As promised, part 2 of my NUS escapade. After viewing the art at the NUS Museum, I headed down to the Science Faculty for a brush with more er, lifelike exhibits at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR).

To be perfectly honest, I was rather petrified when I first entered the museum. I have never been much of an animal lover; in fact, animals, dead or alive, scare the living daylights out of me. It did take me some time to adjust to the concept of being in close proximity with so many REAL animal exhibits though, as the curator happily reassured me: “Don’t worry about these animals, they are all dead.” However, there are definitely some very interesting exhibits to be seen in RMBR; I was informed that some of them are more than a hundred years old. O_O Almost all RMBR’s exhibits are of real animals, preserved after their timely/untimely deaths.

One of the exhibits that didn’t scare me at first sight was this wonderfully preserved Rafflesia, originating from Thailand. Indigenous to Southeast Asia, the Rafflesia is the world’s largest flower, and emits a rather unpleasant odor (not this one though ;p ). It can also weigh up to 10kg!

It did take me some time to get over my animal aversion, but once I managed to look close enough, I found several interesting specimens:

For example, a wild leopard cat, victim of a 2001 roadkill along Mandai Road, can also be found here. Bet you didn’t know we had such wild creatures lurking in our forests.

Other interesting exhibits include this banded leaf monkey, circa 1987. It was an elderly female that died after being fatally mauled by dogs, and was found at Bt. Timah Hill.

There’s also a tiger…

and wild pig…

In fact, it’s animals galore!

You’ll also be able to see a variety of rats identified by Sir Stamford Raffles himself. Much as we name lots of things in Singapore after Raffles, I believe the Raffles Museum is aptly named; our founder had a less-known naturalist side to him.

If you were to pay a visit though, take special care not to touch these animals, as they have been treated with POISONOUS chemicals. I was informed that they require constant maintenance to continue looking good for our viewing pleasure. ; ) They also serve as learning materials for postgraduate students.

More relaxing perhaps is the outdoor Phylogenetic Garden, filled with interesting plant species and snippets on plant biology:

On the whole, RMBR is definitely worth a visit – you’ll find interesting exhibits and snippets here available nowhere else in Singapore. Though for the faint-hearted (such as myself), I’d recommend you bring a companion. ;p

The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research is located at NUS Faculty of Science Block S6, Level 3, 45 Science Drive 2, NUS. Opening hours are Monday – Friday, 9am to 5pm.