Peranakan Museum
Formerly, Asian Civilisations Museum, originally Tao Nan School 39 Armenian Street, Singapore 179939
This site is gazetted as a National Monument of Singapore on 27 February 1998.
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 encapsulates the world of the Baba Nyonya, Straits Chinese who lived in Singapore, Malacca and Penang, and created a fusion culture merging Chinese and local elements. 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.
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