about

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University. My research investigates little-studied subjects in the social and cultural history of Singapore and Southeast Asia and explores linkages between past and present in public history, oral history, memory, and heritage. My present research explores historical dimensions of natural disasters in Southeast Asian cities.

I am author of three books, The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya: Tangled Strands of Modernity (co-authored, Amsterdam University Press 2012); The Makers and Keepers of Singapore History (co-edited, Ethos Books & Singapore Heritage Society 2010); and Making and Unmaking the Asylum: Leprosy and Modernity in Singapore and Malaysia (SIRD 2009). A fourth book, Squatters into Citizens: The 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore (NUS Press & ASAA Southeast Asia Publications Series), is forthcoming. I have also published numerous articles in peer-reviewed history, Asian studies and interdisciplinary journals.

I was previously a history teacher and still speak to students and teachers about the joys and challenges of researching the past.

Research interests:
Disasters in history
Singapore and Malayan history (postwar, colonial)
Urban social history
Squatters and slum dwellers
History of medicine
Oral history & memory
Student activism
Archival access

Teaching areas:
Singapore history and studies
Southeast Asia
Urban history
Modern international history

When not doing history, I try to inspire Liverpool to their elusive 19th league title from the comfort of my living room. I keep tropical fish and cichlids are my favourites.

Loh Kah Seng
BA(Hons), MA (NUS), Dip.Ed (NIE), PhD (Murdoch)
lkshisATgmail.com