The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (formerly the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore is the custodian of Singapore's natural history.

Re-opening in 2014, the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, resembling a moss-covered rock, will look as prehistoric as the three dinosaurs it will house. Cutting-edge technology will keep the 150 million-year fossils, as well as the region's largest collection of South-east Asian animals, in perfect condition.

The 7,500 sq m museum will be the new home of the respected Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and the three diplodocid sauropod dinosaurs, bought for under $8 million from the United States. The spacious gallery will be able to display up to 10 times more exhibits than the old museum.

The internal temperature will be maintained in the low 20°C with humidity of about 60 per cent to keep the specimens in optimum condition. Research specimens and offices will be housed together, presenting unique challenges for safety issues. To comply with the strict fire regulations, the sprinklers are specially engineered while the dry collection area is equipped with a gas extinguishing system.

The architecture of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum will sport a "prehistoric" boulder-like façade with tiered tropical vegetation. Surrounding the site will be lush indigenous plants and trees, as well as landscaped forests for educational purposes.

The architects put in a two-storey central space in the plan to cater for iconic exhibits such as dinosaurs. This prescient design came in handy when the opportunity to buy three fossils became available. The first long-neck baby dinosaur has arrived and its parents will be shipped in by end of next year.

Blk S6, #03-01, 6 Science Drive 2, Faculty of Science, NUS

Tel: +65 65165082

Singapore's only natural history museum, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has received its latest philanthropic gift of S$25 million from the Lee Foundation. This latest gift enables the RMBR to embark on building a new purpose-designed building for its invaluable collection of animals and plants specimens. To be renamed the 'Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum', the new building will showcase Southeast Asian biodiversity and environmental issues in an exhibition hall that will be 10 times the size of the current gallery.
 
The new museum will also be home to the existing collection of 500,000 specimens of mammals, birds, amphibians and other invertebrates. This is the oldest natural history collection of animals in Singapore, including some century-old artefacts and extinct animals. It is also one of the largest collections of Southeast Asian animals in the region and is the second oldest natural history collection in Southeast Asia after Indonesia's Bogor Museum.

The University believes strongly in the national significance of this project and has provided the museum with a larger and highly strategic site on their Kent Ridge campus. The new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, which is expected to be ready by 2014, will be located adjacent to the NUS University Cultural Centre along Kent Ridge Crescent. When ready, the natural history museum would, with its neighbours the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, the NUS Centre for the Arts and the NUS Museum, be part of a heritage and cultural hub at Kent Ridge.

The RMBR embarked on a fundraising campaign in late 2009 to build a new natural history museum for Singapore after an overwhelming response to an International Museum Day Open House held in May 2009. The open house attracted more than 3,000 visitors, which severely stretched the museum's physical and manpower resources. An unnamed donor, responding to media reports, came forward with a pledge of S$10 million to support the fundraising project. The latest philanthropic donation by the Lee Foundation and with donations from other donors brings the total funds raised to S$46 million.

The funds raised to date will be used for the development of the new natural history museum building. The RMBR Fundraising Committee will soon embark on the next phase of its fundraising efforts to equip the new museum with high-quality new exhibits for the galleries. The RMBR team also hopes to develop a strong public programme.

The RMBR at NUS is the custodian of one of the earliest natural history collections in Southeast Asia. The 160-year-old collection was inherited from the then Raffles Museum and Library at Stamford Road in the 1970s, after the museum was renamed the National Museum and refocused its attention on the arts and history. Over the past 40 years, the collection has grown to more than 566,000 specimens.

In recent years, environmental issues such as climate change and global warming have captured the world's attention. There is increased awareness of the importance of biodiversity as an economic and scientific resource, and how human activities such as the overharvesting of species, introduction of alien species and habitat destruction have caused dramatic losses in biodiversity. The RMBR provides vital scientific expertise in aiding the research that may one day find solutions to these problems.

Public support for the museum and its collections and research has grown tremendously over the years. With the resources bestowed by the benefactors, the new museum hopes to provide larger and more comprehensive exhibition galleries, display even more specimens of historical and scientific significance, and include modern interactive exhibits to further enhance its role in reaching out and engaging the public.

Funds are still needed to make this museum a reality. A website has been launched to accept donations from the public. Your gift will help to create a museum that we all can be proud of! You can donate online, by cheque or call to make donations in cash or other gifts.

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road

Tel: +65 65165082