National Heritage Board: Capturing the Past

Hi.

Thank you for taking the first step to learning about the museums in Singapore by opening this book. And no – this is not just another boring book.

You will know why soon.

Special thanks to – Peranakan Museum Philatelic Museum National Museum of Singapore For the valuable information, artefacts and displays.

Have you ever wondered how it feels like to live in the olden days?

Chapters of the past Info Origins of Peranakans Interior Design All About Wedding Peranakan Fashion Museum Food & Feasting

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Info A Window to the World Stamps Singapore Heritage Philatelic Room of Rarities Museum “Spice is Nice” Exhibition

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Info Film & Wayang Gallery Fashion Gallery National Food Gallery Museum Photography Gallery

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Ah Huat’s diary of thoughts & memories

“Drink coffee, write diary”

Hello!

13 Feb 1950

Dear diary, My name is Ah Huat, and I am a really sentimental guy (which is why I am writing this diary). To me, the past is a gift. By keeping memories of the past, I believe we can learn to cherish everything even more. Cherishing the past teaches me not to take things for granted, all that has been given to us. To me, history is never boring. Without the past, there will never be present. Therefore, I want to keep as much information of the past as I can when I still have the chance to!

Just a quick info about myself – I am a Singaporean, living with my mum, dad and an older sister. I’m born in 1934, which makes me 16 this year.

My hobby is photography and writing history, and I enjoy reminisicing the past. My goal in life is to inspire people to love history, and cherish things before they are gone.

The main reason why I am writing this diary is because I do not want to forget every details of my life - where I live, who I am, the major events that has happened and so on. It’s gonna be so much fun! Can’t wait to fill up the entire diary!!

Signing off, Huat.

Visiting my Aunt’s house tomorrow!

14 Feb 1950

I am so excited!! Mum is going to bring me to my aunt’s house, who is a Peranakan, tomrrow! I cannot wait to see how a Peranakan house looks like and everything! I have always been interested in the Peranakans and now I finally have the chance to learn more about it. Will update you again when i am there! Oh and mum told me that she is going to learn Peranakans’ embroidery from Aunt! Cool!

Signing off, Huat.

PERAN AKAN MUSEUM The Peranakan Museum mainly showcase the distinctive material and social culture of the Straits Chinese Peranakan community, which draws from the traditions of China and the broader mix of cultural influences of Southeast Asia.

Some materials from other Peranakan communities are also displayed; the longer-tern aim of the museum is to bring to light other Peranakan communities of the region. C O N T I N U E R E A D I N G > >

Peranakan Museum

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The world’s finest and most comprehensive collection of Peranakan artefacts

Visit me today.

Address Peranakan Museum 39 Armian Street Singapore 179941 Opening Hours Daily 10a.m. to 7p.m.

Fridays 10a.m. to 9p.m.

Contact Details Front desk: Front desk: +65 +65 6332 6332 7591 7591 Email: nhb_pm_vs@nhb.gov.sg Email: nhb_pm_vs@nhb.gov.sg www.peranakanmuseum.sg www.peranakanmuseum.sg Admission Free to all Singapore citizens and permanent resitdents (please present ID) Individuals –$6$6 Friday Evenings evenings,77toto9p.m.

9p.m.–$3 $3 Foreign Students students and & Seniors seniors–$3 $3 Friday Evenings evenings –$1.50 $1.50

Fashion

Origins Food Entrance

(Level 1)

All About Weddings

(Level 2) FLOOR PLAN

(Level 3)

Origins of Peranakans

The Peranakans.

Southeast Asia has been a crossroads for trade from time immemorial. Traders from all over the ancient world came to exchange their goods from the exotic products of this region.

Many of them only stayed for a short while, but some ended up marrying local wives and remainder in Southeast Asia. their descendants are the ancestors of the Peranakans.

In the Malay speaking parts of Southeast Asia, the term Peranakan means “child of’ or ‘born of’. This term is used to refer to a person of mixed ethnic origins. Many different communities are recognised as ‘Peranakan’, for example

the Jawi Peranakans who are descended from the Indian Muslims, the Chitty Melaka community descended from Hindu traders and the Baba community who are descended from the Chinese. They settled in all the important trading centres in Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The term ‘Baba’ was used for both the Peranakan Chinese community as a whole as well as to refer specifically to the men of this community.

The ladies were called Nonya, which is why we often see the term ‘Baba-Nyonya’.

the city was under the colonial rule of the Portuguese and later the Dutch. when the British founded new colonies in Penang and Singapore at the turn of the 19th century, they invited the Malaccan Baba community to move to these vibrant new trading entrepôts. These three communities became a wider Peranakan community known as the Straits Chinese or Straits-born Chinese.

The Baba community in Malacca can be traced back to at least the 17th century, when Peranakan Museum

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Origins of Penarakan

Kerongcong music makes me feel Peranakan. – Dick Lee

(Singapore singer, composter, songwriter & playwriter)

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Peranakan Museum

At my Aunt’s house now!!

16 Feb 1950

Oh my god!! Aunt’s house is so beautiful!! It is so amazing how the living room (which is called the Thia Basar or “Big Hall” in Peranakan) can be raanged so symmetrically. I’m totally awed! Even the house entrance is just as symmetrical as well. I wonder how long the servants have to spend cleaning these furnitures everyday though? They are so clean and dustfree! These’s so much more I have to learn from my Aunt! (next page for photographs I took!)

Their house entrance or the “House Front�. I love the symmetrical balance!

Makes everything so neat and tidy!

Their living room, which they call “Thia Besar” or the “Big Hall”.

Signing off, Huat

Penarakan’s Interior Design

House Front.

