Showing 1-21 of 21 results
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Asian Civilisations Museum
Housed in a magnificently restored 1865 building, the ACM is one of Singapore's icons and a must-see. Set over three levels, the 10 permanent exhibits explore traditional aspects of pan-Asian culture and civilisation, including all of Southeast Asia, China, India and Sri Lanka. The sheer scale of the museum is such that, for the uninitiated, the ACM Highlights guided tour ( Mon, & Tue-Fri) is advisable - though they don't run in late December to early January.
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Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
Impressive temple and museum constructed in 2007 primarily to house a Buddha Tooth Relic, which sits inside a 420kg solid-gold stupa in a dazzlingly ornate 4th-floor room. Get there at or , when monks hold ceremonies to open the chamber. Also worth seeing are the peaceful rooftop garden, where a huge prayer wheel sits inside a 10,000 Buddha Pavilion, the museum and the 100 Dragons Hall. Free vegetarian food in the basement.
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Bukit Chandu
Atop Bukit Chandu (Opium Hill), is a moving WWII interpretive centre inside a renovated villa. The focus is on the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Malay Regiment who bravely defended the hill against the Japanese in the Battle of Pasir Panjang in February 1942. This was the last major battle for Singapore, the Malay battalions no match for 13,000 Japanese soldiers. Hi-tech displays, films and audio effects transport you to the battle scene.
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Changi Memorial & Chapel
The destruction of the original site to make way for prison expansion was an affront to many POWs who suffered terribly at the hands of the Japanese, but give some credit to the authorities for moving the memorial elsewhere. The photographs, letters and drawings graphically illustrate the horror of WWII and the chapel itself is a moving recreation of the kind built by the prisoners from the period.
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Chinatown Heritage Centre
Set on three floors of an old shophouse, the Chinatown Heritage Centre is an engaging museum focussing on the arduous everyday lives of Singapore's Chinese settlers. Reconstructed living environments are festooned with artefacts, the 'four evils' - gambling, prostitution, secret societies and opium addiction - lurking in every corner. The oral and video histories of local people are genuinely moving.
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Fort Canning Park
Once you get over the climb up the stairs, Fort Canning is not only a wonderful hilltop retreat from the city filled with shady paths and hidden nooks, it's a fascinating historical site. Check out the huge fort doors, the former barracks building, the spice garden and The Battle Box museum.
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Fort Siloso
Preserved British coastal fort that proved famously useless when the Japanese stormed Singapore from the north in WWII. Documentaries, artefacts, animatronics and recreated historical scenes will absorb history buffs, while their kids tug them towards the exits.
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Images Of Singapore
Thoroughly reworked interactive panorama of the island's history, going back to the 14th century and featuring recreations and the ubiquitous life-size models Singapore's attractions love so dearly. Despite some inevitable political spin and tacky merchandising, it's enjoyable.
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Katong Antiques House
A rare opportunity to see a preserved Peranakan house, filled with original, or carefully restored antiques, from jewellery to furniture and, of course, beadwork. The owner is a true enthusiast.
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Malay Cultural Village
The Malay Cultural Village is a complex of traditional Malay-style houses built as a cultural showpiece, but it's been a bit of a flop; desultory t-shirt vendors grimace optimistically as you traverse the aisles. The admission fee is for a small kampung museum.
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Malay Heritage Centre
This dignified terracotta-tiled Malay Heritage Centre was once the Malay royal istana (palace), built in 1843 for Singapore's last Sultan, Ali Iskandar Shah. An agreement allowed the palace to stay in the Sultan's family as long as they continued to live there. This was repealed in 1897, but the family stayed on for another century, the palace gradually sliding into ruin. The restored building opened as a museum in 2004.
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National Museum Of Singapore
Imaginative, prodigiously stocked and brilliantly designed, the National Museum is good enough to deserve two visits. The Singapore History Gallery, which closes at , needs at least half a day (the free mobile electronic guide is a must, though ours froze halfway through), and after entry to the Living Galleries is free. The architecture alone makes it worth a visit.
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Peranakan Museum
Peranakan culture itself is dying out, but happily every aspect of the colourful Straits Chinese, from clothing to customs to jewellery and food, is preserved in this sister institution of the Asian Civilisations Museum.
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Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
This small museum on the National University of Singapore campus honours Sir Stamford Raffles' work as a naturalist. There are stuffed and preserved examples of rare and locally extinct creatures, including a tiger, a leopard cat, Atlas moths as big as your face, and a 4.42m king cobra killed at the Singapore Country Club. It's not on the tourist trail, but it's worth the trip, especially if you combine it with the NUS Museums nearby.
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Royal Selangor Pewter Gallery
On the western end of Clarke Quay is the Royal Selangor Pewter Gallery. Singapore is devoid of natural resources like gold and silver - pewter is the next best thing. Take a tour (including pewtersmithing demo) then gawp at the shiny stuff in the retail cabinets. The gallery also runs pewtersmithing courses.
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Singapore Art Museum
Magnificently restored, the Singapore Art Museum houses one of the finest collections of Southeast Asian art, both traditional and contemporary, and also hosts frequent travelling exhibitions. Major local artists such as Lim Tze Peng and Chen Chong Swee are also represented.
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Singapore City Gallery
The Urban Redevelopment Authority's Singapore City Gallery provides an insight into the government's hell-bent policies of high-rise housing and land reclamation. Highlights include an 11m x 11m scale model of the city, a cheesy 'Know Your Singapore' audiovisual display, and a voyeuristic bird's-eye-view roof camera.
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Singapore Science Centre
The kids might moan when they hear the name, but once unleashed inside they'll probably forget science is boring. A huge collection of interactive exhibits, covering subjects such as outer space, the human body and visual illusions, plus frequent travelling exhibitions, can swallow up a entire day, especially if coupled with Snow City and the Omni theatre screening IMAX films.
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Singapore Tyler Print Institute
The white-walled, polished concrete spaces of the Singapore Tyler Print Institute hosts international and local exhibits, showcasing the work of resident print- and paper-makers. Exhibitions often have a 'how to' component, and there's an impressive programme of visual arts courses year-round.
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The Battle Box
Site of the former headquarters of the British Malaya Command, now a museum recreating the last hours before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese on February 15, 1942, using reasonably lifelike wax figures and unsettling audio effects simulating the bombing.
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The National University of Singapore Museums
The National University of Singapore Museums houses an impressive collection. On the ground floor is the Lee Kong Chian Art Museum with exhibitions spanning 7000 years of Chinese art. The South & Southeast Asian Gallery features art, textiles and sculptures from across the region. Upstairs, the Ng Eng Teng Gallery displays works by Ng Eng Teng, one of Singapore's foremost artists specialising in imaginative, sometimes surreal, bodily depictions.
Read more about The National University of Singapore Museums
Showing 1-21 of 21 results
