Description
About the Author

The National Library of Singapore has one name that is inseparable from its history. Mrs Hedwig Anuar, born Hedwig Aroozoo, has been instrumental in shaping the modern library system for generations of Singaporeans, students and adults alike.

An ardent student of English literature herself, Hedwig loved books and writing from an early age. A chance rummage through her papers by her daughter, Shirin, unearthed a set of Hedwig’s writings done almost 80 years ago. In this compilation of essays written by Hedwig after World War II, we are transported back in time by her keen sense of observation. Her vivid descriptions of life in the mid-1940s give us a rare insight into post-war Singapore and a new appreciation for the smaller things in life. They trace her walk to school, whimsical observations of the weather and hot-potato issues of the day in pre-independence Malaya.

The roots of her activism, in the social upliftment of women in particular, lay in her involvement with the politics of student union work at the University of Malaya. The rare photos included here capture some of the very significant personages of the day.
Hedwig Aroozoo was born on the 19th of November, 1928 and graduated from the University of Malaya in 1951 with a first-class honours degree in English Literature. She worked as a librarian at the University of Malaya in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur between 1952 and 1961, then moved to the National Library in Singapore serving as its Director from 1965 until her retirement in 1988. Mrs Anuar was also a founding member of AWARE and was its third President from 1989 to 1991.

Authors

Vestiges: Essays 1945–1946