Many Peranakans decorated their ancestral houses in the traditional Chinese style and placed things at the front of the house according to hong swee (feng shui) pimples to direct good energy into the home.

the guardian deity, ancestors, parents and elders of the husband family.

The front doors of the house were also significant on the last day of the wedding (duabelas hari), when women from both families gathered in the bridegroom’s home.

This gathering was to confirm that the bride was indeed a The front of the house was maiden on her wedding night. often chosen as the backdrop If the bridegroom’s mother was for wedding photos that were satisfied, baskets of fragrant taken on the third day of the twelve day Peranakan wedding. nasi lemak (steamed coconut rice) were sent to the bride’s On this day, the bridegroom house. After receiving the nasi brought his new wife back to his home. There, they paid their lemak, the bridge would leave for the bridegroom’s house and first respects as a couple to

ceremonially enter through the front door as a newly accepted daughter-in-law of the family.

In some Peranakan families, she walked into her new family bearing her personal sireh set. This denoted her virtue as a respectable daughter and daughter-in-law to her husband’s parents.

Peranakan Museum

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Penarakan’s Interior Design

Thia Besar.

The Thia Besar was used to receive important guests, and for special occasions like weddings or funerals.

was also placed in this room, usually to the right of the deity altar.

project the status of the family.

Depending on family tastes, the furniture used in these formal living rooms could be The thia besar was used to blackwood inlaid with motherreceive important guests, and for of-pearl, glided namwood, special occasions like weddings glided teak furniture or colonialor funerals. Children, especially style- teak furniture. Furniture Before the 1950s, most young girls were usually not was arranged symmetrically, to Peranakan families lived as an create an air of formality and in extended family under one roof. allowed into this room when male guests were present. accordance with the principles In the traditional layout of a Ormate screens or curtains of hong swee (fengshui). On Peranakn house, the first room would be used to divide this hall special occasions like weddings after passing through the front from the more private sections of and the lunar New Year, door was the this bear or ‘big the house. additional decorations would be hall’, the formal living room. put up. These included family The thia besar often housed the collections of tablecloths, chair altar of the guardian diety of the Being the public space of covers, door hangings and house which was placed against the house, the furniture and altar clothes of silk embroidery, the wall facing the front door. In furnishings in the thia besar beadwork or lace. some homes, the ancestral altar was usually of fine quality to 10

Peranakan Museum

What a huge bed!!!

20 eb 1950

Look at my Aunt’s bed (or what they call wedding chamber). It’s so huge that I think it can hold four people or more. It’s so nicely decorated and the embroidery work is really nice. I wonder why they need such a huge bed though? Hmmm.. This is interesting! Gonna ask Aunt when I have the chance to. (next page fo a photograph of the HUGE BED!!!)

The “Wedding Chamber” that has like 2 cabins!!

All about Peranakan wedding..

22Feb 1950

So I had a bit of time today and asked my Aunt why her bed is so big. It turns out that Peranakans really observe wedding traditions carefully.

Aunt claimed that “it was the place of conception for the next generation of the family” and it is a house for the couple during their 12 day wedding ceremony. For the Peranakans, getting married is a really big thing and a lot of preparation have to be done. Aunt spent like three solid hours to explain to me in detail all about the Peranakan wedding. I didn’t know so many things have to be done! Seems like the Peranakans really puts utmost importance in marriages!

Signing off, Huat

All About Weddings

12-Day Wedding.

Weddings were a time to observe traditions.

For the Peranakans, a wedding marks the coming together of two families.

For the Peranakans, a wedding marks the coming together of two families. Thus, a wedding also carries the wish for sons to carry on the family name of the bridegroom.

During the weddings of the late 19th to early 20th century, weddings in the Peranakan Chinese communities of Singapore, Malacca and Penang strongly adhered to traditional Chinese practices.

The displays in these galleries show different strages of the wedding rites as well as items used in the full twelve-day Peranakan wedding.

Weddings were a time to observe traditions. Important wedding rites had to be carried out on auspicious days and at specific times in accordance to the pek ji of the bridegroom – the eight Chinese characters denoting one’s birth date and time. At such rites, pan tangs or taboos were carefully observed.

Deities, ancestors and elders had to be invited to witness and legitimise the wedding rituals.

The lucky colours of red, pink, orange, yellow and gold were used in nearly all wedding items. These items were decorated with special motifs to ensure a good marriage. The Peranakans, like the Chinese, believed that ‘god things always came in pairs’ so many items in the wedding came in pairs. A bridge often used her wedding to display her skill in embroidery, beadwork and other home crafts. Her handiwork gained her the respect of the women in her husband’s family and all who witnessed the wedding.

Peranakan Museum

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All About Weddings

Today, the Peranakan Chinese no longer hold twelve-day weddings but have retained certain traditional rites such as the tea ceremony.

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Peranakan Museum

All About Weddings

Gifts given by bridegroom’s family:

Think they are the same?

Look again!

A pair of candles, two bottles of brandy and an auspicious number of oranges were usually given. The candles, marked with the phoenix were lit on the deity altar of the bride’s family during the wedding. Brandy symbolised the bridegroom. Oranges were used for their auspicious colour, and the round shape and number of oranges symbolised good wishes for a ‘full’ and long life.

Gifts given by bride’s family: The bride’s family would take the pair of phoenix candles and replace them with an identical pair of candles with dragon decorations on them. The two bottles of brandy were taken and replaced with two bottles of syrup, symbols of the female.

Four oranges were taken and replaced with two cans of longans. The fruits and drinks given in exchange were usually sweet and represented hopes for a lasting and blissful marriage.

Peranakan Museum

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All About Weddings

Wedding Chamber.

