National Museum of Singapore

From Gardens By The Bay, I took a train to Bencoolen Station and then walked a short distance to the National Museum of Singapore.

At the museum, visitors start from the top floor, where they have to walk through a series of multimedia exhibits, including one showing images from various periods in 20th century Singapore, another showing the legend of Sang Nila Utama (the original founder of Singpore), and another about an old Malay legend describing a giant crab whose movement causes the tides. The immersive spaces didn't come with much explanation, and it was a little overwhelming going from one dark space to another in between the brightly lit immersive exhibits. I was also asked to wear a wristband for the interactive exhibits, but the person who gave it to me could not explain what it was for.

The rest of the exhibits were informative. They ranged from pre-colonial, to colonial, to World War II, to independence and finally to modern Singapore. I appreciated the fact that the exhibits did not shy away from pre-colonial history. When I was growing up, the narrative was always that the British founded Singapore and developed it from a fishing village into a major trading post, whereas history and archeology indicate that Singapore had already been a thriving port for centures before the British arrived.

In that same vein, a highlight for me was the remnants of the Singapore Stone, which was once part of a large sandstone slab found at the mouth of the Singapore River with inscriptions from between the 10th and 13th centuries. Sadly, the British blew the rock up to enlarge the entrance to the river. Three remnants were sent to Calcutta for analysis, but only one made its way back to Singapore; the other two are presumed lost forever. The script on the rock was never properly translated, but archeologists suspect it may point to Singapore being a key port in the Majapahit Empire in the 10th century.Read more