15 August 2010

Closure Of Museum Of Shanghai Toys (MoST)

I was surprised to read this article in the Sunday Times today:


The Museum of Shanghai Toys (MoST) had closed down with effect from Jun 10. Marvin Chan, the owner and director of the museum attributed the reason for its closure to "the low number of visitors and high operating cost". He planned to move the entire toy collection to Shanghai where he co-owned a toy-making factory.

It is indeed a sad thing that a museum had to close because of lack of support from the state or from the public. Now isn't it ironical that a museum which is set up to document history have to go down history itself?

I remember meeting Marvin at a Friends of Yesterday.sg meet at Chun See's place some 2 years ago. As he was busy using his notebook, it is a pity that I didn't manage to speak to him then. I did go into the museum once but only to the section on the ground floor where admission was free. I regret not visiting the upper floors to explore Marvin's collection. Now I don't have the chance to do so anymore.

:-(

5 comments:

yg said...

is this the one at rowell rd? i went there once - in the morning - but it was closed.

Victor said...

YG - Yes, the museum was located in Rowell Road, near the infamous Desker Road.

Anonymous said...

Yes! Rowell Road is next to Desker Road.

Not to raise any eyebrows, especially Victor's, YG was clear (as the bright morning sky) to emphasize that he was there "once - in the morning". Hahaha!

Icemoon said...

I guess the local market is too small to support such museum. Tourists might be bewildered how come a museum in Singapore showcase Shanghai toys?

Better to open it in China.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.