Parsi Community



Singapore Infopedia

Background

The Parsis (or Parsees) are descendants of Zoroastrian Persians who settled in India in the 10th century.1 They first arrived in Singapore in the 19th century. As of 2017, an estimated 350 Parsis live in Singapore.2 Parsi Road and Parsi Cemetery are named after this community.3

Background
Asia
The Parsis are an ethno-religious group of Persian descent (from the Fars province in present-day Iran) who migrated to India as late as the 10th century CE after the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century.4 The majority of Parsis settled in Gujarat in western India and worked in agriculture until the end of the 18th century. As European factories were set up to supply the demand for export commodities in the 17th century, some Parsis became artisans, middlemen or traders who plied the lively coastal-inland caravan trading route between Surat and Burhanpur.5

By the 17th to 18th century, some Parsis who lived in the western coastal city of Surat in Gujarat became brokers, traders, bankers and moneylenders. These Parsis offered the British credit facilities and financial services and were important collaborators in the development of British trading interests.6 The Parsis then extended their trading interests in Southeast and East Asia and were heavily involved in shipping and trading goods, such as cotton, textiles, porcelain, and opium.7 Owing to famines and economic incentives, many Parsis then moved from Surat to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) beginning in the mid-to-late 18th century, which became the major shipyard for the British on the west coast of India.8

Singapore
The first known Parsi in Singapore was a convict by the name of Muncherjee in 1827; this was during a time when Singapore was a penal colony for British convicted felons (1825–73).9 His illness led to the need for a burial place for Zoroastrians in Singapore, and the Parsi Cemetery was created.

As more Parsis came to Singapore, an area near Mount Palmer and Palmer Road became the centre for their activities, with the creation of a Parsi Lodge to house merchants and hold Zoroastrian religious ceremonies.10

Cursetjee Hill first appears in an 1881 map of Singapore next to Mount Wallich. It was likely named after a prominent Parsi in Singapore, either Cursetjee Pestonjee Lalla, one of the founders of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, or businessman Cursetjee Frommurze.11 The hill was later excavated alongside Mount Wallich to level and reclaim the Telok Ayer area.

By 1881, it was recorded that there were 22 males and 6 female Parsis in Singapore.12 The Parsi population grew to about 34 in 1961, 70 in 1971, 100 in 1986, 200 in 2009, and 350 in 2017.13

Trades
The Parsis who first came to Singapore in the 19th century were largely traders and agents, with the first known Parsi firm Frommurze Sorabjee established in 1840.14 In 1849, Byramjee Pestonjee and Byramjee Hormusjee Cama & Co were established as Parsi merchants and agents who operated at Commercial Square (present-day Raffles Place).15

The Parsis were also involved with setting up the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, which later became the Port of Singapore Authority.16 Several British ships such as Ann were built by Parsi master builders in the Bombay dockyards, and Singapore was a regular port of call as part of their trade route between Bombay and China as early as 1827.17 Other ships such as Bencoolen plied the Singapore, Manilla and Batavia (present-day Jakarta) routes in Southeast Asia before heading to Europe.18

In the late 19th to early 20th century, Parsi theatre groups such as the Victoria Theatrical Company from Bombay went on tours in many parts of Southeast Asia including Singapore.19 These Parsi theatre acts inspired the creation of several localised theatre forms including the bangsawan (Malay opera) in the Malay Peninsula.20 In 1902, the first cinema film was shown in Singapore by a Parsi travelling showman named Basrai, at the open space at the intersection of Hill Street and River Valley Road.21

Today, Parsis work in many sectors, such as the aviation, legal, medical, hospitality, engineering, interior design, software, and information technology industry.22

Beliefs
Parsis follow Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion founded by the prophet Zarathustra that flourished from 6th century BCE to 7th century CE.23 Traditionally, in Iran and India, Parsis worship in Fire Temples, and their funerary practices include excarnation, which is the practice of removing flesh and organs from the deceased prior to burial – this can occur naturally by leaving the corpse for scavenger birds.24 Without a Fire Temple in Singapore, members of the Zoroastrian community usually worship in their own homes. As excarnation is banned, the Parsis are sometimes buried in concrete coffins that prevent a decomposing body from touching the sacred earth, and cremation has slowly gained acceptance.25 The Zoroastrian House at 83 Desker Road serves as the only prayer hall for weekly prayers and was inaugurated on 17 April 2011.26 A representative for Zoroastrianism sits on the council for the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore.27

