Your base for exploring this destination is the city of Singapore. For travel information about Singapore, go to Singapore Travel Guide. If planning a trip to Singapore, view the Singapore Budget Accommodation Map to find a suitable place to spend the night.
The Peranakan Museum is a museum in Singapore. Its address is 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179939. It was formerly a branch of the Asian Civilisations Museum.
The Peranakan Museum is housed in the former Tao Nan School Building. The museum encapsulates the world of the Peranakan, also known as Baba Nyonya. In general terms, this refers to the Straits Chinese who lived in Singapore, Malacca and Penang. The culture of the Peranakan is a fusion of Chinese culture blended with local elements. The very term "Peranakan" means Straits-born, referring to people who were born in the Malay peninsula who can trace their ancestry to a foreign land. To be precise, Peranakan can refer not only to the Straits Chinese but also other groups including the Indian Peranakans (called the Chitty), and the Jawa Peranakan or Jawi Pekan. At the Peranakan Museum, one can learn about all the Peranakan communities, from the three aforementioned cities as well as in other cities in Southeast Asia.
The Peranakan Museum of Singapore officially opened to the public on 26 April, 2008, after lengthy renovation and preparation work starting at the end of 2005. The building in which it is housed is the former Tao Nan School, which used to house the Asian Civilisations Museum, before it moved to its present located at the Empress Place Building. The Asian Civilisations Museum is the parent of the Peranakan Museum.
Front façade of the Peranakan Museum, photographed when it was still undergoing renovations.
The Old Tao Nan School was set up by Hokkien clansmen of the Singapore Hokkien Association, to preserve Chinese culture and heritage. There were 110 founding members to the school, and one of its first presidents as well as founding member was the wealthy leader, Tan Kah Kee, who donated huge sums to the school as well as to other Chinese schools. The Tao Nan School also received patronage from sugar baron Oei Tiong Ham, who donated $10,000 for the purchase of the land on which the school was built.
The medium of instruction was originally Hokkien, but it switched to Mandarin in 1912, an unprecedented move coming at the wake of the fall of Chinese imperial rule in mainland China and the establishment of a republic.
The Old Tao Nan School building was built between 1910-1912 in the Neo-classical style. The central entrance leads to an atrium with a skylight. Symmetrical staircases lead up to the galleries and corridors on the second and third floors. The verandahs were made especially wide. The Old Tao Nan School building housed the Asian Civilisations Museum until 1 January 2006, when it was closed for renovations, with the reopening slated for 2008, when it hence be known as the Peranakan Museum.
The Peranakan Museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:30am to 7:00pm, with extended hours to 9:00pm on Fridays.
Peranakan Museum Admission Charges
S$6.00 for adults, S$3.00 for children aged above 6 years old. Group fare for 20 pax and more is S$5.00 for adults and S$2.50 for children. Family fare of S$25.00 is also available, for families of up to 5 persons. There is also a joint-ticket fare of S$10.00 for adults and S$5.00 for children, allowing one to visit both the Peranakan and Asian Civilisations Museums, on condition that the ticket be used within 7 days of purchase. There is free admission between 7:00 and 9:00pm on Fridays, and half fare on the other opening times on Fridays. Children aged 6 and below enjoy free admission. Senior citizen aged 60 and above, and full time students also enjoy free admission on Mondays.
Side view of the Asian Civilisations Museum Hall.
Hotel Room Price Checker
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
AsiaExplorers is researched and written by Timothy Tye. Reasonable care is taken to check and verify the accuracy of the content. AsiaExplorers disclaims responsibility for any inconvenience, mishap, injury or death resulting from following the tips and advice provided directly or indirectly by this website. All pages may be printed out for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a dofollow link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Photographs not credited to a third party belong to Timothy Tye and may not be reused in any form unless you are first given permission. Write in to inquire if interested. Third party photographs are governed by their respective licenses. To contact Tim, write to the following email address:
The Peranakan Museum, Singapore
