Episode 55: Celebrating Singapore: Revenge with a Purpose: Author Hidayah Amin’s Story PART II

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Rachel: Welcome back to part two of author Hidayah Amin 

Rachel: story. If you haven't heard part one, then you're missing out. Please stop this and go back to episode 54. Where you will get the beginning of her story. And if you're following on from last week, stay tuned. 

Rachel: Thanks.

Hidayah: You know, I, I just had to like it. I'm like, why are you rejecting book?

Hidayah: Because I have seen similar books about Chinese family, you know, being published by you. Yeah. So, so I, I wanted, and then obviously, oh, we don't, you know, discuss why we don't publish, why we publish the So I thought, you know,

Hidayah: And then I didn't bother to look for any other publisher. So, and I thought, you know what, why don't I just do You know, since nobody's, nobody believes in So, again, halang, right? Halang is, uh, uh, it's, it means eagle [00:01:00] in Malay. So, if you look at the, if you go to the house, the house is still standing there. There, there are these two stone eagles outside. Uh, outside, uh, at the gates, when you come in, there's this two stone And when I was growing up, I was a very imaginative, uh, girl. And, you know, I would, like, talk to the stone eagle. And all this. Even, uh, Uh, to the point that when we had to leave the house, so I told say, Oh, you know, please take care of my house. Yeah. So when I wanted to do, I, when I wanted to start like, um, my own publishing, uh, like a house.

Hidayah: So I, you know what, I'm just going to bring all memories from my childhood. So, uh, Instead of eagle books, I still use the word Malay for the halang, means eagle in Malay, so halang books because the eagle, of course, in a lot of cultures, eagle represent like wisdom and being [00:02:00] able to see, you know, to have great foresight and all that. 

Paula: they made anything at the front of your house?

Hidayah: Uh, no, they, they in because, uh, when the government took it, uh, because they say it was part of Malay Palace, but it ceased to be part of Malay Palace in 1907. In fact, the building was, uh, built about in, um, 1850 something, 40 something. So then, uh, less than 50 years later, it reverted to become private property.

Hidayah: So how could you. take, you know, a house. Who is the last owner? It's not the royal family or whatever. It's us.

Hidayah: So,

Hidayah: um, so when they took it, they turned the, the palace into a Malay heritage center. And then they turn our house into a,

Paula: You know,

Hidayah: It was very painful because when they took the house, my mother asked, uh, the people from the land office and said, Okay, can you [00:03:00] please tell me what are you going to do with this

Hidayah: house? And, oh, don't worry, auntie. Uh, we will, we will, uh, turn it into a And

Hidayah: my mom said, okay, I don't understand these words. You know, you explain to me in simple terms, what are you going to do with this house? Because this house was residence. You cannot just, you know, turn it into whatever you like.

Hidayah: you

Hidayah: know, uh, and then they say, oh, it will be like a gallery with a little 

Paula: So it's really a 

Hidayah: And then they turn it into a full fledged profit making restaurant.

Paula: now?

Hidayah: Yes. But of course they were. A few changes of, uh, tenants. It has nothing to do with me. the house protested, you know, I mean, it is, uh, I'm quite glad that they still maintain the house because it's a lovely building. You know, you [00:04:00] have, uh, it's Palladian architecture and, um,

Rachel: lot I 

Hidayah: also, I wrote about the, the architecture of the house in, in my book, in fact, even in the Kampong Glambook because it has, uh, the architecture is very unique and it serves a lot of functions and even for a normal family to stay there, you know, it, it has this, uh, symmetry, uh, that sometimes when, uh, I feel that the world reverbs, so I was thinking, why, why do I, this, it's not echoey, but there's this, this feeling of grandeur in the

Hidayah: house. Then later on, I learned that, oh, it's because it is perfectly, uh, there's perfect symmetry. And then even the, the, the things, I mean, the,

Hidayah: uh,

Hidayah: the way, uh, certain, like, you know, the, the things that, uh, were constructed, like they use certain items that the, uh, that's very accessible, I mean, in, [00:05:00] in Asia, but it is very sturdy, you know, it's just the, even the architecture itself, you know, the, there's so much to be in all four.

