Heritage trail reflections'Jonelle

This year during our heritage race, we went around raffles place and city hall to find out more about the rich culture and history of Singapore. 

We first went to a red and white building, the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery. The gallery traces fire fighting and civil defence developments in Singapore from the late 1800s till modern day, and is intended as a twin vehicle for showcasing Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) proud and long history, as well as heightening public awareness of civil defence. It also serves to give us a chance to walk down the memory lane of how the fire fighting and rescue technology have progressed throughout the years. The customised interactive stations invite you for a close-up experience of what fire fighters and rescuers undergo in an operation. The building which houses the gallery was built in 1908 and is a National Monument. Visiting the gallery provides you an opportunity to learn about Singapore's colonial past and the significance of the building in the past. Over at the gallery, you can know more about SCDF operational capability, sit in the fire engine on display and check out the fire fighters suits and rescue equipment. 

Subsequently, we went to the peranakan museum. The Peranakan Museum is a museum in Singapore specialising in Peranakan culture. A sister museum to the Asian Civilisation Museum, it is the first of its kind in the world, that explore Peranakan cultures in Singapore and other former Straits Settlement in Malacca and Penang, and other Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia. It is housed in the Old Tao Nan School building at Armenian Street, which served as an extended wing to the artefact collection of Asian Civilisation Museum. The museum officially opened on April 25, 2008, with ten permanent galleries showcasing main themes of Peranakan life. A central feature of the museum is the Peranakan Wedding Bed which once belonged to Mrs. Quah Hong Chiam of Penang, and the very bed where she gave birth to the first seven of her 11 children.

Finally, we made our way to Chijmes. Chijmes began life as a Catholic convent known as the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus(CHIJ) and convent quarters known as Caldwell House. The complex is located at Victoria Street in the Downtown Core, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. This complex of convent buildings has a Gothic-style chapel. It was used as a Catholic convent for 132 years, with Caldwell House constructed in 1840–1841 and the chapel in 1904. The chapel, now a multi-purpose hall, is known as CHIJMES Hall, and Caldwell House, now an art gallery, have both been gazetted as national monuments. The complex has been restored for commercial purposes as a dining, shopping and entertainment centre with ethnic restaurants, shops and a function hall, providing a backdrop for musicals, recitals, theatrical performances and weddings.