Visiting Singapore: Exploring Singapore Through Its Museums

Despite being a small country, Singapore has many great museums which you can visit in order to learn more about the local history and culture.

1. National Museum of Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore is the largest museum in Singapore with many permanent exhibitions on Singapore history and popular culture. The permanent exhibitions are divided among the Singapore Living Galleries and Singapore History Gallery. Occasionally, there are temporary exhibitions, such as the Princely Treasures From the House of Liechtenstein which showcased paintings and decorative items like an old clock and treasure box. Note that this temporary exhibition is open till Sep 2013.

The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is dedicated to Asian art and culture but above all that, I love the museum for its architecture. It is located majestically by the Singapore River in a well-preserved 19th Century colonial building. The museum itself is divided into several galleries such as the Singapore River Gallery,Southeast Asia, China, West Asia and South Asian-focused galleries. The museum also makes for a great corporate event venue. Hence, do ensure that no private events are held there, before making your way over to ACM for a visit.

At the Peranakan Museum, you will be able to learn more about the Peranakan culture in Southeast Asia. This museum has many beautiful objects on display within its three floors such as the lovely kebaya (traditional costume), wedding gifts, furniture, beadwork and jewellery. You can also pick up a "family treasures" card from the information/ticketing counter and use this as a guide to explore the museum. It will teach you interesting facts such as the reason why wedding beds were decorated with butterflies - to ensure the new couple had many children!

The Singapore Philatelic Museum is located very near the Peranakan Museum. Here you will find a wide range of Singapore and foreign stamps. As you explore this small but unique museum, you will realise that stamps are more than just stamps. They also allow us to travel through time as stamps are usually issued to commemorate significant events. Of course, you will also find pop culture stamps here too, such as movie-related stamps featuring Star Wars characters. Before leaving this museum, stop by the museum shop and post a mail from the museum's post office itself or get yourself a personalised stamp.

On selected public holidays in Singapore, there are open houses at the National Heritage Board museums including Singapore's National Day and Hari Raya. On these Open House days, admission is free to all. On other days, admission is free to all Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents for 11 museums (including the four listed above). Every August, look out for the Night Festival where there will interesting live performances and selected museums opening till the wee hours of the morning with free admission as well.