Vivien Ho

On the 9^th of March 2010, a group of my friends and I visited the Singapore Asian Civilisation Museum (ACM) during a school field trip. The museum is located at Empress Place, just beside the Singapore River.

The environment around the museum is rather unique. Just outside the museum, on one side of the Singapore River, the ambience is very close to mother nature; there were many trees in a park-like environment, which was called ACM Green.

Asian Civilisation Museum, ACM Green

Across the river, tall commercial buildings are built along the Singapore River, a stark contrast to the park-like environment on the other side. However, as we looked down the river, we were able to see pre-war houses that were preserved from the past. Hence, this inspired our group to focus on the Singapore River as the main theme for our project.

There were many exhibitions on Asia and South East Asia, for example, China Gallery. The museum made use of today’s advanced technology to provide more in depth information through videos on touch screen panels.

One of the many touch screen panels in ACM

As Singapore River is the main focus of our group, we paid special attention to the Singapore River Gallery, which shows the history, exhibits and artefacts on the activities happening along the Singapore River in the past. An open window provides a view of the mouth of the Singapore River and the skyscrapers along it. We were able to compare the Singapore River in the past, which was shown in photographs in the exhibit, with what we are able to see now. The Singapore River Gallery is the first gallery that one would see upon arriving at the top of the entrance stairs. This gallery, which is specially dedicated to the river, provides significant historical information to visitors.

Singapore River Gallery

I wanted to choose something related to businesses along the Singapore River in the past. A photograph of an Indian coolie caught my eye as: firstly, it was quite huge in dimensions, and secondly, it reminded me of the time when my friend acted as an Indian coolie during one of the History lessons, hence, I decided to use it for my stamp. This photograph can be found in the Singapore River Gallery. It is a representation of the merchants that were working along the Singapore in the past. Due to Singapore’s location, it managed to flourish as a busy and popular trading port. As a result, there was a need for workers and coolies, and Indian coolies were then a common sight along the Singapore River. With their hardship, Singapore managed to grow into a more developed country, with many imports and exports to and from other countries as a result of trade. Up to today, there are still cloth and electronics shops along the Singapore River. Therefore, I have chosen the photograph of the Indian coolie as I felt that they were vital to Singapore’s development and very much related to our group’s theme, “Singapore’s Past, Today’s Glory”.

Photograph of Indian coolie found in the Singapore River Gallery

Overall, the trip to the Asian Civilisation Museum was an enriching one. The exhibits were very informative, and the photographs and artefacts shown, gave viewers a close to real life experience. The physical environment was indeed spectacular and inspiring. The Asian Civilisation Museum is one of the attractions or museums that tourist, and locals alike, should not miss out.

Rachelle Lee

The first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the ACM is that of a white, European styled building overlooking the Singapore River that plays tribute to our past as a British Crown Colony and before that, a British settlement.

The Asian Civilisation Museum

The exterior grandness honours our past and seems to hold it dear amongst the rapidly changing landscape due to development of the Singapore River into a commercial hub, giving our history a special place in one of our popular tourist spots. For an enriching, well-rounded and fulfilling holiday abroad, one should not only view a nation’s present when touring but also understand her past and how she came to be what she is today, and the ACM is just the place to visit when touring Singapore. It is conveniently located along the river and is one of the rare few buildings built and designed by Europeans that have been preserved along the river; lending it a rather unique feel amongst the shorter landscape of early Chinese shop houses and the modern skyscrapers of companies like the Bank of China.

Modern Skyscraper - The Bank of China

The interior of the museum is just as grand as its exterior with high ceilings and elaborate designs. Upon stepping into the museum one will be greeted with a rush of cool air and a brightly lit reception area with a relatively high ceiling giving the feel of a lavish expanse of space while the warm lighting readily welcomes visitors. The clean white walls and smooth marble flooring reflects Singapore’s well-kept state as well as induce a sense of luxury, grandeur and class. The flight of stairs leading to the second level (first floor) is wide and carpeted by lush red with white handholds of designs of European origin.

