150 | SENSATIONAL SINGAPORE
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SINGAPORE RIVER CRUISE pte ltd.
SENSATIONAL SINGAPORE |
william cho
left: the calm waters of marina bay. above: clarke quay
All Aboard A cruise down the Singapore River provides pleasant vistas at every turn, as jeanette wang discovers
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f there’s one thing in which Singapore excels – besides its food, airport, and role as a thriving financial hub – it’s marrying the old with the new. This I conclude after catching glimpses of the past and present through the Singapore River Cruise, a 60-minute journey down the lifeline of the island state. The cruise’s vessel, the bumboat, is an example in itself. Known locally as tongkang or twakow, it was vital to the movements of commercial activity on the river for more than 150 years. Though it’s
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now operated electrically rather than by human or diesel power, it has retained its traditional look, including the painted eyes that are said to “see” ahead. Boarding the bumboat from the North Jetty of Marina Bay Sands, it’s hard to imagine that, before the massive land reclamation of the 1970s, the Singapore River flowed straight into the sea instead of the man-made basin that’s now Marina Bay Reservoir. At the river’s mouth, in place of the Fullerton Hotel there was once an ancient, sleepy fishing sands Style | SPRING 2012
village inhabited by Orang Laut (sea gypsies). After Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819, the area – known as Boat Quay – quickly gained offices, warehouses, godowns and jetties. Development continued up the 3.2kmlong river, expanding along the banks of Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay toward the waterway’s original source at Kim Seng Bridge. Many of the structures are still there, conserved and repainted in a kaleidoscope of colors along the stone-walled banks. The waterway remains vibrant, though it’s no longer a boat-clogged river-port bustling with economic activity but rather a pulsating dining and leisure district. The bumboat takes an out-and-back route on the calm, meandering river, traveling under 10 bridges as it passes the three quays, each with their own distinct character and vibe. Entering the river mouth under the 112-yearold Anderson Bridge reveals the former civic district of the British Settlement on the north bank of Boat Quay, its colonial buildings beautifully preserved and now home to the Asian Civilizations Museum, Victoria Concert Hall, and Arts House at The Old Parliament. A white statue of Raffles stands among them on the spot where he first landed in 1819. To the south, old shophouses, now housing dining and entertainment spots, bask in the shadow of the central business district’s towering skyscrapers. Here, the river – at its widest – is shaped like the belly of a carp, an auspicious symbol to the Chinese, and hence it was (and still is) filled with offices and businesses. Clarke Quay comes into view next. In the
late 19th century, this was the center of trading and commerce, with bumboats jostling bow and stern for a place to dock and unload cargo. Now, moored and refurbished tongkangs house floating restaurants and nightspots. Dining and entertainment establishments pack the five blocks of restored warehouses. Push-cart sellers and other merchants dot the pedestrian promenades. On the other bank is the former site of the squatter’s colony Riverside Village, a seedy underbelly of opium dens, brothels and secret societies. It’s now Riverside Point, a commercial building that boasts a healthier indulgence of sorts – a microbrewery. Further upstream at Robertson Quay, the mood becomes more laid-back. The prime waterfront living district is interspersed with wine bars, hotels, art houses and open-air restaurants that stand in stark contrast to the heavy industrialization and squalid squatter settlements of the past. The bumboat makes a U-turn to head back downstream in front of three 93-year-old warehouses, otherwise known as Zouk dance club. Just 35 years ago, this cruise wouldn’t have been possible. Foul-smelling and choked with rubbish from all the activity, the Singapore River was in 1977 subject to a big clean-up operation. Ten years later, after the relocation of nearby farmers, squatters, hawkers and boat operators, the waterway was given a new lease of life. It has been an amazing resurrection. n For details of the Singapore River Cruise, see www.rivercruise.com.sg