Learning from history
So we brought the whole family to the National Gallery yesterday. It's free for Singaporeans, and the place has a lot of memories for me, because it's the old Supreme Court and City Hall, where I spent a fair chunk of time in my first job. It was fun to point out to my kids, hey this is where we used to sit outside the courtroom, waiting for the hearing to start, here's where the accused would sit in the dock, and that's where the judge would come out of his chambers. Although it's primarily an art museum, the gallery's historical documents were most interesting. I found one particular set of documents especially fascinating. There's a document declaring the parties' intentions for Singapore to separate from Malaysia, and then-PM Lee's signature plus the Malaysian leaders' signatures are on it, but the Singapore Deputy PM's signature is conspicuously missing. Next to this document, the gallery exhibited a handwritten letter from Tunku Abdul