Peranakan Museum

About this place

The Peranakan Museum is a museum in Singapore's museum district devoted to Peranakan culture, that of communities formed by intermarriage and mixing between newcomers and local people in Southeast Asia. Sources describe it as the only one of its kind in the world, housed in the old Tao Nan School building. It was conceived in 2006, when the Armenian Street wing of the Asian Civilisations Museum closed for a major revamp. The management chose Peranakan culture over a children's museum or a Chinese ceramics museum, and the revamp added 25 percent more exhibition space to show Peranakan home life and customs. It remains a sister museum of the Asian Civilisations Museum. The galleries show carved and gilded cabinets and chests, embroidered textiles, silverware, colourful ceramics, a decorated wedding carriage and traditional dress. A white ornamental screen surrounds a round opening in the ceiling. The displays explain family, customs and marriage, so it suits anyone curious about people's stories as well as objects. It is 500 m in a straight line from Clarke Quay and 300 m from CHIJMES. The museum says it opens daily from 10 am to 7 pm, until 9 pm on Fridays, with last entry half an hour before closing. Buy online if you can, as the museum recommends, and it makes a good escape from the midday heat.