Meet our new Business Manager in Singapore

How did museums come into your life?
My father was a businessman who traveled a lot around the world. When he returned home, he brought different antique objects and paintings of other cultures. I was fascinated by these objects and wanted to know more about the stories behind them. It is through different cultures that we learn who we are, collectively. I have a great passion for art and unfortunately, while I can’t paint very well, I work on the other side of art-making as an art educator.


So, did you study Fine Art and Art History?
I’ve always dreamed of working in a museum so the obvious choice was to read Art History which I did in Sydney, Australia and later returned to Singapore where I could eventually pursue that at the master’s and doctorate level at the university here. I did however spend a lot of time doing fieldwork and research in Japan because my specialization was in Japanese painting. I have to say that when I was considering my university specialization, Art History was not a choice on offer and this meant that students had to leave the country if they wanted to study that. I am proud to say that Singaporean students can now specialize in that as well as Museum Studies as we have well-established departments and faculty who teach that in our local colleges and universities.

My first museum job was as in art education and I later moved into content management / Interpretive Resources at the National Gallery Singapore. When I joined, the museum was not yet opened. We had the opportunity to grow with the founding management team to prepare the museum for its opening. When the museum opened, it was such an incredible experience to see all that hard work and planning come to fruition. Everybody was excited about the opportunities the institution could offer, to both the public and in the area of Art History and Education.

What makes Singapore so particular?
Singapore is a small country with limited land space and natural resources. In less than half a century since it gained independence in 1965, it has transformed into a developed and affluent country with skyscrapers, luxurious shopping malls, and other leisure spaces screaming for your attention. Singapore has grown into one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with one of the busiest ports due to its strategic location. I love museums because you step away from all that urban sprawl, the rat race, and they give you a breath of fresh air and a space to get away. Lot of the museums are in colonial buildings here. When you step inside these buildings, it is like you’re being transported to a different time and space.

Unlike other developed countries with a longer history and appreciation for arts and culture, it’s harder to get visitors into museums. We used to have a running joke that people would rather go to a mall than visit a museum despite both being free! Another challenge was in attracting our senior population into museums and because of the language diversity (we have 4 official languages—English, Mandarin, Bahasa Melayu and Tamil, not to mention the myriad of Chinese dialects spoken), museums have to diversify their languages and effort in addressing this.

This isn’t necessarily a criticism on the current state as the priority for a young country then was to focus on stability and in building its economy. In fact, this is now an opportune moment to take a step back and focus on developing the arts and cultivating a generation of audiences. So I have to say that my colleagues working in museums and the heritage sectors have their work cut out for them and they are really leaving their mark in curation, interpretation and programming in these exciting times.


What is the role of art education in the museum?
As I mentioned earlier, the biggest hurdle is to get people into the museum and make them as attractive as malls they naturally flock to. Once the visitors are inside, all aspects of the museum work together, from collection to curation, programming and interpretation and education to enrich their experience. A lot of museums use multimedia in their interpretation and while I understand that, for me, the conversation and engagement with the public should ideally bring looking back to the painting or artefact. Thus an audio guide should have one focus, listening to the story, and leave the eyes for looking at the artwork. I believe that many educators and curators are aligned with this philosophy. And when you bring the visitor experience back to the artwork, that, for me, is what makes an audio guide a strong tool. In this way, I find Guide-ID’s audio guide fascinating and authentic; you only have to point and listen to tell compelling stories.

What is your dream as a Business manager?
I want to introduce the Podcatcher here in Singapore. At the moment, I don’t see a lot of audio-only guides in our museums. In fact, I don’t see a lot of audio guides being taken up in exhibitions or by visitors. I believe that audio guides can create an enriching, immersive experience for the visitor. Also speaking from the point of view of a former museum manager, I want to work with a product that is authentic, simple to manage and easy to set up so there is more time to focus on the artwork, away from screens.

I’m looking forward to collaborating with Guide-ID’s team around the world. We can learn a lot from each other, and I’m excited to start this new adventure.