The Peranakan Museum is the first museum in the world to explore Peranakan cultures in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang and their links with other Peranakan communities in Southeast Asia. The museum opened on 25 April 2008 after extensive renovations to transform it from Singapore's original Asian Civilisations Museum.

The Peranakan Museum features the main themes of Peranakan life in ten permanent galleries and is especially designed for family-friendly visits, with 20 interactive multimedia stations for children providing a seamless journey through the exhibits.

Sarong Kebaya: Peranakan Fashion and its International Sources opened at TPM on 1 April 2011 and will run through 8 April 2012. The exhibition was 'renewed' in October 2011 to enable a rotation of textiles for both preservation reasons and to allow more kebaya to be enjoyed by the public. A special exhibition tour is offered Tuesdays through Fridays at 12:30 pm. This exhibition demonstrates what a multi-cultural hybrid the sarong kebaya is as a result of a 500-year-long international, maritime globalisation trend. The exhibition showcases the collection of prototype attire and the antique sarongs and kebayas collected and donated or loaned to the National Heritage Board by Mr. and Mrs. Lee Kip Lee, parents of Peter Lee, external curator of the exhibition.