The wedding chamber was a room in the bride’s house used by the couple during the traditional 12day wedding ceremony.

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Peranakan Museum

All About Weddings

The wedding chamber was a room in the bride’s house used by the couple during the traditional 12-day wedding ceremony. For Peranakans, this room was a meaningful space.

The wedding bed was vitally important because it was the place of conception for the next generation of the family. It had to be ritually purified and charged with positive energies, as well as protected from dangerous and malevolent forces.

The bride’s mother and other women in the family would decorate the room before the wedding on a day selected to be auspicious. The bed, dresser,

carpets, doors, and other areas would be adorned with textiles, in simple cross-stitched cotton, or more costly embroidered silk and beadwork, depending on the wealth and status of the family.

Fertility symbols and auspicious colours predominated. The room was smoked with stangee, a sweet incense, and Bunga rampay, a potpourri of flours and perfume, was used to scent the room. This rid the room of any unclean spiritual energy.

because they are fast growing and produce many fruits. A young boy was required to roll over the bed three times in a rite that spread male energy, with the hope that the firstborn would be a boy.

As a final preparation, various symbolic items were placed on the bed and the room was then sealed till the wedding day, when the bride would be unveiled by the bridegroom. The couple would then take their first Fertility rites were also observed. meal together in the room. After A flowerpot containing a comb the wedding, the families would of banana, lemon grass and decide in which of their houses yam was put under the bed. the couple would reside.

All are associated with fertility Peranakan Museum

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All About Weddings

The Wedding Chamber was a meaningful space for the Peranakans.

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Peranakan Museum

Peranakan Fashion!

Just took a look at my Aunt’s daughter’s kebaya and it has really amazing and intriguing details. It’s just so unique! I wonder how mom would look in a Kebaya?

Haha! Aunt told me that since young, they have to learn how to do embroidering and beadwork and it is a unique part of the Peranakan culture. The quality of their work actually determines whether they have the desirable virtues to be a good wife!

Signing off, Huat

25Feb 1950

Peranakan’s Fashion

Nyonya Fashion.

The sarong kebaya is a distinctive and elegant outfit that has merged as a strong symbol of Peranakan identity. In design and form, it is a legacy of diverse sources. the top element, the kebaya, is derived from the ancient qaba, a loose, long-sleeved, open jacket worn from the 9th century by Middle Eastern rulers. The hemline gradually rose over time, and the classic Peranakan kebaya is short and tight-fitting. The bottom is a batik sarong. Made along the north coast of Java, early batik designs were inspired by imported Indian textiles.

Photographs of nyonyas (Peranakan women) from the mid-19th century show that they wore a long robe, known as baju panjang (Malay for long tunic).

A baju panjang or kebaya was usually fastened by a set of three brooches (kerosang). In the late 19th century, Eurasians in the Dutch East Indies began wearing lace kebabs that were shorter and more form-fitting, and often decorated with Western motifs and materials.

A distinctly Peranakan style of kebaya emerged by the 1920s, with a unique shape, colour and design. The sewing machine

enabled complex embroidery and lace-like decorations, as well as tapered lapels. Nyonyas also embraced the invention of chemical dyes, leading to a burst of colourful sarong kebaya.

Chinese floral and bird motifs also gained in popularity.

Peranakan Museum

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Peranakan’s Fashion

Today, many nyonyas still wear kebaya for special occasions, and it continues to inspire Singaporean, Malaysian, and Indonasian fashions.

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Peranakan Museum

Peranakan’s Fashion

Textile Arts.

When a young Nonya reached puberty, she was considered ‘anak darah’, a term used to refer to a young malden, and training for married life began. Just like women in most traditional societies, these young Nonyas were expected to hone their skills in domestic arts like cooking and needlecraft in preparation for marriage. they devoted hours to learning the craft of beadwork and embroidery from their female elders.

Peranakan Museum

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Peranakan Museum Peranakan’s Fashion

Intricate and skilfully executed needle was seen as an indication that the young woman had all the desirable virtues hoped for in a wife, such as patience, gentility, and diligence. Sloppy handiwork, in contrast, indicated otherwise!

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Peranakan Museum All About Weddings

Peranakan’s Fashion

threading and stitching. For some Nonyas. a talent for beading became a source of income and they crafted beadwork slippers for sale.

Beadwork and embroidery are a unique part of Peranakan material culture. While furniture, silverware and porcelain were largely commissioned by wealthier households according to Peranakan tastes, most beadwork and embroidery were crafted by the Nonyas themselves. Using the finest quality of materials such as glass beads imported from Europe, they created an array of items using the techniques of stringing,

After the Second World War, as more Peranakan women entered the workforce, breading embroidery became less commonly practiced. At around this time as well, traditional wedding and observances declined in popularity. As a result, the intricate art of beadwork and embroidery gradually faded from daily Peranakan life.

Today, Peranakan textile arts are seeing a revival in interest, with beadwork being a more chosen choice than embroidery.

Contemporary practitioners and hobbyists help preserve this timehonoured art by lending fresh interpretations to the art through new designs and forms.

Peranakan Museum

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Peranakan Museum Peranakan’s Fashion

Today, Peranakan textile arts are seeing a revival in interest, with beadwork being a more chosen choice than embroidery.

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Peranakan 02 Museum

Waiting for dinner!

26 Feb 1950

I am currently sitting on their dining table, waiting for a panakan feast. They have a really long table and everything is arranged to symmetrically. It is really amazing how they can arrange it this neat.

Aunt is in the kitchen preparing the food now. I can smell the food even though the kitchen is so far away. Great, I cannot wait!!! (next page for a photograph of the dining table!)

