Singapore Government Press Release

Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,

36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963.

Tel: 3757794/5

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SPEECH BY DR TONY TAN KENG YAM, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, AT THE LAUNCHING OF CIVIC DISTRICT TRAIL HELD ON SUNDAY, 29 AUGUST 1999 AT 8.00 AM AT THE PADANG
 
 

To go forward confidently into the future, every country needs to remember its history:

Without a sense of history, Singaporeans will just be a collection of people, thrown together on an island and seeking to maximize their own individual interests. This will not give Singaporeans a heritage for them to pass on to their children or establish a strong foundation to enable us to build the type of society we want in Singapore in the 21st century.

While history can be read in books, it comes alive in the form of buildings or sites where important events have taken place which influence the course of development of our country. The Civic District is an appropriate location for Singapore’s first Heritage Trail. The Civic District is the historical birthplace of Singapore. Comprising twenty-nine historic sites, buildings and monuments grouped into seven clusters, the Civic District Trail covers 180 years of the history of Singapore from the time Stamford Raffles landed on the shores of Singapore River up to the present.

As Singaporeans and visitors walk the Trail, they will pass Colonial buildings like City Hall, Supreme Court and Parliament House where the foundations for Singapore’s Parliament, Government and Judicial system were laid down. Along the Esplanade Park, we encounter Memorials and Monuments like the Lim Bo Seng Memorial, Indian National Army Monument, Cenotaph and Civilian War Memorial, which remind us of the ultimate sacrifice which many had made in the defence of our country.

I commend the National Heritage Board for taking an imaginative approach to establish Singapore’s first permanent Heritage Trail. I thank Prudential and the other sponsors for their support and I encourage other private sector organisations to emulate their enlightened example. I hope that many visitors and Singaporeans, particularly school children, will walk the Trail and remember the tribulations and triumphs which mark our progress towards independence. All these efforts by the National Heritage Board can help to engender a sense of national pride and identity which will serve Singapore well as we enter the next millennium.

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