# I’m Planning to Go to Si... **Covers**:: **Source**:: [I’m Planning to Go to Si...](https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1050459395685998592) **Creator**:: [[@visakanv on Twitter]] # Highlights ##### ^247468460 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1050459395685998592 #TO/EXPLORE/READ ###### ^247468460q I’m planning to go to Singapore’s Indian heritage centre / museum tomorrow and I’m excited like a kid on a field trip ^247468460 ##### ^247468462 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051403551706992640 ###### ^247468462q So... I went there, and had a pretty good time, but I was actually mostly disappointed and underwhelmed. I found it to be a very sanitized, tepid listing of facts and I didn't really learn very much. Simply wandering around Little India was more interesting. But hey, let's thread  ^247468462 ##### ^247468464 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051404282459615232 ###### ^247468464q I liked the toilet signage 😂 I think the bulk of the value I actually got from this experience was just being immersed in the pictures and iconography   ^247468464 ##### ^247468467 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051406218600706048 ###### ^247468467q This reminds me of what @darrenwan described as "detached periodisation, as if imperialism was just wallpaper". "convicts were sent" – by who *exactly*? how? why? how has that shaped our identity? shh, enjoy the pics (they do get into *some* details later, but you get the vibe)     ^247468467 ##### ^247468468 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051410351474917376 ###### ^247468468q migration patterns! a ship! a harbor! old pictures! there's a bunch of data points and you feel like you're learning something hey, I recognize that picture on the far right...     ^247468468 ##### ^247468469 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051410804744962048 ###### ^247468469q those are the low-caste convicts who built so much of Singapore, housed in a forgotten prison that no longer exists. hey, do you think we're going to hear anything at all about caste in a museum about Indian heritage? 🤔 https://t.co/7V0Tw5WDwp ^247468469 ##### ^247468470 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051413154461147137 ###### ^247468470q Subhas Chandra Bose flashes on-screen momentarily. He advocated for armed struggle and visited Singapore as part of his quest to establish anti-colonial (ie anti-British) forces in SE Asia. He set up a provisional Indian government in SG during WW2 😮 (just found out via Google)  ^247468470 ##### ^247468472 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051414105016291329 ###### ^247468472q (also, I went to the museum pretty late and had just under 2 hours to go through all of it – so there's a chance that I'm getting a little frustrated over nothing, and that I missed some of the details I was looking for... I shall probably go again and look more closely) ^247468472 ##### ^247468473 highlight_tags:: [[history]] Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051416765991796736 ###### ^247468473q a Mask of the Face of Glory – Kirtimukha – a common symbol in kovils, with some Shiva-related backstory. This one was possibly made in the 1800s during the Majapahit period – you can find them in temples. Adding some pics from Java, Siemreap and Chiangmai https://t.co/PmhByPhnmx     ^247468473 ##### ^247468474 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051417829012992001 ###### ^247468474q contact between South India and the Srivijaya empire in SEA dates back to ~ 100 CE. The Indian influence on Southeast Asia itself has many, many lifetimes worth of story and history to explore and uncover. We still live in it     ^247468474 ##### ^247468475 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051419655330443265 ###### ^247468475q The transmission of the meme of Buddha from India to China (and worldwide!) is itself something that's probably endlessly fascinating and I'm sure there are some interesting books on the subject (Korean painting in 4th pic) https://t.co/1mlM248b0b     ^247468475 ##### ^247468478 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051421210897076224 ###### ^247468478q was amused by these 12th/13th century Chola-era bronze sculptures of Shiva & Parvati because of the height difference between me and my wife 😂 I'm curious about the guilds of artisans that made these, what their lives were like ~300 years before Da Vinci https://t.co/7K6DEgNq4i   ^247468478 ##### ^247468479 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051422979781849088 ###### ^247468479q Pala-era bronze statue of Vishnu riding his mount Garuda. Garuda is a big deal in Indonesia – it's their national emblem and airline, which is interesting to juxtapose against the fact that it's a majority Muslim nation (87.2%) https://t.co/z4GQCddyC1     ^247468479 ##### ^247468480 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051425664178343936 ###### ^247468480q Getting a bit bored, tbh. Interesting factoids: - Kings in Kedah and Cambodia donated to temples in Tamil Nadu - early (900–1400) Chinese texts have many references to the Chola Kingdom - Hinduism in Vietnam was a thing; around 50,000+ adherents still https://t.co/IJyzx4O1aX     ^247468480 ##### ^247468481 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1051429453161590784 ###### ^247468481q Couple of other factoids, found in footnotes: - The Ceylon Tamil Association in Singapore traces its roots back to the 1850s - Indians in Singapore "began" worshiping mother goddesses such as Mariamman, Durga in the 1930s. Feels like there's a hidden story here... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔     ^247468481 ##### ^247468482 Goto: https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1087749447163863040 ###### ^247468482q via @IndiaHistorypic: Subhas Chandra Bose Speaking At Cathay Theatre, Singapore This should be ~1943 From his speech in Burma: "We should have but one desire today- the desire to die so that India may live." https://t.co/BGQoToQX0N  ^247468482