BiblioAsia Podcast

The BiblioAsia Podcast explores Singapore stories: some unfamiliar, others forgotten, all fascinating. Does Singapore have a stone age? What’s happened to the murals at the old Paya Lebar airport? Who were some local tennis greats? Find out in this original podcast by the National Library Singapore.

BiblioAsia Podcast is a education podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 52 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts BiblioAsia Podcast, a education show with 52 episodes published.

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  Episode #51

  A Layered Stewed Sweetness: Jackfruit Payasam Made Local

  Aug 11, 202641 min

  Cookbook author and former restaurateur Dhershini Winodan tells us how she has adapted jackfruit payasam, a common Malayalee dessert, by using local elements like gula melaka. She also talks about growing up in the Telecoms quarters in Yio Chu Kang and how the Malayalee community in Singapore has changed over time. Dhershini Govin Winodan is a former restaurateur who started Chat Masala along Upper East Coast Road. Her latest book, My Long Table: Recipes & Memories (2023), contains over 130 recipes from Indian classics to popular international dishes, and the stories behind them. She has written articles for magazines like Her World , and appeared on radio and TV shows, including the episode “Indian Upma with a Twist” on the YouTube series Woking with Sunshine . What Dhershini Talked About 02:41 – Why jackfruit payasam is unusual 03:20 – What is payasam made of 04:12 – Using coconut milk in payasam 04:27 –Jackfruit payasam in Kerala 08:38 – Malayali cuisine in Singapore vs Kerala 09:19 – Malayali weddings in Singapore 12:08 – Malayali festivals beyond Onam 15:24 – Managing jackfruit 19:27 – The legend of payasam and Lord Krishna 21:32 – Types of jackfruit for cooking 22:21 – How using the bronze urli pot makes a difference 24:03 – Ingredients that make her jackfruit payasam special 27:14 – How Dhershini learnt to cook 29:02 – Why she came up with the name for her restaurant Chat Masala 31:40 – About her book My Long Table 36:53 – How Malayali food is different from other Indian regional cuisines 38:26 – What Malayali food means to Dhershini Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-a-layered-stewed-sweetness-jackfruit-payasam-made-local Watch Dhershini make jackfruit payasam : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-jackfruit-payasam Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Dhershini for coming on the show. Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

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  Episode #50

  The Crisped, the Baked, the Spiralled: Curry Puffs and Their History

  Aug 4, 202655 min

  Award-winning writer Christopher Tan talks how the Indian samosa led to the curry puffs we know today, as well as the different types of curry puffs – baked, spiralled, made with mutton fat and fillings like otak-otak and taro. Christopher Tan is a food writer, culinary instructor and photographer. His articles, columns, recipes and photographs have appeared in many publications, including Singapore’s Sunday Times and Straits Times , The Peak magazine, and America’s Saveur magazine. He has authored and co-authored many cookbooks, most recently Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies (2024). What Christopher Talked About 01:56 – What a curry puff is 02:24 – Types A, B, C curry puffs 05:35 – How Christopher became fascinated with curry puffs 12:06 – Curry puff vs samosa vs Cornish pasty 16:17 – Portuguese empanadas and Southeast Asian connections 21:46 – The earliest curry puff recipe in Singapore 29:10 – Why modern curry puffs rarely use pork 31:14 – The three curry puffs made for From Book to Cook 33:20 – Traditional fats used in layered pastry 40:39 – Why spiral curry puffs stay crispy 44:21 – Christopher’s research process for developing recipes 47:51 – How the curry puff scene has changed since the 1920s 53:58 – Curry puffs are… Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-the-crisped-the-baked-the-spiralled-curry-puffs-and-their-history Watch Christopher make the curry puffs : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-curry-puffs Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Christopher for coming on the show. Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

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  Episode #49

  Putting Together a Family Recipe of Abacus Seeds

  Jul 28, 202634 min

  When chef, filmmaker and writer Sarah Huang Benjamin wanted to make Hakka abacus seeds for Chinese New Year, her relatives were of little help. The exact recipe was something the older generation had not passed on. Armed with her childhood memories of helping to make the dish, Sarah spent hours doing research and conducting countless experiments before she came up with something she was happy with. Sarah Huang Benjamin is a chef, content creator, filmmaker and writer. She won the inaugural Asian Food Channel’s “Food Hero” competition in 2014, and later hosted, wrote and produced multiple shows on the Asian Food Network. She creates videos for her YouTube channel, which has gathered over a million views. What Sarah Talked About 02:31 – What abacus seeds are 03:23 – Whether abacus seeds are only for Chinese New Year 03:46 – Why Sarah chose abacus seeds to demonstrate in the video for From Book to Cook 04:56 – Learning how to make the dish 09:27 – The difficulty of finding authentic abacus seed recipes 10:03 – Researching recipes through cookbooks and family knowledge 12:00 – Using fish sauce in her recipe 13:42 – The size and history of the Hakka community in Singapore 18:29 – Where to find abacus seeds in Singapore 19:32 – Why homemade abacus seeds taste different 21:21 – Sarah’s mixed Hakka and Peranakan heritage 22:53 – Plans for Sarah’s future cookbook 27:33 – What Sarah is working on now 30:58 – Family recipe is… Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-putting-together-a-family-recipe-of-abacus-seeds Watch Sarah make abacus seeds : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-hakka-abacus-seeds Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Sarah for coming on the show. Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