So neat and organised, right? Oh and dinner’s here!

Signing off, Huat.

Food & Feasting

Peranakan Food.

Peranakan food is well known in the mainstream culture of Singapore and Malaysia. It is one of the Peranakan community’s living traditions, and many family favourites are heartily enjoyed outside the community.

Peranakan Museum

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Food & Feasting

Peranakan food is a fusion of different influences. It is mainly Chinese cuisine that has been modified with local and European influences.

Many Peranakan women of the past were skilled cooks who creatively used new ingredients, and modified recipes to suit the tastes of their families. This explains why Peranakan cuisine has so many regional variations and unique family versions of well-known dishes and desserts.

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Peranakan Museum

In the Peranakan community, food was also linked to different occasions. Certain events called for special kinds of food. Ayan bush keluak (a chicken dish with black nuts from the Panglum educe tree) and ee pio (fish maw) soup were two popular dishes prepared for weddings and feasts. Special dishes were also prepared for birthdays, ancestor worship and funerals.

There were one-meal dishes, like mer siam and laksa for social gatherings and weekends, as well as special dishes made for women after childbirth.

Many Peranakan families still cook traditional dishes today, although some dishes are rarely prepared, as the recipes can be elaborate and time-consuming to prepare. However the growing number of Peranakan restaurants in Singapore and Malaysia reflects the enduring popularity of Peranakan food both within and outside the community.

Clearly, Peranakn food culture is continuing to evolve.

Food & Feasting

Tok Panjang.

Tok panjang is a Baba Malay term that refers to a type of feast associated with weddings and special occasions.

Peranakan Museum

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Food & Feasting

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Peranakan Museum

Food & Feasting

‘Tok’ is the Chinese (Hokkien) word for ‘table’. ‘Panjang’ is the Malay word for ‘long’.

The long table is in this case refers to either a long rectangular dining table or a make-shift one made up of several square or rectangular tables, that was set up specially for this feast.

It is unclear when the tok panjang style of dining was adopted by the Peranakans.

The common dining style for Peranakan dinners outside the home was a round table, which is the Chinese custom. An elderly Nonya recalls being told that that oldest style of tok panjang feast was done at weddings with the dining tables extending out from the ancestral altar. This signified the addition of new members to the family. There could also have been practical reason for eating a tok panjang, as traditional Peranakan houses were narrow and long, and a long rectangular table would have suited the space best.

The the tok panjang style, guests were usually served longan tea (ayer mata kuching) and betal quids (sireh) when they arrived.

Men were sometimes offered brandy, whisky and cigarettes, after which the guests would proceed to the main dining table where they were served by servants or the women of the family. It was the custom for men to eat first.

Peranakan Museum

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Food & Feasting

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Peranakan Museum

Behind the scenes: Kitchen?

2 March 1950

Today I made yet another interesting discovery in the house. I noticed that the kitchen is really different from the outside. I later learned from my aunt that the kitchen is like the “heart of the Peranakan home”.

The women of the household and servants spent most of their time here, cooking and preparing food. It is where “tasks of running a happy family” were done. That’s so cool! I don’t recall my mom spending so much time and effort in our own kitchen (haha). They are really dedicated!! I hope my future wife would be this dedicated to cooking too, haha! (next page for photograph of the kitchen!!)

Aunt’s really cool kitchen.

Signing off, Huat.

Food & Feasting

“Behind the Scenes�

Kitchen.

The kitchen was the innermost room, the heart of the Peranakn home. It is was where the women of the household and servants worked, and where all the tasks of running a happy household were done.

Peranakan Museum

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Food & Feasting

The Peranakan kitchen was a multi-purpose space used for more than food preparation and cooking. It was used for storing ingredients and spices, and was the setting for minding children, doing ironing, handiwork and many other household chores.

The same kitchen bench, for example, would be used for minding a child in the morning, ironing clothes in the afternoon, and as a bed for servants at night.

friends there. The kitchen was therefore a female domain. Men were generally not encouraged to loiter there.

and spiritually powerful talismans that purified a home of unclean elements. When moving to a new home, there objects were moved on an auspicious day Great care was taken to equip before their owners moved in. the kitchen with functional Another traditional belief was objects. Kitchen items came from that once the stove was lit in the different parts of the region. morning, it could not be put out Siamese greenware and pots, until the sun has set.

Burnese terracotta pots and lacquerware from Palembang As women’s roles have changed, (in Sumatra) and Myanmar were less time is spent in the kitchen popular, as were the granite now. However some Peranakan mortars used by the Chinese, women still get together on Indian and Malay communities. the occasion of special family The kitchen was the innermost room, the heart of the Peranakn gatherings and feast days, to home. It It was where the women There were many beliefs whip up traditional feasts that associated with the kitchen. of the household and servants their grandmothers would have worked, and where all the tasks Some special domestic objects been proud of. that were seen as powerful of running a happy household talismans were items from the were done. Many Peranakan women spent a lot of time in the kitchen. These included the sireh set, the spice basket, and the kitchen. As a result, they had urns for storing rice and drinking a special attachment to their water. The Peranakans believed kitchens and often entertained that there objects when filled their close female relatives and with their conents, were sacred 30

Peranakan Museum

P H I L AT E L I C M U S E U M Singapore Philatelic Museum is the custodian and curator of Singapore’s treasure of philatelic materials. The museum collections range from stamps and archival philatelic material of Singapore from the 1830s to present day, and stamps from member countries of the Universal Postal Union.

CONTINUE READING >>

Philatelic Museum

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The The first first Philatelic Philatelic Museum Museum inin Southeast Southeast Asia Asia

Visit me today.

