Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong joined ex-national swimmer Patricia Chan on a tour of a new photo exhibition on Friday evening.

The exhibition called We: Defining Stories, features photos of Ms Chan including one of her at the 1967 South-east Asian Peninsular Games in Bangkok.

Then 13, she took broke 10 records and took home 10 gold medals.

Presented by The Straits Times and NMS, the free exhibition features more than 400 photos and revisits landmark moments in Singapore's history. Held at the museum's Exhibition Gallery 1, it will run from Sunday to Aug 31. Entry is free.

Straits Times readers can flash any copy of the paper or its mobile app on their mobile devices to gain entry to the show on Saturday a day ahead of its public opening, as part of the Straits Times Appreciates Readers (Star) programme.

Divided into six sections: Merdeka (freedom in Malay), Home, Challenges, Heroes, So Singaporean and Our Stories, it features photos from events such as the Sentosa Cable Car incident in 1983 which killed seven people, the 1972 Singapore Grand Prix starting line-up and the first swearing-in ceremony of the first batch of National Service recruits.

Mr Wong said the exhibition is timely in the lead up to Singapore's 50th anniversary.

Said Mr Wong: "From the Maria Hertogh Riots, to the Hotel New World Collapse; the Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) crisis, to icons like Ah Meng and the Merlion - these are all stories that unite us as Singaporeans, as one people, regardless of our race, language or beliefs.

"I am sure that every Singaporean will find something here that resonates with them and with our identity as Singaporeans. So I encourage one and all to visit, and to re-live these shared experiences."