I have the pleasure of attending one of the Singapore Art Museum’s Public Programmes: Walking Tour – St Joseph’s Institution and Bras Basah on 4 Mar 06, in the afternoon. The speaker cum guide was Mr Han Tan Juan, veteran journalist and cultural researcher.

Prior to the walking tour, Mr Han treated the participants with his interesting and vivid accounts of the rich history of the Bras Basah area. He also spoke about the history of the Convent of Holy Infant Jesus which was later conserved and became what we now commonly know as CHIJMES…

There are certainly many ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. On 4 Mar 06, I chose to put aside time to visit one of my favourite museums in Singapore, the Singapore Art Museum.

There are a lot of things that one can do at the Singapore Art Museum. Of course, one thing that one can obviously do is to view the exhibits and the artworks and be inspired by them. Another thing that one can do is to attend one of the Public Programmes to enrich oneself. That day, instead of walking into the exhibition galleries, I headed for the museum’s auditorium.

Walking Tour – St Joseph’s Institution and Bras Basah, which I have attended on 4 Mar 06 was conducted in Mandarin. There was quite a crowd by 3 p.m. I found myself a seat, and then allowed myself to be enchanted with the presentation of Bras Basah’s past.

The speaker, Mr Han, shared with us some interesting pieces of information that I had never knew of until that day. Let me give you some examples:
- Why the St Joseph’s Institution building in Bras Basah was popularly referred to as the “Three Figures”（san gong gia).
- Brass Bassa” means “Wet Rice” in Malay.
- The prison that used to sit on the grounds of Bras Basah area.

If you have been tempted to attend similar programmes at the Singapore Art Museum, I suggest that you could check out this site (http://www.nhb.gov.sg/SAM/ProgramsEvents/Highlights/) for more information.

Meantime, since this post is supposed to be on CHIJMES, today and in the past, I shall share with you a brief story of The Gate of Hope. I did not know about The Gate of Hope until I’ve attended the Public Programme given by Mr Han.

The Gate of Hope is located within the current premises of CHIJMES. To attempt to keep readers in suspense, I shall not disclose the exact location. The challenge is for you to find its exact current location.

Here is a glimpse of how The Gate of Hope looks like:

The Gate of HopeThe nearby plaque reads, “At this small gate of the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ), many babies were abandoned in basket to be picked by the Sisters of the Convent. This was the origin of the Home for Abandoned Babies…”

The plaque summarised the functions served by the small gate that you would see on the photograph above. I was told that the Sisters would purposely not have anyone to watch the gate. This is so that the identities of whoever had chosen to abandon the babies would be kept unknown.

Today, CHIJMES is a premiere lifestyle location. I particularly like its architectural style. There are also some good dining places within the premises of CHIJMES. I might have tried sampling the food from all the restaurants in its premises if not for the fact that I am yet a billionaire.

As for the history behind the building and site that we now know as CHIJMES, I would have hoped to share. However, I won’t. I do not wish to leave the impression that I am well-verse in history.

As such, I shall leave you with some URLs to read for more information about the past of CHIJMES. Enjoy!
- http://www.chijmes.com.sg/non_flash/about_us/story_chijmes.htm
- http://itclub.vs.moe.edu.sg/cyberfair2003/landmarks/chijmes.html
- http://www.nhb.gov.sg/MT/trail_chjimes.htm
- http://web.singnet.com.sg/~ijhcc1/history.html