Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956
This study challenges patriarchal narratives on the role of women during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore and the early Malayan Emergency by examining how women from lower socio-economic classes navigated and subverted colonial and postcolonial authority. Faced with limited economic o...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis-Master by Research |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181835 |
| _version_ | 1826128713086926848 |
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| author | Fong, Alison Min |
| author2 | Els van Dongen |
| author_facet | Els van Dongen Fong, Alison Min |
| author_sort | Fong, Alison Min |
| collection | NTU |
| description | This study challenges patriarchal narratives on the role of women during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore and the early Malayan Emergency by examining how women from lower socio-economic classes navigated and subverted colonial and postcolonial authority. Faced with limited economic opportunities, these women participated in illicit activities—smuggling, black market trading, and resistance—as strategies for survival. Their actions complicate the dominant portrayal of women as passive victims or self-sacrificial heroines, revealing instead a nuanced agency that redefined societal norms. Focusing on marginalized actors erased from official narratives, this research interrogates how these women's economic roles intersected with broader histories of mid-twentieth-century Singapore and Malaya. By analyzing the moral ambiguities of their actions, the study explores how their participation in illicit economies challenged gendered limitations and illuminated intersections of maternalism, feminism, and individualism. These narratives offer a female-centered perspective on the socio-political and economic transformations of the era, reshaping how we understand the intersections of survival, resistance, and state power. |
| first_indexed | 2025-03-09T14:54:12Z |
| format | Thesis-Master by Research |
| id | ntu-10356/181835 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-09T14:54:12Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1818352025-01-02T10:18:25Z Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 Fong, Alison Min Els van Dongen Zhou Taomo School of Humanities EVanDongen@ntu.edu.sg, tmzhou@nus.edu.sg Arts and Humanities History Gender Malaya Singapore Smuggling This study challenges patriarchal narratives on the role of women during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore and the early Malayan Emergency by examining how women from lower socio-economic classes navigated and subverted colonial and postcolonial authority. Faced with limited economic opportunities, these women participated in illicit activities—smuggling, black market trading, and resistance—as strategies for survival. Their actions complicate the dominant portrayal of women as passive victims or self-sacrificial heroines, revealing instead a nuanced agency that redefined societal norms. Focusing on marginalized actors erased from official narratives, this research interrogates how these women's economic roles intersected with broader histories of mid-twentieth-century Singapore and Malaya. By analyzing the moral ambiguities of their actions, the study explores how their participation in illicit economies challenged gendered limitations and illuminated intersections of maternalism, feminism, and individualism. These narratives offer a female-centered perspective on the socio-political and economic transformations of the era, reshaping how we understand the intersections of survival, resistance, and state power. Master's degree 2024-12-25T22:29:20Z 2024-12-25T22:29:20Z 2024 Thesis-Master by Research Fong, A. M. (2024). Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956. Master's thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181835 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181835 10.32657/10356/181835 en This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Arts and Humanities History Gender Malaya Singapore Smuggling Fong, Alison Min Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title | Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title_full | Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title_fullStr | Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title_short | Engendering the illicit: female agency and "bad women" in Malaya and Singapore, 1900-1956 |
| title_sort | engendering the illicit female agency and bad women in malaya and singapore 1900 1956 |
| topic | Arts and Humanities History Gender Malaya Singapore Smuggling |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/181835 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fongalisonmin engenderingtheillicitfemaleagencyandbadwomeninmalayaandsingapore19001956 |