Living History

I've realised that as I get older, I seem to appreciate history more and more. Back in school, history was simply another subject. Interesting enough if you happened to have a good teacher, but otherwise just a bunch of events and dates to memorise and regurgitate for exams.

This morning, I happened to be listening to the radio while driving when an old Billy Joel song that I loved came on. I always thought Joel was a great musician but this musical number was simply brilliant. This song was first released in 1989 when Joel was forty years old. The song covers historic items between 1949 (when he was born) to 1989.  If we had such musical and video accompaniment during our history classes back at St Joe, maybe more of us might have taken up history in college.

Here's the Billy Joel number. If you still haven't guessed the title, it's called "We Didn't Start The Fire", and it showcases many historical events and figures during our lifetime. Turn up the volume and enjoy. You can even dance if you like  ...

As you know, I have taken a special interest in Sarawak history, and  have dedicated a number of postings in this blog to stories about the Brookes and other individuals and events in our state's colourful history. We in Sarawak have a great multicultural heritage that generations after us should know about. Perhaps one of these days, I should work on a book to cover some of the less documented aspect of our history.

In recent years, I've also been increasingly involved in another kind of history - family history or genealogy. I may have mentioned this in earlier postings of my blog. It is fascinating to trace your ancestors and their descendants, and it is particularly exciting when you can overlay your family history with your state or country's history. My genealogical project has taken my father and myself to various parts of Sabah (Kota Kinabalu, Beaufort, Membakut and Kuala Penyu), Labuan, Sarawak (Kuching) and Singapore. Anyway, we recently completed the first edition of our first genealogical book "Tracing the Roots of the Yong Family" and we are in the final stages of the second book "In Search of Lau Chek" (Lau being my mother's surname).

Well, that's it for today's posting on Living History. As always, you are encouraged to share your thoughts and experiences.