We, the citizens of Singapore

Were at the National Musuem again to catch the Singapore Living Gallery as well as the Singapore History Galleries. 1-for-1 if you have any Mastercard, which means it will be at only $5 a ticket.

This exhibition traces the history of Singapore from the 14th century or-so to the modern world today.

What I am impressed and amused with was this iPod look-alike gizmo called the Companion:



It is not an iPod (too big and heavy), and it is not the elite cavalry of Alexander the Great (as I am typing this I wonder who else would get the latter reference). It is a device that you hang around the neck and plug a pair of earphones into for a guided tour, like so:



As you walk around the 2,800 metre gallery, numbers will be denoted on the floorings at each section.



When you key in the number, the Companion will play out a voiced introduction and then you will be given options to choose from, all of which corresponds to the indexed exhibits. So when you are about to enter a room that holds some exhibits, you key in the main number that appears on the floor and you will get a brief tour. Along the way you can key in the extra numbers that appears beside the numerous artifacts and it will display a small text file that explains the history or the nature of the artifact in question.

What impresses me is that it is even "radio-controlled". When we were at an area where there are scheduled screenings of a clip, the Companion automatically plays the audio in sync with the screened vidio. When you are at a certain area when it is playing a looped movie, you can key in the number and "tune in" to the audio, just like 89.3 and TVMobile. Because the movie is continously looped and you cannot expect it to repeat from the beginning each time a visitor arrives, you hop into it like when you are listening to the radio - Halfway through the transmission.

I didn't get to take much photos as it was too dark and it is rude to use flash inside. For those of you who are still using the flash function in exhibitions, please stop doing so. It really bugs the hell out of people. For the record, here are a couple of OK shots. (Note the roman numeral 2 in the first photo, that means it falls under the 2nd section in the Companion)





We also went to the Living Galleries and they were divided firstly into:



This is where you see the past relics of our film and other wayang shows. Current wayang-ing at civil service sector is not included.





And then there is fashion, which isn't the most appealing for me.



There is a section in this part of the gallery that had reams of various types clothe being strewn around. It brought me back to the 80's Wu Xia movies where the rooms of the ladies always have this kind of setting. Imagine a bath tub behind, dimmer lights, a Xia Nu going for a shower. You get the picture.



And then there is good ol' glorius food:



The way they hung up the old food equipment is kinda like an armoury where the weapons are held on the walls, or worse, a torture room where the vices are kept.



My Favourite! Nasi Lemak!



Lastly we have the film section:



I didn't take a single photo inside cause it is simply eerie. The exhibits inside are all old photographs dating back from the 1880's to the 1980's. Many of the people in the photos have probably past on and it just gives me the shivers to have the thought of taking a photo of the photo of the dead. Uh-uh, no taking of chances here.

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All in all, we didn't get the chance to look through the entire gallery because it is freaking big, (think I mentioned it was 2,800 metres somewhere earlier in the post). However, it is a very good exhibition to go to, not only for the National Education part where we can know much more of our history, but also of the way it was presented. It is educational without the boredom and the strictness of it all. Entertaining, informative and eye-opening.



We really enjoyed it.