photo by shari smith dunaif 2014
Singapore recently opened its first cat museum: Lion City Kitty Cat Museum Singapore. The Lion City Kitty cat museum celebrates the diverse history of Singapore’s cats. It’s also an adoption centre. Located at Purvis Street in the heart of Singapore’s city centre, the three-storey Lion City Kitty Cat Museum features multi-media exhibits that showcase a variety of cat themed artwork and various items of feline kitsch.
The museum is the brainchild of Jessica Seet, a former local radio news reporter and a cat lover herself.
“There are a few cat museums in the world, but I believe the Lion City Kitty of Singapore is the very first museum with live cats. And I didn’t want a museum where people just come to see arts and crafts, I really wanted people to understand there was an inspiration behind the art and the inspiration is really the beautiful animals. Visitors can interact and play with real cats on the two upper floors of the museum, the Muse Gallery and The Mansion.
The purpose of the museum and having resident cats is to change the public perception towards cats, and to create a stronger interest in local breeds.
Lion City Kitty is the term we coined for the local kitty cats that live right here in Singapore,” said Ms. Seet.
To achieve that, Seet works in collaboration with the Singapore Cat Welfare Society (CWS). The organization brings in rescued or abandoned cats to stay in the Muse Gallery, an entire floor dedicated to the cats available for adoption, for a three month rotation period.
“I think we have changed the perspective of some people. Previously they may have thought that it would be better to buy exotic cats, because they are more exclusive and expensive as opposed to local cats. Also people realise how easy it is to take care of a cat,” said Sya Shukor, Cat Welfare Society. 
“The Lion City Kitty museum is very different from the cat café that we have around here, because it is a non profit organization, it’s more about educating the people…and we can save a life and adopt instead of buy,” she said.
Seet also hopes to expand into cat therapy programs and plans to work with the Cat Welfare Society to provide cats identified with a calm personality as therapy cats. The cats would be brought to hospitals and senior homes to visit patients or senior citizens.
