Tan Kim Seng Fountain

Site #5: Tan Kim Seng Fountain:

I brought you’ll here to show you, one of the people who contributed to letting us have fresh drinking water.

This fountain is built in recognition of Tan Kim Seng who is a prominent Chinese Community leader and philanthropist. He donated a sum of $13,000 in 1857 to the Municipal council for the purpose of bringing free piped water to the town as in the past there were no clean water. Many people died out of illness cause by the unclean water. To prevent this from happening any further, Tan Kim Seng generously donated the large amount of money to help with the project.

The fountain has four women at the top followed by four faces of old men lastly children right at the bottom.

Bronze sculptures along Singapore River

Site 4: Bronze sculptures along Singapore River:

The reason I have brought you here is because I wanted you to see the people who helped us improve our economy and develop our nation.

The many bronze statues you see show us some of the early pioneers who stepped foot into our nation and help us grow.

The above photo shows the pioneers of the banking industry. Sitting in the middle is an Indian chettiar. The European banker on his right and a Chinese moneylender to his left. They were the forefathers of modern banking in the island.

The picture above shows a few coolies and a kepala or labour gang leader sitting on a sack of rice. The long plait of hair on their backs make me think that the labourers who came here to work were mostly from China.

War Memorial Park

Site #3: War Memorial Park:

The reason I’m bringing you to the War Memorial Park is to show you what our country did to commemorate the brave civilians who died in the Second World War.

This park is a prominent and well-known feature of the Civic District because of the civilian War Memorial fondly referred to as "The Chopsticks". The 61 metres tall memorial comprises four columns, which represent the four races, joined at the base signifying the unity of all races and is dedicated to the civilians of all races who were victims of World War II. The 4 different languages on the plaques are English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

Today, the park is characterised by open lawn areas with Gnetum gnemon (Melinjau) trees lining the walkway leading up to the memorial from the four corners of the park. Around the memorial is a pond.

In 1963, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew set aside the present piece of land for the building of a memorial. Upon its completion in 1967, the memorial was officially unveiled by the then Prime Minister Lee, who laid a wreath on behalf of the Government and the people of Singapore. On 15 February every year, memorial services opened to the public are held at the park.

Lim Bo Seng Memorial

Site #2: Lim Bo Seng Memorial:

The reason I brought you here to Lim Bo Seng’s Memorial is because I wanted you all to see a war hero who was tortured because he didn’t want to betray his comrades.

Lim Bo Seng raised funds to support the Chinese war effort after the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Because of his anti-Japanese activities the British government considered banishing him from Singapore. He hired workers to defend Singapore and assisted in blowing up the Causeway when the British forces retreated from Malaya to Singapore. Even when it was clear that Singapore would fall the Japanese in 1942, he joined the underground resistance movement in Malaya. The Japanese Military Police (the Kempetai) captured him in March 1944 because he was given away by one of his comrades, Lai Teck, who was a triple agent between Force 136, the Japanese and the British.

The Japanese tortured him to find out more information on Force 136 but he refused. Soon he fell ill with dysentery because of the lack of food and the unhealthy living conditions in the prison. He was bedridden until he died. He died on 29 June 1944 and was buried behind the prison in an unmarked spot.

His wife, after knowing that her husband had died, went with her eldest son to collect his remains. He had a proper funeral which was held on 13 January 1946 at City Hall. His remains were then transported in a coffin to a hill in MacRitchie Reservoir for burial with full military honours.

Raffles Landing Site

Site #1: Raffles Landing Site:



The reason I’m bringing you to Raffles Landing Site is because this was the place where the founder of modern Singapore, Thomas Stamford Raffles, landed when he wanted to enter our country, Singapore. Also, he contributed to us becoming the country we are today.

Raffles had ventured to Singapore in the hope of establishing a British port to compete with the Dutch ports in the region.

Raffles, an agent of the British East India Company, ventured to Singapore hoping to establish a free port and a halfway point for traders along the China-India trade routes. After signing the preliminary treaty with Temenggong Abdul Rahman, the official treaty with Sultan Hussein of Johore-Riau was signed on 6 February 1819, giving the British the right to establish a trading port on the island.

From the 19th Century, Singapore’s success as the “Great Commercial Emporium of the East” owed much to its free port status and strategic location. The Singapore River became the main artery of trade, where port, trading and warehouse facilities developed along the riverbanks.

The team members

This blog is created by students of Sec 1D:
1. Samantha Chong
2. Toh Wen Jie
3. Ariel Yue
4. Cheryl Yap
5. Eunice Tan