"Yea that's true... Since there's "Raffles" written on it?"

So we were walking along Boat Quay, trying to find signs of Rella. However, we were more concerned over our assignment hence we continued with the trail.

Boat Quay was previously known as Public Quay. The two-storey shophouses used to be a hub of commerce and trade in the 19th century. The ground floors were used for business while the upper floors were residential quarters. In 1989, Boat Quay had undergone restoration as a conservation area. It has now transformed into a thriving entertainment and leisure hub. While their functions have changed, the shophouses and warehouses in Boat Quay have retained their beautiful façades and rich history.

The Raffles Town Plan was drawn up by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1822. Different segments of the society was marked out and allocated to different parts of the island with the Singapore River acting as a natural boundary. The north and south bank was reserved for government use and finance and commercial use respectively. The Kampong Glam area was allocated to the Malays, the Telok Ayer district for the Chinese, and Chuliah Kampong (opposite today’s Clarke Quay) for the Indians. The various areas were later expanded to accommodate a bigger population of each race.

At present, Singapore does not adhere to the Raffles Town Plan anymore. In fact, there are policies in place to ensure that there is a fair amount of each race in each neighbourhood. This shows us how, at different stages of development in a nation, different policies need to be in place. However, there are still residual practices from the Raffles Town Plan. The central district is still the commercial business area and the various ethnic groups still retain strong cultural preservations and purpose in their respective landmarks. Decisions made in the past may not continue to affect the lives of those living today, but will definitely leave behind a legacy.

"Ok... So she's not here... How now?"

"Let's just walk on then... "

"OMG! That ang moh is so hot!"

"Eh stop looking at guys la... Rella... Remember?"

"Sorry."

"Number 31? We got one station here right?"

"Oh ya! Still have 45C! Why not check it out too?"

Some of the shop houses at Boat Quay, like No. 31 and No. 45C, have interesting and rich histories. No. 31 was once the society's headquarters for Gambier and Pepper, and No. 45C was the headquarters of the Rubber Trade Association. Gambier and rubber were once important cash crops for the export market in Singapore at that time. The Teochews had monopolized the gambier trade. One of the “Gambier Kings” – Tan Yeok Nee’s home has become a national monument today, located at 207 Clemenceau Avenue. The rubber trade was dominated by Hokkiens; amongst them was Tan Kah Kee, an influential Chinese leader.

"Rubber becomes Aluminium... Evolution!"

"Lame... -.-""

"The boat is so cute! There are eyes on it!"

"Do you know they have a significance to them? They actually represent something..."

Small boats known as lighters were used to ferry goods between the ships docked at the harbour and the quay because Singapore River was too shallow for ships to sail through. At first, the lighter trade was dominated by the Chuliahs (Indian Muslims) and their large wooden crafts called tongkangs. Then, the Chinese boatmen (mostly Teochews and Hokkiens) started changing to smaller and faster boats known as the twakows. It was common to see the Chinese lightermen and their twakows on the river until the River Clean-up Project in 1977. The twakows, with their distinctive ‘eyes’ painted at the bow (red for Teochew-owned twakows and green for Hokkien-owned twakows), are on the river again today, ferrying tourists instead of cargo.

After all the distractions, we carried on with our search...

We walked past the Elgin Bridge...

And then the Coleman Bridge...

Coleman Bridge, constructed in 1840, was the second bridge along the Singapore River after Elgin Bridge. This brick bridge was designed by and named after George Drumgold Coleman. G.D. Coleman was Singapore’s first architect and superintendent of Public Works. He was the advisor for the draft layout of Singapore in 1822. He planned the centre of the town, created roads and constructed many of Singapore's historic buildings. A few of his works are conserved today within the Civic District, like the Old Parliament House and the Armenian Church. The iron suspension bridge across the Kallang River was also one of his works.

The Coleman Bridge was the first bridge in Singapore to be built with stone and was referred to as the New Bridge, as the road on its southern end is New Bridge Road. The bridge was reconstructed several times, first into a wooden one in 1865 then, into an iron structure in 1886. This iron bridge was one of the most attractive bridges across the Singapore River. But due to the increasingly heavy traffic flow between New Bridge Road and Hill Street, the iron bridge was demolished in 1986 and replaced with the present bridge, built in May 1900. However, the eight iron lampposts of the old bridge were incorporated into the current structure. Other features of the iron bridge such as the iron railings have also been preserved in recognition of their historical significance.

We went to her and realised that she did not know who we were! It was as if she had lost her memory overnight!

Thankfully, due to it being the CNY period, there were random lion dance groups travelling on the roads with loud cymbals and drumming. This loud music snapped her out of her trance and she returned back to normal. She then told us what had happened...

That was scary! Apparently, someone knew that Rella was helping us and was trying to sabotage our group! But who could it be?