Join us this August to make your celebration of Singapore’s 55th birthday a special one!
There will be a variety of programmes for you to celebrate National Day either from the comforts of your home or at the museum.
Please check our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) for updates, especially for those who plan to visit the museum on National Day. We look forward to an enjoyable and safe celebration with you!
On-Site Experience Uncover stories of Singapore
The Hunt@NMS
- 7 – 10 August, 10.30am – 6pm | Various galleries
Complement your museum visit with an exploration of our galleries with The Hunt@NMS! Discover clues that will lead you to exciting artefacts in our museum, and be inspired to view history through a fresh perspective. Solve puzzles, accomplish tasks, share your reflections with us and complete your journey with a special souvenir from the museum.
All you need is a mobile device or tablet with a Facebook account and the Facebook Messenger app. Register online (link will be available towards the end of the month) if you would like to go on The Hunt@NMS. Please remember to take note of safe-distancing guidelines while you are exploring our galleries!
United Through Culture – National Day 2020 Façade Projection at NMS
- 1 – 30 August, 7.30pm –11pm daily
Catch the façade projection at the National Museum of Singapore as it comes alight in celebration of Singapore’s 55th birthday with the theme “Together, a Stronger Singapore”.
Writings on the Wall
- 7 – 10 August, 10am – 7pm | LED Wall, Level 1
What are your hopes and wishes for Singapore, and how we can make a difference? Share them with us and watch as your wishes, along with a selection of the students’ pledges from the Time Capsule, appear on the museum’s LED wall!
Special National Day menu at the museum!
Enjoy a delicious selection of National Day dishes with your family and friends at our F&B outlet. Available for the entire month of August.
National Day Set Menu by Food for Thought | $22
- Nasi Lemak Risotto - grilled barramundi, coconut risotto, sambal ikan bilis & nuts, sunny egg
- Lemongrass Pandan Cooler - ginger syrup, soda water
- Bandung Panna Cotta - pistachio crumble, coconut flakes
Online Experience
National Day Colouring Competition 2020: The Padang of Singapore
- 20 July – 1 August (11.59pm)
For the young ones: share your ideas for the Padang! Do you know what the Padang was like in the 1800s? Who went there, and what kind of activities took place in the area? How would you like the Padang to look like in the future?
Drawing inspiration from the museum’s artefact, The Padang in Singapore (1851) by John Turnbull Thomson, we invite our young audiences up to the age of 13 to share how they would turn the Padang into a place for people to enjoy!
To participate: Please refer to the Terms and Conditions
Download the template here:
Please submit your completed artwork here! All submissions must be received by 11.59pm on 1 August 2020.
The programme and prizes are supported by STAEDTLER and ArtWorks.
@ Home, Truly
- Digital version of Home, Truly: Growing up with Singapore, 1950s to the Present special exhibition
- 3 August
What makes Singapore Singapore? And what makes Singapore home? Journey with us through the @ Home, Truly digital experience, which relives the highs, lows, and moments in-between of Singapore’s journey from its beginnings as a nation to today, through the eyes of Nadine, a curious nine-year-old, and Hock Seng, her beloved grandfather. Each chapter of our characters’ story has been illustrated by a different artist, in their own inimitable style.
@ Home, Truly is a digital experience that complements and serves as a teaser to the physical exhibition, Home, Truly: Growing Up with Singapore, 1950s to the Present, which will open at a later date. The digital experience features a series of posts on Roots.sg about artefacts, photographs, oral histories and video clips related to Singapore’s rich history.
Lighter Side of History: Tasting the Trade Winds with Christopher Tan
- 7 August
Which of your favourite dishes feature ingredients and flavours that have been adapted from different cultures? How were spices, particularly the ones featured in our William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings, incorporated into our local cuisines?
Join award-winning chef and cookbook author Christopher Tan to learn more about the spices and ingredients upon which trading empires were built. These have also become irreplaceable ingredients in many of the fusion foods we enjoy today.
The kueh rose is one such fusion dish eaten during different festivals. Watch this video to learn how to make the lesser-known savoury-spicy kueh rose!
