Regretfully, all good things must come to an end, and Internationl Museum Day (IMD)  is no exception. Nonetheless, we have one final bonanza for all our loyal museum fans. We will be having Open House at 20 museums island-wide. Enjoy free admission and join in on a whole slew of exciting activities and programmes. Don’t forget to express how much you are enjoying yourself by saying “I Love Museums” at the ticketing counters of participating museums and receive a free gift! Hurry, while stocks last.

Stamp collecting these days is a rare hobby with snail mail fast being put aside in favour of electronic mail. However, there are valuable lessons to be learned from stamps – symbols of a past era. Discover the world through stamps at the Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM) as a guide takes your child through fascinating philatelic trivia and exposes them to the highlights of the SPM’s collection during a highlight tour specially tailored for them. Parents can then complete a fun quiz with their child, requiring them to look for answers amongst the galleries together and win attractive prizes!

The SPM, open to the public from 9am to 7pm, will also play home to colouring stations and Puppets Mania – a colourful puppet show presented for the first time at IMD! Meet our adorable hand-made puppets who will have you in stitches!

Does your kid prefer playing chef instead? Learn how to cook delicious Filipino snacks at So Sarap! – Kids’ Edition! Parents are welcome to join in and partner up with their children to whip up culinary masterpieces. Have a child whose dream is to become a young zoologist? In the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Danger workshop, children will learn all about the tiger, listen to tiger folktales, see a real-life tiger skull and skin and learn what they can do to save this magnificent animal from extinction. Children will also get to bring home their own tiger handicraft and win prizes should they prove to be expert craftsmen. Act fast though as vacancies are limited!

Read the rest of this entry »

How I wonder how you are…

How’s everybody doing after one mad week of IMD? Well, get some rest and prepare for another exciting weekend!

An epic legend of love and adventure is about to unfold under a sea of stars. The Peranakan Museum will host Ramayana under the Stars at Stamford Green on 22 May, with the classic tale coming alive as an immersive musical experience amidst engaging performances. Wayang kulit, pantomime sessions and gamelan shows will entrance audiences, whilst numerous stores will be selling local snacks such as otah and kueh tutu to ensure that visitors will not go hungry.

Read the rest of this entry »

If there’s ever a story that cuts through Southeast Asian borders, it would be the Hindu epic of Ramayana, a classic tale of good versus evil originating from India, but has been adapter many times over in Southeast Asia. The Ramayana and its many forms are revisited at the Peranakan Museum until August this year, and Jerome blogs about the exhibition and how this epic has come to touch so many Asian cultures.

Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone knows of Little Nonya TV series on MediaCorp that became such a hit – they produced their own DVDs! My family watched the drama series religiously but I was too busy back then for a sit-down. Even so, Iwould sometimes stop for a moment on my way to the kitchen to admire the Peranakan food and style.  So it was only natural that I made my way down to the Peranakan Museum (TPM) to satiate my curiosity for their fascinating culture. Entering  TPM was akin to being IN the movie; it was the exact setting, only better – I had the chance to see the various Peranakan outfits and their beautiful furniture up close.

Read the rest of this entry »

Being the season of Christmas, it might be apt to learn about the history and art of Southeast Asia’s predominantly Christian nation – the Philippines. And there’s no better time than tomorrow’s public holiday, where entry into NHB museums are free!

cc image by edwin.11

In particular, you should check out Land of the Morning: The Philippines and its People at the Asian Civilisations Museum and Thrice Upon a Time: A Century of Story in the Art of the Philippines at the Singapore Art Museum. Alternatively, enjoy free entry at the National Museum of Singapore, the Peranakan Museum, Memories at Old Ford Factory and Reflections at Bukit Chandu.

Despite the light rain, many braved the erratic weather and turned up for Explore Singapore! 2009‘s closing event – Flea & Music Alley @ Peranakan Museum, Timbre and the Substation. And what a fun day it was! It didn’t hurt when free ice-cream, nonya kuehs, pizza and beer was served too!

The Peranakan Museum was packed with families who were awed by the glittery Baba Bling exhibition and live demonstrations of the intricate art of jewellery making and batik painting.

While the crowd in the museum was kept occupied with Peranakan dances and special choir performances, bargain hunters instinctively swarmed the flea markets for quirky steals at cheap prices as early as 2pm. As the hip youngsters snagged their goods in the afternoon, the Timbre bands did their sound checks much to the crowd’s approval.

The slight drizzle did nothing to dampen the spirit as many turned up for the live bands performing that night. From favourites Jack & Rai, the soulful Alicia Pan, Reverie and Giants Must Fall, the crowd grooved to the music while they enjoyed free booze and the cool evening breeze.

