Singapore Site Seeing Tour - End

That concludes my journey. I really cannot imagine that I actually walked that far. The places are just so intriguing to stop. I wished I had more strength to walk on.

I was looking through Uniquely Singapore website today, there are certainly plenty more places of interest that I missed and that I wanna go. For example, the ride on the balloon and the 7 storey hotel which house Singapore's oldest lift.

Now then, take a look at the abstracts I took along the way.





Hong Kong has streets of signboards all around the streets. I say Singapore have streets of air cons!!!

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - Kampong Glam

When Sir Stamford Raffles signed the treaty on Temasek, under Raffles Plan of 1822, the settlement was divided into different ethnic groups, which includes European Town, Chinese, Chulia, Arab and Bugis Kampong. Kampong Glam was designated for the Sultan and his household, as well as the Malay and Arab communities, many of whom were merchants. It was situated east of what was then the European Town.

Sultan Hussain Shah built a palace in Kampong Glam and brought his family and a complete entourage from the Riau islands. Many of the Sultan's and Temenggong's followers came to Kampong Glam from the Riau Islands, Malacca and Sumatra.

To befit his status, he built a mosque beside his palace in 1824.I always wondered, isn't palace a hugh house? Well it should be at least the size of the Istana.

Not far down the road, there is another mosque by the name of Masjid Hajjah Fatimah. It was named after a wealthy business women who donated to build the mosque in 1846.It is situated at her former house at Java Road, and her house was broken twice and, on the second occasion it was set on fire.

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - Site of Interest

I was walking down Beach Road and the balloon ride site caught my attention.Just imagine the sight I can get from balloon ride; bird eye view of CBD of Singapore. I looked through the website, and found that it cost S$23 to get onto the balloon for approximately 10 minutes.

Next is this building I saw along the way. The statues at the top often reminds me of Gotham City building where Bruce Willies works, then he will have some tunnel to go to his mansion to become Batman!

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - Raffles Hotel

Started out as 10-room colonial bungalow, the original location was by the seaside, although continued reclamation means that the site is presently some 500 m away from the shore. No asians were permitted until 1930s.

At the start of the Japanese invasion, it was common folklore that say the Japanese soldiers encountered the guests of the Raffles Hotel dancing one final waltz. During World War II, the Raffles was renamed Syonan Ryokan (湘南旅館, shōnan ryokan), incorporating Syonan ("Light of the South"), the Japanese name for occupied Singapore, and ryokan, the name for a traditional Japanese inn. More than 300 Japanese troops committed suicide in the hotel using grenades following the liberation of Singapore.

The common sight of Sikh bell boys in front of the hotel.

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - Civilian War Memorial

The four chopsticks of Singapore, each representing one of the major ethnic groups in Singapore. That is what I thought when I first step foot here.During the Japanese Occupation, many ethnic chinese were massacred in Siglap, Changi and Bukit Timah. The remains were unearthed and set to be put into the memorial in February 1962.

On March 13, 1963, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew set aside the this plot of land in Beach Road for the memorial.
On April 23, 1966, construction of the memorial began. The memorial was completed in January 1967, at a total construction cost of about S$500,000

On February 15, 1967, the Civilian War Memorial was officially unveiled by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who laid a wreath at the memorial. Every year on February 15(Total defense Day in Singapore, representing the 1942 surrender of Singapore to the Japanese), a memorial service is held at the Civilian War Memorial to remember the victims of the war.

The urn which holds the ashes of those who perished in the war.

Before I left there were children asking me how to read these. I was trying to read from the left to right, standard way of reading which made no sense. It was after awhile that a girl actually came up and correct me that it should from the right to the left. That is the original way of reading chinese.
How embarrassing.

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - St Andrew's Cathedral

Who can ever miss the cathedral in the City Hall? It is right smack in the middle of the city right beside the MRT.Can you imagine this very cathedral you see today is the third building? The first church was design by George Drumgoole Coleman and the second was designed by John Turnbull Thomson. This is the second time I am mentioning John Turnbull Thomson. Remembering from my previous post, he was the architect of Cavenagh Bridge in Singapore River.

I did a little research on him. John Turnbull Thomson was appointed Governor Surveyor of Singapore in 1841 and became the Superintendent of Road and Public works in 1844. His legacy in Singapore includes:

1) Report on Singapore's water supply which led to the approval of Thomson Reservoir, now MacRitchie Reservoir.
2) Carried out survey on Straits of Singapore and Keppel harbor.
3) Carried out repairs and lowering of Coleman Bridge.
4) Architect to the following buildings:
- Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca,
- Hajjah Fatimah Mosque
- the spire for the Saint Andrew's Cathedral
- Dalhousie Obelisk
- European Seaman's Hospital,- the first bridge across the Kallang River, known as Thomson
- Tan Tock Seng Hospital at Serangoon Road.

And of course if you realized, much of our Singapore Roads are named after Thomson.

Back to St Andrew's Cathedral, the third design was done by Colonel Ronald MacPherson and there it is standing in the middle of city hall. It was gazetted as a national monument in 6 July 1973.

Take a look at the nave and the interior of the cathedral.


There was also a statue erected for the designer of the current cathedral. Looks like a tombstone though.

Singapore Site Seeing Tour - Memorial Buildings

There are quite a number of memorial building around the area of Boat Quay. Just imagine the amount of history these building withhold.

Dalhousie Obelisk
I never come across this memorial obelisk until today. Singapore is still hiding alot of stuff from me.A bit of history, again.

The Dalhousie Obelisk was built to commemorate the second visit of Marquis of Dalhousie to Singapore, in February 1850. Accompanied by his wife, Marquis of Dalhousie was the Governer-General of India and the objective of the visit was to consider the reduction of administrative expenditure.

However, prominent merchants and traders, who felt that Singapore's infrastructure was not keeping pace with its economic development, wanted Dalhousie to exert his influence in their favour. To win over Dalhousie, they renamed the pier by which he came ashore Dalhousie Ghaut and marked it with a commemorative obelisk. The memorial was also built to remind succeeding merchants of the benefits of free trade.

Victorial Memorial Hall
Built in the era of Victorian Revivalism, the complex started out as a town hall. Construction of neighbouring building in memory of the late Queen Victoria began in 1901. Then on 18 October 1905 it was officially opened as the Victoria Memorial Hall. Along the way, the town hall was renovated and had a unified look with the memorial hall. In 1906, a signature clock was added and it stood in between the two building connecting them as a common corridoor. It stands a height of 54 metres and is topped by a timepiece donated by the Strait Trading Company.

Of course, the addition of the statue of our founder was moved from the Padang to the current location in 1919.

The building's purpose changed throughout the years. As a start, it was a town hall, then a memorial hall. During the Japanese Invasion, it was used a a hospital before the occupation. After the occupation, the hall was used as the venue for Japanese War Crime Trials. People's Action Party was founded in this very hall too.

In 1979, it was renamed as the Victoria Concert Hall and it was gazetted as a national monument on 14 February 1992.

Bronze Elephant From Siam
A gift from King Chulalongkorn as a token of appreciation after his stay on 15 March 1871. Siam was one of the most powerful country at that point of time.

Supreme Court and City Hall
The place that used to hold up to the name of justice and a common place for goverment.
What I like about the Supreme Court is the statue that is above the building. With a sword and a balance on hand, the lady of justice reveals the truth and uphold the justice.