Mahmoud Ahmad

Saudi Gazette

 

The National Museum of Singapore is the oldest museum in the city-state. It is a progressive showcase of the country’s history and culture. With its history dating back to 1887, the National Museum is the nation’s oldest, and one of the city’s architectural icons that melds the past and present in a unique manner.



The building itself is a wondrous structure that has seamlessly fused the old with the new. The idea for the museum was conceived in 1823. National Museum of Singapore started as a section of a library in 1849 at Singapore institution, later renamed as Raffles Institution. In 1863, the library and museum moved to Town Hall, today’s Victoria Theatre.



 It was then handed over in 1874 to the colonial government, who appointed a committee to oversee the formation of the Raffles library and museum. In 1882, Colonial Engineer Henry McCallum was appointed to design a dedicated building for the museum. Two years later, construction began. It was first opened in October 1887.



In 1907,  work on the expansion of the museum started. There was further expansion in 1916 and 1926. The major expansion took place in 1919, where the museum was steered in the direction of scientific research. During the Japanese occupation, 1942-1945, the museum was renamed to Syonan Museum. In 1965 post independence, it was changed to National Museum.



Some of the treasures of the National Museum include the Singapore Stone. The earliest inscription found in Singapore, the Singapore Stone is an important relic of the island’s pre-colonial history. The museum’s fragment is what remains of a large boulder about three meters high and three meters wide that originally stood at the entrance of the Singapore River.



Visitors can also see gold ornaments from the forbidden hill. The Javanese style of solid gold ornaments is a reminder that in the 14th century, Singapore was under the political and cultural influence of the kingdom of Majapahit. The armlet bears the motif of the Javanese kala, which can be found at many old temples in Indonesia.



The museum also features the Boston Bell. Maria Revere Balestier, wife of Joseph Balestier who was the first American Consul to Singapore gifted a bell to the first Church of Saint Andrew (now Saint Andrew’s Cathedral) in 1843. The bell was cast by Paul Revere. There are only 23 surviving Revere bells and this bell is the only one outside the United States.



There is a whole section at the museum dedicated to the period of the Japanese occupation of Singapore. It exhibited pictures and maps that go back to that dark period of the city-state. It shows a huge map detailing how the Japanese forces invaded the Island from the north and forced the British troops in the south to surrender within a week’s time. All soldiers were taken as prisoners. A huge picture at the museum demonstrates how all soldiers and prisoners were crowded in one small cell. 



Another extraordinary feature is the preserved will of Munshi Abdullah. This is the last will and testament of Munshi Abdullah, the Father of Modern Malay literature. It was during his stay in Singapore that Munshi began writing his magnum opus, the Hikayat Abdullah (The Story of Abdullah), which contains first-hand impressions of the rise of a new world which he saw and experienced in Singapore, in the aftermath of 1819. It also shows a section of volunteers who helped with the museum’s archeological work.