On Tuesday which was our National Day, we went to admire some of the historical buildings around the National Museum and Singapore Art Museum (SAM). 

This was formerly Tao Nan School. Now it is the Peranakan Museum.

Beautiful arches of the Stamford House corridor where we walked through to get across to the Singapore Management University towards SAM.

Part of the Singapore Management University.

Stone tables and benches from years ago.

Buildings on the premises of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

Across from the cathedral is the SMU.

Statue of Pope John Paul II to commemorate partly the visit of the Pope in 2006.

The chapel at Chijmes that is now a function hall that one can hire for weddings and receptions.

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd from the Singapore Art Museum.

The Singapore Art Museum, formerly St Joseph's Institution, a boy's school.

The Jacob Ballas Building, photographed from the side of the SAM. Jewish architecture.

Waterloo street. One of a few interesting buildings.

The Singapore Calligraphic Centre.

 

A calligraphic piece displayed at an exhibition in the Calligraphy centre. 

An interesting clock at the Calligraphy Centre.

The twelve animals of the Chinese horoscope are represented here.

Looking out from the front of the Calligraphy Centre.

The National Museum.

School of the Arts (SOTA).

This building should never be demolished.

Going Home.

Bonus: Some of the works of Liu Kang at the SAM.

The ever-delightful works of Wu Guan Zhong.

SAM (Singapore Art Museum)

SAM is the Singapore Art Museum that once in a while hosts special exhibitions like the works of Wu Guan Zhong, a Chinese artist whose works I really admire because there is always freshness in the way he perceives and depicts what he sees. He is my kind of artist, just like Van Gogh - different but true to himself in the way he presents his art to the world. On Fridays, admission to SAM is free just like the carparks around Fort Canning after 5pm - two freebies in a day! 

Approaching the Singapore Art Museum from SMU (Singapore Management University).

The trees held my attention for a while despite the hot sun.

A cloudless blue sky letting in the full blast of the afternoon sun and we baked in the heat.

We are so blessed to have clean water and I thank God everyday that I turn on the tap. Below the water here is our Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

A special exhibition of Liu Kang's work. Liu Kang was one of our pioneer artists famous for his 'Nanyang Style" paintings like these. There were several paintings exhibited and unlike Wu Guan Zhong's work that I really love, these are the only few works of Liu Kang that I can truly appreciate.

Life in a village where the emphasis was on the activities of the people in a Kampong.

This painting was titled "Chinese New Year's blessing". I found it ironical that while the blessings abound in the calligraphy couplets written on auspicious red papers, they did not have any positive effect on the destitute crouching below.

I also like this painting of men at leisure listening to the singing of the birds in cages hung on the branches of a tree above them. Though the painting seems like a mere record of what people do in the old days it is also sad to see birds in their natural environment not as free creatures but as servants of those who have the money to hold them captive in cages for their amusement.

This painting reminds me of a lady with a beehive hairstyle in the market that my mother used to frequent when I was a kid.

Eating durians is universal. You do not talk, you just sit and enjoy the durian to the fullest.