Seeing the Light (of the Lanterns)

Posted by peacefrog under Exhibitions, Museums/Heritage Galleries, Personal, Traditions
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Ok, I’ll be honest. I wasn’t the least bit thrilled when my friend Paul asked me to accompany him to the lantern event at Hua Song museum organised by NHB last Friday. Firstly it was a Friday nite, secondly, lanterns stopped having any effect on me after I turned 10 and thirdly, the whole event was held somewhere far away in Haw Par Villa (need I say more?). And oh yes, the weatherman also predicted rain.

But being the nice guy I was, and after a little bit of pestering from Paul, I finally relented. On one condition though - that I not be asked to carry a silly little lantern. I have a reputation you know?

We reached Hua Song museum at about 8pm not knowing what to expect really (at least I didn’t). Paul told me there was going to be food. Great, I thought, something to look forward to, since I was as hungry as that humongous tiger statue outside.

And speaking of tigers, I almost growled my head off when I saw the number of children running around the halls of the museum!

Hey! You didn’t tell me that there was gonna be noisy kids!! I lashed out.

Relax man, don’t get so angry, Paul said, while ripping the cellophane wrap off his lantern.

Great, I thought. Here I was, in some obscure dark place filled with noisy kids, lantern-lovin’ adults and a gazillion mooncakes on a Friday night. Plus, it was going to rain buckets soon. Oh nuts, I might as well just check myself into one of the 10 courts of hell that we passed along outside.

Sensing my frustration (finally) Paul pulled me over to a booth where a calligrapher was gracefully painting out people’s names on paper. Not bad, I thought. I’ve never been this close to a calligrapher before and I must admit that it felt pretty good watching the slow precise rhythm of the brush lightly caressing the rice paper, leaving swishes of black in its trail. Hey, not bad at all! The booth was packed with eager onlookers, and I realised I wasn’t the only one who was hugely impressed. And suddenly, out of the blue, the calligrapher asked me for my name, which in just 1 min, was beautifully imprinted and preserved on the tissue-thin paper. Wow! I laughed out. Wonderful!

It was about this time that the event started and Paul motioned me to come join him outside. The kids were lining up and the tour was about to begin. But I didn’t quite feel like moving away from the nice Mr Calligrapher. I thought about it for awhile. Paul kept motioning. Hmmm…oh alright.

I walked outside, into the soft darkness, and joined the trail of children and adults moving through the gardens. There was a slight chill in the evening air, and the moving shadows on the ground cast from the glow of the lanterns seemed to fill the place with a magical energy. I moved along like a puppet in a play, not knowing what to expect. The laughter of the children and the chatter from the adults continued, but strangely, it didn’t irritate me as much.

I’m glad you’re not frowning anymore, said Paul as we moved into the exhibition area of the museum.

I will in 5 minutes, I half-joked.

Could you at least just try and….

Shhh, I said, the guide is talking…

I don’t know what got over me, but I was soon deeply engrossed in all the exhibits and artifacts around the place. The more I read and saw, the more captivated I got. The migration of the Chinese people to SE Asia, the diaspora of cultures and traditions, their trials, sufferings and contributions to Singapore and SE Asia. It was really very impressive. And of course I was really taken by the real-ness of the many wax statues around - the pig-tailed merchant, the subservient Majie, the hardworking farmer, the sad prostitute and of course, the ever-gorgeous May Wong, each representing and chronicling the long and winding course of Chinese history.

The tour lasted about an hour and when it was done, we gathered outside to chomp on the delectable mooncakes (the macadamia-filled ones were simply mouth-watering). Images of the exhibition continued to linger on in my head and I felt a sense of comfort and lightness. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the fulfillment of learning something new, maybe it was the relief at the thought that my Friday wasn’t wasted, or maybe it was due to the sound of the children’s happy laughter filling the air. Well, whatever the reason, it felt good.

And before I knew it, Paul told me it was time to leave.

What? So fast?

Yup.

Ok, I said. But let me go get a lantern first.

EDITOR’S NOTE:::

NHB would like to thank the folks at Hua Song Museum - your hard work made last Friday’s event a success!

Read more blog posts by various bloggers on the night out at Hua Song here: