Johnston's Pier

Johnston's Pier in Singapore, was a jetty, landing-platform for the convenient arrival and departure of sea travellers. It once stood opposite Fullerton Square, and Hong Kong Bank Building at Battery Road and Collyer Quay. Built by the Municipal Commissioners, construction started in early 1854 and was completed on 13 March 1856. In its time many famous dignitaries, including British Royalty and other VIPs first set foot in Singapore on this pier. Johnston's Pier was named after Alexander Laurie Johnston (b. Dumfriesshire S Scotland - d. 19 February 1850, Bluehill. Kircudbright, Scotland), one of the earliest European settlers in Singapore. 

A platform made of iron and wood, extending from shore over water, and supported by piles and pillars, the wide platform of the pier reached out to the sea. These landing facilities included a 7-ton crane costing $900. Initially, only the arrival/departure pier-end was covered, and the increasing number of activity, made it necessary to be entirely sheltered. Two handsome, stylishy designed ornamental lamp-posts, with fluted columns, turn-over leaves, and four copper lanterns were ordered from England to add a bit of elegance to its entrance. Another red lamp used to hang at the end of the pier, warning ships as it entered the harbour. Thus Johnston's Pier was popularly known as Lampu Merah or "Red Lamp" in Malay; and also, Ang Teng (the Hokkien, Chinese dialect name) and Lampu Merah and, Ang Teng, also became the name for Clifford Pier.

By the 1930s, the pier was worn out and the government decided to build a new one and name it after Sir Clifford.

My friend Hing Yan sent me this card.

China Town in Singapore

Singapore's Chinatown is the traditional Chinese quarters of town, and while the entire city is largely Chinese these days the area does retain some of its own charm. The area is also known as Niu Che Shui in Chinese and Kreta Ayer in Malay, both names meaning "bullock cart water", a reference to the carts that used to haul in drinking water.

The area between Pagoda Street and Smith Street has been tarted up considerably for tourists, but workaday Chinatown continues south and east, merging seamlessly into the Central Business District. Tanjong Pagar is the unofficial home of Singapore's gay community, with many watering holes in restored shop houses, while Club Street caters more to the expat and yuppie crowd with small, intimate eateries offering excellent (if pricey) Western fare.

. Chinatown's primary attraction is the town itself, composed as it is of restored shop houses full of strange little shops selling everything from plastic Buddha’s to dried seahorses. Wander at random and see what you can find! As an old Chinese told me, “IF you haven’t seen China town, you haven’t seen Singapore”. And that my friends are absolutely true.

• Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Towering above southern Chinatown, this four-story temple was completed only in 2007. The imposing main hall hosts a 27-foot statue of Maitreya Buddha, and the scared relic itself, reputedly one of Buddha Shakyamuni's teeth,
• Chinatown Heritage Centre, 48 Pagoda St, An excellent museum chronicling how Chinatown came to be and the privation suffered by early migrants.
• Jamae Mosque. One of Singapore's oldest mosques, built in the 1830s by Tamil Muslims in an Indian style. Note the stepped minarets outside.
• Pinnacle@Duxton Skybridge, Singapore's tallest public housing project has a 50th story viewing deck that offers some of the best city views around at a fraction of the cost of the Singapore Flyer.
• Red Dot Design Museum,
• Singapore Coin and Notes Museum, Tiny little museum tucked away across the Chinatown Heritage Centre. Managed by the Singapore Mint, it features local currency, commerative coins, a history of coinage, and the coin-making process. Not exactly a must-see, but a nice little distraction if you're in the area.
• Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's oldest and most important Hindu temple and worth a visit for the intricately carved gopuram (statuary above the entrance), which gave adjacent "Pagoda Street" its name. This is an active temple, so take off your shoes and don't disturb the worshippers. The Thimithi fire-walking festival is held here one week before Deepavali, usually Oct/Nov.
• Thian Hock Keng Temple, The oldest Hokkien temple in Singapore, dating back to 1821, although the structure was thoroughly refurbished in 2000. The brightly colored, elaborate facade was constructed with ironwork from Scotland, tiles from England and the Netherlands, and dragon-ornamented granite pillars from China.
• Singapore City Gallery (URA Gallery), 3-storey visitor gallery with large scaled models of the entire country (ground floor) as well as the city centre (incredibly life-like), which provide good orientation of the country for first-timers. The gallery tells the history of Singapore's urban planning, various planning, design, and conservation strategies adopted to create a good living environment, sustainable development, and many others. Learn the story of Singapore's transformation from 3rd to 1st world, play games on land planning, and the expanse of land reclamation done on the island country. There are also wonderful images of old-new Singapore to browse, free walking maps to unique districts like Joo Chiat to pick up.

