The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research serves as a public museum and a research centre. Located at the National University of Singapore’s Department of Biological Sciences, it houses a significant zoological collection, and conducts research and public education in the field of biodiversity. The museum’s Zoological Reference Collection is the successor to the famous Raffles Collection, and is the largest single collection in the region with at least 400,000 catalogued specimens.
Background
The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) traces its origins to the Raffles Museum, founded in 1849 and renamed the National Museum of Singapore in 1965. Over the years, the museum’s natural history collection grew in size as well as diversity. R. Hanitsch, the museum’s curator from 1895 to 1919, produced the first catalogue of the zoological collection in 1908. By the time he retired, the museum was listed as possessing 414 mammal and 1,189 bird specimens, and 32 cases of butterflies and moths. The following year, a gift of thousands of labelled and recorded Malayan spiders from the Abraham collection further enhanced the standing of the Raffles Collection.
In 1935, the Congress of Pre-historians, held in the Philippines, selected Singapore and the Raffles Museum as “the repository for typological and comparative collections of pre-historic objects from the whole of the Far East”. It was early recognition of the reputation of the Raffles Collection.
The collection largely survived the Japanese Occupation, but in 1969, it was decided that the newly renamed National Museum should concentrate solely on the arts and anthropology. The Raffles Collection, including some 126,000 animal specimens, moved to the Singapore Science Centre before being transferred in 1970 to the University of Singapore, now the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Because of limited space at its Bukit Timah campus, the university could neither store nor display the collection. Over the following 14 years, specimens were thus shuttled in wooden crates between a storage facility at Ayer Rajah, different departments at the university, and the Nanyang University library. Each move took several months and required at least 40 lorries. Due to the frequent transfers and poor storage conditions, many specimens were damaged during this period. It was only due to the efforts of curators and custodians, including chief curator Yang Chang Man, that the collection was not permanently disposed of. Despite the lack of working space, scientists continued to visit the collection, including then Prince Akihito of Japan, an ichthyologic researcher. Other museums offered to receive in part or to purchase the entire Raffles Collection.
In 1986, the National University of Singapore moved to a permanent home at Kent Ridge, where the collection was stored in custom-designed, airtight compactor systems, in a controlled humidity environment with 24-hour air-conditioning. In 1998, curators and members of the Department of Biological Sciences set up a centre for research, public education and the publication of works to showcase the collection.
Collections
Besides the Raffles Collection, the Zoological Reference Collection (ZRC) also incorporates other collections from NUS, Nanyang University, and more recent additions by RMBR staff. The Collection serves primarily as a research centre and depository of reference specimens, accommodates visiting researchers, and utilises modern facilities for preservation and storage. With its listing of over 400,000 catalogued specimens spanning more than 1,000 types, the ZRC is the pre-eminent collection of its kind in the region, and is known internationally for the leading role it has played in zoological research in Southeast Asia.
In addition, a herbarium was established in 1955 at the university as a teaching resource and museum for the plant species collected by staff and students engaged in botanical research. Today, it documents the rich plant resources of Southeast Asia by preserving evidence of its surviving plant diversity. The botanical collection contains about 30,000 flowering plant specimens including 155 wet orchid specimens, 1,660 ferns, 700 mosses, 100 liverworts and 1,235 marine algal specimens.
The RMBR also boasts a Culture Collection with about 2,000 strains of fungi and bacteria. Maintained by the university’s Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, it supports research on fungal enzymes, fungal chitosan, fungal aero-allergens and mycorrhizae.
Research
RMBR researchers are actively engaged in regular surveys, expeditions and collaborative work on biodiversity and ecology in the Asia-Pacific region, covering the terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms. Academic links have also been set up with more than 170 scientists from universities, museums and research institutes in over 30 countries.
Research areas include ecological studies of reefs and mangroves and the bio-geography of Southeast Asia, while long-term research objectives include, among others, the documentation of biodiversity in Singapore and the region, answering key ecological questions pertaining to the tropical rainforest, and establishing a regional database for biodiversity research
Inherited from the Raffles Museum’s predecessor publications originating from 1928, the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology is peer-reviewed and specialises in Southeast Asian biodiversity. The bulletin is published twice a year with supplemental material issued at intervals, and is available at the RMBR website.
Public Gallery and education
The RMBR's public gallery exists primarily for its exhibition and education functions, with past exhibitions included Surprising Singapore and Endangered Wildlife. Some highlights in the RMBR gallery include the parasitic Rafflesia flower, the only Leathery Turtle ever found in Singapore, as well as specimens of rare mammals unique to Singapore such as the Banded Langur and the Cream-coloured Squirrel.
The museum also works closely with other organisations on the publication of nature guidebooks and reference texts, and offers education programmes and workshops to schools, organisations and other institutes.
Toddycats! programme
The Toddycats! programme promotes conservation, education and research to the public. Originally set up for NUS undergraduates, the programme is now open to all volunteers. The programme conducts exhibitions using specimens from the RMBR, nature and heritage trails and public seminars; maintains news websites and blogs; cooperates with other organisations interested in the field of biodiversity, and coordinates the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore event.
Expansion plans
Since 2008, media reports have raised the RMBR's profile. In May 2009, the museum held an open day that attracted over 3,000 visitors, a record single-day turnout compared to the 400 visitors the museum had received the previous year. This prompted calls for a larger facility that would be able to showcase more of the RMBR’s collection and accommodate more visitors. In 2009, NUS announced plans to house the RMBR in a building of its own, to be situated in the upcoming University Town development. The new museum is projected to draw over 80,000 visitors and researchers annually. In the second half of 2009, an anonymous group of donors pledged S$10 million towards the new museum.
Author
Alvin Chua
References
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Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research [Brochure collection]. Singapore.
(Call no.: RCLOS EPHE O645 v. 1)
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Accessed on November 4, 2009 at http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg
Singapore: The Encyclopedia (2006). Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (pp. 372, 442). Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.
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Tan, D. W. (2010, January 24). $10m gift for natural history museum. The Straits Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from Factiva.
Teo, M. (1987). Singapore National Museum: History and Future (pp. 13-14, 28-29). Singapore.
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Vaughn, V. (2009, June 4). Natural history needs more room. The Straits Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from Factiva.
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Wee, L. (2001, June 15). Origins of the species. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 7, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
