From prize-fighting boxers to entertainers, people of African descent have played varied and active roles in the history of Singapore.
A search of the digital newspaper archives available via the National Library throws up hundreds of examples.
"This isn't secret knowledge, but it was surprising to me how hardly anyone had talked about it," says poet and playwright Ng Yi-Sheng, one of the three creators of Ayer Hitam: A Black History Of Singapore, a lecture-performance exploring the history and influence of the African diaspora in Singapore.
It is directed by Singaporean theatre-maker Irfan Kasban, who also serves as stage manager and dramaturg, and stars actress Sharon Frese, a British expatriate of Jamaican descent.
She has lived in Singapore since 2009 and performed in productions by Teater Ekamatra (This Placement, 2012) and The Necessary Stage (Singapore, 2012).
Ayer Hitam started out as Ng's idea. He knew Frese and had been following a blog about the history of black people in Europe. This made him curious about the African diaspora in Asia.
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BOOK IT / AYER HITAM: A BLACK HISTORY OF SINGAPORE
WHERE: Black Box, Centre 42, 42 Waterloo Street
WHEN: Jan 17 and 18, 8pm; Jan 19, 3 and 8pm; Jan 20, 3pm
ADMISSION: $27 from Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)
INFO: Rating to be advised
Research was not difficult, he says, adding dryly: "One of the first major steps was going through the newspaper archives searching for politically incorrect terms such as 'negro'."
Ayer Hitam means "black water" in Malay and is used in homage to the phrase of the same meaning in Hindi, "kala pani", used by convicts and indentured labourers from India who crossed the seas.
Singaporeans today may be aware that these labourers built the British colony, but are probably unaware that there were also workers and soldiers of African descent in the entourage of British officers.
In the 1920s, when boxing and prize fights were a major source of entertainment here, fighters of African descent drew crowds.
Frese, 54, says: "It's an enlightenment. It illustrates the place that black people have in Singapore history. We've been part of the nation-building, part of Parliament and people don't know we are there."
Besides Singapore, she has lived in the American mid-west, Germany and South Africa.
While she has experienced racism or ignorance here - people wanting to touch her hair or taking photos of her secretly - what stands out are the common cultural values.
"I always cry at Malay weddings because I get the sense that this is what it should be about - lots of food, lots of connecting with family," she says. "Asian values are similar to traditional Jamaican values."
Akshita Nanda