Parsis celebrate Navroz (Nowruz), the Persian New Year, around 21 March during the Spring Equinox according to a solar calendar, and again in July to August, according to a Zoroastrian imperial lunar calendar.28

Association
The Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Southeast Asia, Singapore (PZAS; formerly Parsi Association of Malaya) was founded on 29 May 1954 to promote the welfare of Parsi-Zoroastrian residents in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.29 The association was founded by Phirozshaw Manekji Framroz, Behramgore Vakil, Keki Medora, and Rutton Patel. Based at the Zoroastrian House at Desker Road, the PZAS also serves as a venue for social functions and has a permanent exhibition showcasing Parsi and Zoroastrian history and traditions spanning two floors in the building.30

Every year, the PZAS elects a management committee to run the Parsi Lodge Charity, a charitable trust endowment first created in 1829 to establish a burial ground for Parsis.31 The trust fund is currently used to defray expenses of religious ceremonies, and provide scholarships to Parsi Zoroastrian residents in Singapore, and medical benefits or housing for Parsis in need. The trust owns a building at the Parsi Cemetery, the Parsi Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang, and investments in bonds and fixed deposits.32

Prominent Parsis in Singapore
Frommurze Sorabjee (b. 26 May, 1804–d. 17 February, 1849, Singapore) was a Parsi merchant who established a firm in his own name in Singapore in 1840.33 He was a member of the Freemasons in Singapore, a founding shareholder of the Singapore Library (1845–74), and was the father of Cursetjee Frommurze.34

Cursetjee Frommurze (–d. 1881, Singapore) partnered with John M. Little in 1845 to open Little, Cursetjee & Co, which later became John Little & Co, one of Singapore’s oldest department stores.35

Byramjee Hormusjee Cama of Byramjee Hormusjee Cama & Co founded and funded the Cama Free School on Tanjong Pagar Road in 1864.36 His wealth was short-lived, as his estate in Bombay was wound up in 1865. He was one of the named merchant houses that caused the Bank of Bombay to fail.37

Edalji Jamsetji Khory (b. 1844–d. June 1917, Cricklewood, London, England) was a barrister-at-law who practised in India, Burma (now Myanmar) and Singapore, and a prominent member of the Freemasons society, being Master of three lodges. He was also a Gujarati author and playwright, and a member of the Singapore Debating Society. He donated four volumes of books on Ava to the Raffles Museum in 1889, and retired from practising law in 1908.38

Sorabji Kavasji(b. 9 June 1859, Bombay–death unknown) was a Queen’s Scholar and the proprietor and editor of the Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, an English newspaper published in Singapore (1905–1908). He was a trained veterinarian and journalist prior to arriving in Singapore in 1906.39

Hirji Pestonji Kaka (b. 1870 Poona (now Pune), India–d. 12 February 1940, Bombay, India) (also known as Heerji Pestonji Kaka and H. P. Kaka) worked for a Parsi importing firm in Calcutta and Bombay before arriving in Singapore in 1898 as a manager for J. M. Osman. The firm exported timber from the Straits Settlements to Mauritius, Bombay, Aden, Bassora, and the Persian Gulf and had offices in Bombay and Singapore. Kaka took an interest in the education of the Chinese community in Singapore and was a financier for Chinese newspapers in the Straits Settlements.40

Phirozshaw Manekji Framroz (b. 1877, Bombay–d. 29 May 1960, Singapore) founded the Framroz Aerated Water Factory, best known for its Orange Smash soda.41

Navroji R. Mistri (Dr) (b. 1885, Bombay–d. 29 October 1953, Singapore) founded the Phoenix Aerated Water Company. During the Japanese Occupation, he helped to shelter the needy at his factory in Anson Road, and was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1947.42 The Mistri Wing of Singapore General Hospital and Mistri Road in Tanjong Pagar are named after him.43

Pesi B. Davar (b.1901–d. 1978) was a shipping magnate and one of the founders of Davar & Co. His estate was used to fund scholarship bursaries, research and healthcare institutions.44

Jimmy S. Daruwalla (Dr) (b. 1942–d. 2016) was an orthopedic surgeon and a founding member and President of the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, later becoming its chairman.45 He was also the president of the Rotary Club from 2001 to 2003.46

Keki M. Medora (b. 1906–d. 1980) was vice president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the executive manager of the British India General Insurance Company, and an ex-president of the board of trustees for the Rotary Club.47 He was also a boxer in his youth, winning championships in the 1920s. He was married to Nargis Keki Medora.48

