National Museum of Singapore

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Singapore

History

The museum was established in 1849 by the then Singapore Institution Committee. It was called the Raffles Library and Museum and it exhibited items of historical and archeaological value in Singapore and Asia. The museum was part of an establishment of a public repository of knowledge of Malayan in a school, museum and library. This objective can be traced to a 1823 meeting called by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, to discuss a revival of the region's cultural heritage. The museum occupied a section of the library of the Singapore Institution, later became the Raffles Institution. In 1874, the museum moved to the Town Hall (now known as the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall). However, due to the growing collection in the museum, it moved back to the Singapore Institution in 1876 situated at the new wing of the institution.

The Raffles Library and Museum later moved to Stamford Road in a new building that was commissioned by the colonial government in 1882. The museum was officially opened on 12 October 1887 which also marked the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The library was referred to by the locals in Malay as Rumah Kitab (house of books) or Tempat Kitab (place of books). The museum was designed by Sir Henry McCallum but a scaled down version was used as the Colonial Office rejected the initial proposal, Major J.F. McNair co-designed the later version.

In its early years, the museum was well known for its zoological and ethnographic collections of Southeast Asia especially Malaya and British Borneo before the World War II. The museum was a centre of research and knowledge, directors and curators were by and specialists of good research accomplishments including zoologists Richard Hanitsch, John Moulton, Cecil Boden Kloss, Frederick Chasen and anthropologists HD Collings and Gibson-Hill who were also interested in ornithology, Malay history, ethnography and photography. The museum was the seat of the editorial office of the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, it was visited by scholars who were en-route to their trips to Malaya and Indonesia. The collections included a selection of northern Nias objects from the field trips of Elio Modigliani, as well as the basketwork gifted by Dr William Abbott, who collected them during the 1900s for the United States National Museum, later the Smithsonian Institution.

Extensions were carried out in 1906, 1916, 1926 and 1934 due to the inadequate space for the growing number of artefacts and books. During the Japanese Occupation, the place was left intact by the Japanese occupying army due to its reputation of its Raffles collection and research integrity. The museum split with the library with the latter forming the National Library adjacent to the museum building in 1960 which was demolished and relocated to Victoria Street in 2005, the former was housed in the Stamford Road building.

After Singapore's independence in 1965, the museum focused its collection to nation-building and the history of Singapore and was renamed the National Museum. Its zoological collections was moved to the biology department of the National University of Singapore and to some museums such as in Kolkata in India and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This all happened in 1969. Its most iconic artifact was the skeleton of a blue whale found in Port Dickson in 1893 and was displayed from 1903 to 1969. The museum then featured exhibits on history, ethnology and arts of Singapore and the region.

Hawpar Group donated a jade collection in January 1980. Restoration works of the building were carried out in 1985 which included a repainting of the building and restoring some of the distinctive features. After restoration, the museum was gazetted as a national monument on 14 February 1992. The museum came under the management of the National Heritage Board in 1993 and was renamed the Singapore History Museum becoming the flagship of the four national museums in Singapore. The building was closed in April 2003 for extension and restoration works and the museum was temporarily relocated to Riverside Point where an exhibition known as Rivertales was displayed.

Peranakan Museum

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan_Museum

The Peranakan Museum is a museum in Singapore specialising in Peranakan culture. A sister museum to the Asian Civilizations Museum, it is the first of its kind in the world, that explore Peranakan cultures in Singapore and other former Straits Settlements in Malacca and Penang, and other Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia. It is housed in the Old Tao Nan School building at Armenian Street, which served as an extended wing to the artefact collection of Asian Civilisations Museum.

On January 1, 2006 the Museum, known then as ACM 1 closed the Armenian Street wing for a major revamp. At its closure, the museum management chose Peranakan culture theme over a children's museum and a Chinese ceramic museum as their new showcase in the Tao Nan School space. This enabled the Museum to house the world's most distinctive and comprehensive Peranakan museum collection of artifacts and wares, with a potential annual visitorship numbers of 112,000 people. Also, the revamp enabled 25 per cent more exhibition space for contextual displays for different aspects of Peranakan home and lifestyle. It also includes plans for Peranakan-themed eateries and shops in the row of four shophouses adjacent to its building.

The museum officially opened on April 25, 2008, with ten permanent galleries showcasing main themes of Peranakan life. A central feature of the museum is the Peranakan Wedding Bed which once belonged to Mrs. Quah Hong Chiam of Penang, and the very bed where she gave birth to the first seven of her 11 children. The different galleries are found in the following manner:
Gallery 1 (Level 1)
Galleries 2 – 5 (Level 2)
Galleries 6 - 10 (Level 3)
Special Exhibitions Galleries (Level 3)

Peranakan Museum's central piece of display, the Peranakan Wedding Bed. Mrs. Quah gave birth to the first seven of her 11 children on this very bed.
Peranakan Museum at old Tao Nan SchoolGallery 1 titled Origins provides an introduction to Peranakan culture and to various Peranakan communities in Singapore, Malacca, Penang and Southeast Asia. Visitors to the subsequent rooms will learn about the story of the traditional 12-day Peranakan wedding, where significant ceremonies like the lap chai (exchange of gifts) and chiu thau (coming of age) are presented. Visitors can also see the elaborate wedding chamber and a wedding procession taking place indoors on Level 2. Gallery 6 Nonya, features the arts and crafts of Nonyas like beadwork, along with a display on the Nonya kebaya, and the womenfolks' role of transmitting cultural values to Peranakan children. Gallery 7 shows Religion, on Peranakans and their faiths. Gallery 8 illustrates the commerce, politics and social affairs of prominent Peranakans in Singapore’s history in this exhibition titled Public Life. Gallery 9 on Food and Feasting, provides a grand banquet setting with the world’s best collection of nonya porcelain. And finally the visual experience concludes with an introspection of modern Peranakans and how they feel about their heritage and the future of their culture in Gallery 10 (Conversations). Additional Special Exhibitions Galleries will feature changing specific-themed exhibitions.