Hidayah: So, um, Yeah, so it's, it's just two, you know, then you, you lost the house and then you lost

Hidayah: the

Hidayah: the tree. And that's how, you know, Helang Books kept sustaining my, like, all this special project that other, when other people do not want.

Rachel: So Helang, Helang Books, do you 

Paula: publish, other 

Hidayah: do 

Rachel: publish other people's 

Hidayah: Yes, yes, we do. Uh, mainly, like, people always say it's my pet project, right? Like, oh, you know, because Hidayat only publish the books that I want to be published. Because I guess, as a publisher, you kind of like set the direction. So, uh, but we do publish, but we don't, like, We are, we are just a small outfit.

Hidayah: We are not like other big publishing house, you know, and I don't publish [00:06:00] again, I want to see the reasons why, 

Paula: why 

Rachel: I 

Hidayah: want to publish certain books. Like it's not because again, the motivation is not so much of a monetary. So I think the, the first book that we published for others, uh, is this book called, um,

Hidayah: Kampung

Hidayah: Tempe, uh, Voices from a Malay Village.

Hidayah: Again, Kampung Tempe, it's quite interesting because the, the, my co writer, he actually read Gedung Kuning. And then he met, uh, and he met me at some charity event. And then he said, are you the one who wrote Gedung Kuning book? So this, uh, this, this, uh, my co writer for Kampung Tempe, uh, he actually, he was, uh, he is Singaporean.

Hidayah: But he lived. in Germany for 30 over years, for a long time. And recently he came back because, you know, he said, I've been away. I wanted to, and he, he [00:07:00] actually got a job back here and then because he wanted to be, to find his roots. So when he read Ganong Kuning and then he said, Oh, by the way, did you know that I live in this village?

Hidayah: Uh, call Kampong Tempe and where the village, uh, was, was actually, uh, you know, the area in Coronation Road, 6th Avenue. So that was the Kampong, a village where Tempe is, you know, your, uh, soybean cut the cake. Yeah. So the village actually, a lot of people from the, uh, village.

Hidayah: And sell it to the rest

Hidayah: of 

Paula: Singapore. Ah,

Hidayah: So that's why they call it the village of the soybean cake, right? Yeah, so he

Hidayah: bean. Yes, yes,

Rachel: Yeah. A block. So you can like slice it into Yeah, a bit like tofu, but it's fermented bean.

Hidayah: So, and he, when he said that, and then he said, Oh, I, I was actually thinking of like writing about my story. Uh,[00:08:00]

Hidayah: Would

Hidayah: you be interested to help me? I'm like,

Paula: Oh, wait

Hidayah: a minute.

Hidayah: I don't want to publish other people's book But then again, so, you know, then I I thought about it and because I I was a girl guide, right? And then he was uh, like in boy scouts, so he used that as leverage Oh, you didn't know I was in boy scout like but way way, you know older than you but you know And we're supposed to be like Brothers and sisters, right?

Hidayah: I don't know like oh damn But I was also interested because when And I know coronation when you go to coronation road, you don't see you wouldn't think that it was a village before And then what happened, you know in so I was also interested in that and then and he said look, you know If you're willing to work with me on this book and then he said, you know i'm willing to fund it because I want it to be like a gift for my for the villagers here.

Hidayah: So, so and then I was thinking about it and [00:09:00] I thought, okay, let's, let's just do it.

Hidayah: And

Hidayah: I do, uh, there are some books, but it's not a lot. The children's book. Yes, there we have other authors, but a lot of it,

Hidayah: It kind of based on whether I see whether our like values are aligned. I mean, what is the objective for the person to do this?

Hidayah: Like, uh, even, even one of the children's book, uh, and it was done during COVID, the cure. So the, the mother of this very young, uh, author, she was only 10 when she wrote it. And it's actually quite sophisticated for children's book. So it's about the cure, like how the world is, you know, devastation. And, you know, what is this cure for, for what we are facing?

