Kennie Ting, 38, is the epitome of a modern-day renaissance man. In addition to helming the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) as director, a position he was appointed to in July this year, Ting is a writer, blogger and photographer. He is in the process of working on a book on the pre-war heritage of Singapore set to be out next year, and a trilogy of young adult fantasy novels “inspired by Malay and local mythology and magic, as well as history, with Singapore featuring very significantly”.

No doubt, Singapore, its surrounds and history are pet topics with Ting, who took charge of the ACM on Sept 1. He has launched the first ACM special exhibition under his watch — Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500 – 1900 last Thursday (Nov 3), and the exhibition theme is not surprising if you know of Ting’s very first publication, coffee table book The Romance of the Grand Tour: 100 Years of Travel in Southeast Asia. Launched last year, it captures the journey of early tourists touring port cities in the region.

The self-ascribed “obsessive compulsive cityophile” also runs Dream of A City, a personal blog comprising both written entries and photographs of the cities he visits for research and travel purposes since 2011. Ting explained he began documenting his interest in cities “during my Masters in World Cities and Urban Life, all the papers I did were photography combined with essay papers…I took a lot of photography classes, street photography and did photography projects”.

Referring to his diverse interests and roles, Ting shared that this passion for heritage and urban stories is very much linked. “I have to admit a very important reason I got the job (of ACM director) is because of the Grand Tour book on port cities, which is very much aligned with what ACM is doing and what Alan (previous ACM director) was doing,” he said. “I am writing about history. When I am doing research for my books, I am also researching for ACM as well. For both publications and museum, it is pretty much the same people I have to talk to. The private collectors and collections I would need to work with are the same”.

Ting’s interest in diverse cities and cultures can be seen in the exhibition curated by Peter Lee, guest curator at ACM, and his team. Billing itself as the first exhibition in the world to explore this topic, it showcases the flow of people, goods and ideas which contributed to the changes and cultural diversity of Singapore and other port cities in Asia today.

As part of the exhibition’s programming, Ting will be holding a director’s tour on Jan 6 and a two-part series talk on historic port cities such as Nagasaki, Goa, Guangzhou, and Batavia (Jakarta) on Dec 9, and Jan 14.

This is part of his efforts to take on a more visible and personal role in the museum, such as going on exhibition tours and organising casual gatherings on the ACM riverfront steps. He started Last Friday on the ACM Riverfront, a monthly get-together where he invites all the museum’s partners and neighbours in the civic district and Bras Basah.Bugis precinct as well as people he knows through Facebook or personal friends. Ting would even bring his own bottles of wine for this “get-together”, where people can unwind, network and sip wine on the steps of the ACM facing the river. It is also open to members of the public walking by.

“People should feel that it is okay to hang out at the museum. Ideally, there should be people sitting on the steps every day, and I am trying to evoke that experience,” he explained. Ting sees his role as bringing a human touch to the museum. “Without the human touch, it’s just a building. Without myself or the curators and very importantly, the docents, telling you the story of the object (in the exhibition), it’s just an object.”

Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500- 1900 runs till Feb 19, 2017 at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Admission charges apply for the special exhibition.