Examining the past in the present : kampung memories and nostalgia in contemporary Singapore

Abstract

This research aims to study how nostalgic sentiments and the competing collective and personal memories facilitate the incorporation of the past into the present, as well as how knowledge of the past frames one’s identity. Taking the context of the kampung, this study examines the memories of Singapore kampung across generations, the meanings attached to the ‘kampung spirit’ and the Singapore identity as well as the concept of nostalgia in contemporary. In-depth interviews, secondary sources analysis and ethnographic strategies were employed. Findings suggest that the family has a more salient role than the state in the intergenerational transmission of memories, the ‘kampung spirit’ is a form of close kinship bond developed within an enclosed community and the logic of nostalgia as contextual - a recollection of specific moments in one’s life path which leads to a rediscovery of past identities and a continuity of the collective identity of a generation.