Stairs Leading to the Second Level

The second level is mostly naturally lit in the day by sunlight streaming through open windows and is a large area partially dedicated to various china products. A small section where windows overlook the Singapore River is reserved for artefacts related to the history of said river, where Singapore saw the first sparks of development. The inner galleries of the museum are dimly lit to preserve the older artefacts which are separated according to their civilisations. The artefacts are of a variety of objects, including but not limited to clothes, accessories, tableware, decorations and religious articles. The wide range of artefacts helps illustrate a comprehensive and complete image of the various civilisations dating from their beginnings till present.

Various China Products

A set of artefacts I enjoyed was a small collection of Chinese mints with a square hole at its core found in the gallery of the Singapore River. These types of coins halted production in the early 1900s when China became a republic and were likely brought by Chinese immigrants to Singapore. Ancient Chinese used to string coins of low value together by a string through the holes for easy presentation in large quantities, though many of the rich found stringing so many coins together troublesome. These coins let me in to a little bit of the past where Chinese coolies were not rare on the streets of Singapore, toiling to load goods on boats or into warehouses, and often were paid little for their efforts.

Ancient Chinese Coins

I spent most of my time admiring the items on display in the Singapore River Gallery, but I am sure there are many more interesting things to see in the other galleries. I left the museum feeling very at peace with myself now that I understand my nation’s past better, and was pleased with the expensive feel of the museum itself.

Celine Tham

Entrance to the museum

Doris columns found in the museum

Upon entering the Asian Civilisations Museum, you would notice that the building has a neo-Palladian style architecture. There are huge Doric columns on the second level which are complements for the strong grooved facades on the ground level. This style of architecture gave the museum a very classical look and it is soothing and pleasing to look at.

Stairs leading to the exhibit

View of the Singapore River from the exhibit

Ascending the magnificent flight of stairs to the second level, you would be able to spot the Singapore River exhibit at a corner. It is situated at the perfect spot where you get to see the spectacular view of the Singapore River from one of the windows. Compared to the rest of the museum, this is the only exhibit which allows light to penetrate in. This is different from the conventional thinking that museums are dark and creepy places with really old and ancient artifacts and it was a really nice and refreshing change.

The exhibit contains remnants from the past and present states of the Singapore River. The Singapore River is a very significant part of Singapore for it was where trade all started. (Sir Stamford Raffles made it the first trading port in Singapore.) Also, it has a very rich cultural history. For one who wants to fully understand the culture of Singapore and importance of trade for Singapore, one should visit this exhibit for it would reveal not only the answers, but also new insights about the Singapore River. Everyone knows trade was the most dominant factor in transforming Singapore into what it is today, but how many people actually know about the hardships and sufferings the people in the past - merchants, coolies, businessmen and more - had gone through for this to be possible?

Singapore River in the past

The artifacts displayed were of a diverse range. From the past, there are photos of how the Singapore River used to look like and interesting facts about the culture and lifestyle of each of the races who used to live along the Singapore River. From recent years, the first duck to cross the finishing line for the first Singapore Million Dollar Duck Race has been displayed.

The first duck which crossed the finishing line

Out of all the things that were there, I was drawn to the unique jobs that were introduced by various races, in particular, the Indian chettiars, whom some had said they came to Singapore even before Sir Stamford Raffles did. The chettiars are money-lenders whose business houses were known as kittangis - warehouses which were long buildings with no partitions. They aided many of the businessmen then, when trade was first established, by loaning them huge sums of money to help start their businesses. Something I found intriguing was that each of the chettiars would have a space where they had a cabinet and a wooden cashier's box, which they kept in the cabinet at the end of the day. Most of them kept records of their loans and it is fascinating that these records can still be found today, kept safely by their descendants.

Wooden box with records of loans inside

Later, together with my group of friends, we decided to head down to the Singapore River itself. I tried to imagine the Singapore River as it was then in the past, dirty and congested, but looking at how great the changes have been, it was really hard to even believe that the clean and clear waters of the river now could have been contaminated by any kind of rubbish before.

We must really grateful to our ancestors for moulding Singapore into the great nation it is today.

Jaslin Loh

The first gallery of the Asian Civilizations Museum is the Singapore River Gallery. Overlooking the actual River located beside the museum, it displays the Singapore River of the past and present and has deep significance in Singapore’s developments over the years and advancement towards independence as it improvements move as a parallel to Singapore’s progress. 

ACM located beside the Singapore River.

Being the most well known river in Singapore, the 11,000 metres long Singapore River flows from the Central Area, lying in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore, before emptying into the ocean. Almost all land surrounding it is commercial as the Central Area is treated as a central business district. 

