerable attention due to the gains by the opposition parties and the public airing of frustrations against the PAP government. These frustrations are strongly driven by the influx of new migrants, especially those classified as ‘foreign talent’ by the PAP
government. In this article, I argue that popular nationalism has emerged in twenty-first century Singapore and examine the debates over the future of Singapore during and after the elections.
of national wealth through globalization that would eventually ‘trickle down’ to the masses. This view is promoted by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). The PAP projects Singapore as a state born out of the party’s triumph over colonialism, racial violence, and communist insurgency. Popular nationalism, on the other hand, is bottom-up and people driven, concerned about local issues concerning national identity, social cohesion, and an appreciation (or at least an understanding) of local heritage. Proponents of popular nationalism emphasize a common beginning (birth of independent Singapore on 9 August 1965), shared historical memories (local heritage), several elements of a common culture (such as the use of Singlish), and an association with a specific ‘homeland’ (born and raised in Singapore and, for males, the completion of conscription). They view Singapore as a nation-state with a unique and evolving identity destabilized by a liberal immigration policy. The elections generated considerable attention due to the gains by the opposition parties and the public airing of frustrations against the PAP government. These frustrations are strongly driven by the influx of new migrants, especially those classified as ‘foreign talent’ by the PAP
government. In this article, I argue that popular nationalism has emerged in twenty-first century Singapore and examine the debates over the future of Singapore during and after the elections.
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Between 1955 and 1963 when Ngô Đình Diệm was President of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China (ROC) saw the opportunity to work together with the new state to create an East Asian cultural... more
Between 1955 and 1963 when Ngô Đình Diệm was President of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China (ROC) saw the opportunity to work together with the new state to create an East Asian cultural solidarity against their Communist rivals. The initial relationship between both countries faced its first challenge when President Diệm’s government introduced several anti-Chinese ordinances in order to assimilate the local Chinese population.
The enforcement of these ordinances strained Sino-Vietnamese ties but once the relationship improved, both countries embarked on various educational and cultural exchanges that were centred on Confucius, Confucianism and the learning of Mandarin and East Asian culture. The ROC sent K’ung Te-ch’eng to offer sacrifices to Confucius, while the RVN promoted Mandarin and Chinese Studies. Both national leaders had strong personalities and they spoke at length on working together as an
East Asian cultural bloc. This article traces the attempts by both leaders to promote cultural solidarity amidst the Cold War before President Diệm was killed in a coup in 1963.
The enforcement of these ordinances strained Sino-Vietnamese ties but once the relationship improved, both countries embarked on various educational and cultural exchanges that were centred on Confucius, Confucianism and the learning of Mandarin and East Asian culture. The ROC sent K’ung Te-ch’eng to offer sacrifices to Confucius, while the RVN promoted Mandarin and Chinese Studies. Both national leaders had strong personalities and they spoke at length on working together as an
East Asian cultural bloc. This article traces the attempts by both leaders to promote cultural solidarity amidst the Cold War before President Diệm was killed in a coup in 1963.