Prof John Norman Miksic

 

The Don of Digs

 

Since his arrival in 1984, United States-born Professor John Norman Miksic has conducted major excavations at 15 sites in Singapore. His archaeological findings brought to light that the Singapore narrative actually started 500 years before the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles.

 

Singaporean youngsters today are going further back in time to learn about Singapore’s history. The new lower secondary school history textbook, Singapore: The Making of a Nation-State, 1300-1975, chronicles the country’s past from the 14th century, instead of starting in 1819, when Sir Stamford Raffles, then governor of Bencoolen, stumbled upon a sleepy Malay fishing village. The work of Professor John Miksic is behind this revision. Prof Miksic’s archaeological finds, which first began in 1984 at Fort Canning, mean that 13- and 14-year-old students here now learn that Singapore was an ancient city and had been a thriving port-of-call since 1350.

Prof Miksic is known for having led major archaeological excavations across Southeast Asia. His findings in Singapore have amounted to eight tons of artefacts. Prof Miksic’s interest in the past stems from his childhood. While growing up in rural New York, he uncovered many old arrowheads at his family’s 150-year-old farm and this made him wonder what life was like on the farm without modern technology. His curiosity fuelled a 50-year career in archaeology.

Prof Miksic came to Singapore in 1984 at the invitation of the National Museum of Singapore. The museum had asked him to lead a team in the inaugural archaeological excavation of Fort Canning. There were records like the Malay Annals, which suggested that a city existed here in the 14th century. But this had not been established as a fact. Thus, the excavation was to provide empirical evidence.

After two days of digging, the team—made up of Prof Miksic, men serving their National Service, and staff from the National Museum of Singapore—found green-glazed Chinese ceramics, known as celadons, dating from the 14th-century Yuan Dynasty. They also found earthenware made in Asia. These included roof tiles, which suggested that the building on Fort Canning was an important temple, since all other roofs were usually made of dried fronds (called attap) at that time. The team’s findings finally brought to light details of Singapore’s past. “You’re recovering a lost memory in the form of a scene,” said Prof Miksic, recalling the dig.

In 1987, Prof Miksic, who has also led major excavations in Indonesia, including at the ancient Borobudur temple, accepted an offer to teach in the Department of History at NUS. To date, he has led 11 excavations in Singapore, at sites like the St Andrew’s Cathedral, the Padang, Empress Place and Parliament House.

His excavations have uncovered 100 Chinese coins and good quality Chinese porcelain, which hinted that Singapore was already a thriving commercial and industrial centre before Raffles arrived. Most of his finds—a total of 500,000 pieces—are “junk”, Prof Miksic said, but they reveal stories of the past. These artefacts proved that a settlement had existed at the mouth of the Singapore River—where the Esplanade is today—since the end of the 13th century, and that it became a kingdom and bustling port called Singapura. He has documented this evidence in a recent book, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300–1800.

Prof Miksic has always been passionate about making archaeology accessible to the public, stressing the importance of teaching history without jargon. For instance, at a TEDxNUS talk in 2010, he used pictures of Singapore’s past and present to explain his archaeological findings. He gives public lectures four to five times a year. Some of his findings are also displayed in Singapore’s public museums.

In 2011, Prof Miksic was consulted on the historical aspects of the game World of Temasek, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that recreates life in 14th-century Singapore, initiated by the National Heritage Board. In the game, one’s avatar interacts with other characters that existed in Singapore. The virtual character has to build relationships based on correct cultural behaviour in order to gain points. The game has practical relevance. Most of these social structures have lasted through the centuries and knowing them will help build professional relationships, Prof Miksic said.

In the new History textbook for lower secondary school students, readers will find that textual and first-hand visual sources are used to flesh out the content in the textbook. Students also have access to some 4,000 artefacts from the 14th to 20th centuries unearthed by Prof Miksic and his digging team. “The wide range allows students to understand the changes throughout the centuries,” Prof Miksic said. As part of the Ministry's new inquiry-based approach to learning, they examine the artefacts to understand the historical context in which they were found. Prof Miksic has also trained History teachers to teach the new syllabus.

Prof Miksic has spent the last 31 years nudging a mindset change about the country’s past—that it is not an “historical accident”. Empirical evidence from his excavations have established that Singapore is indeed a nation with ancient roots, and having existed for 700 years, Singapore does not have to fret over its survival.

Today, Prof Miksic works at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies. He enjoys teaching and does not see himself giving it up. He lectures during both semesters at the NUS and through the summer breaks too. An ex-student, Derek Heng, who is now an Associate Professor of History at Yale-NUS College , said Prof Miksic’s classes on pre-modern history in Singapore were an eye-opener and had sparked his own research interest in Singapore’s history. Prof Miksic is married to a Chinese Malaysian and they have two children. His family resides in the United States.

References

Derek Heng and Kwa Chong Guan, “Digging up Singapore’s history,” The Straits Times,
February 21, 2015, http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/digging-up-singapores-history

Jane Peterson, “In New Textbook, the Story of Singapore Begins 500 Years Earlier,”
The New York Times, May 11, 2014.

John N Miksic, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800 (Singapore: NUS Press, 2013).

Melody Zaccheus, “Indiana Jones who Pieces Together S’pore’s Past,” The Straits Times, Feb 24, 2014,
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/indiana-jones-who-pieces-together-spores-past

The Silk Road of the Sea, The Economist, November 29, 2013,
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/11/14th-century-singapore

Interviews with Prof John Norman Miksic and Derek Heng,
via email, in July 2015.

 

 

Prof John Miksic
United States of America, b.1946