Hidayah: So what happened was the mother who I happen to know and say, this is what happened, you know, you don't know how wrote this And then the teacher. Actually accused me of writing for her 

Paula: could 

Hidayah: that be? You know, and she said no, but she wrote it That's why i'm very [00:10:00] angry And then i'm like Okay.

Hidayah: So what, what shall we do about it? You know, so,

Paula: He's a 

Rachel: then I said, you know what, we'll just publish the book.

Hidayah: publish the book is a children's book, uh, you know, children's picture book, it explains COVID, but not, Directly and in what as with a lot of our, we wanted to raise this awareness and during that time, the most impacted, uh, group of people in Singapore during COVID was, uh, was the migrant workers.

Hidayah: Yeah. So what we did was we actually use the book to fundraise. So like every sale of the book goes to the migrant yeah. So that, that's why a lot of, yeah, a lot of people, and we, we. We put it up on our social media and said, you know, 100 percent because we wanted to also bring forth the story, you know, like they are the most, yeah.

Hidayah: So a lot of the books, if they are, if you look at [00:11:00] something that I myself felt strongly for, Uh, if, if not, I'll say, sorry, I'm like, Oh, sorry. I have too much or whatever, but it's just, I, yeah, I want to see whether they align to my values, uh, then, then of course

Rachel: be honest. I can't believe that a 10 year old wrote a book.

Hidayah: Yeah. The

Rachel: cure. Yeah. Yeah.

Rachel: That is

Rachel: incredible. And then you supported her and it was all about the migrant

Hidayah: Yeah, migrant

Hidayah: workers. 

Paula: Isn't it? It's 

Rachel: it's very cool.

Rachel: Yeah, I think you've got some great causes Really, really interesting. And

Hidayah: I, I, I feel that because I set up Halang Books and I can do whatever I want, right? Like that, that's why I feel that, uh, if, if some of these authors, they go to other publisher, 

Paula: they 

Hidayah: they probably won't be able 

Paula: You've got like a, a, house, right? Yeah, yeah. That have got particular style of [00:12:00] heartfelt stories.

Paula: Which I like. Right. It it means that you're not something, you're not grabbing the money. You are actually, it's a, it's

Hidayah: I would like to think that we are like Apple, very niche marketing.

Hidayah: Like you focus only on certain products, but then unfortunately we are not like as rich as

Paula: Apple

Paula: You will be, you'll be, but it's like, because

Hidayah: Apple also started with a vision, with a dream, you know, and people also don't believe in it, you know, and it went into the rates until Steve Jobs came back. So we, I would like to think that, yeah, I mean, maybe people say, why do you concentrate about like very niche marketing?

Hidayah: Like why only a certain topics? Why this, but I mean, I don't have to explain to people why I do what I do, but I feel that these, uh, important teams and subjects So that, that's why a lot of it, even the children's book, there are this, this, uh, certain Things that I want the kids [00:13:00] to learn like a lot of there's also Asian tales that you don't Kind of here or you you find is inaccessible so so there are reasons Why we but mainly because it's just to give a voice to the to the maybe the voiceless

Paula: Are they all Singapore based?

Hidayah: Actually, most like, now Dr.

Hidayah: Yahia is back in Germany, but, uh, and, uh, Nuha who wrote the, uh, when she wrote it, they were living in the Middle East. So they are, I mean, you know, of course, technology, you don't have to be in Singapore to do it, right? Yeah, but most of them are, like, Singapore 

Paula: And the stories

Hidayah: The stories, most, uh, Singapore based stories.

Hidayah: Because, okay, when I grew up,

Hidayah: What

Hidayah: did we read when we grew up? Like, Annette Blyton, you know, it's very anglophile stories, no Asian [00:14:00] stories. So I do not want that for the young generation. So I thought, you know, we just populated with a lot of Asian stories.

Paula: I thought that makes sense. Yeah, 

Hidayah: Yeah.

