We want to take advantage of living in Singapore so I have a spreadsheet listing all the things we want to see and do. During the week I prepare the weekend’s itinerary. On Saturday morning we don our walking shoes, grab our public transport cards and set forth. The Malay Heritage Centre was on last weekend’s itinerary. We have had our serve of British colonial history at … [Read more...] about Malay Heritage Centre: A peek behind the colonial veil
Exhibition Reviews
History in the Building at the National Museum of Singapore
I find buildings interesting, not the rectangular glass and concrete blocks which plague cities world-wide, but buildings that have a story. The building may demonstrate thought in its design or it may have been a place where people made stories which changed their society at the time or which we are interested in today. The building housing the National Museum of Singapore is … [Read more...] about History in the Building at the National Museum of Singapore
Exhibition of Soldier Diaries at State Library NSW
We gasped as we entered the exhibition. The enormous room was dominated by a wall of hundreds of World War I diaries. Born at Gallipoli, on the Western Front, the Middle East or on an Australian naval boat, these diaries now sit in the calm and comfortable conditions of a new exhibition at the State Library of New South Wales. There are big diaries, little diaries, stout ones … [Read more...] about Exhibition of Soldier Diaries at State Library NSW
East of India: Forgotten Trade with Australia
Many Australians would be unaware of how much Indians have contributed to this country. Indians have traded with Australia since the first European settlement; they have lived and worked here for over two hundred years. Yet we don’t often hear about this aspect of Australian history. The exhibition, ‘East of India: Forgotten trade with Australia’ currently being held at the … [Read more...] about East of India: Forgotten Trade with Australia
Design 29: Creating a Capital
This is the year of Canberra. The celebrations of the centenary of its founding mark a point where Canberra can reflect on its past. The one hundredth anniversary which coincided with one of my daughters moving to Canberra has caused me to rethink my attitude to the city and recognise that as a place I should take it more seriously. A couple of months ago I wrote a review of … [Read more...] about Design 29: Creating a Capital