The National University of Singapore (NUS) was officially established on 8 August 1980 through the merger of Nanyang University and the University of Singapore. However, the university’s origins can be traced to the founding of a medical school in 1905. NUS has ...
Singapore River communities were people living by or around the Singapore River. In ancient times, Singapore, then known as Temasek, was a fishing village. The orang laut (sea gypsies) were the earliest known inhabitants in Singapore. Later, in the early 1800s, ...
A variety of currencies were used in Singapore during different periods in its history. These included Chinese coins in the 14th century; Spanish and other silver dollars for much of the 19th century despite official attempts to introduce the Indian rupee between ...
Located at 51 Canning Rise, the Fort Canning Bunker (now known as The Battlebox) was built between 1936 and 1941 to serve as a command centre for the Malaya Command, which oversaw British military operations in Malaya during World War II. On 15 February 1942, it ...
One of Singapore’s oldest primary schools, Tao Nan School was established on 18 November 1906 by the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (Singapore Hokkien Clan Association). The school was first located on North Bridge Road and then Armenian Street, before moving to Marine ...
Boat Quay, a river embankment on the south bank of the Singapore River, is one of the oldest and most historical areas in Singapore’s central region. For more than 150 years, warehouses (or godowns) thriving with economic activity lined the banks of north and south ...
Pulau Senang is one of Singapore’s southern islands. Its land area is about 81.7 ha, and it is located 24 km from the mainland. Now a military live-firing zone, Pulau Senang is famous for being a penal settlement from 1960 to 1963. The prison-without-bars experiment ...
Clarke Quay is located along the Singapore River. It forms part of the Singapore River precinct together with Boat Quay and Robertson Quay. From the early 1800s, Clarke Quay served as a dock for the loading and unloading of cargoes for the godowns (warehouses) ...
The Workers’ Party (WP) was formed on 3 November 1957 by David Saul Marshall, with the inauguration held at the Hokkien Association Hall on Telok Ayer Street. The founding executive committee of the party comprised 20 trade unionists and 10 non-unionists. The party’s ...
The mouth of the Singapore River was the point at which the Singapore River drained into the Singapore Strait. With the establishment of Singapore as a trading port during colonial times, the mouth of the river functioned as a harbour at which ships called. The ...
Changi is an estate that is located at the easternmost part of Singapore. Its name is believed to have derived from the Chengai tree, a type of tall tree that used to grow in the district. The estate has several landmarks including Changi Village, Changi Prison ...
Opium (Papaver somniferum) contributed significantly to the general trade in Singapore’s pioneering years. Encouraged by the British colonial government, it reaped great profit from opium licenses. However, many Chinese coolies succumbed to this vice as an escape ...
Urban planning in Singapore began in the 1820s when Stamford Raffles implemented a land-use plan later known as the Raffles Town Plan. However, for most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Singapore’s physical growth was haphazard and largely ...
With origins stretching back to 1921 when the Singapore Natural History Society was formed, the Nature Society (Singapore) is the leading non-government organisation concerned with nature conservation in Singapore. It supported the preservation of the zoological ...
The Singapore Volunteer Corps began as the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Corps in 1854 with the support of then Governor Colonel W.J. Butterworth. Clashes between Chinese secret societies in 1854 led to the formation of a volunteer force to boost Singapore’s internal ...
The Singapore River is about 2.95 km long, starting from Kim Seng Bridge to its mouth at the Esplanade, where it empties into the Marina Reservoir. A comparison of the old map of the river with a current one seems to show more sources and the river seems longer ...
Freemasonry, a fraternal society, was first set up in Singapore on 8 December 1845 with the establishment of Lodge Zetland in the East, the oldest surviving Freemason lodge here. Its members are called Freemasons or Masons, and belong to lodges or temples. The ...
An ancient relic, the Singapore Stone is a slab of sandstone that was a large boulder discovered in June 1819 in Singapore. It was blown up in 1843 to widen the mouth of the Singapore River. It features a yet-to-be-deciphered ancient script that points to a possible ...
The Singapore River is located within the island’s Central Region. The 3.2-kilometre-long waterway – from its mouth to Kim Seng Bridge – has been the lifeline of Singapore for almost 200 years. Proof of its ancient beginnings lies in the Singapore Stone, which ...
Fort Canning Hill, previously known as Bukit Larangan and Government Hill, is 156 ft high and located at the junction of Canning Rise and Fort Canning Road. It has been a landmark since Singapore’s earliest recorded history. In the 14th century, it was likely the ...