I was doing research for a personal project recently about the Red Butterfly Gang in Singapore. Information has been hard to find, to be honest. A cursory Google search has a few articles, but there isn’t enough information to go by for me to get a good grasp of what exactly the gang did. Sure, I know the gist of what happened, but I cannot allude to particular cases or people.
Although I have asked around, I have had no luck. The trail has gone cold. People who have relatives who were part of the gang told me not to talk about it and I don’t know anyone. I am stuck. I need help. But one of the people who helped me was this lady at the library.
I remember marching up to the information counter and asking her about it. She showed me the types of databases I could use and how to use special shortcuts to ensure that the search terms I had gave me a broad enough search for me to see what was out there. I obtained more information than I would have alone because someone knew her stuff. She knew where the information was kept and how to find it. She went above and beyond to help me.
Librarians are gatekeepers of information; they hold on to our histories and our souls. Without libraries, there is no life. There is no self.
I left the library with more contextual knowledge about gangs in Singapore than I had before, and it was thanks to this person.
This is why we need more libraries and fewer malls.
Also, if anyone knows anything about The Red Butterfly, please leave a comment below of message Dragonhearted on FB.
Featured image by steve p2008 on Flickr