Commercial buildings along Singapore River.

During the colonial times from 1819-1959, the River was at the heart of the port and settlement, where traders and migrants flocked to trade, visit or settle on its banks. The main themes in the gallery were focused on the trade and finance along the river, along with the main ethnic groups, the native Malays, the Chinese, Indians and Europeans, and their lifestyles and occupations around the river from the past to the present. One of Singapore’s special features is its multi-racial and multi-religious society, and the abundance of the different ethnic groups along the River further highlighted this feature. Artefacts from the past along the Singapore River were displayed.

Artefacts along the River in the past.

There were various occupations along the Singapore River in the past. Different people of different races were in diverse occupations. The Chinese mostly engaged in labour works, while of them were merchants and involved in the China-India trade. Merchants of the trade also involved Indians. Opium was easily accessible then, and could be found anywhere from rich Chinese homes to decrepit back rooms. Being a narcotic, opium offers sweet relief, easing pains and lulling its user into a daze. It is estimated that a third of the Chinese adult population of Singapore were addicts in the mid-19^th century. They view opium as a means to escape after a day’s hard labour, and addiction was advantageous to the opium dealers, whom the British government “farmed” the right to sell opium in return for a substantial fee.

Opium addicts.

One of the key historical events of the River is the clean-up action from 1977 to 1987. Due to rapid urbanization and expanding trade, there was heavy traffic on the River; there was an improper disposal of garbage and other by-products of the industries along the river, oil spills and wastewater from ships, causing severe water pollution in the River. Thus, the government took action and cleaned up the river. Squatters were resettled into flats, refuse was collected daily for incineration and licenses were issued to hawkers to areas provided with proper sewage. Removal of tons debris that piled up over a long period of time allowed the return of marine life; the clean-up was a major success.

Other galleries in the Asian Civilizations Museum include the Southeast Asia and West Asia galleries. They cover the different religions in the regions, as well as the lifestyle and culture of the people there, and the different arts, clothing and jewellery of the people in the specific area. The arrows and directions in the galleries make it trouble-free for people to go around the museum. Also, the tranquility in the galleries gives a serene ambience for people to appreciate the lavish exhibits.

Amanda Chan

A group of my friends and I recently visited the Asian Civilisation Museum, in particular the Singapore River exhibition.

view of the Singapore River from the museum's window

<- large archway (and some tourists)

There was a beautiful view from the open 2nd storey window of the Singapore River exhibition, overlooking the Singapore River and skyscrapers in the financial district on the opposite bank. This allowed us to compare what the river used to be like and what it is like today, enhancing our understanding of it and its history. Every now and then, a cooling breeze would blow in through the windows and freshen up the air in the exhibition. It was a refreshing change from the air-conditioned rooms commonly found in other museums, and it surprisingly was not too warm. The high ceilings and large archways gave the place a spacious feel, no worry about being claustrophobic or lethargic!

The Singapore River, we learnt, was key to the development of modern day Singapore. The river and the adjacent harbour were the centre of Singapore's popular entrepot trade, back in the days when Singapore was colonised by Britain. The gallery was filled with interesting information about the Singapore river, accompanied by photographs of what it used to look like. There were also displays of various artefacts varying from pottery to old coins and notes, as well as sculptures depicting the lives of Chinese from poor financial background living along the river.

After a few hours of viewing the exhibition, we went down to the actual site which was just a minute's walk away. From there, we realised how tall the skyscrapers on the opposite bank really were. They towered over the older shop houses just down the river, the contrast between Singapore's past and present economy was obvious. I spotted a Chinese bank on the other side, and remembered what the information in the museum told us about it, that Chinese banks alongside European banks were the most successful compared to other banks and money-lending businesses. It had the support of the local Chinese population, and it provided them with offers they were not eligible for from other banks. It helped the less fortunate people to become rich by providing them with the funds needed to set-up a shop and improve it, which aided in Singapore's overall development. It made me proud to be a Chinese.

skyscrapers on the opposite bank, centre building is the Chinese Bank

Overall, the museum was a fulfilling and enriching place to visit. There are many other exhibits as well, ranging from Southeast Asia to Islamic galleries. I'll be visiting the museum again soon, to uncover what wonders the other exhibits have in store.