Singapore. A slow ride into the past: The Chinese trishaw industry in Singapore, 1942–1983. By Jason Lim. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing, 2013. Pp. 163. Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

Abstract

A slow ride into the past: The Chinese trishaw industry in Singapore, 1942-1983 By JASON LIM Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing, 2013. Pp. 163. Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index. doi: 10.1017/S0022463413000738 This terrific study of the trishaw industry in post-Second World War Singapore illustrates important aspects of postcolonial Singapore historiography. On one level, it tells the story of a section of Singapore society which epitomises the Republic's own historical trajectory. On a deeper level, it illustrates the challenges of researching Singapore history, and demonstrates both how the skill of the historian can overcome the limitations which exist in the field, as well as where the limitations simply make it impossible for the historian to proceed due to a paucity of sources and information. Jason Lim has been superb at marshalling a wide variety of resources to tell the story of a very much neglected section of the economic, social, and labour history of Singapore. The book details the story of trishaw drivers, who provided cheap and accessible transportation to Singapore's residents and must be credited with their role in the economic success of Singapore. In a tropical urban city-state, it was a difficult and backbreaking job, carried out under the hot sun and at constant risk from the ever-increasing cars and trucks that filled Singapore's roads. Trishaw driving was seen to be a low and demeaning occupation, dominated by the Henghua and Hockchia dialect groups who were unable to enter into other trades already claimed by other dialect groups, including, as Lim notes, the collection of faeces, which was already a Teochew-dominated industry (p. 40). The first four chapters of the book provide an excellent overview, bringing together a wide variety of published and unpublished sources to situate trishaw drivers and owners in the broader context of Singapore and Southeast Asia. The reader gains a good sense of the vast amount of discrimination and desperation faced by the trishaw drivers. They were harassed by the authorities; looked down upon by the elite; seen as objects of curiosity, pity, or disgust; and intimidated and treated with contempt. Their very occupation, as beasts of burden, left one in no doubt the relationship between driver and passenger. Lim does justice to the plight of these men (Lim never notes the existence of any female drivers). In particular, the economic and social structure of the industry and its position with relation to the Singapore economy is well detailed. The third and fourth chapters, detailing the industry's position within the Chinese community's hierarchy, and the role of the industry in the lives of Singapore's peoples, are the highlight of the book. The fifth chapter is where Lim runs up against the historiographical limits of independent Singapore. The moment he crosses into postcolonial Singapore, unpublished sources dry up and frameworks vanish. As a result, the fifth chapter covers approximately the same amount of time as the first four chapters, but in just a fifth of the space. Lim valiantly tries to make up for these shortcomings with official publications and newspaper reports. …