Skip to main content

New! You can personalise your feed. Try it now

Advertisement

Advertisement

New children's museum draws over 20,000 visitors in under 2 months but 'no shows' deprive some families of tickets

SINGAPORE — The new Children's Museum Singapore is proving popular, pulling in more than 20,000 visitors since opening in December, but "no-shows" seem to have played a role in depriving some families of tickets, especially at peak times.

New children's museum draws over 20,000 visitors in under 2 months but 'no shows' deprive some families of tickets
Follow TODAY on WhatsApp
  • A new museum for children, which opened in December 2022, has drawn more than 20,000 visitors so far
  • However, some parents said that they cannot secure tickets online due to strong demand
  • The museum said that it has an online booking system to manage the flow of visitors, but "no shows" do happen
  • Some parents suggested that the museum allow people to cancel ticket bookings, or have a refundable ticket system to reduce the cases of no-shows 
  • The museum said that it is considering measures to address this

 

    SINGAPORE — The new Children's Museum Singapore is proving popular, pulling in more than 20,000 visitors since opening in December, but "no-shows" seem to have played a role in depriving some families of tickets, especially at peak times.

    The museum is located on Coleman Street near the Central Fire Station, and opened on Dec 8 with free tickets on offer. The historic building used to house the Singapore Philatelic Museum.

    The high demand for tickets has left some parents out in the cold, with some telling TODAY that they have not been able to secure a ticket since bookings opened, particularly during the peak weekend periods. 

    The problem is further exacerbated by no-shows, where those who apply for a ticket online do not show up on their allotted date and time slots. 

    In response to TODAY's queries, the museum said on Thursday (Feb 3) that it has set up a online booking system to manage the flow of visitors, but "no-shows do happen".

    The museum is managed by the National Heritage Board and caters to children who are under the age of 13. Its interactive exhibitions feature Singapore’s history over different time periods. 

    Open from Tuesday to Sunday, it is offering free entry for all visitors from Dec 13 last year to March 31 this year. 

    The facility recommends that visitors book their tickets online, rather than walking in, to guarantee their entry. Those who book online must choose a date and two-hour time slot for their visit. 

    A view inside the Children's Museum Singapore, which used to be the site for the Singapore Philatelic Museum.

    DIFFICULTY SECURING TICKETS

    Even in early December when bookings first opened, several people had commented on the museum's Facebook page that they encountered technical difficulties when trying to secure a ticket. 

    Other parents told TODAY that they had trouble securing a slot. 

    Mr J Hwang, a 42-year-old who works in finance, said that when he tried to book tickets last December, some dates were not greyed out on the website.

    A grey date indicates that there are no tickets available for the day. However, Mr Hwang said that there were no time slots available after he clicked on those dates. He was also unsuccessful in securing tickets in another two attempts last month.

    “I did think to just go down and try my luck, but with a two-year-old in tow, that’s probably a bad idea,” he added.

    I did think to just go down and try my luck, but with a two-year-old in tow, that’s probably a bad idea.
    Mr J Hwang, who tried booking tickets for the Children's Museum Singapore

    A civil servant in her 30s who declined to be named said that she has been unable to get tickets for a weekend visit since bookings opened.

    Checks by TODAY on Friday evening showed that some tickets were available for weekday entries. However, there were no more tickets left for weekends this month and next.

    WHAT THE MUSEUM SAYS

    In response to TODAY’s queries, Mrs Wai Yin Pryke, the museum's director, said that the facility tries to limit entry to 130 people for every two-hour time slot for the safety and comfort of children. 

    The museum uses online booking to better manage the number and flow of visitors, but a small proportion of tickets for each time slot is reserved for walk-ins. 

    She said that the take-up rate for online bookings “has been good”, with weekend slots “almost fully taken up”. 

    However, no-shows do happen, Mrs Pryke said.

    “We would like to encourage ticket-holders to honour their bookings, and to be more considerate of others who would like to visit our museum.” 

    She also said that tickets booked online will be invalidated and released for those who walk in if the ticket-holder does not show up within 10 minutes. 

    DEALING WITH NO-SHOWS 

    The problem of no-shows by Singaporeans here has been reported across other fields, including those in the food-and-beverage (F&B) industry. The problem has led some F&B outlets to require a deposit for reservations.

    Grub, a bistro, has a credit card holding fee of S$50 for reservations involving at least five people at its outlet in Bishan.

    It has a similar requirement for reservations involving at least eight people on weekdays, and at least five people on weekends at its outlets on Stevens Road.

    Patrons are charged if they do not cancel their reservations at least a day ahead. Ms Amanda Phan, Grub’s marketing director, said that this move has made no-shows by large groups “virtually zero”.

    The Asian Civilisations Museum and the National Museum of Singapore, on the other hand, both told TODAY on Friday that no-shows have not significantly affected their programming.

    Both museums have adopted a refundable deposit approach for most of their free programmes to keep attrition rates low. 

    Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser, a sociologist from the National University of Singapore, said that no-shows occur when doing so comes with no negative consequence. 

    However, such behaviour may deprive someone else of an opportunity to attend an event or activity. 

    He added that the best approach to reduce no-shows is by having people understand that it is selfish behaviour. However, imposing a penalty for not turning up could be another option.

    Several visitors at the Children’s Museum Singapore on Friday said that they did not have any problem securing tickets online.

    However, they suggested including a cancellation option on the booking website, or having a refundable ticket system to reduce the occurrence of people not turning up after booking.

    Mrs Pryke said that the museum will look into this matter.

    “It has only been two months since we opened, and we will continue to study visitor patterns, while considering measures to address the issue of attrition.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LORAINE LEE

    Related topics

    Children's Museum Singapore nhb online booking

    Read more of the latest in

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

    Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

    By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.