Explore Singapore aims to inculcate a greater museum-going culture amongst Singaporeans. With new programmes such as War on Wheels, we wanted to show that discovering your heritage, culture or identity, need not be restricted to just museum visits. Though Explore Singapore! 2009 has ended, this year’s message I LOVE MUSEUMS carries on through 2010. I LOVE MUSEUMS day on 27 November was just the start of many ILM days to come! More details will be released on Yesterday.sg and www.museums.com.sg in the coming weeks!

Explore Singapore! 2009 ends with Flea & Music Alley @ the Peranakan Museum, Timbre and the Substation tomorrow (5 December)! Shoppaholics who are looking for a bargain, look no further. Satiate your craving for quirky finds and gorgeous buys at the Timbre flea markets outside Timbre @ The Substation and along the alleyway in between the Peranakan Museum and The Substation from 2pm onwards. Remember to come comfortably dressed to brave the heat – and to haggle for the best prices, of course!

Enjoy free admission to the Peranakan Museum and be dazzled by Baba Bling, a special exhibition on Peranakans and their jewellery. Keep the little ones occupied with the various activities planned, from batik painting, scrapbooking, face painting and even jewellery making! Make sure you catch a choir performance by Vox Cammerata too!

Looking to unwind? Enjoy free beer from 7pm while stocks last! Coupons will be issued upon visiting Peranakan Museum. Catch local acts such as dynamic duo Jack & Rai, Alicia Pan & band, Reverie and Giants Must Fall as they jam it up at the outdoor stage in front of Timbre @ The Substation from 7pm.

Join us at the Peranakan Museum tomorrow for a day of pure fun! Visit www.museums.com.sg for more details.

:: EDITOR’S NOTE:: There’s much about museums to love! Meet Barbara Fras, a Programmes Manager at the Peranakan Museum. A self-confessed lover of the Peranakan culture, this Canadian citizen loves museums! Watch this video as she shares with you why.

Ivy, whose parents are both Peranakan, gets a chance to reconnect with her culture with a visit to the Peranakan Museum facilitated by the Singapore Peranakan Association.

Unlike most of the Peranakans typically found in Singapore, who are Singapore or Malacca Peranakans, Ivy’s Peranakan’s heritage comes from the Riau Islands and Penang. Check out Ivy’s visit to the Peranakan Museum, where she explores her culture under the headings of architecture, weddings, superstition, tableware and fashion.

In the midst of love, love, lovin’ our museums, I finally took a breather and sat back on my favourite red cocoon of a chair – it has been a good couple of months since I Love Museums took shape and left its imprint in all of us.

In the past few weeks, we remember museums in our own fond way. Be it events like War On Wheels, The Little Explorer’s Travels at Asian Civilisations Museum, Kimekomi Dolls at the Singapore Philatelic Museum, or I Love Museums stickers, bus-stop advertisements and giant standees – museums now storm the streets and remind us that they are as important and fun as every shopping mall we see in Singapore.

And if not all, we have even taken it online – from blog posts, twitters to online videos. Having Facebook fans and ardent readers continue posting photos and words of encouragement was an excellent source of inspiration behind the doors of NHB. I Love Museums is here to stay (for a while at least) and romance us in its own little ways.

Read the rest of this entry »

“When was the last time you visited the museum?” a friend of mine asked me suddenly as the bus we were on drove past the Renaissance-styled building along Stamford Road. “Just a few months ago”, I replied to a pair of eyes that spoke of disbelief.

The glass passage at the National Museum of Singapore - a sight to behold when daylight filters in (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Indeed, museums in Singapore are not places that are frequented by Singaporeans. In fact, some of my friends probably have the misconception that the items on display at the museum are always the same and any changes in the exhibits are probably the exception rather than the norm.

Well, to be honest, that’s what I thought so too; that is, before I started writing on the various exhibits at the different museums last year. In fact, it was an eye-opener because I found out that the displays at the museums are not always about Singapore, but they sometimes host exhibits from overseas too.

But amongst all the frenzy lies a deeper purpose to the existence of museums in Singapore. I’m saying this because we have grown so quickly economically that I sometimes feel that we are at the brink of disassociating ourselves with our past and heritage. In this context, I feel that museums serve as a good link between our past and present.

It has often been joked that anything that’s old (and even unwanted) should be “best left at the museum”. In fact, museums are often thought to house antiques. However, if you could pardon me from being pedantic, a museum is really “a building or place where works of art, scientific specimens, or other objects of permanent value are kept and displayed” – well, at least to the definition of Dictionary.com.

Read the rest of this entry »