Yay! Chinese New Year is around the corner!

Sadly, instead of taking the time to get our New Year clothes and enjoy New Year goodies, we spent it on the Singapore River Heritage Trail...

Well, it’s not like it was not interesting, but due to CNY being so near, we simply have no mood for this! Nonetheless, we still decided to take up the ardent task of completing the trail!

Our first stop... the Asian Civilization Museum!

According to our teacher, this was where we would get our trail map and activity list. We went to the information counter and were then brought to the curator, who passed us the documents we needed for the mission around the Singapore River.

But that was not all! When the curator passed us the activity list, he kept on rambling about how important it was to appreciate history and how he did the same trail many years ago all by himself. He even emphasized that we read the instructions carefully. We were freaked out, but did not think much of what he had said. However, this might prove to be the most valuable advice given, which obviously, we did not bother about...

And so, we went upstairs to the gallery and this was what we found out.

The history of Singapore River is portrayed as the main source of income for Singapore. This can be seen from “this tiny river became the main trade artery and life-blood of Singapore”. The Singapore River was also where many ships from the neighbouring countries and Asian junks stopped to call. One reason could be because Singapore was in a good location for trade. A wide variety of trade from different communities were traded. One such community was the Chinese. Goods like textiles and ceramics were traded.

The Singapore River was also portrayed as a source of income for the Orang Lauts. The Orang Laut men ferried people across the river, while the Orang Laut women sold fruits and produce to passing boat crews.

Additionally, the Singapore River was where major boat races were carried out. One popular boat race was called the Sea Regatta, which featured races between different vessels and different land activities at the Padang.