Singapore - Singapore's revamped Sun Yat Sen villa to open on Oct 8

After a S$5.6 million (US$4.3 million) revamp, a historic building which was the nerve centre of Dr Sun Yat Sen's revolutionary activities in South-east Asia, will reopen to the public next week.

The double-storey villa, tucked away in Tai Gin Road in Balestier, was the headquarters of his Tong Men Hui, or Chinese Revolution Alliance, an organisation to drum up support to overthrow the Qing dynasty in China.

Now, it is called the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall and is a museum to commemorate Dr Sun's activities in Singapore, as well as Singapore's contribution to the 1911 Revolution, which installed him as the first president of the Republic of China.

Before the museum closed for renovation last year, it was a well-preserved monument but inside, it had a very basic exhibition of a few sculptures and paintings with shoddy captions.

Now, it boasts a beefed-up and professionally curated exhibition of 180 photographs, documents, artefacts and artworks that tell the history of the villa and the role Singapore played in the 1911 Revolution.

The renovation cost is shared by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, which owns the building, and the Government, says Mr Shaun Phua, 37, general manager of the museum. He hopes to target tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as students and academics to visit the museum.

It will be open to the public on Oct 8, in time for the 1911 Chinese Revolution 100th anniversary celebrations here. Admission is S$4 for adults and free for students and senior citizens.

A three-week cultural festival curated by local film-maker Royston Tan will be part of the celebrations, and includes workshops on Chinese calligraphy, paper cutting and wushu (Chinese martial arts).

As the building is a gazetted monument, the exterior is kept intact, but the interior is redecorated in a Peranakan style - with dark wood panelling, green-tinted windows and antique furniture.

This is because the original owner of the house, rubber baron Teo Eng Hock, was Peranakan. He had bought the house as a retirement home for his mother but later gave it to Dr Sun for his revolutionary activities. Mr Teo was part of a coterie of Singapore pioneers, including timber and rubber merchant Tan Chor Lam and 'Pineapple King' Lim Nee Soon, who supported Dr Sun's political efforts.

They provided financial support and disseminated his revolutionary ideas in Thoe Lam Jit Poh, a newspaper owned by Mr Teo and Mr Tan.

Mr Teo is also the great-grand uncle of Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who has loaned some artefacts from his family for the exhibition and will be the guest of honour at the museum opening.

Dr Sun visited Singapore eight times between 1900 and 1911 and stayed in the house on three of those visits. There, Dr Sun supposedly planned three of his 10 uprisings which culminated in the successful Wuchang Uprising of 1911.

The National Heritage Board has been managing the memorial hall since 2009, and has loaned 145 artefacts from the national collection for the permanent show. The floor area of the building is 1,463 sq m.

The curator for the exhibition, Taiwanese Sung Yun-Wen from the National Museum of Singapore, took 21/2 years to pore through documents and oral archives to research the period.

The 39-year-old says: "Dr Sun stayed here and planned uprisings, and even chose the pattern for the new national flag here. Singapore's contribution to the 1911 revolution is beyond many people's imagination."

Among the star artefacts is a piece of Chinese calligraphy from Dr Sun to Mr Teo Beng Wan, who is the nephew of Mr Teo Eng Hock. Dr Sun wrote 'Bo Ai', meaning universal love, underscoring his belief in the ideals of equality and democracy. This piece is on loan from DPM Teo.

Adeline Chia

The Straits Times


Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.