Diary of an NUS Museum Intern: Casselyn Chin

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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Casselyn Chin shares her experience at NUS Museum as part Tampines Meridian Junior College's Intern Attachment Programme (IAP). During her time here, Casselyn has provided assistance in cataloguing books donated by T.K. Sabapathy in our Resource Library.

I signed up for this internship not knowing a single thing about Southeast Asian art. Quite frankly, as someone who had freshly graduated from junior college and had just been through the mania of ‘A’ levels, I hoped to join an internship pertaining to history, a subject I took and one I was fairly interested in. Just like any other person who made generalisations about school courses and their eventual job prospects, I figured: What better institution to pursue history than a museum? Thus, my two-month long journey began.

work in progress: welcome!

My intern mate and I entered the programme in an awkward phase and timing. While technically of age to learn at a more in depth level, we lacked the necessary skill and knowledge to delve into the area of work that I had initially hoped for: to be involved in exhibitions, curation and restoration. Nonetheless, we were involved in other important activities that needed to be done: the cataloging and sorting of new donations of  resources from Professor T.K. Sabapathy, rearranging them into their appropriate storage facilities, and subsequently, transcribing lectures on archaeology in Singapore by Professor John Miksic. At times, we were even stationed as wardens for the museum whenever they needed extra helping hands. The work in the Resource Library was really a way for me to appreciate the little things we take for granted; keying in data for every single article in question, one by one, was mundane yet gruelling, but this was all to ensure that the new donations(alongside the others) could be easily and more accurately found, aiding researchers and students alike. Subtitles and learning materials had to be prepared by somebody, and the job was never as simple as merely “copy-and-paste”. In fact, the transcription of lectures brought me back to a time not so long ago, reminiscent of my time in JC (except this time I actually am taking notes word for word), and learned several interesting facts about Singapore’s history through archaeology. I never knew that there were definitive layers of dirt from which an artifact’s age and time period can be determined; the struggles of excavating relics were practical problems, rather than dramatic: having to dig for relics near the ocean meant racing against time, because time and literally tide waits for no man, instead of fighting off pirates who hoped to raid and steal the treasures (which was what Indiana Jones had promised me!).

 

eye-catchers

Working in the museum has exposed me to the world of Southeast Asian art, expanding my knowledge of art which was previously limited to the classic artists like Van Gogh. Going through Professor T.K. Sabapathy’s donations, popular names kept resurfacing: Ng Eng Teng, Khoo Sui Hoe, Latiff Mohidin, Pacita Abad… the list goes on (I’ve even found my new favourite artist, Natee Utarit, upon reading about his exhibition Optimism Is Ridiculous). It made me wonder: Why have I never encountered their names and works up till now? It seemed as if I had to take a formal course in art for their names to be made known to me, to be taught to me, as it was taught to my intern mate when she had taken art as a legitimate examinable subject. But why must that be so? Perhaps Singapore still has miles to go before it fully assumes its title as a cultural hub, given its nature to prioritise ‘pragmatic’ endeavors of science and technology for economic goals. Isn’t it also ironic how the enjoyment of art is commonly associated with rich elites, not for the common man (and sadly still isn’t very accessible), yet the go-to phrase to describe budding creators of art remains ‘starving artists’? 

wholesome™️ adventures

Fret not, the internship was never all work and no play. In fact, it was colourful, both literally and metaphorically. There were internal events within the UCC such as a lion dance performance to usher in the new year, a staff lunch, and a variety of external events (that we did not participate in but have had the pleasure of witnessing) when the UCC was booked as a party venue.

 The visit to the NUS Baba House gave me a taste of the difficulties in restoration works, the preservation of cultural artefacts and significant sites were definitely a challenge, a challenge that persists throughout time. It shone light on how so many different types of expertise were needed for the task— you may be an archaeologist, or a historian, but you are neither an architect nor a chemist all in one. A concerted effort was needed, alongside the willingness to experiment, for trial and error, and success certainly did not come easy. In addition, the tour of the NUS Baba House made it clear to me what I believed: that being a Peranakan is not so much a biological inheritance through the mixing of ethnicities, but more so a culture that people choose to identify with, if they had “met the criteria”(which is still highly debatable).

My intern mate and I were also allowed to hitch onto an existing batch of interns’ programme, which enabled us to participate in thought-provoking debates on the museum definition (as well as snag an opportunity to visit the Science Centre for free). The debate showcased their depth of understanding of the concerns of a museum, including various different aspects I have never stopped to think about until then, giving me a chance to experience and see for myself the difference between junior college graduates and university student, showing me a new benchmark to aspire to surpass, let alone achieve.

An experience unique to my internship’s time period would definitely be the changes of procedures, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The NUS Museum had to be closed for the public, and our usual routine faced a thorough and systemic upheaval: From sending temperature readings to Ms Kuek twice daily and amassing a portfolio of thermometer pictures, to being denied food at stores and subsequently requiring daily stickers and an intern pass to be allowed to purchase my needed sustenance. To put it simply, it was a whole lot of work and definitely inconvenient, but in dire times of an ongoing health crisis, these precautionary and preventive measures were needed to ensure the safety of the majority. Of course, the new system was sure to have its loopholes and flaws, but it made me realise how every organisation, museums included, had to respond to unfamiliar crises as quickly as they can, and constantly learn and improve on the implemented measures to make them as airtight as possible.

Overall, interning with the museum has been a pleasure. The museum staff were welcoming, understanding and friendly, always ready to help a clueless intern in need (and feeding us little tidbits in the pantry on gloomier days), which made my internship journey one that was smooth sailing and enjoyable. I will definitely cherish the warmth of the community from these two months, and I hope to apply the wisdom I have gained into my future endeavours.

vainpot attempts to pose in the midst of work, circa 2020