May Khuen Chung - Director, National Museum of Singapore

Chung May Khuen is currently Director of the National Museum of Singapore (NMS).

She began her career as an Assistant Curator at the Asian Civilisations Museum in 1997, and joined NMS in 2003. In 2003, May Khuen joined the National Museum of Singapore (NMS; then Singapore History Museum), where she curated the Fashion Gallery (Singapore Living Galleries), in addition to overseeing the content development of the other three living galleries. She was posted to the Heritage Conservation Centre in 2016 as Deputy Director overseeing both collections and conservation services, before rejoining NMS in June 2019 and being appointed as Director later that year.

Since 2020, May Khuen has been working with her team to define what it means to present a meaningful immersive experience at the National Museum of Singapore. The pandemic had provided her the opportunity to rethink and re-invent the museum’s approaches to storytelling including the use of technology. In May 2020, the Collecting Contemporary Singapore initiative was launched by the museum, signalling a move to bridge the gap between Singapore’s past and present for its visitors. In 2022, she continued to experiment and push the boundaries with the showcase Off/On: Technology in the everyday lives of Singapore from 1970s-2000s, creating one of the most immersive and interactive experiences that resonated with many.

May Khuen received her MA in History and Culture of Fashion from the London College of Fashion (UK) in 2009, under a full scholarship from the National Heritage Board.