Every Tuesday & Thursday at 1pm

From 27 May 2023, hop aboard the National Museum of Singapore’s ‘flight’ to discover Singapore with Now Boarding: Experiencing Singapore through Travel, 1800s – 2000s, a travel-themed exhibition that traces the evolution of Singapore’s identity as a popular travel destination, through the eyes of those who arrived at our shores from the past to the present.

English : 11.00am Mon to Fri
English: 2.00pm Mon to Fri
Japanese : 10.30am Mon to Fri
French: 12.00pm First Thursday of the month
Korean: 11.30am Second Thursday of the month

Our Highlight tours will take you through Singapore's history from its earliest beginning 700 years ago to the independent, modern city-state it is today. 

Meeting point is at the Rotunda. Max. 10 guests, please ask for a colored sticker at the front desk.

Gallery temporarily closed

Step into the newly refreshed Goh Seng Choo gallery and join us on a belayar, or voyage. Through out the 19th century, many sociaties in the Malay Archipelago considered the sea their "lifeblood". A voyage was considered a transformative expereince.

A Voyage of Love and Longing invites visitors to retrace complex emotions associated with a sea journey through the Malay Archipelago at different points: pre-departure, on the waters, and upon return. Each featured specimen from the William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings carries a piece of cultural memory from the Malay world that continue to be read, sung or practiced today.

Silakan, come on board!

Gallery temporarily closed for revamp.

 MODERN COLONY - LEVEL 2 

Set in a 1920s black-and-white bungalow, this gallery showcases the cosmopolitan nature of Singapore as a British Crown colony in the 1920s and 1930s.

With more educational opportunities for girls and the arrival of female immigrants from China in the 1920s, women began to occupy more visible public roles in a previously patriarchal society. Some of these women later made important contributions in various women’s causes, such as education and charity, which helped to enhance the welfare of women at that time.

Through an array of personal belongings ranging from richly embroidered cheongsams, intricately crafted shoes to simple personal trinkets, discover how both the affluent Straits-born and migrant Chinese fought to express their modern identities and the challenges they faced in working out their roles.

Gallery temporarily closed for revamp.

 SURVIVING SYONAN - LEVEL 2 

On 15 February 1942, the British surrendered Singapore to the Imperial Japanese Army, marking the start of the darkest chapter in Singapore’s history.

This gallery shines the spotlight on how the people of Singapore coped with daily life and responded with grit and tenacity to the Japanese Occupation. It celebrates their resilience, resourcefulness and self-reliance – values that still underpin the core of Singapore’s society today. Snapshots of these memories are presented in an immersive setting of crumbling walls, evocative of the uncertain and shattered world our war survivors endured.

Nevertheless, amid the desperation, hope remained. As you walk through the backroom of the gallery, you will find stories and artefacts that bear testament to courage, hope and love in a period marked by fear, hardship and oppression.

Gallery temporarily closed for revamp.

GROWING UP - LEVEL 2

The 1950s and 1960s was a tumultuous period of change for Singapore. From self-governance (1959) to its merger with Malaya (1963) and then to independence (1965), it was a time when Singapore was beset with uncertainties and challenges as it sought an identity it could call its own. Despite the political turbulence and social unrest, children growing up in those times were still able to enjoy happy childhood years. Through personal anecdotes and interactive installations, relive the gotong royong (Malay for “community”) spirit that laid the foundation of a multi-racial Singapore and girded its post-war generation as they forged their dreams and aspirations.

VOICES OF SINGAPORE - LEVEL 2

The Singaporean identity is inherently plural. In the 1970s, race, culture and language were formalised and enshrined into categories that were at once distinct and discrete. Through cultural artefacts that include music, performances, television and theatre, this gallery explores how Singaporeans forged a unique voice for themselves. The gallery’s back room features a recreation of a vintage drive-in theatre, where you can recline in seats fashioned in the form of mini cars and pick-up trucks, and watch a specially commissioned film installation that celebrates the many forms of leisure that Singaporeans enjoyed in the past.