National Museum of Singapore

Chinese: 新加坡國家博物院 Malay: Muzium Negara Singapura Tamil: சிங்கப்பூரின் தேசிய அருங்காட்சியகம்
Entrance to the National Museum of Singapore
Established	1849; 175 years ago (1849)
Location	93 Stamford Road, Singapore 178897
Coordinates	1°17′48.2″N 103°50′55.1″E / 1.296722°N 103.848639°E / 1.296722; 103.848639
Director	Chung May Khuen[1]
Architect	Henry McCallum[a] J. F. McNair[b] W Architects and I.M. Pei[c]
Public transit access	CC2  Bras Basah  DT21  Bencoolen
Website	nationalmuseum.sg

The National Museum of Singapore is a public museum dedicated to Singapore art, culture and history. Presently director of the National Museum of Singapore (NMS), Chung May Khuen began her career as an assistant curator at the Asian Civilisations Museum in 1997 before joining NMS as a curator in 2003. It is located within the country's Civic District at the Downtown Core area, it is the oldest museum in the country. It is one of the largest museums in Asia.^[2]

The National Museum of Singapore was designated as National monument of Singapore in 1992 by the National Heritage Board. The National Museum of Singapore exhibits sculptures, objets d'art, paintings, drawings, and archaeological finds. Admission to the National Museum of Singapore is complimentary for Singaporean citizens and permanent residents.^[3]

History

The museum was established in 1849 by the then Singapore Institution Committee, and is the oldest museum in Singapore, hence its 19th century exterior design. Upon establishment, it was known as the Raffles Library and Museum, starting out as a section of a library at the Singapore Institution^[d] before moving to 93 Stamford Road in 1887 after several relocations, where it is currently located.^[4]

Between 1993 and March 2006, it was known as the Singapore History Museum, before it subsequently returned to its present name that was first given in 1965 as the National Museum of Singapore.

Over the centuries, the National Museum of Singapore has expanded and undergone various expansions and renovations, with a three-and-a-half-year restoration that was completed on 2 December 2006, and was officially reopened on 7 December 2006 by President of Singapore S. R. Nathan and the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang.^[5]

The museum was designated a National Monument of Singapore on 14 February 1992 by the National Heritage Board.

Collection

In 2022, seats from Singapore Airlines’s first Airbus A380 were added to the museum's collection.^[6]