If you’re one of the many Singaporeans who venture up north (Malaysia, I mean) for a bit of a holiday and shopping, here’s an exhibition that might be of interest to you:

Photojournalism and the Imaging of Modern Malaysia (1957 – 2007) is an exhibition of photographs of Malaysia’s modern history, in conjunction with Malaysia’s celebration of 50 years of independence. It’s held at the Galleri Petronas, on the 3rd floor of the KLCC where the famous twin towers are. But what does a photo exhibition of Malaysia’s history have to do with Singapore? Plenty.

I was lucky enough to get a tour of the exhibition by curator, Eddin Khoo when I was at the exhibition last week. He told me he wanted to bring out the story of Malaysia through the eyes of photojournalists, who work often behind the scenes and unattributed, in capturing the lives of everyday Malaysia on the road to modernity. Some of the more striking images were the ones of Singapore, and Singapore figures – for all the Singapore-bashing rhetoric that happens in Malaysia, it’s easy to forget that Singapore played a vital role in Malaysia’s development, especially since in the early years on Malaysia’s history Singapore was *the* commercial and business centre.

One of the images that caught my eye was the sight of The Straits Times van parked at the airstrip beside a plane: the paper was hot off the press and about to be flown off to the rest of Malaysia for distribution. Another spectacular sight was the 1963 celebration of Merdeka Day – right in front of our own City Hall. I managed to find a similar picture in our own National Archives:

Picture courtesy of the National Archives

Notice on the main mural the army of workers marching forward with linked arms amidst the backdrop of factories and industrialism icons – it’s quite the Soviet style, quipped Khoo cheekily.

Photojournalism and the imaging of the Modern Malaysia is on at the Galleri Petronas at the 3rd floor of the KLCC until 20 May. If you’re going up north in the next month, it’s worth a visit.