If you only have time for one museum, this is the one I recommend. This fantastic and well-executed exhibit of Southeast Asian culture highlights the history of the region and explores the Chinese, South Indian, and Islamic heritage that helped to shape regional cultures here. Well-planned galleries showcase fine arts, furniture, porcelain, jade, and other relics with excellent descriptions.
The Empress Place Building that houses the museum stood as a symbol of British colonial authority as sea travelers entered the Singapore River. The stately building housed almost the entire government bureaucracy around the year 1905 and was a government office until the 1980s, housing the Registry of Births and Deaths and the Citizenship Registry.