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Aug 2, 2013

Raffles Place Then and Now


Who would ever believed this small place was Raffles Place in a small island in 1900?

Ten years later in 1910  ...


113 years later in 2013


Many old-timer Singaporeans would be able to share their valuable experiences and memories of Raffles Place (formerly Raffles Square),  the oldest and most important financial and commecial center in Singapore.  

This nostalgia blog is inspired by the enlightening article of Mr Kishore Mahbubani for The Straits Times "Singapore: Butterfly or frog" published on Mar 9, 2013.

"Singapore is undergoing a metamorphosis.  Indeed, it is likely to be a mighty, metamorphosis. Having lived in Singapore for 64 years, I find it hard to recall a period of greater transformation", he wrote here .

On a walk down memory lane of  archived photos with the courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) and appreciated contributors on the Internet  to revive the collective memories of  Raffles Place. 

Using the analogy of the metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly, the tadpole to frog,  the transformation of Singapore over the decades by our forefathers and every Singaporeans and foreigners for investments and many ways to build and develop towards the progress of our nation.

What happened to Raffles Place in the in-between periods?
 



Car Parks at Raffles Place in the 1950s


Completed underground car park in 1964
The underground car park with link to Robinsons department store
Opening of Raffles Place roof garden on Nov 27, 1965
PM Lee Kuan Yew opening of the car park and roof garden on Nov 27, 1965

Construction of Raffles Place MRT Station in 1987

The rest is history ...


Raffles Place MRT Station now.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Can't thank you enough for the pictures,Raffles Place was such a different place then,and much the better for it too.

August 2, 2013 at 8:40 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Can't thank you enough for the pictures,Raffles Place was such a different place then,and much the better for it too.

August 2, 2013 at 8:40 PM  
Blogger lim said...

Raffles Palace was such an historical and I dare say a much more vibrant significant place then than what it is today - a huge business center with friendless foreign faces. Change Alley is no more what it was then, when it was a place where you could bargain as hard as you could and not suffer repercussion if you didn't buy in the end. My unpleasant experience there was when I was nearly robbed as a young man on a quiet Sunday morning when walking through the place. Two young robbers were going through my pockets when a shout suddenly rang out from somewhere and the robbers ran scatter off in a hurry. I looked around for that kind person, but couldn't find him.

December 24, 2014 at 8:08 PM  

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