Address 23-B Coleman Street Singapore 179807 Opening Hours Daily: 9.30a.m. – 7p.m.

Mondays: 1p.m. – 7p.m.

Contact Details Front desk: +65 6337 3888 Email: nhb_spm_adm@nhb. gov.sg www.spm.org.sg Admission Free to all Singapore citizens and permanent resitdents (please present ID) Adult – $6 Child (3-12yrs old) – $4

Stamps

“Spice is Nice” Exhibition

Window to the World Room of Rarities Entrance

Heritage Room

(Level 2)

(Level 1) FLOOR PLAN

A Window to the World

What is Philatelic?

“Philately is the hobby of collecting and learning about postage stamps” – Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

A philatelist collects philatelic items, arranges them and learns about its history, how it is made and the information portrayed on the stamps.

Postage stamps with their colourful images and stories have fascinated millions of The word Philately is derived from Greek words philos (“love”) people since they first appeared more than 160 years ago. and atelier (“paid” or “taxfree”). It was first used in 1864 The world’s most valuable stamp,

by Georges Herpin, an avid Sweden’s 1855 three-skilling collector of stamps. was sold for 2.5 million Swiss francs (U.S. $1.35 million)on Stamps are symbols that 8th November 1996. postage or tax has been paid.

They are the icons of a society – As with other collectibles, its culture, its people, its history thousands of forgeries have and its development.

been produced over the years, either to deceive the stamp collector or to defraud the government or postal administration. Postal forgeries are commonly referred to as counterfeit stamps.

Philatelic Museum

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A Window to the World

Philately is the hobby of collecting and learning about postage stamps.

– Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

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Philatelic Museum

A Window to the World

Did You Know?

United Kingdom is the only country which issues stamps without its name printed on them.

A stamp was created on the Moon!

In the 1969 Apolo 11 moon flight, the astronauts pulled an Instead the profile of the reigning impression of a stamp upon touching down on the moon, monarch appears on the British stamps. This exception is granted creating the moon’s first postage by the Universal Postal Union stamp! Once back on earth, the (U.P.U) because U.K. was the die was used to produce the first country to issue stamps.

10-cent airmail stamp issued in Steptember of 1969.

An undersea post office actually existed!

Established in 1939 as part of a scientific facility on the sea bed of the Bahamas. This user sea office used a special oval postmark that says “SEA FLOOR/BAHAMAS”.

Philatelic Museum

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Stamps

What is a Stamp?

Stamps come in a multitude of colours, subjects and topics, as unique as the country from which they originated.

With the birth of stamps came the birth of philatelists. Shortly after adhesive postage stamps were introduced by the United Kingdom in 1840, people began collecting them.

In 1841, a young woman even placed an advertisement in the London Times for help in collecting stamps so that she could paper her dressing with cancelled postage stamps.

Many early collectors used cancelled stamps to decorate crafts.

Stamp collecting opens a window to the wired by urging you to learn about the countries from which the stamps originated and the subjects and themes featured on them.

Stamps are a visual encyclopaedia of history and an

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Philatelic Museum

open invitation to further explore history, geography, the arts and culture, science and nature.

Today, many people like to collect stamps of distinctive places and things. Some people collect stamps of one particular country. Others collect stamps showing birds, dolls, railroads, or ships.

But whatever the theme, all collectors collect because they enjoy it.

“ Stamps

Stamps are like window displays.

Within the perforated edges, we present and represent our culture, history, values and beliefs, achievements and aspirations.

Through stamps we catch a glimpse into the psyche and worldview of different countries and in the process develop an understanding of ourselves and how we view the world. – Mr Koh Seow Chuan

Philatelic Museum

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Stamps

Getting really bored?

Fred not, here comes the part which we can all relate to...

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Philatelic Museum

Finally back in Singapore!

10 March 1950

Back in Singapore. And Wow! Our house is still as neat as usual! I just realised our dining table is almost the same as the one’s in my Aunt’s kitchen. Our dining table is so much simpler compared to theirs!

Hanging clothes!

And here’s a photo of the drum that I bought not long ago. I can’t deny that I do miss my house!

Ending off, Huat.

Heritage Room

Heritage Room.

Ever wonder how Singapore looked like in the olden days? Well, now you can.

Only at Singapore Philatelic Museum.

Philatelic Museum

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Heritage Room

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Philatelic Museum

Heritage Room

Philatelic Museum

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Heritage Room

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Philatelic Museum

New Postbox Just went to the send out a letter to my Aunt and I’m surpised that they have a new postbox now! It’s amazing how the post offices has changed over the past decades too. Time f lies!

Signing off, Huat.

15 March 1950

Room of Rarities.

Singapore Post Office.

General Post Office The Post Office had its own building due to the expansion of postal services in 1854. It was located near the Town Hall by the side of the Singapore River. A footbridge had to be constructed to make the post office more accessible to the Commercial Square. Pedestrains who used the bridge had to pay a tall of 1/4 cent.

under direct control of the British authorities in 1967.

1873 GPO (General Post Office) By 1973, the Post Office was shifted across the Singapore River to be on the same bank as the Commercial Square (present Raffles Place) and renamed the General Post Office (GPO).

This new location, at the site of In 1858 the Post Office became the former Fort Fullerton, proved a separate department financed to be far more accessible for the by postal revenues, with William traders and merchants.

Cuppage as the first Postmaster.

The building was later demolished to make way for a With the incorporation of the much larger Fullerton Building Straits Settlements as a Crown in 1921. While the new GPO Colony, the Post Office came

was being built from 1921 to 1927, the public was served at a temporary building at Collyer Quay.

