When Singapore History Consultants Pte Ltd (SHC) was founded in 1995, its mission was to deepen appreciation and enjoyment of Singapore’s heritage and achievements. Its core business centred around historical research, consultancy, and the conduct of heritage tours.
When SHC’s associate firm Journeys Pte Ltd was founded in 2001 and its core business focused on conducting award-winning heritage trails and programmes for tourists. Since then, SHC and Journeys have ventured into the management of cultural heritage assets such as The Changi Museum, the Battlebox, Chinatown Heritage Centre, Haw Par Villa, and Hell’s Museum, gaining invaluable experience in the arena of museum and heritage site management and operations. Through these 28 years (as of 2023), SHC and its associate firms have maintained financial viability, despite myriad challenges such as SARS, COVID-19, and significant infrastructural challenges in the historic sites they managed. While financial success is important, it is only a means to achieve SHC’s commitment to promoting, preserving, and saving Singapore’s heritage. The business imperative is to ensure the sustainability of the heritage projects we take on - the Battlebox included. |
SHC’s Track Record in the Field of Military History
SHC has a long and proven track record in the field of military history research and knowledge. Its senior personnel, such as Director Mr Jeya Ayadurai MBE, have decades of experience conducting post graduate-level military warfare and history courses.
It was this in-house experience and knowledge of military history and warfare that were crucial to the development of the Battlebox and its in-house programmes from 2014 to 2023, lifting the site to world recognition. This is reflected in global and TripAdvisor rankings, and global media coverage such as CNN’s feature on the Battlebox in 2019. |
More than 20 Years of Success in the Management of Cultural Heritage Assets
For over 20 years, SHC has taken on the management of cultural heritage sites which are in danger of falling into obscurity or ruin - and elevated them to world-class status and recognition.
THE CHANGI MUSEUM
In the late 1990s, SHC wrote a consultancy paper for the preservation of the Changi Chapel and museum and the important POW history it told. This paper eventually led to the building of a new Changi museum on its current site by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).
In 2001, STB approached SHC to tender for the project of managing The Changi Museum. SHC won the tender for the project and managed the institution for almost 18 years, attracting 120,000 visitors a year, before it was turned over to the National Heritage Board (NHB) in 2018. During these 18 years, The Changi Museum emerged from obscurity to become an internationally-renowned institution. |
In 2015 and 2016, the museum became Singapore’s #1 museum on TripAdvisor, and in 2016, it was the 16th-highest ranked museum in all of Asia. Visitors lauded it for telling a factual and sincere story about the prisoner-of-war (POW) experience in Singapore during World War II, and it became a site of pilgrimage for historians and families of POWs.
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Maintaining Financial Stability as a Private Free-Access Museum
The Changi Museum won these accolades on top of maintaining financial stability for a free-access museum. For most of its existence, it managed to cover expenses and even make a small profit. All profits went towards the maintenance of the museum. The only exceptions in terms of sustainability were 2001, its first year of operation, and 2004, because of SARS the year before.
All these were achieved despite SHC’s decision to keep entrance to the museum free - at a time when even public museums charged visitors for entry. What made this possible was SHC’s sound business strategy and concept.
The Changi Museum won these accolades on top of maintaining financial stability for a free-access museum. For most of its existence, it managed to cover expenses and even make a small profit. All profits went towards the maintenance of the museum. The only exceptions in terms of sustainability were 2001, its first year of operation, and 2004, because of SARS the year before.
All these were achieved despite SHC’s decision to keep entrance to the museum free - at a time when even public museums charged visitors for entry. What made this possible was SHC’s sound business strategy and concept.
CHINATOWN HERITAGE CENTRE
In 2015, SHC’s associate firm Journeys formed a consortium with Singapore River Cruise and Splash Entertainment to take over the management of Chinatown Heritage Centre (CHC).
By 2018, CHC had become Singapore’s #3 museum, and Asia’s #24 museum, on TripAdvisor. It was only because of the adverse impact of COVID-19 on visitorship that forced the consortium partners to return CHC to STB in 2021. |
HAW PAR VILLA
Also in 2015, Journeys took over the management of Haw Par Villa, an 8.5-hectare cultural park. At the time, it had fallen out of relevance with the public.
In four years, the group of companies successfully raised Haw Par Villa’s visitorship more than six-fold - from 7,000 a month in 2015 to more than 45,000 in 2019. After COVID-19 social distancing measures were largely lifted in April 2022, Haw Par Villa’s visitorship strongly rebounded to almost 38,000 as of October 2022 - and this number, unlike 2019’s figure, was largely made up of domestic tourists. Such robust visitorship figures over the last seven years despite the challenges of COVID-19 were due to SHC’s success in organising attractive programmes and engaging multiple stakeholders such as the general public, schools, and military groups, while not losing sight of the need to conserve and promote Haw Par Villa’s unique heritage, culture, and values. |
Hell’s Museum
In October 2021, SHC also oversaw the completion and opening of Hell’s Museum, the world’s first and only museum on death and the afterlife, inside the grounds of Haw Par Villa. Hell’s Museum has gone from strength to strength, becoming Singapore’s #1 museum on TripAdvisor in March 2022. Many visitors have praised Hell’s Museum for its ability to both entertain and educate at the same time, and have visitors “feeling more intelligent after visiting it”. Many visit Haw Par Villa specially to tour the museum, and that has subsequently raised the profile of the park in a positive manner. Of course, there is also the Battlebox, which SHC began managing in 2013. Here's a detailed account of challenges and achievements over these nine years. |
(Above) An original painting commissioned by Singapore History Consultants. See this and other historical paintings for yourself during your visit of the Battlebox!
ASSOCIATE COMPANIES & ATTRACTIONS
The Changi Museum was managed by Singapore History Consultants Pte Ltd, from 2001 - 2018. In 2015 and 2016, the museum became Singapore’s #1 museum on TripAdvisor, and in 2016, it was the 16th-highest ranked museum in all of Asia.
Creator of The Original Singapore Walks®, Journeys Pte Ltd is an award-winning heritage specialist and travel company with a special expertise in heritage-based tours in Singapore
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Created by heritage specialist Journeys Pte Ltd, join our award-winning heritage tours offering insightful, off-the-beaten-path experiences in Singapore.
Managed by Journeys Pte Ltd, explore the eclectic Asian cultural park, home to over 1,000 sculptures & dioramas reflecting a wealth of Asian culture, history, philosophy and religion.
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