What is special about the National Museum of Singapore?

It is the country's oldest museum

Where did the museum begin?

As a library in Raffles Institution

What is the Singapore Stone?

A fragment of an inscribed ancient rock

What is Story of the Forest?

A digital artwork based on natural history drawings

National Museum of Singapore Quiz: Galleries and Colonial Roots

This National Museum of Singapore quiz explores the domed building on Stamford Road that tells the island's story. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on its 1849 roots, the Raffles Library and Museum, the stained glass dome, the Singapore History Gallery, the Singapore Stone and Story of the Forest.

Start National Museum of Singapore Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Oldest
What is special about the National Museum of Singapore?
Early
Where did the museum begin?
Building
When did its current building open?
Road
Which road is the museum on?
Dome
What crowns the building?
Gallery
Which gallery tells the island's story over 700 years?
Stone
What is the Singapore Stone?
Forest
What is Story of the Forest?
Drawings
Whose natural history collection inspired Story of the Forest?
Rename
In which decade was it renamed the National Museum?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What is special about the National Museum of Singapore?
Answer: It is the country's oldest museum
Its roots go back to 1849.
Q2: Where did the museum begin?
Answer: As a library in Raffles Institution
It grew from a small collection.
Q3: When did its current building open?
Answer: 1887
It was called the Raffles Library and Museum.
Q4: Which road is the museum on?
Answer: Stamford Road
It sits near Fort Canning.
Q5: What crowns the building?
Answer: A dome with stained glass
It is lit from above.
Q6: Which gallery tells the island's story over 700 years?
Answer: Singapore History Gallery
Visitors walk through its eras.
Q7: What is the Singapore Stone?
Answer: A fragment of an inscribed ancient rock
The boulder was blown up in 1843.
Q8: What is Story of the Forest?
Answer: A digital artwork based on natural history drawings
teamLab created it.
Q9: Whose natural history collection inspired Story of the Forest?
Answer: William Farquhar's
Local artists painted the drawings.
Q10: In which decade was it renamed the National Museum?
Answer: The 1960s
It followed Singapore's independence.

National Museum Of Singapore Quiz – Galleries and Colonial Roots

The National Museum of Singapore is the country's oldest museum, with roots in a library set up at Raffles Institution in 1849. Its current neoclassical building on Stamford Road opened in 1887 as the Raffles Library and Museum.

It was renamed the National Museum in the 1960s after independence. A dome with stained glass crowns the old building, and a modern glass extension opened after a major renovation in 2006.

The Singapore History Gallery traces around 700 years of the island's story. Visitors can see a fragment of the Singapore Stone and Story of the Forest, a digital artwork by teamLab based on William Farquhar's natural history drawings.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

How the museum began
What the building looks like
Which galleries to visit
What the Singapore Stone is
What Story of the Forest shows

Did You Know?

The museum sits beside Fort Canning Park.
It hosts festivals and night events.
The Glass Rotunda links old and new wings.
Entry is free for Singapore citizens.
The Singapore Stone's script is still not fully read.