Sub-Post Offices By the end of the 19th century, postal service was decentralised to reach residents who were living in the outskirts of town.

The first three sub-post offices were opened outside the commercial area in 1897. These sub-post offices were at Kandang Kerbau, Tanjong Pagar and Tanglin.

By 1938, some 20 sub-post offices were providing postal services on the island.

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Room of Rarities

Fullerton Building The General Post Office had been relocated several times to cope with the increase in mail volume and the demand for postal services. But it was the Fullerton Building which became the icon of Singapore’s postal history.

Officially opened on 27 June 1928 by Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor of Singapore, it served the public for 68 years before it was closed on 24 March 1996.

Fulleerton Building has been restored as a luxury hotel.

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Singapore Post Centre The Singapore Post Centre (SPC) is the state-of-the-art mail processing centre and the corporate headquarters of Singapore Post. The purposebuilt complex is a 24-hour mail and parcel-processing hub, which enables SingPost to provide next-day mail delivery.

Spices are nice!

20 March 1950

Today’s the first time I’m helping my mom to buy spices from the street..

I’m writing this down because I didn’t know choosing the right spice can be so difficult! I did not know that spices can be used to preserve food until today. There are so many things I can learn from spices! This is also one of the rare days when I go for a grocery shopping for my mum. (guys don’t do that, right?) Despite the tiredness, it was a fun trip though. I should visit the market with my mum more often! (next page for photographs I took while going for groceries shopping at the street market!)

Spices!

Ending off, Huat.

“Spice is Nice�

Spices.

Spice of Life Since ancient times, spirces have been valued for their taste and preservative qualities.

Sometimes, they were also believed to have magical, curing powers. For centuries, spices from Asia travelled long distances to satisfy hungry demands in Europe.

The origin of spices was a closely guarded secret. This spurred many European countries to venture into the unknown in search of the elusive spices. Sea routes were charted, lands were discovered and battles were fought for the sake of spices, Many men lost their lives.

Southeast Asia was, and still is, home to key spices and they spice trade. This attracted the Europeans to set up colonies in the region as early as 500 years ago. In 1819, Singapore was established as a tax-free port (entrepĂ´t) by the British. Located at the crossroads of shipping routes, the island soon attracted many trading ships, businesses and immigrants.

Spice is Nice traces the voyages of discovery, the history of spice trade and its impact on life in early Singapore. It also features traditional cures using spices and the flowers of regional cuisine.

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“Spice is Nice”

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“Spice is Nice�

More than just taste.

Why are spices important?

Spices can be used to preserve food, and at the same time add flavour to the food.

How do we preserve food without refrigerator?

Spices and salt were commonly used to preserve almost every form of food, from fish to vegetables. Pickling and In olden times, this was practised smoking were also practised by by the Asians. But the European many countries. were using salt to preserve food.

The preserved food was very In the West, before the invention salty and not very tasty. of the refrigerator, icehouses were used to provide cool The introduction of spices to the storage of food. They were built Europeans added flavour to their near freshwater lakes, or packed preserved food. with snow and ice during winter.

Iceboxes lined with metal and Historically, people consumed insulated with straw, sawdust or spices not simply because cork were also commonly used. they tasted good, but that they indicated distinction and wealth.

Why do we need to preserve food?

In cold countries, there was little vegetation to feed animals during winter. These animals were slaughtered before the winter arrived.

As there was no refrigerator to store the meat, it had to be preserved to prevent rotting.

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“Spice is Nice”

Street Markets.

Singapore’s multicultural people came from the Malay Archipelago, China, the Indian subcontinent and Europe.

From these different lands, they brought various customs, festivals, religions, languages and cuisines. Old markets in Singapore were set up along streets or near points where goods were unloaded from boats. With the same spices but varied proportions and cooking methods, the different races serve amazingly different dishes.

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“Spice is Nice”

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“Spice is Nice”

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Big feast!

3 June 1950

I’m so excited today! Our aunt and uncle is coming to our house for a few days. Mum is currently preparing for a big feast to welcome them in our extremely-small-but-useful kitchen. I can’t wait to welcome them already! It’s been such a long time since I saw them, even since visiting their Peranakan house which was totally so cool.

Our simple but useful kitchen.

The fish is looking great!

Signing off, Huat.

“Spice is Nice”

Kitchen.

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From a humble kitchen, many simple dishes were cooked to fill hungry stomachs.

Spices gave a special ‘kick’ to the basic ingredients. Think about the clever use of spices in curry dishes which give each ethnic group the unique flavour in their food. Using a diverse range of spices, Singapore cuisine reflects a harmony of mouth-watering food.

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“Spice is Nice”

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“Spice is Nice”

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Food, food and more food!!!

4 June 1950

The dinner that mum prepared yesterday was really great! She cooked all sorts of local delights by using very simple dishes. Do not belittle these simple dishes! They turned out to be really tasty, thanks to the spices that gave the dishes a “special kick” and a really unique taste. It is really amazing how delicious these dishes can turn out even by using simple ingredients like spices. If there’s a chance, I really want to pick up cooking from my mum! (next page for photographs of the food!!!)

Our traidional Chinese steamboat.

Sayur Lodeh.

Signing off, Huat.

“Spice is Nice�

Singapore Food & Festivals.

Singapore food reflects the multicultural roots of the people and spices flavour many of local dishes. Although dishes like laksa, satay, chicken rice and roti prata, to name a few, originated from the different ethnic groups, over time they have become ocal favourites.

Festivals celebrated by the various ethnic groups are also great opportunities to feast on a delicious selection of goodies.

