Singapore

THE biggest and most important art museum in the history of Singapore was unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday evening. Accompanied by his wife Ho Ching as well as Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lee spent an hour touring the 64,000 sq m National Gallery Singapore and took in some extraordinary art by the giants of Singapore and South-east Asia.

The museum, which has been 10 years in the making, occupies the former City Hall and Supreme Court buildings. Its handsomely refurbished interiors display more than 800 significant works in the DBS Singapore Gallery and UOB Southeast Asia Gallery. And though they comprise a mix of works owned by the museum as well as those loaned by private collectors and institutions, those owned by the museum are but a fraction of the over 8,000 pieces that the museum oversees.