Nargis Keki Medora (b.1915–d. 2000) became president of the Leprosy Association in 1964 and helped raise funds to build the Silra Home for ex-leprosy patients.49 She was awarded the Public Service Star, Bintang Bakti Masyarakat, by the government of Singapore. She was married to Keki M. Medora.50

Rustom Ghadiali (b.1935–) was president of the Inter-Religious Organisation in 2001, and became its assistant secretary in 2015.51

Pesi B. Chacha (b.1938 Navsari, India–) is an orthopaedic surgeon, the ex-head of Department of Orthopaedics at the Singapore General Hospital, and a philantrophist.52

Daisy Irani (b. 1960, Mumbai, India–53)  is an actress, director, and producer for Mediacorp and is best known for being Daisy Mathews in the sitcom Under One Roof.54



Author
Foo Shu Tieng



References
1. Suna Kanga and Subina Khaneja, The Parsis of Singapore: History, Culture, Cuisine (Singapore: Epigram Books, 2017), 15–21. (Call no. RSING 305.695095957 KAN)
2. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 11, 55–57; Pesi B. Chacha, “The History of Parsis in Singapore,” in 50 Years of Indian Community in Singapore, ed. Gopinath Pillai and K. Kesavapany (Singapore: World Scientific, 2016), 121. (Call no. RSING 305.89141105957 FIF)
3. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 55; “The Dining Parsis,” Straits Times, 30 January 1955, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
4. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 15–21; Roxana S. Irani and Pradeep Mohanty, “Archaeological Traces of the Early Parsee Communities in India,” Bulletin of the Deccan College Posts-Graduate and Research Institute 49 (1990), 161. (From JSTOR via NLB’s eResources website)
5. Rusheed R. Wadia, “Colonial Trade and Parsi Entrepreneurs,” in A Zoroastrian Tapestry: Art, Religion, & Culture, ed. Pheroja J. Godrej and Firoza Punthakey Mistree (Middletown, NJ: Grantha Corporation, 2002), 435–36; Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis: Including Their Manners, Customs, Religion, and Present Position, vol. 2 (London: Macmillan and Co, 1884), 8–12.
6. Madhavi Thampi, Indians in China (New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 2005), 50–52 (Call no. R 951.00491411 THA); T. M. Lurhmann, The Good Parsi: The Fate of a Colonial Elite in a Postcolonial Society (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996), 76–88. (Call no. 305.891411 LUH)
7. Jayati Bhattacharya, “Stories from the Margins: Indian Business Communities in the Growth of Colonial Singapore,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 50, no. 4 (2019): 524, 529–30 (From ProQuest Central via NLB’s eResources website); Takeshi Aoki, “Zoroastrianism in the Far East,” in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, ed. Michael Stausberg, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina and Anna Tessmann (Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015), 153–55; Madhavi Thampi, “Sino-Indian Cultural Diffusion through Trade in the Nineteenth Century,” in India-China: Intersecting Universalities, ed. Anne Cheng and Sanchit Kumar (Paris: Collège de France, 2020), 84; Jesse S. Palsetia, “The Parsis of India and the Opium Trade in China,” Contemporary Drug Problems 35 (Winter), 647–78. (From EBSCOHost via NLB’s eResources website); “Growth of the P. & O. Co.: The Survival of the Fittest,” Straits Times, 24 December 1902, 3; “The Free Press,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 29 April 1858, 3. (From NewspaperSG)
8. John R. Hinnells, “Anglo-Parsi Commercial Relations in Bombay,” in Zoroastrian and Parsi Studies: Selected Works of John R. Hinnells (Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2000), 104–7 (Call no. 295 HIN); Amalendu Guha, “Parsi Seths as Entrepreneurs, 1750–1850,” Economic and Political Weekly 5, no. 35 (29 August 1970), M–107. (From JSTOR via NLB’s eResources website); “Singapore, Saturday Evening, June 10th 1837,” Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 10 June 1837, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
9. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 55–58; Chacha, “History of Parsis in Singapore,” 121; Bonny Tan, “Convict Labour in Colonial Singapore,” BiblioAsia 11, no. 2 (Oct–Dec 2015).
10. Vernon Cornelius-Takahama and Faridah Ibrahim, “Mount Palmer,” Singapore Infopedia, published 2017; “Parsee Lodge,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 10 October 1891, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
11. Survey Department, Singapore, “Map of Singapore Town Showing Building Allotments and registered Numbers of Crown Leases,” 1881, map, National Archives of Singapore (accession no. TM000038); Cornelius-Takahama and Ibrahim, “Mount Palmer”; “The Telok Ayer Reclamation Works,” Singapore Daily Times, 13 April 1881, 2; “On the Margin: Lost Hills,” Straits Times, 19 May 1953, 6; See “Singapore at Sunrise from Mount Wallich,” Straits Times Annual, 1 January 1960, 8–9. (From NewspaperSG); View of Singapore from Mount Wallich, 1856, photograph, National Museum of Singapore Collection, National Heritage Board.
12. The Singapore and Straits Directory for 1888 (Singapore: Singapore and Straits Printing office, 1888), 166. (Call no. RRARE 382.09595 STR; microfilm NL1178)
