Bachelor of Arts

The battles of Delhi and Laswari during the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803 – 1805) culminated in the Brahmin Bengal sepoys of the British East India Company (EIC) emerging victorious against the Marathas, even though the latter had considerable advantage in terms of familiarity of the local terrain, manpower, martial experience and superior military technology. Reasons proffered by historians to account for this phenomenal outcome are largely technologically or else culturally determinant, with an almost complete disregard for the mentality of the Brahmin Bengal sepoys who fought the battles and earned the decisive victories for the EIC. Thus, this study seeks to examine the Brahmin Bengal sepoys’ perception of war during the Second Anglo-Maratha War.

Using British and translated indigenous primary sources, this study principally advocates that the Brahmin Bengal sepoys saw war as a medium for economic survival and to discharge their religious obligation as Brahmins at the same time, both elements fundamentally encapsulating their jugni or essence of life which describes the core principles and pursuits one is expected to centre his/her life upon. The sepoys neither saw the soldiering profession to be a contradiction to their Brahmin caste which ascribed them to be hereditary priests; nor was economics necessarily secular in their worldview.

This dissertation offers a preliminary assessment of Obama’s legacy on Race as the 44th President of the United States of America. The argument advances along that Obama had a decisive influence on the racial divide in America. He election brought forth a greater radicalisation of politics in America. Firstly, I propose that Obama an astute politician was cognisant of the role of race in his election, one in which he saw to use to his advantage. Secondly Obama notable silence and inaction over the issue critically exposes the racial schism within American society. The dissertation begins with an inspection of the Obama 2008 Campaign and valuated the role of race in his election, thereafter a critical analysis Obama’s reaction to racial controversies during his tenure in the White House. The dissertation concludes that beyond his mark as the first African American President, Obama legacy on race has been one that is found wanting, one in which he assiduously tried to distance himself from.

To date, the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case remains one of the most historically significant events that took place during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). While there exists multiple accounts seeking to examine the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case and its implications on the politics and governance on Ming China, its significance as a singular event that brought about a watershed in Ming China warrants further attention of researchers interested in this period in China’s history. This paper proposes to examine the history and significance of the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case from three perspectives: first, in causing a widespread purge of both the Ming court and Ming society; second, in triggering political reorganisations during the Hongwu reign; and third, in laying a foundation for the rise of factional politics in subsequent Ming reigns. Through a study of primary sources such as the Nichen lu (Records of the Treasonous Officials), this paper argues that one of the most immediate impact of the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case was the indiscriminate executions of both civil and military officials and society at large. In addition, secondary sources such as The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7 and Volume 8, further illuminate the fact that the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case had long-term impact on the politics and governance of Ming China. Specifically, this paper puts forth the argument that the 1380 Hu Weiyong Case resulted in the abandonment of the political structure the Ming Dynasty inherited from the Yuan Dynasty and that in the long run, the new political structure introduced by Zhu Yuanzhang resulted in the exacerbation of the political rot that led to the eventual demise of the Ming Dynasty.

The press in Singapore is an area of interest to any student of Singapore politics. While foreign opinion tend to be critical of the People’s Action Party (PAP) government’s extensive controls over the press, domestic opinion seem not to show the same degree of anxiety or concern, even though locals are fully aware of it. This then begs the question of how the PAP government has been able to tame the Singapore press without incurring widespread domestic resistance, and what guiding ideas and principles it has adopted in the management of the press, such that it could stand fast against domestic scrutiny. This thesis thus seeks to uncover the ideological foundations that undergirded press management in Singapore and argues that the PAP government’s deep-seated belief in Singapore’s vulnerabilities had constituted the ideological core in its approach towards the press and provided the main impetus for the tactics and strategies employed to subordinate the press. These ideological foundations, also functioning as crucial defences for a government-friendly press, had not only served the critical purpose of legitimising the PAP government’s many high-handed actions, but also put it in a position of self-righteousness where it saw no need to be apologetic towards critics and “victims” alike. These then gave the PAP government the confidence and political mileage to pursue policies that were initially unpopular and widely seen as undemocratic, and entrench its grip over the Singapore press, ultimately contributing to the consolidation of its power and influence within Singapore.

The decade of the 1950s in post-war Singapore represents one of the most tumultuous and perhaps misunderstood periods of Singapore’s history. It was a decade marked by not only British attempts to implement a policy of political tutelage through a series of guided constitutional reforms and elections beginning in 1948, but also by a rise in protests, strikes and riots, fermented, according to traditional narratives, by pro-communist or communist-influenced trade unions and student activists. This narrative of communist-inspired political activism, particularly among the Chinese-educated in post-war Singapore, has very much become entrenched in the national history of Singapore. This has made reassessments of the 1950s difficult especially when one considers the paucity of information, given that much of the official sources remain embargoed and inaccessible to most scholars. However, more sources have been made available in recent years, especially by those who were actively involved in the events of the 1950s, thus giving a more intimate insight into the political, economic and social environment of the 1950s. This thesis therefore aims to reassess the traditional narratives of communist influence in 1950s Singapore, particularly among the Chinese-educated political activists, in light of information shed by the new publications.

This paper examines two case studies, the first being the 1954 Anti-National Service Riot in which the Chinese middle school students were a part of, and the 1955 Hock Lee Bus Riots which involved the trade union workers from the Singapore Bus Workers’ Union (SBWU). As schools and trade unions were the two main groups which the communists infiltrated in the 1950s, these two case studies are representative of the how communism has influenced the students and trade union workers. However, this paper also asserts that many individuals were “useful idiots”, a term coined in 1930 by the Comintern, referring to those who were merely implicated or influenced by the activities of the MCP without knowing that they were aiding in the communist operations.