Road to PSLE: Civic District / Singapore River Heritage Tour

I had planned this field trip months back and it had taken me a whole day to work out the route we would take and also read up on the points of interest. Finally this morning, we were off on our Civic District / Singapore River Heritage Tour!

We started off at the Civilian War Memorial, dedicated to the civilians who died during the Japanese Occupation. We'd passed by this monument countless times but this was the first time we actually went right up to it. Ah, so this is what it looks like within the 4 pillars.

Civilian War Memorial with its 4 pillars, one each for the Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians killed during the Japanese Occupation

Then it was off to the Esplanade Park. First stop: Tan Kim Seng Fountain erected in 1882 by the Municipal Council in recognition of Tan Kim Seng's $13,000 donation to the Singapore Water Works. I wanted to kick myself when I got home and was uploading the photos. I had forgotten to take a picture of the beautiful Victorian fountain. Arghhh!!! So instead, here is a very very old photo of the fountain in its original location at Fullerton Square (see bottom left corner of photo). The fountain shifted to its present location in 1925.

Looking at the photo, it would seem the fountain, nicely shaded by some trees, was a popular place to sit and watch the world go by, or you could imagine people saying, "let's meet at the fountain". In its present location, it stands away from the hustle and bustle of the city, as if the excitement were all too much for the grand dame.

"Meet you at the Tan Kim Seng Fountain after work!"

The next monument along the Esplanade Park has a special place in my heart because it was the site of one of my favourite childhood photos. Here is the shot taken at the Cenotaph more than 30 years ago:

And here's a remake of the shot. I'm not sitting half as elegantly as Mummy and the girls are much bigger than the original three munchkins but it's a good attempt at repeating history. And notice that the steps are so much dirtier now... eeeww!!!

The next point of interest is a very well known one, if not by sight then by name - the Lim Bo Seng Memorial. I imagine there can be no student in Singapore not already familiar with the the name of this WWII hero. While not taking away any of his deserved glory, I like to remind the girls that Lim Bo Seng was but one of many people who sacrificed their lives for their country.

The other war hero often cited by the powers that be is Lt Adnan Saidi of the Malay Regiment who fought valiantly at Bukit Chandu. Notice that we have one Chinese war hero and one Malay war hero? *wink* *wink* My theory on this focus on particular individuals is that it gives school children specific individuals to look up to and emulate, something less easily accomplished where the subject is a group of people. They think of everything don't they!

Lim Bo Seng Memorial. If you have not heard of Lim Bo Seng, you either are not a student in a Singapore school or you absolutely do not pay attention in class.

After walking through a tunnel under Fullerton Road, we arrived at the Dalhousie Obelisk. I feel sorry for the merchants who contributed money to erect this monument in honour of Lord Dalhousie's visit in 1850. They had hoped that the Governor-General of India's visit would lead to dramatic improvements to public works, amenities and administration of the settlements. But the VIP came and left and the flattery did not result in much progress so I think the obelisk was a bit of a waste of money. They say that the monument also acts as a reminder of the benefits of free trade. Yeah whatever...

The Dalhousie Obelisk. What's the point?

A short walk away we come to someone who really did make a difference in our history. Standing in front of the Victoria Theatre and Victoria Memorial Hall is the bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. It was unveiled at the Padang facing the sea in 1887 and shifted to its present site in 1919 during Singapore's centenary celebrations.

Here's the statue in its original location in the middle of the Padang with St Andrew's Cathedral in the background. After suffering hits from soccer balls and being used as a seat by spectators, the statue was moved to a safer site where it could better maintain its dignity.

"Ouch! Damn soccer balls!"

We went round the back of Victoria Theatre and found ourselves at Old Parliament House. "Old" because it is no longer used as a parliament house. Neither was it originally meant to be used as such. Constructed in 1826, the building was designed by George Coleman as a residence for Scottish merchant John Argyle Maxwell who leased it out to the government to use as a Court House. It is the oldest surviving structure in Singapore but has been modified so much over the years that little remains of Coleman's original design.

Old Parliament House with the Elephant Statue, a gift from King Chulalongkorn, in commemoration of his visit to Singapore in 1871, the first visit to a foreign land by a Thai monarch.

Maxwell's House designed by George Coleman

Heading towards the river, we arrived at the Raffles Landing Site, supposedly where the founder of Singapore set foot on this island. The white polymarble statue of Raffles found here was cast from the original 1887 bronze statue.

Ok enough walking. After cooling down with some ice cream and green tea, we were ready for part 2 of the tour - a ride up and down the Singapore River on a bumboat!

The cruise was much more pleasant that I had anticipated. I didn't realise till now that the bumboats ran on electricity, so it was nice and quiet (save for the commentary which fortunately was not annoying). The gentle breeze made the ride all the more enjoyable such that I quite regretted not taking the longer route that runs all the way to Robertson Quay. If we had gone that way, I could have pointed out to the girls where Pulau Saigon used to be. Not many people know that there used to be islets along the river, one of them being Pulau Saigon. The condominium River Place and part of Clemenceau Avenue are situated where the islet used to be.

The boat made a U-turn at Clarke Quay and headed back towards the mouth of the river and we got off at Merlion Park. I asked the girls what two animals is the Merlion a composite of and they replied "mermaid and lion". The correct answer is fish and lion. Apparently, the lion head symbolises the legend of the rediscovery of Singapura by Sang Nila Utama and the fish tail alludes to our humble beginnings as a fishing village. Hmm, good job by the souvenir committee of the Singapore Tourism Board.

With that we came to the end of our heritage tour and we started on our way to Raffles City for lunch. We took the opportunity to walk across Anderson Bridge. This bridge was constructed in 1910 to cope with the increasing traffic which was putting a strain on neighbouring Cavenagh Bridge. Following the opening of Anderson Bridge, Cavenagh Bridge was converted into a pedestrian bridge.

To get to Raffles City, we had to pass through Esplanade Park again. We walked along the side of the park and were excited to find a Cannonball Tree. We picked up a cannonball fruit from the ground and from its size and weight, it was easy to see why the tree was named such. Closer to Raffles City, near the underpass exit at the end of Esplanade Drive, we found another Cannonball Tree, this one heavily overladen with fruit; it was quite a sight! Arghh I should have taken a photo of that one too!

Finally we made it to the air-conditioned comfort of Raffles City. Tai Pi and Pumpkin had fun with the Japanese toilet seat with integrated bidet which seems unique to this mall. We had lunch at Shodoku Japanese Food Bazaar, a favourite with the girls and a satisfying end to our excursion.