The National Museum Is Telling Singapore’s Story Differently This National Day

By Jessica Ye (Jessica Yap)

Every National Day brings another opportunity to revisit Singapore’s story. This year, the National Museum of Singapore asks a different question: whose stories are we remembering?

That idea runs through the museum’s National Day season, Myths, Legends & the Stories That Made Us. There are familiar touchpoints, from the legend of Sang Nila Utama to family-friendly storytelling sessions, projection mapping and live performances. But the programme feels most compelling when it shifts the focus from well-known myths to the people still shaping Singapore today.

At the centre of that conversation is Our Favourite Haunts: Through the Lens of Migrant Workers, the fourth edition of the Migrant Workers Photography Festival, presented at the National Museum for the first time.

The exhibition arrives with more than 100 submissions exploring the idea of “haunt” in both its literal and emotional sense. Some photographs are dreamlike and unsettling, while others find warmth in ordinary neighbourhoods, friendships and quiet moments of belonging. Together, they reveal how the same city can hold entirely different meanings depending on who is looking at it.

What makes the exhibition especially compelling isn’t simply the photography itself. It’s the voices behind the lens.

The participating photographers come from Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines. Some are construction professionals, others domestic workers, writers or volunteers. Many speak about discovering photography as a creative outlet during their days off, while others reflect on finding community, purpose and even a second home in Singapore. Their photographs become more than artistic exercises. They are personal records of the lives they have built alongside the work that brought them here.

It’s a perspective that fits naturally within this year’s National Day theme.

The museum’s programme explores the stories that have shaped Singapore across generations, from founding legends to living traditions. Projection mapping artwork Voyage of Icons by Singapore artist Howie Kim transforms the museum’s façade into an illustrated journey through Singapore’s past and imagined future, while workshops, heritage hunts, performances and interactive storytelling invite visitors of all ages to reconnect with stories that continue to evolve.

On 9 August, visitors can spend the day exploring the museum with free admission to all galleries, including Singapore Odyssea: A Journey Through Time and the special exhibition Once Upon a Tide: Singapore’s Journey from Settlement to Global City, before settling onto the Front Lawn for a live telecast of the National Day Parade under the evening sky.

There is plenty happening across the museum, but the photography exhibition lingers longest.

National Day often encourages us to reflect on where Singapore has come from. Our Favourite Haunts gently reminds us to think about who is helping shape where it is going. Through photographs of familiar streets, overlooked corners and everyday encounters, the exhibition reveals that the city’s story has never belonged to one community alone.

Perhaps that’s what makes this year’s programme feel different. The National Museum isn’t replacing the stories Singapore already knows. It’s making room for more of them.