13. “Singapore Diary,” Singapore Free Press, 10 October 1961, 3; “First Double Zoroastrian Wedding,” Straits Times, 26 July 1971, 7; “Singapore Minority Groups,” Straits Times, 24 August 1986, 12; Gauri Gupta, “Navroze and Patra Ni Machi,” Tabla, 13 March 2009, 11 (From NewspaperSG); Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 11, 55–57.
14. Charles Burton Buckley, An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore, vol. 1 (Singapore: Fraser & Neave, Limited, 1902), 350 (From BookSG); Bhattacharya, “Stories from the Margins,” 529; “Shipping in the Harbour,” Straits Times, 13 December 1848, 4. (From NewspaperSG)
15.The Singapore Almanack and Directory for the year 1853 (Singapore: Straits Times Press, 1853), 31 (From BookSG); Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 66–67.
16. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 67.
17. “Shipping,” Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 19 July 1827, 3 (From NewspaperSG); Guha, “Parsi Seths as Entrepreneurs, 1750–1850,” M-109; Ruttonjee Ardeshir Wadia, Bombay Dockyard and the Wadia Master Builders (Bombay: Ruttonjee Andeshir Wadia, 1955), 339.
18. “Shipping in the Harbour,” Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 31 March 1831, 4; “Shipping,” Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 10 November 1831, 1 (From NewspaperSG); Wadia, Bombay Dockyard, 333.
19. “The Parsee Victoria Theatrical Co.,” Straits Times Overland Journal, 2 June 1881, 5 (From NewspaperSG); Jan van der Putten, “Wayang Parsi, Bangsawan and Printing: Commercial Cultural Exchange between South Asia and the Malay World,” in Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies in South & Southeast Asia, ed. R. Michael Feener and Terenjit Sevea (Singapore: ISEAS Publishing), 87, 91 (From EBSCOHost via NLB’s eResources website); Kathryn Hansen, “Parsi Theatrical Networks in Southeast Asia: The Contrary Case of Burma,” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 49, no. 1 (February 2018): 6 (From ProQuest Central via NLB’s eResources website); Rashna Darius Nicholson, “The Expansion of the Parsi Theatre,” in The Colonial Public and the Parsi Stage: The Making of the Theatre of Empire (1853–1893) (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), 175–214. (Call No. RSEA 792.095409034 NIC)
20. Nazul Amri, “To Be or Not to Be in Bangsawan,” Straits Times, 26 May 1988, 5; Mardiana Abu Bakar, “Bangsawan: Days of Gold and Glory,” Straits Times, 8 September 1988, 5. (From NewspaperSG)
21. “Thirty Years of Film Entertainment: An Interesting Singapore Survey,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 2 January 1932, 20; “Cinema Has Colourful History in Singapore,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (27 July 1938), 4. (From NewspaperSG)
22. Tan Shzr Ee, “Parsi Thy Name Is Charity,” Straits Times, 11 July 2004, 4 (From NewspaperSG); Gupta, “Navroze and Patra Ni Machi.”
23. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 27–33; Ilsa Sharp, “An Ancient Living Faith Striving to Look Ahead,” Straits Times, 21 March 1979, 14; “The Ways of the Parsis,” Straits Times, 20 March 1992, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
24. Lurhmann, Good Parsi, 80; Mary Royce, Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (Routledge: London, 2001), 14–15, 221–2. (Call no. R 295 BOY)
25. Ernest K. W. Koh, “The Descendants of Persia: Parsis and Zoroastrianism in Singapore,” Muse SG 13, no. 2 (January 2021), 41–42; Tan, “Parsi Thy Name Is Charity”; Ng Tze Yong, “No Vultures, No Mountains, No Sky Burial,” New Paper, 18 August 2005, 7; Dominic Nathan, “Communities Back Policy to Recycle Graves,” Straits Times, 3 October 1998, 61; “Parsis Here Adapt Funeral Rites,” New Paper, 31 May 2006, 8. (From NewspaperSG)
26. Parsi Zoroastrian Society of Southeast Asia, “Zoroastrian House.” (From NLB’s Web Archive)
27. “Idea of Inter-Religious Group Started at a Party,” Business Times, 16 September 1987, 10. (From NewspaperSG)
28. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 40–41; Jennani Durai, “Ushering in the Persian New Year,” Straits Times, 19 March 2011, 34. (From NewspaperSG)
29. Parsi Zoroastrian Society of Southeast Asia, “About Us.” (From NLB’s Web Archive)
30. Parsi Zoroastrian Society of Southeast Asia, “Zoroastrian House”; Clement Yong, “First Parsi and Zoroastrian Museum Opens in Rochor,” Straits Times, 14 March 2022.
31. Parsi Zoroastrian Society of Southeast Asia, “Parsi Lodge Charity.” (From NLB’s Web Archive)
32. Parsi Zoroastrian Society of Southeast Asia, “Parsi Lodge Charity.”
33. Buckley, Anecdotal History of Old Times, 350; “Straits Local,” Straits Times, 4 July 1846, 3, “Notice,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 22 February 1850, 1; “Death,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 6 March 1849, 3; “Notice: Sale by Auction, By Order of the Executor of the Late F. Sorabjee, Esq,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 16 November 1849, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
34. Charles Burton Buckley, An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore, vol. 2 (Singapore: Fraser & Neave, Limited, 1902), 419 (From BookSG); “Grand Masonic Festival,” Straits Times, 3 January 1849, 3; “Singapore Library,” Free Press,15 August 1844, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
35. Joshua Chia Yeong Jia and Shereen Tay, “John Little,” Singapore Infopedia, published November 2020; Donald Davies, “The Men Who Founded John Little’s,” Straits Times, 20 March 1955, 12. (From NewspaperSG)