Rachel: But you don't only run a publishing house and an author, aren't you? Don't you have a museum? 

Hidayah: Uh, yes. Yeah,

Paula: just throw that in the mix.

Rachel: Yeah.

Hidayah: Yes, I set up a museum. 

Paula: Like, 

Hidayah: I would like to say in the tune of, uh, this one, this show that I really, this film that I really, really like, We Bought a Bazoo. I really like this. It's by, I think the earliest Khaled Johansson film and I watch it, uh, about, uh, this, this family who bought a zoo because they wanted to save the animals and they also wanted the people who work in the zoo to continue having a living.

Hidayah: So, and I thought it was so brilliant, you know, they did something. Yeah. So in that kind of light, yeah, I set up a museum.

Paula: I didn't

Hidayah: buy a [00:15:00] museum, but I set it up.

Paula: didn't actually buy a zoo. Did you?

Hidayah: no. I don't have money to

Hidayah: buy 

Rachel: for it. Tell us how how buying a museum came. Oh, no, sorry not buying museum setting up a museum. Sorry again, 

Hidayah: back all the way to Gedong Kuning. So when we had to leave, uh, in 1999, uh, and we were given like

Hidayah: Very

Hidayah: short notice, I think we received a letter to the In April to tell us to get out of the house by August, so you have you, you, you had four months to unpack from a mansion, you know, with 10 rooms to God knows everybody had to go and find their own accommodation, right?

Hidayah: It was really very badly managed and all that. But of course, during that time. I was still in school. So I didn't, I didn't, uh, I wasn't in the know how and, uh, [00:16:00] you know, the communication with the family. So we knew we had to leave and what happened was we had a lot of artifacts because, you know, the family, my great grandfather was born in Singapore in 1855, that's like way back.

Hidayah: And obviously you have a lot of artifacts, a lot of memories, a lot of things, right? So, uh, And when we moved to, like, smaller places, where are we going to put this grand mirror, this big, you know, like, furniture, and, uh, so at that time, the family kind of, like, uh, gave on loan to the Malay Heritage Foundation Malay Heritage Center, okay, to, to kind of display in their own So that's it. I mean, they, they were about, like, 30 over items and this included a car, Austin six, 

Paula: Yeah. But 

Hidayah: of course it's beyond repair, you know, this is like in, [00:17:00] and, um, so what happened was the last few years, uh, when I had kind of like, I went back to get on to, you know, to kind of like see the and then I realized that a lot of the items were.

Hidayah: I mean, the just like you have 100 over years old and take cover. You put it by I mean, then, you know, we have water and sun. So, and the glasses got broken and I was like, wait a minute. what's happening to our artifacts and they were not properly displayed because obviously, like if I'm the restaurant people, if it doesn't go with my team, why would I want to keep this?

Hidayah: Okay.

Hidayah: But shouldn't they also let us know, and then we can take it back? And, so I kind of like, uh, I asked the family and I said, Look, can we take back our artifacts? I [00:18:00] mean, it's just rotting there. And it's just hidden somewhere, you know, and a lot of, I did an audit.

Hidayah: So

Hidayah: I

Hidayah: went to check where are these things.

Hidayah: So some of the artifacts were in the Malay Heritage Centre Museum. As long as they are displayed and labelled, you know, taken care of, that's fine. We, we, we, we. You know, we're happy to, uh, for others to, to enjoy and see it in the museum. But those in Gedung Kunit itself, where the restaurant is now, it is just being, like, wasted away.

Hidayah: So then I thought, you know what, why don't we just take everything back? Uh, and then I said, Why don't I set up a museum? And I think everybody had a shock. I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Okay. Okay. Okay. I like, okay. Hidayah has all these ideas,

Rachel: right?

Hidayah: So, and even that the family asked me, can you, can you please write a short paper to 

Paula: [00:19:00] explain 

Hidayah: about your museum? Like even to my own family? So I told her, hey, you know, what if one day the, uh, the, the museum, I mean their own Malay Heritage Centre museum didn't didn't want to display ours. What if they wanted to give back? Where are we going to store this? You know, storage is also very in Singapore. And then these are our antique things.

