Merlion Park

The Merlion is a statue created by Lim Nang Seng in 1972. It is a statue that has a lion’s head and a body of the fish, standing 8.6 metres in height and weighing 70 tonnes. Initially, it was created as an emblem for the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964.

The lion’s head was to signify the lion that Sang Nila Utama spotted when he came upon Singapore as noted in the Sejarah Melayu (the Malay Annals). The body of the fish on the other hand represents how ancient Singapore was in fact a fishing village and was known as Temasek, meaning sea in Javanese. The Merlion was designed by Mr Fraser Brunner, a curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium.

The Merlion was originally located by the Esplanade Bridge but is now relocated 120m away, adjacent to one Fullerton. The installation ceremony took place in 1975 which was officiated by Senior Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kwan Yew.

A smaller Merlion Statue was also built by Lim Nang Seng, measuring 2 metres in height and weighing 3 tonnes.

The Esplanade

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is known more fondly to Singaporeans as the “durians”. This is due to the exterior of a “spiky dome shaped building”. It is situated by the Marina Bay at the mouth of the Singapore River.

The original Esplanade is in fact a park that was built in 1943 along Connaught Drive. A master plan for an arts centre in 1985 revealed that Esplanade was to be the site that the arts centre would be built upon.

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay was officially 12 October 2002, aimed to position Singapore as a regional hub for the Arts. Singapore’s “world class performance centre” was built at the cost of $600 million, consisting of 1,600-concert seat concert hall, a 2,000 seat theatre and several recital rooms, theatre and rehearsal studios, as well as outdoor performing spaces.

I think that Singapore is taking a step moving towards a cultured society with the Esplanade- theatres on the bay being built but it does not equate Singapore being a cultured society. It merely shows that the government is now recognising the importance of the Arts scene in Singapore. However, I believe that in the long run, it does help educate the masses. The Esplanade has a variety of programmes aimed to cater to a diverse audience. It has programmes of different genre with special emphasis on the Asian culture.