Images of Singapore

by Ee Lin Wan, Sep 11, 2002 | Destinations: Singapore

The Sultan of Johor signing the agreement to "rent" Singapore to the British. In the photo is (from left to right) Tengku Ali (Sultan Hussein's son), Sultan Hussein (Sultan of Johor), Major William Farquhar, Temenggung Abdul Rahman (another claimant to the Johor throne) and Sir Stamford Raffles.

Image © 2002 EL Wan

These are the pioneers of Singapore's bustling business community. The most popular is the gentleman dressed in a blue Chinese costume, Tan Tock Seng. This vegetable seller from Malacca eventually became one of the richest man in Singapore.

The British used Singapore as a main trading center between the East and the West. Spices from India are traded with silk and tea from China via the sea route.

This new breed of orchid, first discovered by a Dutch woman called Ms Vanda, later became the national flower of Singapore. To her right is HN Ridley, the person who first introduced rubber to the Malay Peninsula. Rubber later became a major economic revenue earner for Malaysia and Singapore.

Images of Singapore is an interactive museum situated in Sentosa Island. To merely describe it as a museum is a great injustice. With its lively 3-Dimension wax figurines, interactive features (including telephones for visitors hear first-hand accounts of those experiencing the Japanese invasion!) and even the smell of incense where the replica of a Chinese temple is on display; it is best described as a walk-through the history and culture of Singapore.

Though many of the cultures and history are familiar to me (Malaysia and Singapore history is intertwined), I still found it a very enjoyable experience. It would have been impossible to experience every single Chinese, Malay and Indian festival even as locals, so "experiencing" the different festivities here is indeed an experience to cherish.

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