Istana Kampong Gelam

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istana_Kampong_Glam

History

Early days
The original Istana Kampong Glam was built by Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor in 1819 on land of about 23 hectares (57 acres) in Kampong Glam that had been given to him by the British East India Company. It is believed to have been a wooden structure in the area to the east of Beach Road. When it was completed, it occupied an area twice the size of the present compound, which was reduced in 1824 for the construction of North Bridge Road. The Sultan lived there till shortly before his death in Malacca in 1835.

Rebuilding
The concrete structure that exists today was commissioned by Sultan Hussein's eldest son, Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah of the Johor Riau–Lingga Empire in 1835. It was built on the site of the original building between 1836 and 1843. The new two-storey palace is believed to have been designed by colonial architect George Drumgoole Colemanl some of its architectural features are similar to those of other buildings Coleman designed such as the Old Parliament House and the Armenian Church. Its design is a combination of the Palladian style, which was then popular in England, with traditional Malay motifs. The extensive compound of the Istana was enclosed by a perimeter wall, and small kampung-style houses were built around it for the Sultan's kin, servants and artisans.

After the completion of the Istana in 1843, Tengku Alam, Sultan Ali's eldest son, lived in it until his death in 1891. Leases of portions of the land on which the palace stood had been granted by Sultan Ali, and Tengku Alam continued to collect rents and supported the members of his father's family according to Malay custom. After his death he was buried in the royal grave at the nearby Sultan Mosque.

Succession dispute
In 1896, there was a succession dispute in Sultan Hussein's family over rights to the Kampong Glam estate, and the matter went to court. In 1897, the court ruled that no one could rightfully claim to be the successor of the Sultan and that the estate belonged to the Crown. (The estate became state land when Singapore gained independence.)

In 1904, the Sultan Hussein Ordinance was enacted to provide the descendants of Sultan Hussein with income derived from the Kampong Glam estate. The amount was capped at S$250,000 in 1991, revised by the government in 1999. Under the new scheme, the beneficiaries could opt either for a share of S$350,000 a year for 30 years or for a lump sum payment.

Residents still living in the Istana were resettled, as the building was to undergo conservation works. Until that time, the Istana had been the private residence for the Sultan's descendants.

Restoration
The Istana Kampong Glam and compounds were refurbished as part of the development of the Malay Heritage Centre in 2004. The Istana has been faithfully restored according to Coleman's design with special emphasis on its setting, retaining the compound, its walled enclosure and the road leading to the building. Timber and cement were used to replicate the interior flooring of the former building.

Sultan Mosque

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masjid_Sultan

When Singapore was ceded to the British in 1819, Temenggong Abdul Rahman, the island's chief, and Sultan Hussain Shah of Johore, under whose jurisdiction Singapore fell, acquired small fortunes in exchange for their power. Sir Stamford Raffles also granted the Temenggong and the Sultan an annual stipend and the use of Kampong Glam for their residence.

The area around Kampong Glam was also allocated for Malays and other Muslims. Hussain built a palace there and brought his family and a complete entourage from the Riau islands. Many of the Sultan's and Temenggong's followers came to Kampong Glam from the Riau Islands, Malacca and Sumatra.

Sultan Hussain then decided to build a mosque befitting his status. He constructed a mosque next to his palace from 1824 to 1826 with funds solicited from the East India Company. With a two-tiered pyramidal roof, it was of a typical design. The original building was replaced with a new mosque.

The management of the mosque was headed by Alauddin Shah, the Sultan's grandson, until 1879, when he passed the torch in to five community leaders. In 1914, the lease was extended by the government for a further 999 years and a new board of trustees was appointed, with two representatives from each faction of the Muslim community.

By the early 1900s, Singapore had become a centre for Islamic commerce, culture and art. Sultan Mosque soon became too small for this burgeoning community. In 1924, the year of the mosque's centenary, the trustees approved a plan to erect a new mosque. The old mosque had by then also fallen into a state of disrepair.

Architect Denis Santry of Swan and Maclaren adopted a Saracenic style, incorporating minarets and balustrades. The mosque was completed after four years in 1928.

Sultan Mosque has stayed essentially unchanged since it was built, with only repairs carried out to the main hall in the 1960s and an annex added in 1993. It was gazetted as a national monument on 14 March 1975.

Today the mosque is owned by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS).

Heritage badge project no.3

Hello, this will be my web-based project on Heritage topics, to complete the modules for the Heritage badge. Thus this webpage will be filled with information of Singapore's heritage. Hope everyone will somewhat be able to absorb some knowledge from it. Thank you!