Merdeka and Much More: The Reminiscences of a Raffles Professor, 1953-67

K.G. Tregonning

Professor K.G. Tregonning's anecdotal memoir of his years as a member of the Department of History in the University of Singapore, culminating as Raffles Professor, captures the mood and milieu of Singapore as the country emerged from colonial rule to become a self-governing independent nation. Arriving at the height of the Cold War, Tregonning was acutely conscious of the ongoing Malayan Emergency and of the political shifts taking place across Southeast Asia. He records meetings with a number of the region's leaders, and encounters with students and colleagues who would later feature in Singapore politics, or become leading figures in the academic world. The result is an engaging and very personal account of a university and a professional, political and social environment that is very different from that found in Singapore today.

Kennedy G. TREGONNINGjoined the University of Malaya at Singapore as a lecturer in History in 1953, and in 1959 was appointed Raffles Professor of History. Upon leaving Singapore he became Headmaster of Hale School at Wembley Downs, Western Australia, a position he held from 1967 until 1988.

publication year: 2009
120 pages
ISBN: 978-9971-69-380-0  Paperback  US$16.00  S$20.00