Prints From Long Ago

IN TODAY'S PAPER-LESS society, when just about all information is found online or stored on the cloud, physical records seem more like an antiquated process. But that's also what makes the exhibition On Paper: Singapore Before 1867, a refreshing take on Singapore's history.

Using books, illustrations, manuscripts and maps, it looks at how Singapore developed from the 17th century to 1867 - a significant year because that was when Singapore, as part of the Straits Settlement which also comprises Malacca and Penang, became a crown colony.

While there have been many similar exhibitions before, On Paper doesn't only rely on materials from the National Library and National Archives of Singapore. There are more than 50 items from overseas institutions, giving a more complex and holistic picture of Singapore in her early days. Many of these materials are on loan, and are on display for the first time.

For example, there is the Bute Map from the Bute Archive in Mount Stuart, a stately home in Scotland. Commissioned in 1819, the map is believed to be the earliest known landward map of Singapore, showing key features such as Bukit Larangan or Fort Canning, planned bridges and the like.

There's also a painting of Singapore from Fort Canning Hill by John Thomson - the government surveyor from 1841 to 1853. Besides surveying and charting Singapore, Thomson was also an avid painter. Several of his paintings on loan from New Zealand's University of Otago, show Singapore before the use of photography.

Meanwhile, Singapore's own collection includes an 1842 sketch of coolies hauling goods at the Singapore River, as well as the will and codicil of businessman Tan Kim Seng, dated 1862. What historians found unusual for that era was that Tan had specified that money left to his daughters was for their use alone, and free from marital control. On Paper: Singapore before 1867, is on till Mar 22, at Level 10 Gallery, National Library Building.