ruoxi's rsp blog.

Monday, April 19, 2010

The Asian Civilization museum, set up in the 1997, is indeed a cultural pride of the country. Located beside the Singapore River, this museum has many exhibitions (Singapore River, Southeast Asia, West Asia, South Asia, and China Gallery) that showcase different facets of Asian civilizations’ culture which are in a way entwined with Singapore’s culture.

The museum building, once a governmental office in the past, sits serenely at the river bank of Singapore River. It is situated along a cultural runway, with many other national historic and cultural monuments around, such as the Merlion, Esplanade, Tan Keng Seng fountain, Cavanagh Bridge etc.

In the museum, the exhibitions are specifically located near each other such that different civilizations artifacts are juxtaposed with each other. Each gallery has its own unique artifacts and stories to tell, yet at the same time, one can find similarities between cultures of different civilizations.
One can get to know more of each Asian civilization culture better. Artifacts such as clothing, transportation modes, utensils, historic items are on display of which we can all learn from, e.g. the intricately designed Chinese emperor’s clothing, elaborate china pottery, Malay Keris (dagger), Indian precious gems and jewels. Though each gallery may not house the most detailed and rarest artifacts which will fully enable us to get to know each Asian Civilization well, it is recommendable of the fact that we can gain much knowledge of the many aspects Asian Civilizations have from this museum such as the way of life of people, ideologies and historic events.

These exhibitions have special meaning in them as Singapore culture is somewhat derived from these Asian civilizations when immigrants of different background left their hometown and came to Singapore. Together, different cultures and lifestyles fused with each other and thus, came with the birth of Singapore culture.

The Singapore River exhibit perhaps would be the most relevant in uncovering the cultural significance and identity of Singapore’s heritage.
In this exhibition, artifacts uncover the history of the Singapore River, the lifeline of Singapore since it been founded. Items on display include Chinese twakow (goods transport boat) miniature figurines, china bowls, weights as well as information booklets that provide in depth explanation that complements the exhibits.

From this exhibition, one can learn that Singapore’s economy was largely based on trade with other countries, and thus the River was very important. Merchants would travel by sea from China, India, Arab, and even from the far West to trade items such as tea, spices, silk, coffee, gold, western items etc. Today, Singapore’s economy is still dependable on trade with many other foreign countries.

Another example would be that Singapore is much dependable on foreign manpower, which still holds true today. Coolies and Dhobys (Indian clothes washers) would come by the River and work along the banks of it. By knowing about Singapore’s history and the influence of other countries on our way of life, we can then better appreciate our Singapore culture.

From the coin artifacts as shown in the stamp, insignificant they may seem, they tell of Singapore culture and history. It shows of the Singapore currency. These coins were used issued on June 12, 1967 after the independence of Singapore. The currency of Singapore is ubiquitous in our lives. We use it to buy stuff, to sell stuff, to keep track of our wealth; it is representative of our way of life. Our way of life is what culture is mainly defined as. Thus, when people see the Singapore coins, they would definitely link it to the Singapore culture as it is our national item.

GREENified , 12:12 AM