Yes, I’ve run out of clever titles. Regardless, I wanted to share some updates from my first week of research in Singapore!
First, research related updates:
I’ve been in the library about 6-8 hours a day Monday-Saturday, mostly because I hadn’t anticipated how long going through the microfilm would take me. I spent about 2 days on the Colonial Office archives to soon find out from a helpful librarian (thank you, thank you, thank you) that they are digitized with an employee log-in. So, he helped me get them onto a thumb drive to be analyzed once I have more time in the U.S.
As a result, I’ve been spending the rest of my time on the Malaya Tribune, which was an English newspaper with primarily anglophone Asian readership from 1914-1951. Now, because of some pesky copyright laws, the newspaper is not digitized at all, and therefore not searchable. And this was in some respects helpful – for example, it allowed me to make an argument for actually coming to Singapore to do this research. However, I guess I didn’t think through how long it would actually take me to go through this paper – it’s a slow-going process! I’ve been trying to hone in on some specific dates and events. For example, I’m looking at the visits of Hollywood stars to Singapore, checking dates of the paper that I know a new colonial order was placed regulating film, etc. I’ve been a little bit frustrated because finding the reviews or general opinions on film that say anything interesting has been taking a very long time. If anything, though, this process has shown me just how much influence American film had in Singapore during the interwar period. Every single day there was a “Cinema Review” section, where it seems like American films were almost always reviewed glowingly, and took precedence over British films or others. Similarly, Fridays featured an entire cinema page, where film correspondents analyzed the ins and outs of “blonde vs. brunette” in MGM studio pictures, or Joan Crawford’s fashion preferences. I find this especially interesting – the intense focus on the cosmetics of Hollywood. I’ve also found some scandalous movie advertisement that sometimes took up the entire front page — these are from 1932, when Hollywood was still in the “Pre-Code” (pre- Production Code), era, so the films were especially lascivious (or “illicit,” if you prefer).
There have also been a few “slow news days” to keep me entertained… 
Will the skirts be shorter? Does kittie win?
When not hunched over the microform reader, I’m having some fun too…
A friend from NU showed me around the Marina Bay area:
Also, a very kind Singaporean saw my blog because it was posted by one of my friends, and he offered to show me around some of his favorite spots in Singapore after expressing frustration that many Americans come to Singapore and only see more touristy spots. He showed me many places of worship in Singapore and showed me some of his favorite spots for Malay, Chinese, and Indian food. This was definitely one of my favorite days since I’ve been here – I felt like I could ask him about the history and contemporary political culture of Singapore and hear the opinions of someone who was born and raised here. If you’re curious, feel free to ask me – I don’t want to publish, but he had some very interesting things to say. It was also very heartwarming to see religious and cultural harmony here, especially as compared to the U.S. where there can be such polarization amongst religious groups. I entered Hindu and Buddhist temples within just a few yards of each other, and was welcomed kindly into a Sikh temple. This is definitely a day I’ll remember.
Aaaaand last but not least, today I went to MacRitchie Reservoir Park and hiked 15 km through the beautiful forest, took an invigorating (aka terrifying) TreeTop walk, and of course said hi to the macaques (I don’t think I missed my calling as a nature photographer).
