志异 Draft by Drama box december 2013 (english) | Page 42

d ra ft v ol 2 i ss ue 2

m e m o r y x s p ac e

g u es t c ol u mn

42

Topography
Memory is intimately rooted
in the physical terrain of
existence through people’s life
experiences and trajectories
whether in the external landscape
or in the interior of dwelling.
This relationship can be expressed
metaphorically as a topography
comprising a ‘stream of
consciousness’ of various types of
memories, some already embedded
while others continuing to flow.
In the Singapore context, the
topography of memory is located at
the intersections of island, city
and the nation, depending on one’s
inclination, affiliation and
position. In these zones are those
who remember the island in its
pre-development contours such as
the old river settlements now
dammed into canals and reservoirs,
and of the forgotten islands of
Singapore; there are those who
remember the city as it grew and
developed, and there are those who
remember the nation as it emerged
and transformed itself. Owing
to the dense palimpsest of the
inherited landscape as well as of

the built
memories
many case
with the
phases of
developme
absence o
the conte
is homoge
the local
seem a wo
and vice
said of m
Singapore
that will
homogenei
and exper
interesti
in the fu

In the Singapore context, the topograph
memory is located at the intersections
island, city and the nation, depending
one’s inclination, affiliation and posi