Right after I complained about the recent hot weather just yesterday, the sky immediately gave us a much needed rain to cool off the heat today. Good one but on a not-so-good timing for me. I was on my way back home from MRT station when the heavy downpour (along with strong gusts of wind) occurred. Soaking wet from the sweltering heat yesterday and soaking wet again today but this time it’s from the rain.
Anyway, as planned yesterday, I went to visit the Singapore Navy Museum early today to get a sense of completeness after having visited Singapore Air Force Museum yesterday. It’s like a combo (have to visit the other half for a full package kind of feel). Singapore Navy Museum is located at the Tanah Merah coastline close to the Changi Naval Base. It is situated on a huge reclaimed land of which a large chunk of it will be dedicated to Changi Airport Terminal 5 in near future.
As it is located in a very isolated location and it’s quite inconvenient to reach there by public transport, the navy museum is one of the less popular museums in the country. That is why during my visit today (it’s Sunday), I saw less than 10 visitors (I was there for 2 hours). However, they do offer free shuttle bus to and from Expo MRT station (only on weekends and public holidays). Its website mentioned free entry for Singaporeans and PR but charges SGD8 for foreigners. However, when I was there, admission is complimentary for everyone.
The navy museum has 3 levels of indoor galleries with multiple sections diving deep into Singapore’s maritime history, historical beginning of RSN (Republic of Singapore Navy), evolution of RSN ships over the years, information of Naval Diving Unit (NDU), missiles, partnerships with navies worldwide, maritime security, etc. There are also two theatres (providing 2 brief video presentations) and a small gift shop (at the exit).
There is an outdoor gallery which displays a collection of historic guns and weapon systems sourced from decommissioned ships. However, I find that the outdoor gallery is lackluster. It would again be better if they parked at least a decommissioned warship right besides the museum and allow visitors for a walkthrough for an immersive experience (since the museum is already located besides Changi Navy Base). I saw a huge Singapore’s warship from the museum ground at a distance.
I actually find that the navy museum gave a slightly better experience than the air force museum I visited yesterday. The former is larger, has a more spacious layout and contains more informative displays (a lot of readings required though…haha). I arrived at the museum at 11.15am and I tried my best to tour the whole museum before the next shuttle bus time at 12.30pm. I was late for 3 minutes and the shuttle bus was gone (so on time).
I had to wait for the next one at 1.30pm (took that waiting time to walk around the museum ground, played mobile game and editing & uploading the pictures I took at the museum to my social medias immediately; making good use of the time!). I was the only one on the shuttle bus en-route back to Expo MRT station which shows clearly how unpopular this museum is due to its isolated location. However, I must say that this museum is really worth-visiting (and it’s free!).
Vincent Loy's Online Journal 