National Museum of Singapore; Peranakan Museum

My original plan for this afternoon was to visit the National Museum of Singapore and then spend some time in Fort Canning Park. The two are side by side. My guidebook (Lonely Planet) tells me the park is a lush retreat from the hot streets of Singapore.

I spontaneously changed my plans in the afternoon and replaced Fort Canning Park with the Peranakan Museum. I’ll explain why when we get into it below. Although I will give you a spoiler here. Surprisingly, no, they didn’t close the park because I was in town.

National Museum of Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore has a fairly large footprint and displays most of its regularly priced exhibits on two floors. The ground level was devoted to the history of Singapore. The exhibits included videos, artifacts, text, and interactive displays.

The history described in the National Museum of Singapore starts in the 14th century, with the earliest known written records about Singapore describing it as already a thriving port then, although under a different name.

The history progresses through the colonization of Singapore by the British, although with some unpleasant feelings by the Dutch over that as they wanted it. It continues through to the Japanese invasion of Singapore, the defeat of Singapore, and its occupation by Japan. The display also covers the liberation of Singapore and its return to being a British colony, followed eventually by independence.

For the keeners in the crowd who already read the post about my activities from this morning in Singapore’s Chinatown, don’t be such keeners. There was a mistake in there that I’ve since corrected. You wouldn’t have even seen it if you were more of a procrastinator.

Here’s the thing. I didn’t get to the section on the Singapore City Gallery and finish that post until I got back to my hotel after my afternoon outing. In the earlier post, I said that the artifacts at the Singapore City Gallery included pottery and a rickshaw. I got mixed up. Those were at the National Museum of Singapore. I realized that when I went to pick pictures for this post and found the rickshaw and pottery pictures in with the National Museum pictures. I even checked the location information on the images and, yes indeed, they belong here. Sorry about that.

The upper level of the National Museum of Singapore contained an exhibit of toys, games and collectibles, like Hot Wheels from when I was a kid. That was a fairly small exhibition. The rest of the space upstairs was closed off. I think they’re installing a new exhibit. I didn’t spend much time up there, although I did feel a wave of nostalgia when I saw the Hot Wheels collection.

Noah

When I was ready to leave the National Museum of Singapore I looked outside. It was pouring. And when I say pouring, I mean torrential rain of biblical proportions.

I distinctly heard a booming voice telling me to build an ark. Then he gave me the dimensions of the ark he wanted in something he called cubits. He also told me to gather up two of each of the animals on Earth and herd them onto the ark.

“Oh,” I replied, “you want Noah. I’m Joel. The two names don’t sound particularly similar—just shared the “o” sound—but deities aren’t perfect, I guess.”

I left him to muddle through his search for Noah and went to the museum café hoping to wait out the storm.

I consumed a pastry and a bottle of sparkling water slowly, hoping to outlast the rain. It didn’t happen.

The deluge might have reduced from biblically torrential to secularly torrential, but it was still raining hard.

There was an extra-fee temporary exhibit in the basement of the National Museum of Singapore. It was a photography display titled “Amazonia.” I wasn’t particularly interested in it, but it was dry. I hadn’t bought a ticket that included Amazonia. So I went to the ticket desk and asked if I could buy a separate ticket for it.

No, I couldn’t. I could only buy a ticket just for the permanent exhibitions (which is what I had done) or a combination ticket that included both. As a matter of principle, I wasn’t going to buy another ticket that included something I already paid for.

The rain wasn’t quite as heavy by then and there didn’t appear to be any wind, so I decided to head out and trust my umbrella to serve its intended purpose.

Despite being right next door, I figured a walk in the park with the rain still coming down somewhat heavily wouldn’t be particularly enjoyable. So I opened up my walking tour app, used the attractions function and had it sort the attractions based on how close they were to me at that moment.

The Peranakan Museum fitted the bill. It wasn’t far from the National Museum and it was even closer to my hotel.

Peranakan Museum

Although a serendipitous choice, the Peranakan Museum was also kismet. In my morning post, I did a riff on cuisine in Singapore, I mentioned that my guidebook listed Peranakan food as one of the local specialties. Truth was, I hadn’t remembered hearing the term “Peranakan” before that. I didn’t even have the faintest of notions that such a thing existed. When the extent of my ignorance makes itself apparent from time to time, it astounds and embarrasses me.

The museum is mentioned in my guidebook, but it was one that I hadn’t marked as a sight to see and I completely forgot about it, and about Peranakan, until it popped up in my walking tour app when I looked for a nearby rainy-day activity. So, after mentioning it this morning, I got to learn about what Peranakan is this afternoon.

It turns out that there probably isn’t a precise definition of Peranakan. It is a cultural and genetic grouping of people of mixed ancestries including South East Asia, China, India, and the Middle East. I don’t think someone has to have a blending of ancestors from all of those areas to be considered Peranakan. I believe two or more of them might do. However, there is a distinct Peranakan culture, including different foods, clothing styles, customs and blendings of languages.

A portion of the Peranakan Museum explains all of that. In one room, a series of videos play continuously with Peranakans discussing, one at a time, what being Peranakan means to them. Some said they don’t identify primarily as Peranakan but know that’s their heritage and they do feel some affinity for it. Others identify primarily as Peranakan.

The exhibits also include furniture and furnishings from Pernankan homes and a video on Peranakan cooking.

So now I know a tiny bit about what it means to be Peranakan. Which is not something I could have said yesterday. Live and learn.

A large part of the Peranakan Museum was taken up by a temporary exhibition about batik. The exhibition is scheduled to run for almost a year—October 11, 2024, to August 31, 2025. The exhibition describes batik and provides lots and lots of batik samples, including some that are purely for artistic purposes, while others are fashioned into clothes and household items.

And so concludes another day.