Comments on: “Museum needs more space, better access,” by Jaya Kumar Narayanan. The Straits Times (Forum page), 02 Jun 2009 http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/museum-needs-more-space-better-access-by-jaya-kumar-narayanan-the-straits-times-forum-page-02-jun-2009/ Research and education at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, NUS. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:09:13 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Chen http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/museum-needs-more-space-better-access-by-jaya-kumar-narayanan-the-straits-times-forum-page-02-jun-2009/#comment-733 Chen Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:54:23 +0000 http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/?p=759#comment-733 I've visited the museum recently, and I appreciate that it wouldn't have been easy at all for the staff and volunteers to manage a sudden deluge of visitors that they've faced given their space and resource constraints. It is understandable that the public may ask for interactive, high tech gadgets to facilitate their learning, but for a facility that is dependent upon public/ government funding, I would say that RMBR has been managed very well (after all they are primarily a research museum). Interactive gadgets aside, perhaps what can help to make the exhibits more attractive would be to use some colorful photos to show what the animals actually look like in real life. With the global emphasis on preservation of biodiversity, perhaps it is now time for our government to rise to the occasion and throw their full weight behind biodiversity research in Singapore. RMBR has great potential, and if given the funding and support it deserves, there is without a doubt that we will be looking at a world class natural history museum that all Singaporeans can be proud of. PS: Just a suggestion, how about putting RMBR on facebook as part of your outreach to generate more interest and support ? I’ve visited the museum recently, and I appreciate that it wouldn’t have been easy at all for the staff and volunteers to manage a sudden deluge of visitors that they’ve faced given their space and resource constraints. It is understandable that the public may ask for interactive, high tech gadgets to facilitate their learning, but for a facility that is dependent upon public/ government funding, I would say that RMBR has been managed very well (after all they are primarily a research museum). Interactive gadgets aside, perhaps what can help to make the exhibits more attractive would be to use some colorful photos to show what the animals actually look like in real life.

With the global emphasis on preservation of biodiversity, perhaps it is now time for our government to rise to the occasion and throw their full weight behind biodiversity research in Singapore. RMBR has great potential, and if given the funding and support it deserves, there is without a doubt that we will be looking at a world class natural history museum that all Singaporeans can be proud of.

PS:
Just a suggestion, how about putting RMBR on facebook as part of your outreach to generate more interest and support ?

]]> By: Raffles the Biodiversity Geek at Deadpoet’s Cave http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/museum-needs-more-space-better-access-by-jaya-kumar-narayanan-the-straits-times-forum-page-02-jun-2009/#comment-673 Raffles the Biodiversity Geek at Deadpoet’s Cave Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:25:41 +0000 http://rafflesmuseum.wordpress.com/?p=759#comment-673 [...] has been a flurry of letters and coverage in the press recently about the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity [...] [...] has been a flurry of letters and coverage in the press recently about the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity [...]

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