Hidayah: Don't tell me you want to throw it away. So I, I kind of like, I wrote a paper and said that, like, to justify why we should set up the Haji Yusof Memorial Museum, Haji Yusuf is the name of my great grandfather,

Hidayah: yeah, who bought the house, right? So I said that, look, uh, I've, I've seen museums overseas, you know, I, I've been to a lot of museums, you know, private museum as well.

Hidayah: And then I said, uh, even, even like the Chinese community, they have all the Chinese business leaders, you know, the history of the Chinese business leaders being immortalized in museum in, you know. In Chinatown, [00:20:00]you know, they have all this and this are not by government. It's by their own clan association or whatever.

Hidayah: So we could do something like that for Haji Yusuf. And, and, and there would be a lot of interest because Haji Yusuf was, he was a businessman and he was the one who created. The belt that people use when they go on the hutch, so it also it has a lot of links to Singapore and Kampong Glam was the pilgrim hub of Southeast Asia from the 1800 until 19 about 1950s 60s when, when, uh, going on a hutch by ship.

Hidayah: You know, was taken over by, by plane, so it no longer became the Pilgrim Hub. So there's a lot of historical links and importance. So I told them, uh, I said, okay, the most important thing is to rescue our artifacts so we can do the restoration, the, you know, we transfer it back and, and then I will curate.

Hidayah: Uh, I will curate the [00:21:00] museum and I, I told them, okay, you don't have to pay me a single cent. I mean, I do it voluntarily out of the love for the family. I will, I will curate it. I will set it up. I will do all the display. Uh, and then I said, I will also be there to, you know, when we open it to the public, you know, like to front it.

Hidayah: I will be the main curator. If nobody else want to do it, it's fine. I will do it. So in return, I asked the family to, to kind of like, uh, pay for the transportation because There are some very big stuff. Uh, and then, you know, to pay for transportation and restoration and then to also like, uh, allow me, I mean, kind of like give me rent free.

Hidayah: Yeah, so we actually house the museum in one of Haji Yusof's property. Uh, yeah, it is in a shop house in Kampong Glam itself, just in front of uh, you know, North Bridge Road, just facing the mosque. 

Paula: Where 

Hidayah: you have the [00:22:00] Landmark Hotel, then you have the very famous Zamzam, Victory, Murtabak. It's along that road.

Hidayah: It's just, it's just very near Bugis And, uh, so, like, I kind of wrote all that. And so they

Paula: have, do you have a 

Hidayah: Uh, no, we have on Instagram and Facebook. Yeah.

Paula: can link that in the

Hidayah: leave that

Rachel: Yeah, for sure. Yep. 

Hidayah: So

Hidayah: not because we.

Hidayah: We just launched it last year, September, so we didn't, you know, it was like, okay, just do social media first, a website can come later.

Hidayah: So we, um, yeah, so, so we, we did that and we, it was a very difficult process because I, I just, I felt that we were begging. I mean, this were our So we actually had to ask the lawyer to write in to the government So

Hidayah: it's

Hidayah: yeah, it's very crazy and a lot of, [00:23:00] You know, 

Paula: writing a book at the moment? I feel like there's a book here. I 

Hidayah: know. So, you should write about the museum.

Hidayah: So, you know, the most

Rachel: at least, um, Haji Yusuf's life, that

Hidayah: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, we wanted to bring uh so uh we did the restoration and it took about A year, ding dong, ding dong. No two years to to liars to get our artifacts back. And, and then we officially opened it last year, September 17, September Yeah. So we, we had a

Rachel: had a launch.

Rachel: you. 

Hidayah: And the museum is open to the public on the last Saturday of every month. From 12 last Saturday of the month. Yeah, we, we put all this information on our social media So, and, uh, yeah, so when. When people come, you know, of course, most of the time is a curated tour. I guess it's a small space on [00:24:00] the on the shop house on on the third level.

