This is the fourth and my last “instalment” blog on my trip to the National Museum’s Living Galleries …

The moment you step into this gallery, you can easily spot the three big screens which will broadcast excerpts of iconic films of the 1950s such as “Sumpuh Orang Minyak” (The Curse of the Oily Man), “Anak Pontianak” (Vampire Child) and “Matahari”. Although these are just short snippets of the films, they serve as a terrific introduction for the old classic films. Just hearing their names conj ours
a feeling of great expectation!

Look at these movie tickets. No wonder my mom often laments that cinema tickets were cheap back then. It costs only one buck to catch a show in her day. That is like 10 times cheaper than what yours truly has to fork out for the same Saturday treat. I can’t imagine how much our future generations will need to pay to catch a movie 20 years from now?

Over here are 1960s’ film cases and 16mm film reel…

Marketing the movies were much more rudimentary back then. Take a look at these film star cards shown below. They used to be given out as freebies with some entertainment magazines or you could get one free with your favourite cinema treat of the day – bubble gum.

Can you name any of the Hong Kong movie stars below?



Well, I can recognize Ge Lan, Lin Dai and Feng Bao Bao because I got to know about them through my mom as they are her idols.

Back on my wayang trail I found these magnificent accessories on display as well as delicate puppets which belonged to a Fujian troupe. Just look at how the costumes and headsets still sparkle from behind the glass showcases.

Once a popular entertainment in Singapore, hand puppet shows are now ever so rare. It is such a shame that this is now very much a dying art form.

Over here, the easiest and the only character which I can identify is Justice Bao.

This was the stage from which the hand puppet shows were carried out.

Even though it is heartening to find traces of Chinese opera and hand puppet shows at the living gallery, it is sad to realise that Chinese opera is slowing fading in the Singapore entertainment scene. This is especially so because younger generations now do not understand dialects or that they prefer to catch movies or television drama serials more than street art performances. So the big question is can these traditional art performances continue to mark a presence here or will they take their final bows soon?

No matter what, having introduced to you the four galleries which are close to the hearts of Singaporeans, that is, food, photography, fashion and film & wayang, I hope that you can too make your own trip down to the Living Galleries and immerse yourself into the unique history of Singapore.

The National Museum of Singapore- Singapore Living Galleries
93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897
10am to 8pm, daily
Free admission from 6pm to 8pm, daily (last admission at 7.30pm)
For more information, visit www.nationalmuseum.sg.

Tags: National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Living Galleries