Gallery at Istana Park offers slice of S’pore history
SINGAPORE — They thought the Istana was open, but what they had heard about was the new Istana Heritage Gallery at the Istana Park across the road.
These and other visitors were among the close to 2,500 who went to the Gallery — which President Tony Tan had described as an effort to make the Istana more accessible to Singaporeans — over the weekend after it was opened to the public from Saturday.
In the one hour TODAY was there yesterday, more than five groups of visitors had originally wanted to visit the President’s official residence.
“A lot of my friends said the Istana was open for free for one week,” said housewife Linda Voon, 34, who had come with her two children. “I guess I’ll just walk around the Istana Park, as they don’t allow strollers in the Gallery.”
Logistics personnel Mr Wu, 31, who was with his wife, child and mother-in-law, also thought it was “one of the rare” times they could take a stroll in the Istana grounds, but noticed that the Istana gate was closed before heading to the Gallery.
“Where is Dr Tony Tan?” asked Zhang Xi Zhe, 4, as he exited the Gallery. His father, Mr Zhang Nan, 35, said: “I had told him that he was going to the President’s house. Luckily he isn’t too disappointed. He got a souvenir: A bookmark embossed with the presidential crest that can be obtained from the Gallery.”
Chinese tourist Tirion Tao, 25, said he was misled by a Chinese news article shared on WeChat since Wednesday, headlined “Don’t miss this!” with a photograph of children playing on the lawn in front of the iconic Istana building. This could have contributed to the many Chinese visitors to the Gallery — possibly 20 times the number of Singaporean visitors, TODAY understands.
Among those who went into the Gallery, many said they had learnt something new. “To laypeople like us, we seldom hear or see what happens inside the Istana. It’s eye-opening because we now have some access to this big part of Singapore history,” said retiree Yeo Kim Leong, 62. He added that the 18 state gifts to Singapore that were exhibited were a particular highlight for him and his wife.
The gifts on display include a bronze medal presented to President Tan by Pope Francis earlier this year, two silver goblets presented by Queen Elizabeth II to President S R Nathan in 2006 and a bronze bust of an induna (South African headman) presented to President Ong Teng Cheong by Mr Nelson Mandela in 1997.
Administrative executive Karen Koh, 64, said she understood the President’s roles better after her visit.
“I know he’s involved in the social aspect with the President’s Challenge, but I didn’t know that his official duties also included constitutional and ceremonial aspects,” she said, pointing to a chart in the 240sqm facility.
