National Museum Of Singapore - Revisited

A couple of weeks ago, I mooted the idea to the family to go check out the memoriam exhibition of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew only to be met with less-than-lukewarm response.

Fine.

So on the first morning of the Labour Day long weekend, I head out, on my own, to the National Museum Of Singapore, after a morning run and a shower.

It was a tiny exhibition and over in a matter minutes, still well worth the trip anyway as we bid our second farewell to a great statesman.

I stood at the cross created by the edges of the four marble slabs in the foyer of the National Museum, which I believed is smack middle.

Then I looked up with the camera and it appears that the spot perfectly aligns with the center of the dome.

I think.

I love the National Museum. I love the stories she tells of our land. Venagdasalam had his two-shooted coconut tree, I have my National Museum where I head to seek solace and quiet reflection.

• AsiaOne Singapore (30 Apr 2015) - 20-Year-Old Coconut Trees Cut Down After Brief Reprieve

- Voxeros

David Saul Marshall

I stopped by the section dedicated to Singapore's First Chief Minister, David Saul Marshall (12 Mar 1908 ~ 31 Dec 1995) and it was here where I spent the most time during my earlier visit to the National Museum.

Ask any Singaporean kid who were the founding fathers of modern Singapore and don't be surprised if their answers cannot go beyond Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Sadly, kids these days are under the impression that Singapore was built up single-handedly by our current Minister Mentor.

Prominent names like Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee, Rajaratnam and even Kandasamy, just to named a few were unjustly cast into the shadows.

Then we also have those that were not from the ruling party PAP. Names like Devan Nair and Lim Chin Siong, just to name a few as well fared worse as they shared even lesser of the Singapore history spotlight.
 
And then, there was David Marshall, who later moved on to set up the Worker's Party of today.

Granted that challengers from the opposition parties have different philosophies, they nevertheless also approached policies in the interest of Singapore, albeit via a different perspective that is not agreeable to the PAP.

In short, they were patriots too.

(Click To Enlarge)

The above picture shows a pamplet urging constituents to vote for David Marshall.

Take clues from the pamphlet, I am guessing this is either for the 1959 General Elections where he lost in Cairnhill or the 1961 By-Elections where he won in Anson.

Anyway, I studied what they "stood for" as printed in the pamphlet and three words caught my eye.

Arrogance of Authority

Strangely how something that was drafted almost 50 years ago resonated in my heart half a century later over these 3 words.

I believe I am not the only one out there feeling this.

You know how sometimes you are able to smell the air to know that there is going to a drastic change in the weather?

Well, I am starting to smell it.

Are you too?

Afterthought: The elections are just around the corner and more and more people are getting jaded with the current gahmen and may be seeking alternatives to resolve that.

Granted that PAP has done a great job for the country since day 1. From the days of being an abandoned child to that of a leading beacon in the region. Credit must not be taken away from them for all the work they have done.

Still, the next vote that you cast should not be a token of appreciation for all that has been done. I can think of 3 million reasons too many, that we have already thanked them more than enough.

The next vote is not for the past. It is for the future, based on what we see in the present.

Problem is that I don't like what I am seeing right now.

PAP should still return to power at the end of the day but the people will be introducing more opposition to trim away the unwanted fats and dead weights that has dragged the gahmen down over the years.

It is time to clean up the house.

Trackback:

• JayWalk (02 Feb 2010) - National Museum Of Singapore

- Voxeros

Singapore Goes Gay For Malaysia Day

The year 1963 was an era of a more innocent time where the world "gay" means happy, gleeful and jovial.
Fast forward to the modern day of the year two thousand and ten and it is a whole different meaning which led me to snicker uncontrollably, much to the displeasure of the people within earshot, who too know what I was thinking.

To make matters worse, I had to part them like Moses parted the Red Sea to take a picture of this poster. They were not too amused.

For the uninitiated, here's a quick low-down on Malaysia Day and what's so gay about it.
*snicker* <-- sorry!

We know 1959 and we know 1965. The former was Singapore being granted full internal self-government status by the British Empire. The latter was Singapore's gaining independence as a republic.