36. John Povanaris, “Government of Colony of the Straits Settlements,” in The Straits Calendar and Directory (including Sarawak and Labuan) for the Year 1870 (Singapore: Commercial Press, 1870, 18 (From BookSG); Yu-Lin Ooi, “Singapore’s Earliest Philanthropists 1819–1867,” (Philanthropy in Asia: Working Paper no. 8, National University of Singapore, August 2019), 42; Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 66–67; The Bombay University Calendar 1864–65 (Bombay: Thacker, Vining, & Co, 2011), 12.
37. Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, “Report of The Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Failure of the Bank of Bombay,” Reports from Commissioners, vol. 15 (London: Oxford University Press, 1839), 27, 40.
38. “Retirement of Mr. E. J. Khory,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 6 February 1908, 88; “The Late Mr E J Khory,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 26 July 1917, 52; “Singapore Debating Society,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 24 December 1889, 786; “The Raffles Museum,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 10 July 1889, 42. (From NewspaperSG)
39. Arnold Wright and H. A. Cartwright, eds., Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, Ltd., 1908), 257–58. (Call no. RCLOS 959.51033 TWE); “Trade of Singapore,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 8 October 1935, 6; “Singapore Minority Groups,” Straits Times, 24 August 1986, 12; Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser. (From NewspaperSG)
40. Wright and Cartwright, Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya, 650; The Singapore and Straits Directory 1907 (Singapore: Fraser & Neave Limited, 1907), 174 (microfilm NL1182); Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 68; “Indians at Last Week’s Government House Garden Party,” Straits Times, 12 June 1939, 16; “J. W. Van De Stadt Feted,” Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, 29 April 1907, 3; “Legal Notice in the Estate of Heerji Pestonji Kaka Deceased,” Straits Times, 27 July 1940, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
41. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 87–89; “Death of Mr. Framroz at 83,” Straits Times, 1 June 1960, 7; “Golden Jubilee,” Sunday Standard, 10 January 1954, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
42. Sakina Y. Kagda, “For Love of Children,” Straits Times, 8 February 1985, 4; “’Godfather of the Poor’ Dies,” Straits Times, 30 October 1953, 2; “C. G. Pays Last Respects to Millionaire Philantrophist,” Indian Daily Mail, 31 October 1953, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
43. Joshua Chia Yeong Jia, “Navroji R. Mistri,” Singapore Infopedia, published 2017; Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 90–93; Patrick Jonas, “Million Dollar Mistri,” Tabla, 2 October 2015, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
44. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 96–99.
45. K. Kesavapany, “A Prince among Social Workers,” Tabla, 15 July 2016, 10 (From NewspaperSG); Pesi Chaha, “Obituary: Dr. Jimmy Daruwalla,” Malaysian Orthopaedic Journal 11 no. 1 (2017): 91.
46. “Dyslexia Association of Singapore Condolence for Jimmy Daruwalla,” Straits Times, 7 July 2016, 6; “Jimmy Daruwalla,” Straits Times, 8 July 2016, 8; Patrick Jonas, “The Reluctant Champion,” Tabla, 7 October 2011, 1. (From NewspaperSG)
47. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 101–2; “Fund in Healthy State,” Straits Times, 6 June 1980, 11; Harry Fang, “’K.O. Keki’ Leads the New Rotary Year,” Straits Times, 8 July 1956, 11. (From NewspaperSG)
48. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 101–2.
49. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 102; see also Keki Medora, oral history interview by Daniel Chew, 14 July 1983, transcript and MP3 audio, 27:21, National Archives of Singapore (accession no. 000295)
50. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 101–2.
51. Cheong Suk-Wai, “A Mistri Gift to Hospital and More,” Straits Times, 1 October 2015; See also Rustom Ghadiali, oral history interview by Patricia Lee, 11 April 2007, MP3 audio, 55:04, National Archives of Singapore (accession no. 003153).
52. “Accident Centre Plan for Outram,” Straits Times, 25 August 1973, 4; Kannan Chandran, “Flying High,” Straits Times, 7 January 2006, 6; Tuminah Sapawi, “A Pilot for Just 11 Days, But It Was Worth It,” Straits Times, 15 November 1998, 6; Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 114–17; Tong Pei-Yein et al., “Hand Surgery in Singapore,” Journal of Hand and Microsurgery 13, no. 1 (January 2021): 10–12.
53. Hannah Pandian, “Adapting to The Minority Experience,” Straits Times, 5 November 1993, 13. (From NewspaperSG); Jaiesh Sachi, “Volunteering To Help Keep Singapore Safe,” Ministry of Home Affairs (Singapore: Government of Singapore, 26 September 2016). (From NLB’s Web Archive)
54. Kanga and Khaneja, Parsis of Singapore, 137–38; Susan Tsang, “Now That She Has Discovered It, Daisy Irani Shows a Huge Appetite for Acting,” Straits Times, 5 September 1996, 11; Jeanine Tan, “Dining Ms Daisy,” Today, 2 October 2003, 26; Bhavna Vasnani, “New Indians, Old Indians,” Tabla, 2 September 2016, 12–13. (From NewspaperSG)



