Written by Imran bin Tajudeen
This article is the first of a three-part series on “Merdeka! and Majulah Singapura! Three early symbols of Singapore’s road to independence“
Why was an Independence Bridge (Merdeka Bridge) built in 1955 in Singapore? And what happened to the majestic stone lions commissioned for this bridge, dubbed the Merdeka Lions?
This is a story about lions – specifically Singapore’s Merdeka Lions, and one derivative thereof – the Merlion. Many of us are already familiar with the fact that Singapura means ‘Lion City’**. We begin by looking at the Merdeka Lions, a rather hidden icon that has become disembodied from its original context and signifies a nearly forgotten aspect of Singapore history.
How many of us have ever seen the pair of majestic lions commemorating Singapore’s earliest stage of independence from Great Britain? Or have we heard of the Merdeka Bridge? Strangely enough, both Merdeka Bridge and the pair of Merdeka Lions still exist, but they are not celebrated by their names and original contexts. The Lions have been relocated far, far away from Singapore Town. The Merdeka Bridge, having lost its lions, is no longer prominent in our popular imagination.
Despite their significance in Singapore history, these icons of Merdeka have been sidelined in our yearly celebrations and forgotten in popular consciousness about our political history.
**(Misconceptions continue to surround how a lion sighting gave Singapura its name – you will be able to read the story in a separate article here on Sighting the Singa in Temasek!)
Merdeka Bridge – our Independence Bridge of 1956 and its Lions
Postcard image from CardCow.
The postcard image above shows Merdeka Bridge in about late 1970s (it is postmarked Sep 9, 1977 ) when the Merdeka Lions had already been removed for road widening. Visible in the right background is the original National Stadium which has been demolished and replaced by the current Sports Hub.
Merdeka Bridge was built in 1955 and completed in 1956 by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the newly self-governing Colony of Singapore.
You might be wondering – why was it called the Independence Bridge when it was built even before our merger with Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963?
The bridge was officially named “Merdeka”, meaning Independence in Malay, on 21 June 1956 to commemorate Singapore’s self-government status resulting from the 1955 elections, following the Rendel Commission of 1953 (you can read more about the Rendel Commission at Infopedia)
The name “Merdeka” was bestowed by then Minister for Communications and Works Francis Thomas. Francis Thomas was from the Labour Front Government, which won the 1955 elections under the leadership of David Marshall, who became Chief Minister of Singapore.
(You can read about Francis Thomas through his memoirs and more about the opening ceremony of Merdeka Bridge; A road has also been named after Francis Thomas: Watch the program through YouTube here)
Merdeka Bridge carries Nicoll Highway across Kallang and Rochor River from the National Stadium / Old Kallang Airport to the area in front of Beach Road towards the City Centre. Besides its historical resonance due to its name and the lions and commemorative piers, it was also an important milestone in pre-stressed reinforced concrete bridge construction when completed.
The Merdeka Lions of 1956
Merdeka Bridge, carrying Nicoll Highway from the Kallang Stadium area towards the city. The Merdeka Lion and its accompanying monument can be seen at the extreme right in this photograph.
A pair of majestic stone lions once greeted motorists driving onto the bridge from either end of Merdeka Bridge. The lions were also commissioned by PWD and sculpted by Rodolfo Nolli, who also sculpted the Allegory of Justice frieze (sculpture against a wall) in the tympanum of the old Supreme Court, completed in 1937. (More about the Merdeka Bridge Lions here in the publicart website)
Close-up image of Merdeka Lion from NAS (source: http://www.publicart.sg/?q=node/27)
The Lions each stood in front of a tall monument in the form of a pier decorated with blue mosaic tiles and containing the Singapore City Crest.
The Merdeka Lion and accompanying monumental pier with the Singapore City Crest on Merdeka Bridge. The Lions and piers stood guard at both entrances to the bridge from 1956 to 1966, when they were removed for road widening. Image from NAS.
The “crest” that you see on the monumental pier is actually the Singapore Municipality Crest, or the Arms of the City of Singapore City, granted on April 9, 1948 to the Singapore Municipal Commission – see this site on heraldry.
The Arms of the Singapore Municipal Commission, or the Singapore Municipal Crest. This version has the words “Majulah Singapura” added (after 1959) to the original Arms of 1948. The 1948 colonial Arms had all the same features seen here except that it did not have the Majulah Singapura banner, did not have the palm tree, and instead had a rampant lion holding a flag, and had the wreaths in red and gold instead of shades of blue.
Several old postcards showing the Merdeka Bridge monuments and lions are also posted in this post from timesofmylife.
