In Southeast Asia, the utilisation of tourist attractions to instill national pride in citizens and authenticity amongst foreigners is evident in numerous countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Ironically, these countries often do not reveal their authentic culture, which may be overwhelming to foreigners and sensitive to locals. Instead, the government has established a set of national symbols to represent their country to the world as well as to unify locals. For Singapore, these include the Merlion. The Merlion was created in 1964, a year before our Independence, by a British man, Fraser Brunner, as a symbol for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Its original form, the Makara differs vastly from its current form. The lion …show more content…
A further exemplification of such can be seen from how our National Museums have strategically chosen to disregard the Japanese Occupation, which can be said to be the event motivating Singaporeans to strive for Independence from the British Colonial masters. It is as though the Singapore government is attempting to portray a seemingly untainted imagery for Singapore. Hence, a more generic history is chosen to be embodied by the Merlion, one that does not involve negativity and potential discrepancies in history. This generic image also eases the acceptance for Singaporeans. A vague and non-radical depiction of our past is less susceptible to confusion and conflict. This can be compared to strategies used by the Balinese government, whom in their museums, unlike French and Dutch museums, do not depict the massacre of women and children as well as the territorial conflict on temple grounds as it was a religiously offensive and humiliating past. Bali was instead depicted as a paradise set in pre-war era, with relaxing beaches for foreigners to enjoy. In Malacca, the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum in Jonker Street depicted Cheng Ho’s entry to Malacca as highly impactful and foundational to the spread of Islam and Sino-Chinese trade. However, they chose to neglect that
History will never forget the pain because it takes an ethnic or even a nation to remember it. The Nanjing Massacre, which is my home country’s pain and shame, is not going to be forgotten and ignored either. The Raping of Nanking by Iris Chang, a Chinese American writer has reshaped my view on the atrocities the Japanese soldiers had committed and raises a question: Why we need to remember the past and face it? Remembering history does not just mean to be blocked by the past and stop moving on but looking for the lessons the history has taught us and prevent the world from making the same mistakes again.
As the tour of the museum began, it was easily noticed that all of the objects on display were placed behind thick glass cases. Many plaques inside of the case provide the visitor with information about the specific case that is being looked at. In most cases the plaques didn’t so much provide an elaboration on the pieces, but rather expand upon the historical context of the pieces. Also, the plaques shed light onto muc...
Baxandall, Michael. "Exhibiting intention: Some preconditions of the visual display of culturally purposeful objects." Exhibiting cultures: The poetics and politics of museum display (1991): 33-41.
“Duncan’s (1991) article provides an examination of western museums as a vehicle for the “modern state” to project imperialistic values over art objects of the Third World. The American/European art museum is a type of “temple” that is used to ritualize western art objects as a projection of modernity over the “primitive” art of Third World cultures.”
Memories of World War II play a very important role in the world today, especially in East Asia. These memories are not simple but complicated factors that created many of the controversial issues that exist today. Two of the main issues that revolve around East Asia are the Nanjing Massacre and the comfort women issue. People have debated over the truth of the Nanjing Massacre and the comfort women issue, and people on different sides have not come to an agreement on the historical facts. Daqing Yang’s “The Malleable and the Contested, Joshua Fogel’s “Nanjing Atrocity and Chinese Historical Memory ” discusses the issues in detail, and Chungmoo Choi’s “The Politics of War Memories toward Healing”.
Hong Kong has always remained a very unique city, one which is said to have ‘a Western past, an Eastern future’. Since its colonisation by the British in the 1860s, it has maintained to a very large extent its Chinese identity and its connection to its Motherland, while at the same time, has frequent contact with the Western world, politically, economically, and culturally. Hong Kong’s unique position has made the city a vibrant international metropolis that acts as a bridge between East and West. Yet after it was returned to China in 1997, this former British colony has been constantly reassessing its British past, struggling to find its new position and redefining its identity.
Yet, when discussing the origins and impact of Orientalism, the concept continues to be bolstered by the trendy era of technology. The illustration of the Orient is currently being viewed on television, in films, and on the World Wide Web. These representations of the Orient are available in a lot of condensed forms, and are simpler and more effective than before. The concept of Orientalism is a European created mirror reflecting itself. The Orientalist described himself by defining the Oriental and this helped him be superior. The representation of the Orient through arts and literature empower the thought of Orientalism, and whereas people at large will write their own history, i feel this distorts the facts and results in misconceptions about the Orient.
In Stephen Weil’s essay, he argues “the museum’s role has transformed from one of mastery to one of service” (Weil, 196). According to him, museums have changed their mission from one that cultures the public to one that serves
The memorials and museums mediate the memories of collective racial, political, and other injustices as well as traumas by showing and educating people on the various experiences of immigrant struggles. The collective impact of this educational work and exhibitions on various distinct communities that constitute the American community is a significant contribution to the steady transformation of the U.S. history in general. They are pillars of a movement that helps us understand the individual histories of various cultural groups that may have been marginalized or denied adequate attention by the nation’s general history. In fact, some of these mediated memories have turned out to be unifying elements for the nation. For instance, the maintenance of historical buildings from the nineteenth century have created elements of our national pride and helped us appreciate and celebrate our stylistic
One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.
Nanking suffered a severe tragedy in six weeks that its memories fail to erase. The tragedy consisting of rape, murder, and looting will never disappear from the city or its inhabitants. Thanks to John Rabe and several others, thousands of Chinese were able to survive. The history of the massacre was slowly dying, but because of books and museums, the history lives onward. The Japanese have not repaired Nanjing or educated their own country about their own mistakes. The Japanese still refuse to believe that the massacre even occurred even though there are pictures of the event and vital proof. The Japanese have surely left a blood stain in the history of this world.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B., 2004, From ethnology to heritage: The role of the museum, In: B.M. Carbonell,, 2012. Museum Studies: An anthology of contexts. Oxford: Blackwell publishing. pp. 199-205
Neal, Mary. Battle of Singapore. The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ont] 13 Nov 1990: A.16.
Youngs, I. (2011). Museums enjoy 10 years of freedom. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15927593. Last accessed 4th Nov 2013.
All six of the major educational philosophies Perennialism, Progressivism, Essentialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstruction, and Behaviorism are in my opinion feasible in the classroom. However, I have chosen Essentialism as the primary philosophy I would like to employ in my classroom for several reasons. Although I think all six would result in learning, which is the primary purpose of education, I think that Essentialism is superior to the other five for my classroom. I feel this way because it embraces the purpose or original goal of public education, it allows lessons to be gauged to all different learning styles, and finally because essentialism employs methods of teaching and discipline that I believe work exceptionally well with my content specialization.