Despite its startling transformation from a swampy jungle into a shining, successful port and city, remnants of Singapore’s English colonial past remains today in a multitude of buildings.
Whether imposing and grandiose, or relatively small and humble, they hark back to a time before today’s gleaming air-conditioned skyscrapers; toan era of sweating coolies, river junks, teeming markets, and more.
Fullerton Hotel (pictured above)
Though it might seem practically petite, nestled in front of Singapore’s tallest high rises like the short kid in a class photo, the Fullerton Hotel is as much a star of Marina Bay today as it was when it was completed in 1928.
In its long history, the stunning building has served as anchor tenancy for the General Post Office, original home to the exclusive Singapore Club,and headquarters of the Japanese Military Administration during the occupation of Singapore. In 2001, it was restored and reopened as the glamorous Fullerton Hotel.
CHIJMES
(From place ofworship to public house. Image courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board.)Built under the watchful eye of French clergymen in 1840 (with the chapel itself being completed later, in 1904), CHIJMES, which stands for Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Middle Education School, became the most prominent church in the country.
It was also the site of education for many impoverished local children. The last service was held in 1983, meaning that CHIJMES had been used a Catholic convent for 131 years before eventually being deconsecrated and turned into the modern-day site for high-class F&B and entertainment establishments.
National Museum
(The Singapore National Museum is quite possibly Asia’s best museum. Image courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board.)Opened in the year of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee (1887, for you non-history buffs), it was originally known as the Raffles Library and Museum until Singapore’s independence in 1965.
This momentous occasion and landmark change for the island led to the edifice being renamed the National Museum. Its elegant façade belies the modern interior, notably the illustrious Glass Passage and recently-completed Glass Rotunda.
Testament to its beauty is that the museum is the site of Singapore’s Night Festival, when the building is transformed by artistic lightshows over its frontage.
Black and White Bungalows
(Monochrome majesty with Singapore’s distinctive black and white bungalows. Image courtesy of Bud Hayman.)Simultaneously one of the most distinctive and hidden colonial-era buildings, black and white bungalows are often well hidden in the more quiet, suburban and densely vegetated areas of Singapore, such as Dempsey and Alexandra Park.
Once seen, however, they are unmissable and unforgettable, with their exotic, classy take on English Tudor houses. Coming in a variety of shapes and sizes, they were constructed between 1890 and 1950, both for private citizens and as barracks and government buildings for officials in the colonial administration of the island.
Shophouses
(Shophouses are some of Singapore’s most idiosyncratic and colourful buildings. Image courtesy of Terrence Ong.)Adorning many paintings and postcards, shophouses have become an unofficial symbol of Singapore’s colonial past, when market districts of the city, such as bustling Chinatown, were full of them.
Lavish private residences, storehouses, places of business, and crammed homes for impoverished coolies, they were and still are a ubiquitous part of the city.
Due to their beautifully simplistic facades, several stories and often spacious courtyards, many of them have now been renovated to some of the city’s hippest bars and restaurants.
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