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  Episode #48

  The Untold Negotiations Behind Singapore's Independence in 1965

  Jul 23, 20261h 3m

  For decades, the conventional wisdom was that Singapore was “kicked out” of Malaysia. However, newly released documents in Dr Goh Keng Swee's Albatross file reveal a more complex history. In this episode, Janadas Devan, the coordinator for the Albatross File project, tells us more about the secret negotiations by Singapore’s leaders to separate from Malaysia, even as many of them still hoped to preserve a looser federation. Janadas Devan is Senior Advisor (Government Communications) of Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Prime Minister’s Office, and Director of the Institute of Policy Studies. A former journalist, he was educated at the National University of Singapore and Cornell University in the United States. What Janadas Talked About 00:00 – Introduction to the Albatross File book and exhibition 04:41 – Why Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963 08:18 – Agreement between Lee Kuan Yew and Tunku to keep out of Malaysian politics 10:25 – UMNO’s performance in Singapore general elections 12:09 – PAP’s participation in Malaysia general elections and politics 15:05 – What Janadas remembers of the rallies in Malaysia 16:42 – Last straw that led to separation 24:46 – Goh Keng Swee’s proposal to separate 25:25 – Why Lee Kuan Yew was disliked by Malaysian politicians 28:54 – Why the British opposed a looser federation 31:02 – Why negotiations on separation were kept secret 31:50 – Opposition within Singapore leadership to the idea of looser federation 34:43 – Why the narrative of Singapore being “kicked out” of Malaysia was dominant 37:52 – What the Albatross file reveals about separation 41:47 – Importance of archives in other countries and Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs 43:00 – Whether a looser federation would have worked 44:13 – Whether Goh Keng Swee had a vision for independent Singapore 47:07 – How the book and exhibition came about 52:25 – Which document in the Albatross file surprised Janadas 57:03 – How to begin reading the book 57:45 – Possible second edition 1:00:47 – The books Janadas is working on Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-the-untold-negotiations-behind-singapore-s-independence-in-1965/ Read the related BiblioAsia article : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-22-issue-1-apr-jun-2026-the-architect-of-separation/ Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Red Ink Media. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Janadas for coming on the show. Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

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  Episode #52

  A Tang Dynasty City in Singapore: Flying Swordsmen, Terracotta Warriors and Pagodas

  Jun 25, 202631 min

  A film studio and theme park in Jurong opened to grand fanfare in 1992. Named Tang Dynasty City, it was modelled after the ancient city of Chang’an. Despite its underground terracotta warriors and other attractions, it struggled to draw visitors, as Senior Librarian Lim Tin Seng tells us. Lim Tin Seng is a senior librarian with the National Library Singapore. He is the co-editor of of Roots: Tracing Family Histories (2013), Harmony and Development: ASEAN-China Relations (2009) and China’s New Social Policy (2010). He writes regularly for BiblioAsia . What Tin Seng Talked About 00:00 – Introduction 02:09 – About Tang Dynasty City 03:54 – Who came up with the idea of Tang Dynasty City 05:25 – Why Chang’an was picked as the city to replicate 06:54 – The difficulty of getting construction materials 08:34 – Movies and shows shot at Tang Dynasty City 10:40 – Food options at Tang Dynasty City 12:38 – Popularity of the theme park 14:38 – Underground terracotta warriors 15:54 – How Tang Dynasty City tried to attract more visitors 19:10 – What Tin Seng enjoys about archival research 20:30 – Curiocity project, on story maps 23:03 – The research significance of Tin Seng’s favourite BiblioAsia article he has written 26:09 – How Tin Seng’s article on Sarong Island broke new ground Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-a-tang-dynasty-city-in-singapore-flying-swordsmen-terracotta-warriors-and-pagodas Read the article : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-22-issue-2-jul-sep-2026-an-ancient-chinese-city-in-jurong-/ Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Red Ink Media. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Tin Seng for coming on the show. Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

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