How Colonialism, Labour, and Hinduism Became Entangled in Malaya’s Rail Network

Vineeta Sinha, Author, Temple Tracks

24-Jun-25 15:00

How Colonialism, Labour, and Hinduism Became Entangled in Malaya’s Rail Network

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Temple Tracks: Labour, Piety and Railway Construction in Asia is a fascinating new book by Vineeta Sinha, a professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore. It explores how Indian migrant workers, brought to colonial Malaya and Singapore to build and maintain the railway system, were not just labourers laying down tracks — they were also community-builders and religion-makers.

In this episode, we speak to the author about all of this and how it resulted in interesting parallels and divergences in political thought between the South Indians, specifically the Tamils in Tamil Nadu and those in Malaya/Singapore.

Image Credit: NUS FASS/Berghahn Books

Produced by: Dashran Yohan

Presented by: Dashran Yohan

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Categories: History/Heritage

Tags: Periyar, dalit, caste, the bigger picture, beyond the ballot box, labour, colonialism, railway, tamil, hinduism, migrant workers,

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