Why no historians on Founders' Memorial panel?

I am glad that a committee has been formed to study the construction of the Founders' Memorial ("Work begins on Founders' Memorial"; Wednesday).

While the 15-member committee is representative of people from various sectors of society ("Who's who on the Founders' Memorial panel"; Wednesday), one group of professionals is not represented - historians.

Given that the Founders' Memorial will be dedicated to historical personalities who shaped Singapore's history, I am intrigued that not a single professional historian is on the committee.

There are many history professors from the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, as well as a handful of independent history researchers and overseas-based Singaporean historians, who specialise in Singapore history.

With their expertise, they will be able to provide valuable input to this important history-related project. Unfortunately, none of them is on the committee.

I wonder how the composition of the committee is decided upon.

The voice of the historian is needed in the committee to ensure that the Founders' Memorial is an accurate representation of our nation's past.

Chan Cheng Lin

This article was first published on July 3, 2015.
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