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Talk: Health in Colonial Singapore: Experiences of Ordinary People- a talk by Dr Loh Kah Seng, Dr Liew Kai Khiun & Ms Kelly Fu
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venue: Imagination Room, Level 5 @ National Library, 100 Victoria Street
date / time:  Saturday, 18 Jul 2009, 2.00 – 4.00pm

The history of medicine and healthcare has traditionally been defined according to the chronological milestones of hospitals, lives of doctors and discoveries of diseases and cures. But, especially for the case of Singapore, less has been mentioned on how ordinary people have dealt with health and illnesses, both as patients as well as participants.
In this respect, three scholars seek to bring light on this otherwise forgotten aspect of the experiences of people in
healthcare in colonial Singapore. Ms Kelly Fu would discuss about the role of vernacular midwives in the area of childbirth in an era where home deliveries were the norm. Dr Loh Kah Seng in contrast, will share his research on the struggles of leprosy patients in dealing with not just their own conditions, but the stigma and discrimination surrounding the disease. Finally Dr Liew Kai Khiun would discuss the roles of ordinary people in confronting the Spanish Influenza of 1918 which took about 60 million lives worldwide and thousands in British Malaya.

Dr Liew Kai Khiun was recently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. He has undertaken studies on the social and labour, and Medical Histories of both Singapore and Malaysia.

Ms Kelly Fu is currently a doctoral candidate at Goldsmith College and her talk comes from part of her research into reproductive and maternal health in Singapore.

Dr Loh Kah Seng who received his PhD from Murdoch University, has done significant research work on the
lives of ordinary Singaporeans during the colonial era,ranging from leprosy patients, the experiences of common
people during the Great Depression as well as the social history of Bukit Ho Swee.

Flyer: Health in Colonial Singapore: Experiences of Ordinary People- a talk by Dr Loh Kah Seng, Dr Liew Kai Khiun & Ms Kelly Fu



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