History in the digital age

LAST week, I had the pleasure of touring the National Museum of Singapore (NM) on a work-day afternoon. Though the visit was quick, it was a welcome respite to be in the Civic District, a most charming area around City Hall comprising parks, memorials and of course, museums.

Museums have always been my thing. It started when I was a 17-year-old student guide at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Since then, I've been enthralled by these faithful keepers of memories - repositories of old artefacts and calming smells, often housed amid stately architecture. But today, even history is yielding to modern forces. Digital technologies are increasingly infiltrating museums, at times entirely replacing real objects!

As one who grew up believing that the best museums are those with the largest and most authentic collections, and is today an enthusiastic tech advocate, I have grappled with the idea of "digital" in cultural spaces.