Singapore History Rocks…Imagine What We Could Do With Ours!!!
During one of the free-time windows on a recent business trip to Singapore, I went to the National Museum. I was awestruck. One of the major wings, the Singaporean History wing, is this multilevel, vast exhibit area. You’re handed an audio device with ear phones and a handheld control with a numbered keypad on it…
The floor of the History wing is numbered, and so when you get to a particular section, you just punch in the number on the device to hear the narration about whatever is in that section. Wala lang…was truly appreciative of how they thought of a simple way for visitors to enjoy the thing at their own pace, instead of the usual “herded like cattle by museum guide” procedure.
Gawd imagine if we could do something similar for our national museum? Imagine, compared to Singapore’s history, there’s so much more you can do with ours! Imagine, nakagawa sila ng isang wing about their Brit colonizers…ISANG colonizer big deal na…pffffft…try THREE! Ours is a saga, with all the makings of a Carlo J. Caparas blockbuster! Blood, sex, violence, heroes, villains…more blood, more sex… Say mo, la!
I’m excited! Singapore museum, wait for joizie!!! hahaha…c”),
Comment by joizie — March 19, 2008 @ 2:53 am
Have you been to the National Museum of the Philippines? It’s that big white building off Old Finance Road. Sadly, public transportation is a challenge as no FX taxi, regular taxi, bus, jeep, knows where it is (you can ask for Old Finance Road, at worst say Luneta Park). I think they did fairly well with the Museum. It’s also filled with gimmicks and interactive menus, what not, blah.
Also, you’re right about Singapore’s penchant of dedicating wings to seemingly “been-there-done-that-THRICE” events since their history isn’t as old as ours (so sorry, it’s not your fault Singapore). Filipino Museology is touch-and-feel-y. We’ve opened up Tabon Cave (if you don’t know what this is, poor you) for tourists. Admittedly, it’s a bit of a let down so save your money and hop on to the Butuan National Museum branch or the Cordillera branch which are far more exciting. For a feel of prehistory, Batanes islands offers older structures than the cobble streets of Vigan.
Our museum doesn’t (and will not really) represent the richness of our prehistory. It doesn’t need to. Our museum is in situ. We don’t bother to lift up sites and reinstall it inside four walls. Our prehistory is part of our landscape, a part of our lives. No room is big enough to fit ALL that.
Comment by pau — March 31, 2008 @ 7:41 am
The National Museum? The one that can’t even find the budget to maintain the environment so that the paintings don’t rot where they hang?
Comment by Denis — April 10, 2008 @ 3:44 pm