Further resources
Behramgore Ratanshaw Vakil, oral history interview by Daniel Chew, 16 July 1983, transcript and MP3 audio, 27:34, National Archives of Singapore accession no. 000297.

Dosabhai Framji Karaka, History of the Parsis: Including Their Manners, Customs, Religion, and Present Position, 2 vols (London: Macmillan and Co, 1884).

Jasmine Cooper Dastoor, “Dynamism of the Diaspora in Singapore: Its History and Evolution,” FEZANA Journal 24, no. 2 (Summer/June 2010): 92–93.

Mamta Sachan Kumar, “Parsis in Singapore: Celebrating History and Presence,” South Asian Link 2 (March 2011), 4–6. (Call no. RSING 305.89141 SAL-[SRN])

Pheroza J. Godrej and Firoza Punthakey Mistree, A Zoroastrian Tapestry: Art, Religion, & Culture (Middletown, NJ: Art Books International, 2002). (Call no. R q295 ZOR)

Rutton Pattel, oral history interview by Daniel Chew, 25 July 1983, transcript and MP3 audio, 27:54, National Archives of Singapore accession no. 000302.

Suna Kanga and Subina Khaneja, The Parsis of Singapore: History, Culture, Cuisine (Singapore: Epigram Books, 2017), 15–21. (Call no. RSING 305.695095957 KAN)

Takeshi Aoki, “Zoroastrianism in the Far East,” in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Zoroastrianism, ed. Michael Stausberg, Yuhan Sohrab-Dinshaw Vevaina and Anna Tessmann (Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015), 147–56.



The information in this article is valid as of 20 May 2022
and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic. 


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