Digital Gems


Digital Gems

Showing 1 - 10 of 24 Records

Bai Yan Private Papers
Bai Yan is a man with a hundred talents. The Collection comprises playscripts, correspondences, press




Chinese Newspapers
NUS Libraries has a comprehensive collection of more than 150 Chinese newspapers published in Southeast Asia in print and microform. There are a total of 96 titles from Singapore, 34 from Malaysia, 7 from Vietnam, 5 from Thailand, 4 from Indonesia, 3 from the Philippines, 2 from Brunei and 1 from Cambodia. Some notable titles are Lat Pau (1887-1932), the earliest Chinese newspaper in Singapore; Penang Sin Poe (1895-1941), the first Chinese newspaper in Penang; and Sin Sian Jih Pao (1959- ), Thailand’s longest running Chinese newspaper.


Chinese in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia (known to the Chinese as Nanyang – the South Seas) is the region of Chinese emigration with the longest diasporic history and the largest diaspora population.

During the Song Dynasty (AD 960 – 1279), China’s commerce started to enter foreign lands through artisans (including miners and technicians), bringing the practice of China’s domestic commerce, handicrafts and mining to places such as the Philippines, Java and West Borneo, among others. This was the first wave of Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia. Thereafter, Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia included businessmen, labourers, the descendants of earlier emigrants, and re-emigrants. Originally composed largely of short-term fortune-seekers, the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora gradually came to call Southeast Asia home, forming the largest group of native Chinese overseas.

For centuries, Chinese emigrants to Southeast Asia have founded various clan organisations, schools, newspapers and journals, leaving thousands of documents of historical interest. These valuable documents are primary sources for research on the economic and social history of these immigrants, their political activities, and the transmission of their religious beliefs.

They comprise collections of important documents such as weekly magazines, internal newsletters of schools and social organisations, history books, familial genealogies and pictures.



Earl of Cranbrook Private Papers
The fifth Earl of Cranbrook is a specialist in swiftlet studies. Certain species of swiftlets build edible nests. The Earl worked in Malaya as well as spent time in countries like Indonesia that have swiftlets, especially the species that produce edible nests. The Collection consists of manuscripts, fieldnotes, photos, correspondence, description of swiftlet-related artefacts in various museums, published documents (journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations, newspapers articles) some of which are authored or co-authored by the Earl.


Edwin Thumboo Private Papers
Edwin Thumboo is a poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore. He has donated a collection of his private papers to the National University of Singapore Libraries. The Edwin Thumboo Private Papers collection consists of manuscripts of poems, book chapters, journal articles, works of literary criticism and personal correspondences.


English Newspapers
This collection of historical newspapers in English published in various countries of Southeast Asia provides a wide coverage of news on business, economic, politics and social affairs domestically and from around from world. In addition to the article content, the full-image newspapers offer searchable access to editorials, advertisements, and even cartoons.



History, Culture & Heritage
This collection comprises mostly published books and periodicals, but also includes materials in other formats such as manuscripts, photographs and maps relating to the history, heritage and cultures of people in Southeast Asia. It holds fascinating and important items and invites researchers and scholars to mine them to create fresh connections between the present and the past.