Asian Books Blog is based in
Singapore. Lion City Lit explores literary life in our own
backyard. This week, we offer a quick notice for Singapore Mutiny, a stirring account of combat and survival, by Mary
Brown and Edwin A. Brown. This is a must-read for all history buffs, but especially for those with an interest in military history, or in the history of India, or in that of South East Asia.
The Singapore Sepoy Mutiny of
1915 was an alarming episode in Singapore’s colonial history that saw 850
Indian soldiers serving in the British army revolt and slaughter 47 Brits, both
soldiers and civilians. To mark the Mutiny's centenary Monsoon Books has brought out a
diary kept at the time by the Browns, a colonial couple who were in the thick
of the action. The diary, never previously
published, has forewords by Professor Brian P. Farrell, Department of History, National University of Singapore, Nigel Barley, the author and anthropologist, and Celia
Ferguson, the Browns’ granddaughter.
Here’s an extract from the diary’s
opening entry:
Chinese New Year 1915 will long
be remembered in the Straits Settlements…We left for home, had a tiffin, and
went to our rooms for a lie-off, having arranged to go for a good walk when the
heat of the day was over. We had our tea, and at 5 pm got into the trap. We
drove along Tanglin Road, into Stephens Road, and along Bukit Timah Road to the
junction of Cluny Road, and there we dismissed the syce. We thought it a curious
fact that no-one was playing tennis…and there was not a soul to be seen on the
garrison golf course…You can imagine our horror when we found that the 5th
Light Infantry had broken out in open mutiny and had been in Tanglin that
afternoon, and were even then supposed to be marching on Singapore!
Also by Edwin A. Brown,
Indiscreet Memories: 1901 Singapore through the eyes of a colonial Englishman.
Both books are published in paperback, priced in local currencies, and widely available in Asia. Ebooks are available from online retailers.
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