Keen to try some of Christopher’s handmade kueh rose? All you have to do is to submit the correct answers to the quiz at the end of the video. The first 20 viewers with the correct answers will get to taste this dish from the comforts of their homes!*
*Item contains no pork or lard and will be made fresh on delivery day. Limited to one kueh set per mailing address. Details of delivery will be provided closer to the date. Terms and conditions apply.
National Day Music Performances
- 8 and 9 August, 2pm
In this special edition, we bring the performances to you – streamed live from the museum! Sit back and sing along to familiar tunes from the comfort of your homes.
Flame of the Forest
- 8 August
Enjoy familiar National Day tunes played with a unique fusion of Western and Asian instruments such as sitar, tabla, violin and keyboard, brought to you by the band Flame of the Forest.
Live-stream: Performance by The Purple Symphony
- 9 August
The Purple Symphony, Singapore’s largest inclusive orchestra, will present a rousing set comprising “We Will Get There”, “Bunga Sayang”, “Singai Naadu” and “Voices from the People's Hearts”.
All I Have To Do Is Dream – An In-gallery Theatre Performance
- 8 and 9 August
What does the Singapore Dream look like to you and me?
What did the Singapore Dream look like to our seniors who migrated, grew up and witnessed a pre- and post-independent Singapore?
What did the Singapore Dream look like to our seniors who toiled through the days of rapid industrialisation?
What does the 2020 Singapore Dream look like to our retiring and active seniors now?
Two mysterious figures wake up in the National Museum of Singapore on National Day 2020. Both exist to collect dreams – one has the ability to draw out deeper knowledge behind objects, and another uses sign language, sculpting meaning in the air with his fingers. With the help of a young museum worker with Down Syndrome, they embark on a journey through the galleries, collecting dreams of the past and present.
Timmy and Tammy at the National Day Parade Storytelling and Games Session *live-streamed*
- 8 August, 11am (45 min) | Ages 4 and up
Join us for this live session where children can listen to the story of Timmy & Tammy at the National Day Parade, and have a fun-filled time with activities such as a game of charades and a finish-the-lyrics challenge!
The live-stream will take place on the National Museum of Singapore’s Facebook page. A recording of the session will be available after the event.
Encounters with History
- 9 August
Join our docents in this special presentation as they share insights and stories on a selection of artefacts.
HistoriaSG: Songs of Singapore
- 8 August, 4.15pm | live-streamed on the National Museum’s Facebook page
Have you ever wondered about the origin of the National Day songs sung at the National Day Parade each year, or catchy community tunes like “Singapore Town” or “Chan Mali Chan”? Many of the national songs we know and love today were especially commissioned and compiled in the 1980s for Singaporeans to sing together at communal and national events.
Join us for this special edition of HistoriaSG with our speaker Dr Bernard Tan and moderator Eugene Dairianathan. Dr Bernard Tan, who sat in the early Sing Singapore committee, will share more about the challenges of creating and promoting original national music in the years after Singapore’s independence, as well as the development of National Day songs over the years.
Live-stream Workshop: My Colourful Self
- 9 August, 10am (45 mins) | Ages 4 – 12
In this artmaking workshop, learn more about the characteristics of Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim, and how it represents Singapore’s identity. Art therapist Kelly Reedy will share how art can help us express who we are and how we can enjoy the process of drawing and painting using mixed media materials!
Don’t forget to download and print out your own orchid template here, and prepare your art materials before the session!
Recommended materials: Participants should prepare 3 pieces of A4 (or larger) size paper, either a set of oil pastels or wax crayons along with watercolour paints OR a set of watercolour pencils. Please also have available a brush, a container with water and paper towelling.
This programme is presented in collaboration with STAEDTLER and ArtWorks for Wellbeing (www.artworks.sg).
The live-stream will take place on the National Museum of Singapore’s Facebook page. A recording will remain available after the event.
Image Credit: National Museum of Singapore
Age
4+
Price
Free
Links
Address
Singapore93 Stamford Road Bras Basah, South Singapore 178897
How to get there?
By MRT:
Bras Basah MRT Station (5-minute walk)
Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station (5-minute walk)
City Hall MRT Station (10-minute walk)