Tok See Teng's individual report

The National Museum of Singapore in its full glory

The modernised interior of the National Museum of Singapore

Located at 93 Stamford Road, the National Museum of Singapore is easily accessible by public transport, and is within walking distance from City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut train stations. At first glance, one will first be attracted to the elegant neo-classical building, joined by a new modernist extension of glass and metal. With a rich history dating back to 1887, the National Museum of Singapore is Singapore’s oldest and biggest museum with the youngest and most innovative soul.

After passing through the magnificent glass doors of the entrance, I was greeted with peace and serenity in the visitor's centre. I was, once again, rendered speechless by the beautiful marble floor and modernised design.

The glass passage

I was delighted at how the glass passage made viewing the scenery in an art gallery setting, and I loved the way it gave me a clear view of the elegant Palladian motifs.It is designed to blend into the old neo-Palladian architecture, with its frameless glass-form seemingly disappearing, enables visitors a celebrated access through the old building into the new modern extension.

Photo gallery in the Family Gallery portraying the family life in olden day Singapore

Dining tables and chairs in the Family Gallery to portray the importance of togetherness of families in the olden days as they dine together every single day without fail.

The deep maroon interior of the fashion gallery

I entered the Family gallery with my ticket, which is extremely convenient. One just has to insert the ticket into the barcode scanners found at the entrance of the different galleries to gain access. Next, I went into the Fashion gallery, and was surprised by the huge amount of exhibits in this particular gallery. The walls are made of reflective glass, emanating a modern vibe. The design of the gallery was stylish, with domes in the walls for visitors to rest their tired feet. I loved the deep maroon of the walls, and the soft lightning in the entire gallery.

Example of a three-dimensional exhibit

The audio companion loaned to aid visitors in their understanding of the artefacts

Moving on into the History gallery, I saw the artefacts found when Singapore was still Temasek, an undeveloped fishing village. Then, as I moved on, all the significant events in Singapore's development were all depicted vividly with the use of three dimensional exhibits, and also our audio companions. A tourist who is absolutely clueless about the history of Singapore will know everything he has to know about Singapore after viewing the entire history gallery with the aid of an audio companion, with explanations in different languages. The exhibits are extremely effective, and makes you feel as if you were really in the era, experiencing the same events.

Painting of coolies working hard in the olden days

My favourite exhibit of all was the one of coolies working in the olden days. It portrays that Singapore's identity as a trading port started since a long time ago, and it still remained up till today. Also, the coolies are also our forefathers, who paved the path for us, the younger generations. Without their hard work and dedication, we would not be so fortunate to live in a developed country right now. This is to remind us to treasure what we have, as our forefathers worked hard to build Singapore's identity, and to make Singapore a better place to live in. It links our story to history, showing how our past, our ancestors, made up the history of Singapore. The particular exhibit also shows the bitter and hard life in early Singapore, and they were employed in every sector of work such as rickshaw pullers and construction workers. Coolies originated from the chinese work ku-li, meaning "hard labour", and they were driven by poverty in China to come to Singapore to seek their fortune. The coolies were also the backbone of Singapore's economy in the early days, as they generated growth for the economy and allowed the country to prosper. Therefore, coolies in the olden days played a major role in the development of Singapore's identity.

(600 words)