Learn more about the landmarks of the Singapore River!

Just click on the links under "Useful Information" at the side bar to learn more about :
- Victoria Concert Hall
- Asian Civilisation Museum
- Anderson Bridge
- Parliament House
- Elgin Bridge
- Boat Quay Conservation Area
- Cavenagh Bridge
- Commercial Buildings at Raffles Place
- Fullerton Hotel


Do check out the Old Singapore Harbour back in 1960

Scaled Map

View from the Elgin Bridge

















A scaled-map of the course of Singapore River from Coleman Bridge (New Bridge Road) to Anderson Bridge (Asian Civilisation Museum)

Landmarks :
- The Fullerton Hotel Singapore
- Asian Civilisation Museum
- Victoria Concert Hall
- Parliament House
- Supreme Court

"Change and Continuity" in the river system/ river profile and ancient civilisation

Based on your observation along the Singapore River and inferences, explain the activities that are carried out along the river during the early days and present days.

There are former shop houses along the Singapore River which are now converted into restaurants. In the early days, people probably use their shop houses for business, while living on the upper floor of the shop houses that are along the river. It is similar in the present days as business is still carried out along the river. However, the shop houses have mostly changed into restaurants and the business will only occupy the first level of the shop houses.

Using photographic evidences, do you think the shape course of Singapore River will change in the future? Justify your answers.

We think that shape course of the Singapore River will change in the future because the Singapore River will be part of the Marina Reservoir in the future. Therefore the river must be kept clean and littering is not allowed as it would pollute the river and contaminate the water.

Identify one civilisation that you would discuss how people in the civilisation deal with their constraints and how their responses contribue to the social, cultural and technological changes that occured in Asia.

The Chinese response in China helped to contribute to the social, cultural and technological changes occurred in Asia


One of the contributions to the social changes that have occurred in Asia is religion. Buddhism is a widespread religion now and its evolution in China has shown how it has absorbed the local influences. This caused the religion to sink its roots far deeper and wider than in its country of origin. The country of the origin of Buddhism is India and it was imported into China through central Asia's silk road with India.

Next is Daoism. In the beginning, it was a search for principles towards harmony with nature and longevity. Numerous saints and may folk practices have made the religion a popular one among many Chinese in Asia.

The cultural contributions that occurred in Asia were the teachings of Confucius. Confucius was a teacher from China. He was a great man who taught many students moral values and character. Until now, his teachings are still practiced by most of the Chinese around the world.

3 artifacts that have evolved into today's modern version

Artifact 1: Wucai Dish
Functions: It is a dish and thus food can be placed on it. It can be used as a gift as the paintings on it represents longevity and good fortune.
3 differences to its modern day version:
(1) It was made out of porcelain as seen in the picture which was the main material used in the past. However, in the modern days, depending on the situations, many other materials such as plastic are used to make such dish.
(2) The painting on the dish was probably hand-painted. In contrast, in the modern day, such sights are rare as it takes a lot of time and effort.
(3) The painting on this dish is intricate. In contrary to the modern day, such dishes with intricate paintings are hard to find.




















Artifact 2: Blue and White Vase
Functions: It is a vase which is used to store flowers or plants. It can be given away as a gift due to its intricate painting.
3 differences to its modern day version:
(1) It was made out of porcelain which was mainly used in vase-making back then. However, in the modern day, more materials are used to make vases, such as plastic and glass.
(2) The shape of this glass is common in the past. In contrast, in the modern day, there is a variety of shape and sizes of vases.
(3) The paintings both in blue and white painted on the vases are widely used in the past. In contrary to the modern day, such vases are less seen and there are even vases with no paintings on them at all.













Artifact 3: Blue and White Wine Ewer
Functions: It is a bottle that is used to contain wine in the past. People can drink from it directly as well.
3 differences to its modern day version:
(1) Porcelain was used to make wine bottles in the past. However, in the modern days, it is not common for wine bottles to be made out of porcelain since most of them are made out of glass.
(2) The shape of these wine bottles are widely used in the past. In contrast, in the modern day, the wine bottles take on another form which is a conventional wine bottle shape.
(3) The wine ewer can be used to store any type of wine. Moreover, it can be reused. In contrary to the modern day, the conventional wine bottles usually store a specific type of wine. Moreover, although it is reusable, it is not common for people to do that as well.

Trail along Singapore River

Group Reflection

Although it was a tiring day for everyone of us, we felt that it was an enriching and pleasant one. Many of us know where the Singapore River is, however we have never really explored the places around the Singapore River such as the Anderson Bridge and the Coleman Bridge. We were also surprised to know that landmarks like the Fullerton hotel, the Asian Civilization Museum, the new Supreme Court building and the old supreme court building were located near the Singapore River.

We enjoyed working together as we were able to spend time with one another after the school holidays. Apart from that, we saw many recognisable faces who were students studying from the School of Science and Technology. It was rather tiring walking around and exploring the landmarks around the Singapore River carrying our Macbooks as they were pretty heavy. However, that did not keep us away from our high spirits.

The challenges that we faced are we did not know the place very well, and thus we were very unsure of where we were supposed to go. Furthermore, as the tasks were released today, we had little time to prepare before setting off to the Singapore River. As expected, we were a little confused, lost and rather chaotic.

One area that we could improve on is to read the questions of the tasks properly and know the specific tasks that we have to do before going to the destination to do the project. This will enable us to be clear of the requirements, and reduce the chance of us feeling lost and confused as to what our assignments are. We could also improve on our team's communication skills, especially as to what each of our roles are and what are our individual responsibility.