Museum Hoppin’ - A Sneak Peek

Posted by angela under Uncategorized
(2) Comments • (3941) Reads • Permalink

Yesterday I joined in on the Press Preview of the Museum Hoppin’ Tours held in conjunction with International Museum Day ‘06 (IMD’06). Our 3 stops were the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC), Museum of Shanghai Toys (MoST) and the Chinatown Heritage Centre (Chinatown HC), where an exciting time awaited us.

Our friendly guide Omar, fed us little anecdotes about the places we passed by as we headed down to the museum.

Soon, we reached our first stop, the MHC:

This beautiful place is Istana Kampong Gelam (circa 1840), the home of the last Sultan of Singapore. Presently, it has been restored to serve as the MHC premises. It was so nicely restored, it received the URA Architectural Heritage Award in 2005.

The fountain in front may seem ordinary, but it actually serves as a stage for cultural performances on weekend nights. In fact, there’s one going on this Saturday at 5.30pm. It’s free, so do head down to watch it.

We were greeted by the friendly staff at the MHC, who gave us a brief introduction regarding the history and purpose of the MHC. More than a Museum, it is a place where the roots of the Singapore Malays are explained and showcased.

The MHC actually hosts 2 well-known ceramics and pottery artists, Abu Bakar Abdulla and Syed Mahdar Syed Othman.
While we were there, we had the chance to witness Mr. Abdulla, one of the top students of pottery master & Cultural Medallion winner Iskandar Jalil, at his potter’s wheel:

Some finished products:

We also saw several gasing enthusiasts at work (or play!). Gasings, for the uninitiated, are traditional tops that are made to spin by winding a length of string around them and letting go…. this actually requires a fair bit of skill, I reckon.

Gasing Enthusiast

Click here to see a video of the gasing in action!

One of the MHC staff took us on a guided tour round the Centre, where I saw several interesting things, such as these two little metal crocodiles.

They look like harmless decoratives huh? Actually, they are quite dangerous. They are little cannons, which can be stuffed with gunpowder. The fact that their creators bothered to shape cannons with such detail intrigues me. Perhaps they were used for secret missions, where disguise was necessary…

Also present was this intricately decorated Quran:

And these letters in Jawi and Javanese:

They would be pretty unimpressive if I didn’t know they were supposedly written by Sir Stamford Raffles himself! It comes as a surprise to me that Raffles actually knew the Malay languages. In any case, it’d definitely have helped his P.R.

There was also a replica of the movie set for Bujan Lapok, a 1957 Malay film about 3 bachelors who rented a room in the house of a rich lady. In fact, there’s an entire section dedicated to the heyday of Malay cinema, where actors such as P. Ramlee ruled the silver screen.

Lastly, a bust of Zubir Said, better known as Mr. Majulah Singapura. This was a gift from the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and the Chinese Heritage Centre, a testament to racial harmony.

Lots of other interesting Malay artefacts await you at the MHC, and if you haven’t been there already, you should definitely make a trip down. This Saturday (20 May), in conjunction with IMD’06, there will be 10% off entry fees (min. 2 tickets purchased) and outdoor demos of traditional games such as congkak and gasing.

Next stop was the cheery and vibrant Museum of Shanghai Toys, my personal favourite.

I bet most (no pun intended) of you have never heard of MoST, which is tucked away in a shophouse in Rowell Road.

The museum bear, dressed in China’s Communist era garb, greeted us at the door:

And we didn’t even have to walk into the museum to be completely fascinated - the toystore on the ground floor was a treat in itself.

Old school toys galore awaited us, and yours truly went about amusing myself with toys such as the Amazing Acrobat, where you have to balance the acrobat on the balls in the different positions shown in the book. It’s not as easy as it might seem.

There were also mechanical toys such as the Tumbling Bear, which did somersaults when it was wound up (literally, I mean.)

Click here to see a video of the tumbling bear!

And a mechanical train which ran on a tin track.
Click here to see a video of the mechanical train!

In fact, the shop even sells Noddy tin toys that were made (under license from Enid Blyton UK) by a production house set up by the owner of MoST, Marvin Chan. Marvin truly has a passion for toy collecting - the 3000-4000 toys in the museum are evidence of it.

This intriguing world of toys that need no electricity certainly beats the battery operated type that my generation is familiar with. Some of the games even help improve concentration, IQ and gross motor skills. This place is definitely better than Toys’R'Us; all of you who have kids should make a trip down. Even if you don’t, the toystore will make you feel like a kid all over again.

Then, with our museum passport in hand, we were off to explore the museum on the second floor.

The museum passport, by the way, is a cheery little book in which you can collect stamps while learning bits of toy trivia. If you get all the stamps in the right boxes, you can collect a toy on your way out! Do head down this Sunday to try your hand at this.

So just what can you find in the museum? Simple..

The toys come from the 1910s to 1980s, and each reflects a distinctive period in China’s history.

The oldest toys in the museum are circa 1910s, and were manufactured during the Qing Dynasty, shortly before its collapse.

Marvin tells me that he finds his toys all over the world - China, America and even the Internet!

The third floor of the shophouse is where the toy workshops are held. Toys are made with colourful soft clay, and are a delight to look at when they are finished. This Sunday (21 May), adults and kids alike can try their hand at toy making, and take home their very own toys for $8 (MoST entrance fee included).

With a few snapshots with the huggable Museum Bear (which is in fact, a person :S), we were off to our third and final stop, the Chinatown HC:

The Chinatown HC is situated in a restored shophouse, and showcases the lives of those who lived in Chinatown in its earlier days.

A mobile cinema stands just outside the HC, and you can experience what movie watching was like in the old days by looking through one of its peepholes (26-28 May only).

We were also treated to the sight of the Parakeet Fortune Teller. Originating from South India, these fortune tellers were a common sight in Chinatown’s old days. As part of the Chinatown HC’s Vanishing Trades program, you will be able to see the fortune teller as well as a street beautician/face threader and a street barber (26-28 May).
Click here to see the fortune teller in action!

Our guide, Ryan, also took us on a tour of the Centre.
Featured are a number of restored cubicles. These are guaranteed authentic as previous Chinatown residents were actually asked for their opinion on the restoration before the Centre was opened.

One of the cubicles featured is affectionately known as the Cubicle for Ten:

Why? Simply because the Cheong family of 10 (family photo featured) occupied this cubicle. Amazing huh? The father had a bed to himself, while the mother slept with the daughters, and the sons simply slept on the floor or in the hallway.

Looking at this cramped hallway, it’s a wonder how anybody slept in it at all. Bear in mind that they had no air-con! :S But what really bugs me is.. what happened when someone well, need to answer the call of nature in the middle of the night? I guess they used potties. :S

And a little something interesting we spotted at the gift shop.. a merlion spouting… TOILET PAPER! The amount of respect we show for our national icons, tsk tsk.

Unidentified blogger with merlion toilet paper dispenser

All in all, it was certainly an interesting experience for me.
The Museum Hoppin’ Tours are open to the public and happen this weekend (20-21 May).
Simply hop on a shuttle bus at the appointed MRT station and enjoy yourself as the tour guide takes you through a thematic tour of Singapore’s museums.
There are four routes - Singapore Sights, Eastern Allure, WWII Trek and City Stories - which feature different museums.
For more details, visit http://museums.com.sg/museum_hoppin.asp !
With the museums offering free/discounted entry over the weekend, you will definitely regret it if you don’t hop along. :p

Rating: 0