Hidayah: But actually, but I felt kind of happy because we got our artifacts back. And I actually also did the storyboarding. So somebody who's this English woman who visited the museum, and she was working for the British Museum. And she said, Oh, I am so happy that the words are big enough for us old folks to read.

Paula: read. And

Hidayah: And she kept saying that when I was at the British Museum, I told them to have the words bigger. Then I'm like, oh, thank you. So I mean, and I told her, okay, don't have any high expectation because it's just a small museum that's

Paula: Self curated.

Hidayah: I mean, you know, that we, we curate and we didn't get any, by the time, you know, I, I didn't dare to ask money from the family to, Oh, can we get a professional curator or museum?

Hidayah: You know, so I said, okay, by the time I think they probably freak out, say you demand so many things and [00:25:00] you want us to pay to get people professional to set it up. So, uh, it is quite quaint and we receive quite a good feedback. It's quite. Uh, I would like to think it is a very cozy, quaint and very intimate museum and you have the information, you have the storyboard and, that and it's, it's very so called accessible as in like, we, we will be there every, uh, to answer questions and, uh, Just now I asked whether you were from the Friends of the Museum because there are there are groups who said hey We cannot make it on like the the Saturday that you have but on other days or even the school kids You know, oh, can we when the teachers say oh, can you arrange for a time?

Hidayah: So it depends on my schedule also, but I'll try to accommodate So like, uh, the docents for Friends of the Museum, they came on, the weekday. So I will give them like a little, uh, tour. Then some schools, the kids, they wanted to learn. [00:26:00] Yeah. So, so this is like, like again, service to beloved Singapore, right?

Paula: I mean, what an advocate you are for Singapore, right? 

Hidayah: I hope the government, I mean, like recognize that because

Paula: What an, what an interesting story. You can tell that she's an 

Hidayah: right?

Rachel: Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. So

Hidayah: the interesting thing about the museum, uh, one of the artifacts that I, I actually insisted that we need to bring back, uh, there was, of course, you see artifacts from the early 19th century, uh, like even my great, you know, the, the material, material that my.

Hidayah: Great grandfather used to make the belt and these were imported from Germany 1910 night about 1900 and during that time, uh, of course, you know, people were already trading internationally. So even, uh, we, we, we have, and when, you know, some [00:27:00] of the people who visit the visitors who came and I asked them to touch the cloth and this are more than a hundred years old and it's.

Hidayah: And, uh, so one of the, the artifact that I'm glad I insisted that we really have to take was this safe is about, I think more than 200 kg, uh, the, uh, safe that was manufactured in Yeah. So during that time, uh, of course, You know, the banking system wasn't established. So where do like rich people keep their money, right?

Hidayah: So in the, it's in the safe. And what's, what was interesting was the safe was disguised like a cabinet, like a side wooden cabinet.

Hidayah: So when we were like, Uh, when I was auditing and taking stock of what, what, uh, what was remaining, right? And then I saw in the list, side cabinet with decoration. So I was looking, hunting, high, low, side cabinet.

Hidayah: And then I look at this, this so called, this wooden cabinet. And I, when I open it, it [00:28:00] was so, so heavy.

Paula: It

Hidayah: was actually a safe disguise, and then on top of the safe, it says manufactured by Richter and R. Heinz Hamburg.

Hidayah: Yeah, so it's, you know, it literally, so when, when, uh, and I asked Dr. Yahya, who was in Germany, right?

Hidayah: So I said, could you check out this company, you know, and call them, whether or not we can still, because it doesn't work anymore, it's quite complicated, I think they jammed the mechanism. So. And then, so, Dr. Yahya called the German company to find out, and then said, Hey, do you know after World War I, All the businesses shut down because Germany became alienation and you know, they

Paula: of course, and,

Hidayah: and then they couldn't, they couldn't because I wanted them to, help restore, but it couldn't. So, but it was so heavy. And until my uncle said, you know what, uh, you know, when the movers, the same movers said, it's so heavy. You [00:29:00] know, we had to charge a double for this.

