Special Interest and Study Day report
Sir Stamford Raffles: His discovery of Borobudur and his role in the foundation of Singapore
Lecturer: Denise Heywood
Held on Tuesday November 3rd 2020 on line
We ran a study morning about Sir
Stamford Raffles on Tuesday November 3d this year. This took the
form of two 45-minute lectures with a 15-minute coffee break in
between and a question and answer session at the end. Our
speaker Denise Heywood specialises in Far Eastern studies. In
the first of her two lectures she spoke of Sir Stamford Raffles’
exploration of the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, and his widely
known role in the foundation of Singapore. In 1804 he
discovered Borobudur, which had lain hidden for centuries under
volcanic ash. It is an earthly manifestation of the Buddhist
vision of the Universe dating from the 8th century Her second
lecture was about Sir Stamford Raffles’ role as an art collector
and founder of Singapore. She discussed his art collection, as
well as describing the architectural heritage of Singapore from
its foundation in 1819 to its revival today with its magnificent
art galleries and museums. Much of his collection is now housed
in the British Museum. We ran the lectures as Webinars. We
opened the event to all the Area societies, asking for a fee of
£10. We had over 40 attendees. The event was very successful and
earned the lecturer a rating of outstanding. She had mastered
the art of on-line lecturing, giving the audience a real sense
that she was in the same room. Her enthusiasm for her subject
was infectious. It made for a very enjoyable morning, even
though attendees had to make their own coffee!
