Dr Yuexin Rachel Lin

Can you tell us about your research, work and expertise in Southeast Asia?

I was born and raised in Singapore; like many members of the Nanyang Chinese diaspora, I have family ties across the region, including in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. My first job was as a journalist with The Straits Times, where I covered topics ranging from Chinese-language education and Malaysia-Singapore relations to local politics and the death penalty. I was also part of a team that interviewed former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, for his book Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going.

After transitioning into academia, I spent a year at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy as a postdoctoral researcher. While there, I was part of a French-Singaporean project that organised an international conference on the impact of the Russian Revolution in Asia. This resulted in a 2022 edited volume titled From Baku to Batavia, and inspired me to develop an undergraduate module on the rise of Communism in East and Southeast Asia.

Any anecdote you would like to share?

As a historian of Russia, I am interested in the country’s past connections to Singapore. One of the gravestones preserved in Singapore’s Fort Canning Hill belongs to a Russian navigator, Vladimir Astafev, who was to have accompanied the young Nicholas II on his 1890 tour of Asia. The story of Astafev’s grave and how it was memorialised by other Russian travellers to Singapore is written up here: https://acrosstheamur.wordpress.com/2018/07/24/a-sailors-tomb-in-singapore/.