Hidayah: And then my uncle said, you know what? Why don't we just leave it in the house? So I was so angry and said, no, no, no,

Hidayah: I want this in the museum, even one piece. piece of spoon or so I will take it with me.

Paula: So

Hidayah: we actually, we took about the safe movers, uh, took about six hours to transport this safe up to level. Yeah. So it was, it was really a lot of hard work and then when the movers, you know, because it really took them like half a day to do it. And then when they, when I explained, Oh, it is. You know, I want to set up this museum, you know, I was telling them it's actually private, you know, there's no government grant or whatever.

Hidayah: It's just us family wanted to share this story with the rest of, of, of the visitors and they actually feel very proud. So they took a picture with us and then they say, you know, oh, we are very happy to. Cannot carry , [00:30:00] please save up your like six hours. . Yeah.

Paula: six hours. Because there was

Hidayah: no, no elevator, nothing.

Rachel: Yeah. Wow. That is pretty, that's a, that's no small feat to be honest, right? That's really. Yeah Okay, well

Rachel: We have absolutely loved having you on. Is there anything else you want to share with the listeners? Um,

Hidayah: If you haven't read

Hidayah: my book,

Hidayah: uh, please, uh, do support and, you know, find my books available in Kinokuniya as well and other, other bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia.

Hidayah: And, uh, and if you are like overseas, right, I think some of the bookstores do, uh, deliver internationally. Um, I just, uh, this, this, the stories that I wrote or the, the books that I published is basically just to share [00:31:00] about us, our, our life in Singapore, about our culture, about our history with the rest of the world.

Hidayah: And, so if you. And these are very, I wouldn't want to say like I'm the best writer, but it was, when I wrote it, I always want to write it as though I wrote it for my own mother, 

Paula: who 

Hidayah: probably, you know, she probably can't understand like academic writing, you know, very simple. It is written very simple. in a simple way that even, you know, uh, uh, anyone with basic comprehension of English will be able to understand.

Hidayah: Yeah. So that's why I'm, you know, even the, the, the history book, uh, I have like, even the old aunties, you know, they say, Oh, you know, we, we actually, uh, we understand. And there's lots of pictures, you know, I make it very friendly. So basically it's like, do, do come and, you know, read this books and discover Singapore and like, Uh, Paula and Rachel, they love Singapore, [00:32:00] right?

Paula: So

Hidayah: I'm also sharing, you know, my love for Singapore with the rest of

Rachel: Yeah. And

Hidayah: maybe and a lot of these stories it's not being told in the mainstream narrative And I find of course, uh So, you know, we need to also highlight the good, the bad and the ugly in, in everything. So it is good that, you know, you learn about the Malays, not always about the Chinese, you know, so you know, there's this, you know, uh, who we are, you know, and a little bit of our history.

Hidayah: I think. And also hopefully the stories will inspire you, the readers, to rediscover about your own identity, about your own family, about your own roots. Because that was how I discovered my own, uh, yeah, and then you, you feel this sense of rootedness you know, 

Paula: to Singapore, right? Yeah, 

Hidayah: And do, uh, if you are in Singapore, do come and visit the museum.

Paula: Definitely. And,

Hidayah: you know, [00:33:00] and just come and, you know, talk to us. We

Hidayah: are very friendly. we, uh, 

Rachel: uh, we, we have, uh, a lot of connections with local expat associations and they often do tours around Kampong Glam and, and things like that. So we should share that information with them.

Rachel: Yeah, Yeah, 

Paula: Um, thank you again for coming on. It's been honestly, it's been fantastic.

Paula: I've learned more

Rachel: ride. I loved hearing

Paula: Again, we are very nice people

Rachel: Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

Hidayah: if you're not nice, I wouldn't even

Paula: Oh, you just write a book about us

Hidayah: a book about us. Ah, touche.

Hidayah: Revenge

Rachel: Revenge 

Hidayah: Yeah, like revenge, the queen of revenge

Rachel: Queen or Revenge

Rachel: thanks a lot.

Hidayah: very much. [00:34:00]