Merlion of Singapore

We went to the famous Fullerton Hotel and then on to the Fullerton Heritage Trail. More about the Heritage trail later. Crossing the road we sighted what we had really come for, The Merlion, a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. The Merlion is used as a mascot of Singapore. Its name combines "mer" meaning the sea and "lion". The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means "sea town" in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name — Singapura — meaning "lion city" or "kota singa".

The Merlion is the most important, the most famous and the most popular tourist site in Singapore. This one near the Marina Sands is the most famous. But, there are replicas in four other places in the city. The biggest and tallest one is at a park in Sentosa Island, south of the city.

The symbol was designed by Fraser Brunner, a member of the Souvenir Committee and curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium, for the logo of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in use from 26 March 1964 to 1997 and has been its trademarked symbol since 20 July 1966. Although the STB changed their logo in 1997, the STB Act continues to protect the Merlion symbol. Approval must be received from STB before it can be used. The Merlion appears frequently on STB-approved souvenirs.

The merlion — occurs in a number of different artistic traditions. Lions with fishtails can be found on Indian murals at Ajanta and Mathura, and on Etruscan coins of the Hellenistic period. Merlions, or ‘heraldic sea- lions’, are an established element of Western heraldry, and have been used on the coat of arms of the cities of Portsmouth and Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom; the City of Manila; and the East India Company.

Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore

The Sri Mariamman Temple is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple. It is an agamic temple, built in the Dravidian style. Located at No. 244 South Bridge Road, in the downtown Chinatown district, the temple serves mainly South Indian Tamil Hindu Singaporeans in the city-state. Due to its architectural and historical significance, the temple has been gazetted a National Monument and is a major tourist attraction. Sri Mariamman Temple is managed by the Hindu Endowments Board, a statutory board under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

The Sri Mariamman Temple was founded in 1827 by Naraina Pillai, eight years after the British East India Company established a trading settlement in Singapore.

Pillai was a government clerk from Penang who arrived in Singapore with Stamford Raffles on his second visit to the island in May 1819. He went on to set up the island's first construction company. He also entered the textile trade. Pillai rapidly established himself in business and was identified as a leader of the Indian community.

Singapore Flyer

What an experience! What a view! It was really fantastic from the top of the World. Or, that is what it seemed to me when I was on The Singapore Flyer. A giant Ferris wheel if there ever was one. Located in Singapore, constructed in 2005–2008. Described by its operators as an observation wheel, it reaches 42 stories high, with a total height of 165 m (541 ft), making it the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, 5 m (16 ft) taller than the Star of Nanchang and 30 m (98 ft) taller than the London Eye. Situated on the southeast tip of the Marina Centre reclaimed land, it comprises a 150 m (492 ft) diameter wheel, built over a three-story terminal building which houses shops, bars and restaurants, and offers broad views of the city centre and beyond to about 45 km (28 mi), including the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan, as well as Johor, Malaysia. The picture on the card is slightly dated, as it does not show the now famous Marina Sands Hotel with the curved ship on top of the three hotel towers.

The final capsule was installed on 2 October 2007, the wheel started rotating on 11 February 2008 and it officially opened to the public on 1 March 2008. Tickets for rides on the first 3 nights were sold out for S$8,888 (US$6,271), an auspicious number in Chinese culture. The grand opening for the Flyer was held on 15 April 2008. Each of the 28 air-conditioned capsules is capable of holding 28 passengers, and a complete rotation of the wheel takes about 30 minutes. Initially rotating in a counter-clockwise direction when viewed from Marina Centre, its direction was changed on 4 August 2008 under the advice of Feng shui masters. The counter ticket girls were kind enough to give a key chain, depicting the important facets of Feng Shui.

