Adawiyah Reflections : National Museum

Again, I have to admit that it's been a long while since I last went to the museum, and truthfully, I could not recall much from my last visit there apart from a few artefacts which I remember. So the museum has definitely made some changes here and there from what I recalled. For one thing, it was not that tech-savvy as far as I can remember as I don't recall having the Companion when I went there previously.

That said, I guess the National Museum was pretty well-organized. It was really arranged in a way that allow visitors to feel that they are embarking on this journey to know more about Singapore. From pre-1819 Singapore, to the part where Sir Stamford Raffles came and finally the nation-building part of Singapore from the 1960s onwards.

With that, I personally feel that part about the Japanese Occupation is the one that interest me most. After all, my group's heritage trail IS about the World War II so we spent some extra time in this particular gallery to know more about the details of the event.

Indeed, the Companion gave us a rather thorough coverage about the World War II. We tried to cover and listen to every part that was being told by the Companion. And I'm really not kidding when I said that I feel like bringing this Companion back home with me since it is too good and clever, WAYYYY TOO GOOD.

That said, I learnt a lot about the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers. How they treat their enemies, how the women were raped. The strategies that the soldiers used to fool the British. And of course, how they even managed to "bluff" their way and conquer the supposedly "impenetrable fortress."

However, in the midst of such gloom and terror, there are also those heroes who courageously braved the Japanese. Leftenan Adnan for instance is one famous war hero, especially among the Malay community. The various troops who fought bravely at the various locations and even the anti-communists to some extent for going against the Japanese. So in this aspect, I personally felt touched by such displays of heroism and courage. Really.

That said, perhaps the National Museum and Changi Museum are as I mentioned - a bit too 'propaganda-ish' for me, even slightly biased to some extent. It seems bent on putting the Japanese on a bad light. Personally, from what my grandparents told me, NOT ALL Japanese soldiers were as bad as they were made out to be. Granted that majority of them did commit such atrocities but of course, not all were like that. So perhaps, the National Museum did not manage to put such perspectives in their galleries. Furthermore, I find the content told by the Companion almost similar to what was being told in my secondary textbooks so perhaps this might suggest something???