Diary of an NUS Museum Intern: Afiqah Halim

Note: Diary of an NUS Museum Intern is a series of blog posts written by our interns about their experiences during the course of their internships. Working alongside their mentors, our interns have waded through tons of historical research, assisted in curatorial work, pitched in during exhibition installations and organised outreach events! If you would like to become our next intern, visit our internship page for more information! 

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Afiqah Halim is a year 3 Malay Studies student at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.  As our Collections Management Intern, Afiqah has provided collections management  assistance to our collections team through which she has learned more about their various inner workings!


One of the things we seldom think or discuss about when we talk about working behind a desk is the sound, the scent and the sensuality of it. The scribble and scrawl of pens, the quiet mumbles in the office, the flips and rustles of papers and the crisp skitter of forefingers on keyboards. I only realised this now, as I’m typing this very post, in the final lap of my internship. That being said however, the past three months as an intern is beyond just sitting behind a desk. Rather, it has provided me with insightful exposures to the various aspects of museum practices, wise lifelong lessons and of course, beautiful memories from the friendships made here. I decided to apply for the internship to deepen my understanding in museum practices. As an art history minor student, I’ve always believed that there bound to be a gap between the theoretical approaches that we learn in class and the actual practical experience in planning, researching and running the museum exhibitions and collections. Till this day, I can’t help but to feel thankful for being given the opportunity to be selected as an intern here in the Collections team. 

I was introduced to Aini as my supervisor on my first day of work; albeit later than the other interns who were already engaging in serious discussions with their respective supervisors. As I followed her into her office, I was trying to guess what our discussions would be about. I somewhat have a vague understanding what the collections team does, at least, why they collect, from a module that I’ve taken before. However I knew at the back of my head, that is not all of it. As I settled down on a desk by the side of Aini’s desk, I began to anticipate what she has to say. And so, the first lesson began. Readings. No, not the readings our lecturers usually give us. But environment readings. The temperature and humidity where the artefacts are being displayed must always be monitored. In cases whereby the temperature or humidity is too high or too low, the condition of the artefacts will be jeopardized, indefinitely. And that was it. Barely an hour and the two of us sprung up from our chairs and headed over to the museum. The act of moving around a lot within the museum and outside of NUS sums up the job of the collections team. There isn’t one day that is the same. Constantly moving around to inspect the environment and the conditions of artworks, meeting the artists, loaning, delivering and returning of artworks and supervising contractors for some projects are some of the many things done by the Collections team. I know for a fact, interning in the Collections team is not regrettable choice. Personally, I’m not particularly a desk-bound type of person. I thoroughly enjoy a balance of desk and hands-on practical, physical work and interning here provides just that. The entire experience also taught me that while Collections, sadly, isn’t always in the limelight, they form the significant backbone of the museum where they are also active agents who would provide practical advices to other departments of the museum whenever the situation arises. 

I could write about the job all day but let’s not forget another significant feature of this internship: the friendship! I was indeed very lucky to have met all the brilliant and witty interns joining in with me. I can’t thank them enough for the laughter and talks that we shared, the support that we gave each other throughout the internship. Coming from different background and expertise, I appreciate the dynamics that we had throughout the internship and the new perspectives I learned from them. It was definitely a blessing to have met each and everyone of them. Of course, how could I not mention the important figures in this internship who have accentuated the whole learning process? I’m beyond grateful to Aini, for patiently guiding me and generously sharing her knowledge with me where work is concerned. Also, I would like to also thank her for sharing with me wisdoms that I’ll carry on for the rest of my life. Greg has also played a significant role as one of the mentors throughout my time here. His composed disposition and lessons will always be remembered. I would also like to thank the friendly curators, outreach staffs and museum warden for all the small talks and laughter that we shared. They have definitely brightened the days in the past three months here. Last but definitely not the least, I would like to thank Michelle for creating this fruitful and gratifying internship programme. From the field trips, talks and other programmes, the internship has meaningfully provided me with a wholesome exposure of the arts scene. With that, I would like to implore to anyone reading this, interested but still contemplating whether to give this internship a shot, to go for it!