Singapore By Night

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is highly urbanised but almost half of the country is covered by greenery. More land is being created for development through land reclamation. Singapore had been a part of various local empires since it was first inhabited in the second century AD. It hosted a trading post of the East India Company in 1819 with permission from the Sultanate of Johor. The British obtained sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826. Singapore was occupied by the Japanese in World War II and reverted to British rule after the war. It became internally self-governing in 1959. Singapore united with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963 and became a fully independent state two years later after separation from Malaysia. Since then it has had a massive increase in wealth, and is one of the Four Asian Tigers. The economy heavily depends on the industry and service sectors. Singapore is a world leader in several areas: it is the world's fourth leading financial centre, the world's second biggest casino gambling market, the world's top three oil refining centre. The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest ports in the world, most notably being the busiest transshipment port in the world. The country is home to more US dollar millionaire households per capita than any other country. The World Bank notes Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party (PAP) has won every election since the British grant of internal self-government in 1959. The legal system of Singapore has its foundations in the English common law system, but modifications have been made to it over the years, such as the removal of trial by jury. The PAP's popular image is that of a strong, experienced and highly qualified government, backed by a skilled Civil Service and an education system with an emphasis on achievement and meritocracy; but it is perceived by some voters, opposition critics and international observers as being authoritarian and too restrictive on individual freedom. Some 5 million people live in Singapore, of whom 2.91 million were born locally. Most are of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent. There are four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. One of the five founding members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, Singapore also hosts the APEC Secretariat, and is a member of the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth. This lovely picture card depicting a spectacular Singapore at night was sent to me by Shashi.

Singapore

This is a photograph of the Chinese archway erected at St. Andrew’s Road (in front of the former Supreme Court) by ‘PO CHIAK KENG TAN SI CHONG SU’ in celebration of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2^nd June 1953 (68 years ago).

Singapore – Raffles Hotel

My new friend in Singapore Wang Lee sent me this card. Raffles Hotel is one of Singapore's most graceful landmarks. More legend than hotel, this luxury Singapore hotel celebrates a tradition of unwavering service excellence spanning more than 120 years. Immortalized in the novels of Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Kipling, Raffles Hotel, Singapore’s colonial-styled architecture and lush tropical gardens exude an atmosphere of timeless elegance. Be it business or leisure, the charms of this luxurious Singapore hotel are enticing. 15 restaurants and bars beckon, including the Long Bar - home to the world renowned Singapore Sling; Tiffin Room, which continues the tradition of Afternoon Tea at Raffles and Bar & Billiard Room, well-known for its legend of "The Tiger under the Billiard Table." This luxurious Singapore hotel lies in the heart of the city, in close proximity to the banking and financial districts, Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre (SICEC), as well as leisure attractions including the casino at Marina Bay; the cultural sights of Arab Street and Chinatown and shopping at Raffles City shopping mall and Orchard Road shopping belt.

The Singapore Sling is a cocktail that was developed sometime before 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore. The original recipe used gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from Sarawak pineapples which enhance the flavour and create a foamy top. Another speciality of the Long Bar which I can vouch for (having visited it a few times in April 2011) is the system of keeping roasted unpeeled peanuts in huge piles on every table. But the peculiar thing is that customers peel the peanuts, and eat them. That's fine, but the peels are also nonchalantly thrown on the floor. This I believe is traditional. But it is queer walking over a carpet of peanut peels!!!

Singapore - Philatelic Museum

The Singapore Philatelic Museum is a museum about the postal history of Singapore and its stamps. The museum, located at 23-B Coleman Street in Singapore, was formerly part of the Anglo-Chinese School, completed in 1906. In the 1970s, the building became the Methodist Book Room until it was restored to become the present museum. Singapore Philatelic Museum opened on 19 August 1995 to promote interest in and the appreciation of Singapore's history and heritage in philately. Besides the permanent galleries, the theme galleries offer a host of changing exhibitions throughout the year. These include displays from the private collections of renowned philatelists, travelling exhibitions from overseas and themed exhibitions to commemorate new stamp issues. The museum has a stamp shop, and is popular with stamp collectors. There are files where visitors can inspect all of the Republic of Singapore stamps issued. Also on exhibit is a German forgery of a British postage stamp printed during World War II which intentionally has a printing error which mocks King George VI.
Shashi and I visited this fantastic Museum on 26^th April 2011. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Any and Every tourist to Singapore should unfailingly include it in his, her or their tour itinerary. You will never regret it. Shashi even posted this special card from there for me, with the special postmark of the Day.