AM ERICAN AS S O C IATION O F S INGAP ORE
Since 1958
www.aasingapore.com
May 2017
American Association..... 1-4 Member Discounts............. 3 CRCE & Business............ 5-6 Community News......... 7-11 Travel........................ 12-13 Museums................... 14-23 What’s Happening.......... 23
American Association 1-4
Community 7-11
Travel 12-13
Museums 14-23
When was the Very First Issue of the SAN Published?
Singapore American School the Origins of the Eagles
From Manga to Modern Art A Tour of Japan’s Art Museums
Need a Little Culture? Read all About Our Favorite Museums
MCI (P) 197/03/2017
National Museum of Singapore: The Story of Singapore Itself By Eric Walter
T
here is only one place you can experience the entire span of Singapore’s history, from the pre-colonial period to the ultramodern city-state we all know. That place, of course, is the National Museum of Singapore. As with Singapore itself, the story of this institution is one of tenacity, perseverance and an ability to change to suit the times. Now in its 130th year at the neo-Palladian-style building on Stamford Road it has occupied since 1887, the National Museum can trace its history back further, to 1823, when Sir Stamford Raffles, Singapore’s colonial founder, called for a Malay college aimed at educating the children of British officials and local elites, according to Assistant Curator Sharon Lim. The museum was an outgrowth of this effort. Very much a part of the British colonial establishment, much of the museum’s early focus was on scholarly
research into the natural world, ethnography and the archeology of the Malay Peninsula. “That defined the museum for most of its life,” said Lim. Swept up in the winds of decolonization in the post-WWII years, the museum’s name was changed to its current one in 1960. This period also brought with it a change in mission. “The object of the museum became more nation-building,” Lim added. Focus also shifted to telling the story of the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Westerners and others that have made Singapore what it is, she said. At times its future, as with that of Singapore as a whole, has been in doubt. During Singapore’s occupation by the Japanese during World War II, for example, it was only through the actions of a Japanese professor, Hidezo Tanakadate, that the museum survived at all. After a chance meeting with E. J. H. Corner, assistant director of the Botanic Gardens, Tanakadate took it
upon himself to act as champion and guardian of the museum, as well as for Corner and two other British scholars trapped there during the occupation. “He didn’t really see the British scientists as enemies. He saw them as scientists. Colleagues in distress,” Lim said. Tanakadate’s actions are especially impressive given that he had no real authority with the Japanese military government to act on behalf of the museum or the scientists, Lim said. Tanakadate and several other Japanese scientists managed to stave off the looting and destruction that ravaged other museums during the war and to preserve the lives of their British peers, through a combination of courage and savvy connections. Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore
Continues on page 19.
American Association of Singapore’s Centennial Partners