Given that my previous experience at the National Museum of Singapore with the electronic companion was an excellent one, I decided to sign up for the guided tour.

Intrigued as to whether an actual guide would be better than the excellent electronic companion, I made my way to the museum on a nice Monday afternoon to solve the dilemma of man versus machine. I decided to be ten minutes early to just to make sure that I got a slot in the tour. It turned out that there were only two of us; me and my new British friend, Matt.

Our guide was this extremely nice lady named Betty. A retired teacher who is now a proud member of the “Friends of the Museum” Society, Betty seemed more than happy to give us the grand tour. After the usual introductions, Betty brought us to the History Gallery.

I knew that the tour was going to be different from the electronic version the moment we entered the Gallery. Betty was so much more interesting than the companion, giving us an extremely animated account of the items on display and their history. Her enthusiasm and energy were a little too much for both Matt and myself at times. But alas, she was such a nice lady that we couldn’t bear to tell her that we needed a break. So we trudged on. Betty was also able to provide a personal perspective to the tour. When we were in the “War Room”, she told us stories of how her mother watched her step-father being forcefully taken away by the Japanese. This made me realize that no matter how many stories we read, we will never be able to empathize with our forefathers who lived under the Japanese.

I couldn’t help but be amazed at Betty’s knowledge by the end of the tour. She seemed to have tons of information about every display in the History Gallery. She seemed like a more interesting and animated version of my History Textbook. Curious as to how well-informed she was, I asked her about what it takes to be a volunteer. She told me that she went through a five month course to prepare herself as a volunteer for the National Museum! I reckon that gives volunteerism a whole new dimension.

The hour long tour was over in the jiffy. Whilst the companion offers a more lengthy and comprehensive description of each display, Betty provided me with just enough information to get an overview of Singapore’s history. Although the companion provided me with more information, it was certainly nice to have someone to converse with. However, if you have time to spare, do give both tours a shot. You will then be able to get the best of both worlds. (Text by Joshua Tan)