NATIONAL MUSEUM, Introduction

Hi, my name’s Jill, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the National Museum, the oldest museum in Singapore, where you can discover the history of the city and the region.

The museum was founded in 1849 by the Singapore Institution Committee, with the name of Raffles Library and Museum, and objects of historical and archeological value from Southeast Asia have exhibited there from the beginning. Following several moves, in 1887, the collection was moved to the current building.

The museum was originally renowned for its zoological and ethnographic collections, from Malaysia and Borneo in particular. After Singapore became independent in 1965, the museum began to focus on the history of Singapore, and was renamed the National Museum. The zoological collections were moved to the Biology Department of the University and to a number of museums abroad, such as the ones in Calcutta in India, or Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia....