Space and time have always been integral concepts in geographical thinking and learning. The meaning(s) of space changes over time due not only to official discourses imposed by the state planning agencies but also because of the everyday use by the public through their multidimensional spatial practices. Deploying Henri Lefebvre’s (The production of space, Oxford, UK, Blackwell, 1991) concepts of production of space and right to the city and Nihal Perera’s (People’s spaces: Coping, familiarizing, creating, London, Routledge, 2016a) conceptual understanding of meanings of public space and vernacular uses in the context of the Global South, this paper seeks to showcase the ways fieldwork and observations help in understanding and tracing the changing meanings of Singapore’s Lembu Road neighborhood in the Little India heritage enclave over time. The paper further attempts to map the texturized meanings of public spaces in Little India, through deploying geographical fieldwork methods such as visual methods, observation, and landuse mapping.

This chapter reports the results of a survey of US (n = 65) and Singapore (n = 33) teachers on how they engaged in field-based historical inquiry with their students. In particular, the authors focus on what types of sites teachers selected, their frequency of utilizing field-based teaching, their confidence in engaging students in particular field-based inquiry teaching strategies, and what they viewed as factors that promote or serve as barriers to utilizing field-based inquiry. All the participants had received advanced training in teaching with historical sites either as part of a course (Singapore) or teacher professional development institute (USA). They found that the (Singapore) to memorials and historic sites (USA). Overall, the participants were confident in being able to utilize field-based historical inquiry strategies. However, they identified a number of barriers, with the most frequently identified being time (Singapore) and cost (USA). Important implications for teacher educators, administrators, and curriculum developers are explored around the types of sites identified, beliefs about field-based inquiry, and what can be done to promote field-based historical inquiry and reduce barriers to this practice. participants were generally limited to one field-based experience per academic year, with some augmenting these experiences with additional in class or virtual fieldtrips. Sites most often identified include cultural or heritage sites and museums

In Singapore, the date 15 February marks the anniversary when Singapore was surrendered to the Japanese during World War 2. The event is commemorated annually in a commemorative service held at the Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation. The commemoration service that took place in 2017 was an important one because it marked the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore in 1942. In her speech as the guest-of-honor at the service, Singapore’s Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Grace Fu, said that Singaporeans should “resolve to dedicate themselves to protecting the country, and to learn about the resilience and resourcefulness our forefathers have shown… Never again will we subject ourselves to be occupied, never again will we allow our land to be run by another country,” (The Straits Times, 15 February 2017). When reporting the service, the national newspaper, The Straits Times, ran with the headline “50th War Memorial Service Commemorates Those Who Died During Japanese Occupation” (The Straits Times, 15 February 2017), giving more emphasis to the 50th anniversary the memorial services that started in 1967 when the memorial was unveiled and dedicated. The minister’s speech and the headline show that war and memory occupy unfamiliar territory in Singapore.