Monument Trail - Singapore

 Singapore- World's favourite tourist spot, is always bustling with tourists! Last two years were surely a blow on tourism industry due to Covid, but now Singapore Government has declared a fund of 500 Million Singapore Dollars for the recovery of the tourism industry. Opening of the air routes will surely improve Singapore Tourism scene. 

All tourists who visit Singapore are dazzled by the ever shining, ever clean, ever modern Singapore City. But some tourists yearn for something old, ancient, some thing from the bygone era and they complain that Singapore has none of it. 

In a way it's true because every now and then buildings are rebuilt, areas are restructured and kept up to date. But at the same time Singapore also cherishes the old memories. I really appreciate the way Singapore maintains the memories of the bygone days.  Today we are going for one such trail, the Monument trail.

 

Monument trail

Monument trail tells you about the history and heritage of Singapore. 

Monument Trail takes you to many places but all of them are nearby each other. So if you are ready to walk about a kilometer or two and have one and half hours in hand then you can easily see all the spots on this trail. 

Though a start and end of the trail is given on the map, you can start from any point. It won't make any difference. You can either get down at Raffles place or City hall or Esplanade Stations. 

I would start from a building which is known to each and every Singapore Visitor, that is Asian Civilisation Museum Building. 

Asian Civilisation Museum

Asian Civilisation Museum. 

Asian Civilisation Museum or popularly known as ACM building was initially built as Court House in 1867. But it became the building consisting of many government offices and was expanded a few times with new constructions.  It was known as Empress Building and the ground in front of this building was named as Empress Place in 1907 to honour Queen Victoria of England.  That time she was referred as Queen Of India. It was said in 1905, that apart from India, no where in East you can find majestic buildings like these.  

Installations 

Reflection!

The Art House at the Old Parliament

The art house at the old parliament house is the oldest government building in Singapore. 

One place which changed the course of the history of Singapore is the place where Sir Raffles had landed in the small town named Singapura! He came and with him brought the British rule. Singapore became British Colony and the port was tremendously beneficial for the East India company and British government. Near the  same place now stands statue of Sir Raffles. 

Sir Stamford Raffles

Dalhousie Obelisk

Dalhousie Obelisk, is a needle shaped monument. It was rather the first public monument built in British era in 1850 when Singapore was ruled from Kolkata (Bengal, India). It was erected in the honour of Lord Dalhousie when he had  visited  Singapore in 1850. Though original location was somewhere else since more than hundred years the obelisk is at present location. 

Dalhousie Obelisk

Dalhousie Obelisk

Cavanagh Bridge

Next Monument is Cavanagh Bridge. It is one of the oldest and impressive bridges across Singapore River. Most probably it's the oldest surviving suspension bridge in Singapore. Completed in 1869, it was built by Indian Convicts serving sentence in Singapore.  Previously there was a plaque near the bridge saying so. I had seen it many times since 2005.  But when I had visited it in March 2022, after a gap of nearly seven - eight years, I saw that the plaque is removed. This bridge connects North and South banks of Singapore river. 

Cavanagh Bridge and the Famous Fullerton Hotel

Cavanagh Bridge

Anderson Bridge

Due to increasing trade, Cavanagh bridge was insufficient to hold the traffic. So another bridge was built in 1909 which was named Anderson Bridge. It is also a national monument now. 

Anderson Bridge

Anderson Bridge 

Anderson Bridge 

Esplanade park is a beautiful park and is favourite spot for a leisurely stroll. Some of the important monuments  in Esplanade Park are namely Lim Bo Seng Memorial, Tan Kim Seng Fountain and Cenotaph. 

Lim Bo Seng Memorial

At the time of World War II , the Japanese Occupation, the people in Singapore were oppressed by Japanese army. Some of them did resist the Japanese rule. Major Lim Bo Seng was the leader of the revolution who died in 1944. 

Lim Bo Seng Memorial

Lim Bo Seng Memorial

Tan Kim Seng Fountain

Tan Kim Seng was a wealthy trader who donated large sums to government for waterworks and reservoirs. To commemorate his donations, this fountain having Greek mythological figures on it was erected in 1882.

 

Tan Kim Seng Fountain

Cenotaph

The third National Monument in Esplanade park  is the Cenotaph. It was erected in 1910 in the memory of and to honour the soldiers who had given their lives in WWI. In 1951, on the other side of the Cenotaph, names of those soldiers who fought for Singapore in WWII were written. 

The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph

The Cenotaph

Cenotaph- WWII

From the Cenotaph site you can get a beautiful view of two important buildings one is Old Supreme Court Building and other is the City hall. 

Old Supreme Court building

City Hall Building

Indian National Army marker site

Nearby the Lim Bo Seng memorial, you can see the Indian National Army marker site. Indian National Army founded by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was on the side of Japanese forces and fought against British in WWII. A memorial was erected in the honour of INA in 1945 during the time of Japanese occupation. The foundation stone was laid by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose himself. The Urdu words inscribed on the memorial were Etihaad(Unity), Itmad(Faith) and Kurbani( Sacrifice) which were motto of INA. 

But when the Japanese had to surrender and the British gained control of Singapore again, Lord Mountbatten ordered to destroy the memorial. Now only a marker  remains which was erected in 1995 with the donations from Indian community. 

INA Memorial Site Marker

The surroundings are beautiful. You can spend some time in the park. 

The last stop in our monument trail was the war memorial park. 

War Memorial park

This park contains Civilian War Memorial. While going to the park, you will see an interesting feature. 

Stamford Bridge

 These are the remains of Stamford Bridge which was on this site in 1956!

Civilian War Memorial

This memorial was erected in memory of those Singaporeans who had died in WWII during Japanese occupation. This number is supposed to be 50,000 and it is said that mass graves were found at many places in Singapore. This memorial  stands on the chambers where remains from all mass graves are buried. 

The four pillars stand for the unity of the four ethnic groups in Singapore namely Indian, Malay, Chinese and others. 

Civilian War Memorial

Civilian War Memorial

Civilian War Memorial

Locals sometimes fondly call this memorial as chopsticks due to its tapering shape. 

This monument trail surely tells you a lot about Singapore History. 

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