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“Spice is Nice”

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N AT I O N A L M U S E U M O F S I N GA P O R E The National Museum of Singapore is the nation’s oldest museum with a progressive mind. It is custodian of 10 National Tressures, and its Singapore History and Living Galleries adopted cutting-edge and multi-perspective ways of presenting history and culture to redifine conventional museum experience.

CONTINUE READING >>

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The oldest museum in Singapore

Visit me today.

Address 93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897 Opening Hours 10a.m. – 8p.m. daily Contact Details Front desk: +65 6332 3659 Email: nhb_nm_corpscomm@ nhb.gov.sg www.nationalmuseum.sg Admission Free to all Singapore citizens and permanent resitdents (please present ID) Adult – $10 Foreign Seniors & Foreign Students – $5

Film & Wayang

Fashion

Photography

Food

(Level 2) FLOOR PLAN

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Established in 1887, the National Museum of Singapore (NMS) is the country’s oldest museum, containing an impressive array of artefacts and exhibits that weave the story of Singapore’s colourful past.

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Featuring

The Living Gallery.

Film & Wayang / Fashion / Food / Photography

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It’s a date!!

Today, I asked Xiao Hua (my childhood friend) out for a movie called “Golden Love” which is a Chinese romance film. It was the first time I entered a cinema and it was really cool. It was completely dark, leaving only the screen on. It is so amazing how the technology has changed so much. I never knew it was possible to develop from just a television to a cinema!! Even though the movie did not interest me (not a fan of romance!), the atmostphere was really great!

Oh and Xiao Hua wore a dress today and I think it fits her so well!

Signing off, Huat.

10 June 1950

Film & Wayang Gallery

Sights & Sounds.

Singapor played a major role in shaping the cinematic imagination of the West in the early 20th century. As early as 1909-1910, the Lumiere Brothers and Pathe Brothers shot footages of Singapore. In 1913, another pioneer filmmaker, Georges Melies produced A Day at Singapore. This was followed by numerous films including Shadows of Singapore (1932) and Road to Singapore (1940) in which Singapore began to be represented as an exotic destination.

The outbreak of World War II and the Japanese Occupation hindered the local film production. The prints are not

available and it is believed that the first silent feature film was Xin Ke or The New Arrival (1926). The other early films could be Samarang (1934) and Leila Majnun (1934).

Samarang was shot on location in Singapore with a local cast and was highly successful at the box office due to its realism.

Leila Majnun was based on a Hindi film of the same title and made by B S Rajhans in Malay with local bangsawan actors.

The other films made at this time were Bring ‘Em Back Alive and White Pearl, both of which are believed to have featured actor Sharif Medan. It was only in the 1950s that a strong, studio-centred filmmaking culture

emerged in Singapore for the production of Malay films.

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Film & Wayang Gallery

Cinemas.

The technology of cinema entered colonial Singapore as early as 1902. Soon after, it fundamentally altered the social life in the colony. Going to the cinema to watch films in several languages from across the world allowed people to exercise their imagination in new and exciting ways. Over time, these encounters through films, helped to forge a modern society that was urban, hybrid and cosmopolitan in taste.

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billboards transformed the city streets. The cinema business was so lucrative that several local entrepreneurs turned from disturbing and exhibiting films to producing Malay and Chinese films.

Unlike most traditional forms of live entertainment, films provided a more distinctive and intense visual experience. The shared, collective experience of live shows was gradually superseded by individualised responses to the images on the cinema screen.

The rapid technological changes, starting from the middle of the 20th century, have altered our relationship with visual culture, especially cinema. The widespread use of televisions, home videos, digital discs, satellite and cable delivery networks stand witness to this.

Film & Wayang Gallery

Opera Films.

The first decades of the 20th century witnessed an interaction between cinema and Chinese opera. Hollywood musicals with sound, such as Love Parade (1930), were adapted for the opera stage. Similarly the filmmakers also had adopted Chinese operas for the cinema screen. Stage performers often contributed to the cinema as actors, screenwriters and directors. The opera films found new audiences. But some elements of the traditional stage art became isolated even as others flourished.

Cantonese opera films from Hong Kong were especially popular with audiences. These films are lively and often use narratives drawn from folklore.

In a bid to popularise them, film makers used special effects and introduced modern musical styles.

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Film & Wayang Gallery

Female costume for a typical opera show.

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Shopping Trip!

20 June 1950

Xiao Hua said that she wanted to shop for new clothes today and I accompanied her. In the end, she boought a Cheongsam and I think it fits her really well! I also bought a couple of cosmetics products for my mother, since her birthday is coming up really soon. Hope she likes it!

Signing off, Huat.

At the cosmetics shop. They have so much variety!

Taken at a clothing store. Love the design!

Signing off, Huat

Fashion Gallery

Shopping for Identity.

With rapid industrialisation in the Singapore economy, more women joined the labour force in the 1960s and began to develop the earning power that would make them an important group of consumers for fashion and beauty products. Social changes brought about by the collapse of the old world order also induced drastic changes in lifestyle. In fashion, a youth movement, largely influenced

by Western popular culture, emerged from the 1950s baby boo, to challenge conventions.

One of the most significant fashion changes occurred in the 1950s, when a Westernised

form fitting outline replaced the loose fitting traditional Asian silhouette. By the 1960s, fashion preferences had become increasingly globalised. Many Singaporean women updated traditional Asian garments with modern styles and fabrics, creating a distinctive hybridised look.

They also looked to local magazines and Hollywood and Hong Kong films for tips on wardrobe coordination and beauty.

However, some fashion innovations, like the mini skirt, raised social concerns about women’s modesty. Despite changes in women’s social status, they were expected to dress appropriately by covering certain pets of the

body during particular occasions. Nevertheless, resourceful women found ways to adapt to these global fashion trends so as to get around social conventions.

