Editing C. Northcote Parkinson (section)

=== Public lectures ===

The first lecture of the Raffles Professor of History was a public lecture given at the [[Oei Tiong Ham]] Hall, on 19 May. Parkinson, who was speaking on "The Task of the Historian,"<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 May 1950 |title=Public Lecture |pages=4 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref> began by noting the new Raffles history chair was aptly named because it was [[Stamford Raffles|Sir Stamford Raffles]] who had tried to found the university in 1823 and because Raffles himself was a historian. There was a large audience, including Professor [[Alexander Oppenheim]], the university's Dean of the Faculty of Arts.<ref>"First Lecture on History."</ref>

The text of his lecture was then reproduced and published over two issues of ''The Straits Times'' a few days later.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 May 1950 |title=Raffles Chair of History |pages=8 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 May 1950 |title=Research at a Junction of East and West |pages=6 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

On 17 April 1953, he addressed the public on "The Historical Aspect of the Coronation," at the Singapore YMCA Hall.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 1953 |title=Coronation Talk |pages=7 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

Sponsored by the Malayan Historical Society, Parkinson gave a talk on the "Modern history of Taiping" at the residence of the District Officer, Larut and Matang on 12 August 1953.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 August 1953 |title=History talk in Taiping |pages=19 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

Sponsored by the Singapore branch of the Malayan Historical Society, on 5 February 1954 Parkinson gave a public lecture on "Singapore in the sixties" [1860s] at St. Andrew's Cathedral War Memorial Hall.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 January 1954 |title=He'll lecture on old Singapore |pages=5 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=6 February 1954 |title=Talk on old Singapore |pages=4 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

Sponsored by the Seremban branch of the Historical Society of Malaya, Parkinson spoke on Tin Mining at the King George V School, Seremban. He said, in the past, Chinese labourers were imported from China at $32 a head to work the tin fields of Malaya. He said that mining developed steadily after British protection had been established and that tin from Negri Sembilan in the 1870s came from Sungei Ujong and Rembau, and worked with capital from Malacca. He noted that Chinese working side-by-side with Europeans did better with their primitive methods and made great profits when they took over mines that Europeans abandoned.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 April 1954 |title=Romance of tin: Chinese began mines |pages=4 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

Arranged by the Indian University Graduates Association of Singapore, Parkinson gave a talk on "Indian Political Thought," at the USIS theatrette on 16 February 1955.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 1955 |title=Talk on Indian thought |pages=5 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=17 February 1955 |title=A professor on Indian thought |pages=7 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>

On 10 March 1955, he spoke on "What I think about Colonialism," at the British Council Hall, Stamford Road, Singapore, at 6.30 p.m. In his lecture, he argued that nationalism which was generally believed to be good, and colonialism which was seen as the reverse, were not necessarily opposite ideas but the same thing seen from different angles. He thought the gifts from Britain that Malaya and Singapore should value most and retain when they became self-governing included debate, literature (not comics), armed forces' tradition (not police state), arts, tolerance and humour (not puritanism) and public spirit.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 March 1955 |title=Colonialism... |pages=4 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=11 March 1955 |title=A 10-year trial before self-rule |pages=8 |work=[[The Straits Times]]}}</ref>