By Tessa Wong

JUST over a year ago, I created a Facebook interest group called 'We Heart Retro Channel 8 Dramas'.

I uploaded a photo of Zoe Tay circa that classic gambling soap The Unbeatables, invited friends to join, posted a few discussion threads, and pretty much forgot about it as my initial enthusiasm petered out.

A recent visit to my online baby threw up the surprising revelation that it had blossomed into a buzzing community with more than 300 members - all sharing my unabashed geeky love for cheesy SBC and TCS (MediaCorp TV predecessors) dramas.

A good number of young Singaporeans, of different races and from all walks of life, were debating which were the all-time best dramas - The Last Swordsman? Star Maiden? Good Morning Teacher?

One had even posted YouTube clips of opening titles of hit shows like Neighbours.

Such bonhomie not only warmed my heart - but it also got me thinking about how, in the light of recent headlines about preserving Singapore's landmarks, it has become increasingly important for youth to own our history and identity through new dialogues with our past.

Take this Facebook group, for example.

We're not merely waxing lyrical about television - we're collectively engaging in a nostalgia for our Singaporean childhood.

Sure they may just be old TV shows, but they were our TV shows, ones which we eagerly lapped up as bored kids every afternoon and dinner time.

By elevating what may seem like trivial entertainment into culturally significant artefacts, we were paying homage to a little part of Singapore's history that shaped us as individuals.

The Singapore story is often taught to us with a sense of epicness - how we have forged through crises such as the Japanese Occupation, independence and Sars.

That comes as no surprise. After all, that's what history at its most basic level is - a linear narrative formed by large-scale national events.

But pop culture has its place in our story as well.

Nothing is too trivial to be considered as part of who we are and what is considered Singaporean.

So it's not just about preserving cultural detritus by uploading clips of old television shows - it can also be making art out of photographing forgotten spots around the island, or making DIY films about playing football in void decks, as some young Singaporeans have already done in the last few years.

Preserving aspects of Singapore which have unique meaning to us can help us appreciate our sense of identity. Because what's the point of being Singaporean if you don't own a part of its history and culture in a personal way?

We don't have to rely on a historian, a teacher or a book - to tell the Singapore story. Anyone can be a 'citizen historian'.

We can preserve our stories, create our own museums - even when we're doing something as trivial as geeking out over old Channel 8 dramas.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on June 16, 2008.