Women in Singapore were not only consumers of fashion. Many worked in the garment industry during this period. Until mass produced garments and synthetic fabrics became the norm in the 1970s, women preferred tailor made clothes and even made their own, constantly seeking inspirations from broader cultural trends.

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Fashion Gallery

The name of the game is ‘skin’ and you play by baring a bit or daring a lot.

– Her World, April 1970

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Fashion Gallery

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Fashion Gallery

Cosmetics.

Singaporean women were consuming a variety of beauty products in the 1950s. As they stepped out of their role as homemakers after World War II, they were transforming not only their wardrobes but their appearance as well.

Working women now had the buying power to purchase cosmetics for their skin, hair, lips, nails and eyes. Recognising this, cosmetics companies developed a series of beauty products to fulfil the demands of women from different demographics, such as cosmetics targeted at the teen market in the 1960s.

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Street Food can be really nice!

30 June 1950

I had my cravings satisfied at the really famous satay street stall opposite my house today! I cannot emphasise how much street food can be really yummy. Besides satay, I also often patronise the chicken rice and nasi lemak. I gotta take a few photos down before all these stalls are gone!!

(Next page for photographs that I’ve taken at the street food!!)

The famous satay stall.

Signing off, Huat.

Food Gallery

Street Food.

The history of street food goes all the way back to the 19th century, when it was an essential feature of everyday life. As the male-female ratio in Singapore was about 10:1 as late as the 1860s, street food became essential to feed the burgeoning male bachelor population. It was only from the late 1940s, after the gender ratio evened out and more people began to marry and start families, that food prepared in the home started to replace street food as the staple. Since then, food and eating have been transformed from merely a form of sustenance into a national passion. Today, street food is found in not only

hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts, but also more upmarket restaurants and hosteland even abroad.

The selling of street food was a way of life that depended on other economic activities in this port city. Behind every type of food lie richly textured histories. Embedded in these histories are personal stories of hardship, aspiration, risk-taking, trust, ingenuity generational succession and entrepreneurship.

Beyond the personal, street food involved the role of intermediaries and encounters with regulatory authorities. It thrived in a port city where

people, spices and commodities flowed. At the same time, it reflects inter-ethnic interactions, cross-cultural exchanges and hybridity-in-food.

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Food Gallery

Can you recognise them all?

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Food Gallery

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Food Gallery

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Getting a new camera tomorrow! (photog)

30 June 1950

I am so excited! I’ve finally saved enough to get myself the latest camera model (Admira Electric). I’m going to get to tomorrow and I can’t wait to share with you.

P hotography has always been a part of me (as you can see from my diary that is full of photographs). By capturing these photographs, I get to remember the bits and pieces of my life. By browsing through my diary, I get remembered of the various valuable events that have happened in my life. It is really essential for me to remember about the past as it means so much to me. I can’t wait to continue taking more photographs with my new camera and continue creating history! (next page for a drawing of the new camera I am getting tomorrow!!)

The freaking cool camera Admira Electric that I have been dreaming for for so long.

Signing off, Huat

I met the renowned photographer!!

5 July 1950

Oh my god, you cannot believe this!! I was just happening to walk down the street today and guess who I saw? The famous national geographic photographer Maynard Owen Williams! He was happening to be shooting on the street! I was so excited that I approached him. He even showed me some of the photos that he shot, and I got to say that they are really amazing!

Great contrast and meaningful photographs.

Here’s a photograph that So lucky of me! he took.

Signing off, Huat

Photography Gallery

Photography.

This gallery looks at how families in Singapore have evolved over the past hundred years through photography. the development of family history is relatively short in Singapore.

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Photography Gallery

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Photography Gallery

This photo wall explores the physical, economic and social landscape of 20th century Singapore and Malaya through the black and white prints of the National Geographic Society.

These prints offer a unique perspective of life in Singapore and Malaya from the 1930s to the 1950s. Taken by the National Geographuc’s staff photographers who were “living out their lives on location”, this set of historically- and culturally-significant prints captures the intricacies of people’s lives during the prewar and decolonisation years, a momentous period in this history of the region. The prints feature familiar – as well as rare – images of Singapore and Malaya, including scenes of trade and commerce, the riverscape and architecture and the lifestyle.

Most of the photographs seen here were taken by Maynard Owen Williams (1888 - 1963), National Geographic’s first foreign correspondent who traversed across Europe, the Middle East and Asia photographing and writing stories through the early 20th century.

He exemplified the National Geographic’s founding vision and philosophy of showing “the world and all that’s in it”, by increasing knowledge and disseminating it through captivating eyewitness accounts and photographs.

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Last page of my diary.. (ending page)

30 July 1950

Wow, time really f lies! Can’t believe I am already at the finishing page of my diary!! *sobs* With what I’ve written in the diary, I really hope that I’ve successfully captured the past (or what I describe as valuable olden days). To me, it is really special because you know, we will never get to go back to the past again. Being a really sentimental person, I hope to never stop writing and capturing valuable things of my life. In this developing country, I am pretty sure that Singapore would be a totally different 50 years down the road. By then, I am guessing that technology would be even more advanced and many things will change (for the better, hopefully). Whatever it is, I just want to say that it is of utmost importance (well, at least to me) to remember about the past.

Without the past, we would not have the present, right? We should never, never forget where we came from, our origins, and the past. If there is one word to sum up my entire diary, it would be - cherish.

Signing off (for the last time), Huat.

End.

Thank you for reading and I, the publication designer, sincerely hope that you will be able to view Singapore heritage in a different perspective now.

Remember the past, and you learn to cherish the present even more.