her-current-history.blogspot.com - for your Extensive reading

Friday, January 19, 2007

[[ Who says museums are boring?? ]]

It was a warm day and we had a few options to go to:

1. Jurong Bird Park?

2. Singapore Science Centre?

3. Singapore Discovery Centre?

In the end, none of the above was chosen because

The National Museum of Singapore became the winner.

Since young, I dread going to museums.

Yah, yah...I heard it all from avid museum-goers...

A museum is where "history comes to life", that you'll get a "better understanding of the past" ....so on and so forth..

....so after so much thought..why not?

Hence, it became...

With just $15/adult, we went to 3 different kinds of galleries:

~ History Gallery - presents the history of Singapore from the 14th century to present day.

~ Living Galleries - present the everyday life of Fashion, Film, Food & Photography.

~ The "Maria Theresia" Exhibition

(she was the Mother Empress of Habsburg Austria)

:
1st Stop: History Gallery

We were each given this lime-green MP3 look-alike audio that comes along with a headset to accompany us during our tour.

The first time I looked at it, I was pretty worried because of the many buttons and functions.

But of course, we were taught by the staff on how to use the COMPANION and yeah, I can say that it's not as difficult as it seems.

The COMPANION works such that for every zone that you go to, you just look down to the ground for a number, dial it on the COMPANION, press GO and you're done!

There'll be a voice explaining to you on the item that you're currently looking at.

Now..who needs a human tour guide when you can have the COMPANION to keep you company? And just a word of advice - if you find the voice irritating, just press the PAUSE button. Yup..it's that simple! *smiles*

This room has like the most number of plasma TVs I've ever seen!

They're all over the place!

This is where we wait for a short video called "SEJARAH SINGAPURA" (read:Singapore's history)

Below's a short letter written by our Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles himself...

He writes pretty well, don't you think?....wow...makes me want to write just like him!

The first Indian convicts:

And they thought the Japanese would come in by sea:

This map shows how the Japanese made its way into Singapore:

Check out the kind of postcards that they use back then!

On a personal level, I prefer Milo better:

I'm an ORANGE-RED Lover!

Uh huh....It's our National Anthem:

2nd stop:

3rd stop: The Living Gallery of Fashion

Cotton, Polyester, Fuji Silk, Shandong Silk, Duchess Satin, Silk Crepe, Denim, Nylon, Lace and the Chinese Brocade were some of the many fabrics that we got to see and touch.

4th stop: The Living Gallery of Film & Photography

Last stop: The Living Gallery of Food

Now tell me............Who says museums are boring, huh?

After the 3-hour journey I had in there, I came out being a much more knowledgeable person - especially when it comes to my country's history. I begin to appreciate the many people who played major roles into building my country.

Singapore: a country which I had left for 8 years and never gotten the chance to get to know more of.

But that was in the past because from today, I have known more about my country and I'd be able share it with the many people around me. Now this, gives me a sense of belonging and identity.

To those who may not know much about the history of your country...well you know what? It's never too little too late..

After all...

..if we don't know about our past, how can we comprehend our present?

disclaimer: all pictures were taken and edited by myself & they were not reproduced from any other sources whatsoever.

Labels: National Museum of Singapore

[[ 0 voice(s) heard]]

| 9:54 PM |
This is not the end.
This is not even the beginning of the end.
It is, instead, the end of the beginning..
________________________________________________