Eleven-year-old Nur Insyirah has always imagined walking into the Fossil Halls, being surrounded by towering dinosaurs and the sound of prehistoric birds echoing across the room.
“I want to be in the Night at the Museum,” said the primary five student from South View Primary School.
In three years time, she can immerse in the ancient world of creatures and plants, now that Singapore is building its own Museum of Natural History.
For now, Insyirah and her classmates have the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research – a modest public gallery run by the department of biological sciences at NUS.
Space is a huge problem here as the current museum occupies only 200 square metres, which is about the size of a three-room flat in Singapore. It takes less than a minute to walk through the entire museum without looking at the collection.
Despite the museum’s crammed premises, it houses over half a million zoological specimens – one of the largest collection in Southeast Asia.
This was the same collection that was nearly thrown away during the post-colonial period.
Peter Ng, director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity and Research, said it was a twist of fate that the specimens found its home in the university.
“We were lucky that some academics insisted on keeping the artifacts,” said Ng, who is a crustacean expert and a biology professor at NUS. “We were on the verge of losing all these irreplaceable specimens.”
Ng explained that the specimens were thrown out of the old National Museum because it had to focus on art and ethnography so as to reflect its pivotal role in nation building after Singapore gained independence.
“Back then, dead plants and animals were of little value to the development of the country,” he said. “Economic growth, social welfare and nation building were the top priorities of the government.”
For a few years, the preserved zoological specimens, which started from the days of the Raffles museum in 1849, languished in poor conditions without a permanent home.
Some of them were moved to the museums in India and Malaysia, while others to the Singapore Science Centre. An iconic 13-metre blue whale skeleton was even given to Malaysia's Muzium Negara in 1972.
It was only in 1998, after the botany and zoology departments at NUS merged to become the department of biological sciences, that the collection found a home.
While natural history museums in New York and London draw millions of visitors annually, the same cannot be said of the prized collection tucked away in a nondescript corner at NUS. In 2008, the museum had only 400 walk-in visitors for the whole year.
“It’s about time we have this museum now,” said Ng. “There’s no point learning about Australia’s natural history and America’s great nature trails when we don’t know what happened to our own country in the past.”
Despite Singapore’s highly urbanised environment and land constraints, it is home to over 3,000 species of plants and animals. Biodiversity refers to not just plants and animals, but also the ecosystems and habitats they live in.
“We have always been a microcosm of what the region is all about,” said Ng. “Many of the plants and animals found in Singapore are reflective of the biodiversity around the region.”
The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, a year to increase efforts in safeguarding biodiversity. According to Ng, the timing to have a museum now is “perfect” in a time of increased environmental awareness.
In January this year, a $10 million gift from an undisclosed donor boosted the bid to set up a gallery for the rare collection.
The new museum will have a building on its own and have a size of at least 7, 000 square metres. It will be located at the new University Town near the campus. It is estimated that setting up the museum will cost $55 million.
The museum will showcase not only the important specimens, but the extensive researches done by Singaporeans and even collaborations with regional researchers.
Nanthini Elamgovan, manager at the National Parks Board, looks forward to visiting the museum.
“I think it will be a great focal point for biodiversity research and education,” said the 23-year-old life sciences graduate from NUS.
However, Nanthini said the challenge is to ensure that the museum remains fresh and relevant.
“The old concept of museums, which are usually orientated toward the past, does not work anymore,” she said. “There is a need to show the relevance of the collection, the extent of human impacts on ecosystems and its implications for future sustainability.” |
