After completing my museum trail, I headed to meet my school friend at Tanjong Pagar. As I headed to the nearest MRT station, I passed by some interesting places - Fort Canning Park. The park is located on a small hillock which was known as Bukit Larangan prior to the arrival of Stamford Raffles in 1819.
Bukit Larangan means "Forbidden Hill" in Malay. Legend says that when Raffles was told of how local settlers were wary of ascending the hill as they believed it was the site of palaces built by their ancestral kings, Raffles decided to make Bukit Larangan his abode in Singapore. When vegetation was cleared to construct Raffles' abode, ruins of ancient brick buildings were discovered, validating the local Malay folk legends. However, little could be deciphered hill's ancient history.
What Raffles did in defiance of the locals' beliefs was symptomatic of a colonial mindset. The British effectively used such tactics to establish their "lordship" over the natives. Despite this, the British were a tad better than the Spanish and the Portuguese, who committed unspeakable atrocities over their colonial subjects. But, colonialism still is subjugation....
Raffles established Singapore's first botanical garden here and in 1859, the military constructed barracks here and named the place Fort Canning after Viscount Charles John Canning, who was then Governor-General and the first Viceroy of India. Singapore was then governed from India.
I was hoping I could squeeze in a visit to Fort Canning, but with limited time in Singapore and with many other stuff to cover, perhaps I would have to wait till my next visit here...
As I headed towards the MRT station, I passed by the Orchard Road Presbyterian Church, which looked like quite an impressive building....
From Tanjong Pagar, my friend, Kapil and I walked towards Clarke's Quay. And on our way we passed by the Telok Ayer Market.
But this looked like the Lau Pa Sat (老巴刹, or old market in Hokkien Chinese), about which I had read in my online "research" on Singapore.... And yes, it was indeed Lau Pa Sat...
Now things take an interesting turn - Lau means old, while Pa Sat is the Sinization of the Indo-Persian word bazaar. This is living proof of India's influence on Singapore...
Lau Pa Sat bears an uncanny similarity to Mumbai's Crawford Market...
Clarke's Quay too has an interesting history... Colonial-era warehouse on the quayside have been redeveloped as trendy bars and lounges....
This area was the hotbed of local Chinese gangs of yesteryears...
The colourful history has made way for the colourful nightlife of today... that's what urban renewal is all about...
As dusk approached, we started walking alongside the Singapore River towards the Merlion waterfront...
Fullerton Hotel looked magnificent in the lighting...
Named after Robert Fullerton, the first Governor of the Straits Settlements, this building used to be Singapore's General Post Office until1997....
The skyscrapers of Raffles Place also looked magnificent...
But pardon me, Marina Bay Sands does stick out like an eyesore...
Finally at the Merlion.... the legend that gave this island its name...
There stands the Durian in the distance... Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
And it's time to head back...
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