Day 6 - Group 5 reflections

Today we went to the Churchill war rooms and the British imperial museum. At the Churchill War Rooms,I saw many interesting things like the wax figures of Winston Churchill carrying out some of his duties and through the audio guided tour, I learnt about Churchill and the war during his time as Prime Minister. For example, he was quite a harsh Prime Minister as the people who worked for him hardly saw daylight in the times when they worked for him, one woman did not even see daylight for eleven months as she was kept underground when carrying out her work. I also learnt that Churchill was part of the Conservatives which was greatly supported by the people of the Britain, until the people changed sides, and voted for the Labour Party in the late 1940s elections. Churchill also became allies with the USA. After the tour, we went to the souvenir shop to get things like pencils or keychains etc. I shall end this part on Winston Churchill with a quote by him, 'We are all worms, but I believe I am a glowworm.'
At the British Imperial Museum, I saw many things like Greek slabs with carvings, and some Greek statues. There were also a few Roman slabs as well. I realised that the Greek slabs with carvings on them were useful in telling us what was carried out by the people in ancient Greece, as what happened during that time was carved on to the slabs and in detail. One of the slabs showed that people worshipping the king, and another, the act of killing an animal. There were also other exhibits like the Mummies, where I was able to look at the inside of the Mummy where I saw the rotting body of the person that was inside the Mummy. Information on how the Mummies were prepared for life after death was given to us, like the organs were taken out of the body either through the nose or through cutting a hole at the abdomen and digging out the other organs, only leaving the heart, as the Egyptians believed that people learnt from their heart.
The British Imperial Museum forcuses on exhibits from different parts of the world, for example the Rossettea Stone which was really interesting. On the Rossette Stone, there are 3 different ancient languages carved on it and it took 22 years, before a French Scholar could finally decipher the writings and since the Stone is not whole, it was hard to get the full picture.
We also caught the Parade, which was rehersing for the Queen's Birthday and we saw many magnificant horses and men on them. We even saw Prince Philip in a carriage!It was really exciting.
The British Imperial Museum emphasises a lot on the Ancient exhibits like stone carvings and mummies, while Museums in Singapore focuses mainly on the Japanese occupation and how we gained independence. The British also has special museums dedicated to a certain hero or Prime Minister, in the case of the Churchill War Rooms. While Singapore doesn't, we only have a museum on Opium Hill that focuses only on the Japanese Occupation. However, both Britain and Singapore has Media guides.
Through the Churchill war rooms, I learnt that Churchill was ruling Britain the same time Hitler was reigning Germany and Stalin, Russia. It was a really enriching experience as I could link it with what I was learning in History and I also gain more knowledge on both Hitler and Stalin. At the Museum, they focussed mainly on the good for Churchill but they did not totally leave out the bad of him. This is unlike Singapore which only focusses on the good of the Leaders of Singapore and portray the Japanese as the bad guys and Singapore as the Victim.
By: Charmaine