Removed from bridge in 1966, and finally relocated to Tuas SAFTI-Military Institute in 1995
Did you notice that in the first image of Merdeka Bridge at the top of this article, the Merdeka Lions and their monumental piers have gone missing? The stone lions went through a period of great uncertainty. In 1966 the roadways on Merdeka Bridge were widened and the lions, along with their accompanying monumental piers and the Singapore City Arms/Crest, were removed.
The first relocation site for the pair of Merdeka Lions was at Stadium Walk, near Kallang Park, where they stood rather neglected. Letters in the press in the late 1980s indicated continuing public interest in the fate of the lions (see section on Merdeka Lions in this Infopedia article).
By 1995 the lions had been taken by MINDEF to the SAFTI Military Institute in Tuas (after a period of storage during which the public wondered about their whereabouts). Today they are to be found at the approach to the tower at SAFTI-MI. (See image of the Merdeka Lions at SAFTI Military Institute here)
What do you think about this relocation of a historical icon to a spot inside the Military Institute in Tuas? Do you agree that this is the best place for the Merdeka Lions?
The Merlions of 1964, 1972 and after – from Kuala Temasik / Tanjong Singapura to Marina Bay
In contrast to the Merdeka Lions’ fate (relocated away from the City area and arguably “hidden away” in Tuas inside a military establishment), the Merlion, a concoction for tourists, today enjoys prominence and fame in popular imagination. It began as a symbol designed in 1964 for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) by Alec Fraser-Brunner, who was a member of Singapore’s Souvenir Committee and curator for Van Kleef Aquarium (demolished).
The original Merlion design of 1964 by Alec Fraser-Brunner for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB, now STB)
Here is the old STPB logo. It accompanies an article in the publicart website written by Peter Schoppert, which provides a very long and somewhat fantastic discussion of the Merlion and other half-fish, half-lion creatures (actually monsters, as the article points out) in mythology and the Merlion in the context of monument-making in Singapore and the STPB’s explicit aims.
But the Merlion most of us are familiar with is the 8m tall, 40-tonne statue facing Marina Bay. Before 2002 it stood at the mouth of the Singapore River, that is, Tanjong Singapura. Significantly, this promontory was the site of what is arguably 14th century Singapura’s most important monument – a large inscribed stone, popularly called Singapore Stone. This Merlion was officially unveiled on 15 September 1972 by then Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, to the design of Kwan Sai Kheong and sculpted by Lim Nang Seng based on Fraser Brunner’s illustration of 1964.
The Merlion and its Cub at their original location at Tanjong Singapura, or Kuala Temasik — Seri Tri Buana alias Sang Nila Utama was said to have spotted a lion-like beast on the padang (plain) on the opposite bank (to the right in this photo) in circa 1290s – photo from NAS and filmapia.
There is in fact an accompanying “miniature Merlion” standing at the back of the main Merlion statue (and facing its back to it). This is known as the Merlion Cub. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a hilarious thing, because unlike the main Merlion, the cub was drooling…
The Merlion Cub drooling. Photo taken in 2004.
The Merlion has been relocated since 2002.
In 2004, I visited the former location of the Merlion and its Cub at the promontory of the Singapore River estuary, but all I found there was a dustbin (trash can)…
A trash can marks the spot – the former location of the Merlion and its Cub when I visited it, at the mouth of Singapore River, in 2004
(Tanjong Singapura, old name Kuala Temasik)
There is also a small Merlion at the summit of Mount Faber, and another small replica in front of STB building at Tourism Court, Tanglin.
Finally, there is also a giant Merlion replica on Sentosa Island. Unlike the original Merlion sculpture which spews or spouts (or as some would have it, vomits) water endlessly, the Sentosa Merlion goes into a laser-beam staring mode at night. In this way it entertains vistors in what is called the Spirit of Sentosa.
Giant Merlion replica on Sentosa with laser-beam eyes at night. Photo from this website
You can also read the full story of the role of the Merlion and its laser beam eyes in the show “Spirit of Sentosa” in the website listed in the caption to the above photo.
Here is a series of images that verge on the ludicrous:
A series of photographs demonstrating the full range of the laser-beam eyes, from the website of the Australian laser company that set them up
We have certainly celebrated the Merlion a lot more that the Merdeka Lions. It is a curious difference in emphasis that makes one wonder about the significance of such a strange lack of regard for the pre-1965 Merdeka legacy!
Articles in the Series “MERDEKA! DAN MAJULAH SINGAPURA!” by Imran bin Tajudeen
Merdeka Bridge – Singapore’s Independence Bridge and its Lions of 1956
MERDEKA!!! Singapore’s Merdeka Talks and Merdeka proclamations before 1965
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