Latest news with #AHistoryOfSingaporeIn51Objects

Straits Times

Celebrating SG60: Explore Singapore history through 60 objects

At any one time, close to 9,000 of the National Collection's objects are on display at Singapore's museums. SINGAPORE – What objects can tell the story of Singapore as it matures into 60? The solemnity of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's red box or the levity of Joseph Schooling's swimming shorts? The enduring books of Catherine Lim or the vanished red-brick library in Stamford Road? To celebrate Singapore's 60th year of independence, The Straits Times has built an interactive retro-viewer that will lead readers down the rabbit hole ( ). There are 60 objects, curated in collaboration with the National Heritage Board (NHB), one for each year since 1965, that tell the nation's history. Objects can trigger unexpected recollections and dilate memory. Thus, looking at a Big Mac styrofoam box might conjure a whiff of your first McDonald's date at Liat Towers while staring at a plastic thermometer might set off Phua Chu Kang's Sars earworm rap. It is the sequel to ST's well-loved A History Of Singapore In 51 Objects, launched in 2016. Check out the newly picked objects for each year, click to read the epic stories behind each selection and see if you can spot all 24 widgets scattered throughout – from vinyl players to 'tikam' games. A majority of the 60 objects are drawn from the National Collection, which, at over 250,000 objects, is the nation's ever-expanding memory bank spanning shipwrecked cargo, rare books and donated personal effects. There are even artworks like Choo Keng Kwang's woodcut print, which tells a story of how trishaw riders donated their earnings to build Nanyang University. Others are everyday objects – the Temasek Green uniform, given to the first batch of conscripts in 1967, for example, or a humble vial of Singapore River water. At any one time, close to 9,000 of the National Collection's objects are on display at Singapore's museums. The rest are hidden from the public eye in the Heritage Conservation Centre – a high-security facility tucked away in Jurong Port Road – where they are cared for. But some of these 60 objects are on display till Oct 9, 2026, at the National Museum of Singapore's SG60 exhibition Once Upon A Tide: Singapore's Journey From Settlement To Global City , including – yes – Schooling's autographed shorts. Many of the National Collection's objects come from ordinary Singaporeans through public calls for objects such as toys and technology. The National Museum of Singapore's current Collecting Contemporary Singapore open call, ongoing till Oct 9, centres on wavemakers in the arts, culture and sports. This project was created with the support of curators who sifted through NHB's massive archive. Readers can win exclusive National Collection keychains in NHB's social media contests on Facebook and Instagram (@nhb_sg) from July till October, which will feature everyday treasures from the past 60 years. The National Collection is not just for Singaporeans, but it is also used to tell Singapore stories to the world as they are exhibited at the likes of London's British Museum and Beijing's Capital Museum. Thirty-six illustrations from the prized William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings are on loan to the Australian Museum in Sydney – see if you can spot the small clawed otter in the retro-viewer – and more items will be on loan for display in Mexico and France for upcoming exhibitions. There are items, too, which are drawn from other institutional and personal collections – a trio of soft toys from Pink Dot or a T-shirt from Aware Singapore, emblazoned with the slogan, 'shut up and sit down'. It is a testament to how the Singapore story is everyone's to tell and not just the work of national institutions. Make this story your own too – click 'like' on select items in our retro-viewer to generate a customised collage at the end of the article. An effort like this will naturally generate spirited agreement and objection – so make your own selection on Roots ( ), NHB's digitised repository of the National Collection – or write to ST about your objects of choice ( stlife@ ). The retro-viewer is now in your hands. May it show you the solemn and the cheerful of Singapore's history in all its brilliant textures.