So what happened in 1963?

It must be noted that without Malaysia Day, Singapore cannot complete the jigsaw puzzle and account how we jumped from self government in 1959 to independence in 1965. So it is quite baffling why this particular historical event was left out of our lower secondary history books?

16 Sep 1963 was the day that Malaya, North Borneo (Sabah?), Sarawak and Singapore formed the Malaysian Federation or simply put, Malaysia.

We sometimes refer our Malaysian neighbours as 联邦人. 联邦 in English means Federation.

So now you know how that came about.

Trackback:

• JayWalk (02 Feb 2010) - National Museum Of Singapore

- Voxeros

Singapore 25-Dollar Note

 

I remember telling people in the past that there was such a thing as a legal tender note of 25 Singapore dollars.

Nobody believed me.

Well, I found this at the National Museum. So there.

Trackback:

• JayWalk (02 Feb 2010) - National Museum Of Singapore

- Voxeros

1. Meepok left...

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 3:06 pm

I have a stack of these. My ah ma gave them to me when I was a kid. Will to sell if the price is right :-)

2. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 5:17 pm :: 

Meepok: The reason why this particular $25 note is so deeply etched in my memory is I have 1 piece of this when I was a kid. It was my ang pow money and back then $25 was a lot of money to me.

National Museum Of Singapore

I went down to the National Museum again yesterday as I wasn't able to complete the visit during my last trip. Yeah, there were THAT MANY things to see in there and I, for one, am the type who like to take my own sweet time to soak in everything.

It's kinda fun to get lost inside all on your own. I guess that's part of my Quiet Me Time. For a moment, just step out of the hectic hustle-bustle, and for a while, just fall off the radar, disappearing into the abyss of silent serenity.

During this second visit, I only visited the Singapore History Gallery where I was only done halfway when they had to close at 6pm during my last visit.

I took 2-1/2 hours to complete the remaining portion of the gallery which kinda tell you how much time you need to allocate if you want to complete the National Museum visit.

Mind you, there is more than one gallery in that building. There is also the Singapore Living Galleries in addition to several ad-hoc exhibitions held from time to time.

The National Museum visit has always been an item on my Bucket List and it is embarrassing to admit that I took THAT LONG to check it out when I travel past it almost every other week.

Even more embarrassing is the fact that I ish National Museum virgin. Well, not anymore now!

Being an avid story teller, I always love a good story. So what better than one that is about the very piece of earth that you are standing on?

I have learnt a lot and possibly some of the best hours of my life that I've spent.

Here's one of what I have learnt.

We all know Sir Stamford Raffles founded the city of Singapore back in 1819. However, what people don't know was that it was Major William Farquhar who did most, if not all the work of transforming Singapore. The former was possibly a mere figurehead who perhaps is needed for his signature on papers.

Then we also know that Farquhar was later on fired as he deviated from Raffles' city master plan due to lack of funds. A conflict ensued and the East India Company took the side of Sir Stamford Raffles and subsequently influenced the historians to archive in favour of Raffles.

So here's the thing. We have schools, golf club, hospitals, hotel, beer and even a airline cabin class named after Raffles today. Imagine, if the EIC hadn't kelonged the historians, none of these would have existed.
Farquhar Junior College, anyone?

More little snippets of what caught my eye at the Museum in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Related Links:

• JayWalk (03 Feb 2010) - Singapore 25-Dollar Note
• JayWalk (04 Feb 2010) - Singapore Goes Gay For Malaysia Day
• JayWalk (05 Feb 2010) - David Saul Marshall

- Voxeros

1. Desiree left...

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 11:21 am

Suggestion:- Ever been to Chinatown Heritage Centre? I like the interactive display. Smaller than the other museums but very interesting to visit. There are some interesting stories of the previous occupants to satisfy your curiosity too.

2. JayWalk left...

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 5:15 pm :: 

Desiree: No, I have not heard of the Chinatown Heritage Centre. Will be interesting to visit. Perhaps next week.