GATEWAY TO THE EAST Life in Cosmopolitan Singapore

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 502, 3 November 1928, Page 16

GATEWAY TO THE EAST Life in Cosmopolitan Singapore

(Written for THE SUN by GEORGE E. PLANE)

HE safe arrival of the huge floating dock for the naval base at Singapore has once more drawn attention

to the place which a British politician, in glorious ignorance, once described as a “malarial swamp.” In reality “Singapura,” to give it its native name, meaning\ “The city of the lion,” is a beautiful city, exceeding, in numbers, the combined populations of Auckland and Wellington and with a health bill as clean as that of either city. Far from being swampy, it is an island of hills. Set in a tropical sea amid surroundings that move novelists to poetry, this 217 square miles of dreamland deserves any name but that given it by an irate politician. Known, by reason of its geographical position, as the “Key to the Orient," Singapore has a transit trade exceeding that of the Dominion of New Zealand and the extensive docks and wharves at Keppel Harbour and Tanjong Pagar—with berthage for the largest liners —are evidence of the maritime importance of the city. Ships of every class and nationality come to these wharves—the picturesque Chinese junks and trim Norwegian schooners, the ancient and grimy English colliers and the magnificent French liners. The most cosmopolitan harbour in the world, the flag of every maritime nation has flown over its placid waters and the cargoes handled there include almost every commodity known to commerce: although by far the greatest trade is the export of ruDber, tin and tropical produce. A city of broad, well-kept roads, mostly of macadam, Singapore possesses many fine buildings, and the business quarter compares, architecturally, very favourably with Auckland, only on a larger scale.

The Anglican Cathedral standing on the Esplanade reminds one of the ancient cathedrals at Home. Ivy-clad and isolated by its huge grounds, it stands out as a landmark.

The Town Hall and Supreme Court (with lofty clock tower) are examples of 20th century architecture that emphasise the modernity of “The City of Smells,” and the new General Post Office, much larger than Auckland’s, is a four-storeyed, white-faced structure resembling a wing of the Capitol at Washington (U.S.A.). There are many hotels and either the Raffles or the Hotel de l’Europe are models for New Zealand hotel owners to study if they would bait hyper-sensitive tourists.

English, American, Dutch, French or Japanese hotels offer variety to the diner out. Bars as we know them are non-existent.

Singapore seems singularly free from traffic worries as Aucklanders know them. There is a municipal tram system which, incidentally, shows a profit, hundreds of buses and taxis, and about 30,000 jinrikshas. Milady is catered for at stores that are the counterparts of Queen Street’s most exclusive and imposing emporiums, while man can claim a club land that for excellence is noted right throughout the East.

There is a racecourse, but it is used only twice a year, and numberless sports grounds, several exclusive athletic clubs and a popular “danceland.”

At Tanglin there are unrivalled botanical gardens and a zoological park containing many creatures that, would not live in zoos placed in colder climates. The most popular beach among the Europeans is Tanjong Katong and a moonlight excursion to the palm-fringed hotel here, with its Hawaiian orchestra, is like living a page from a South Sea story. From the Gap, some 500 ft above the sea, one obtains a glorious view across the island and far over the Pacific dotted with idyllic islands. Two of them are ’worthy of note commercially, for on Pulau Brani (the Island of the Brave) is the largest tinsmelting works in the world, while the island of Pulau Bukim produces a motor spirit that is popular in New Zealand and is “tinned” here. The much-discussed naval base is not near the city, which occupies the south-eastern extremity of the island. It is at Woodlands on the Johore Straits, 17 miles by rail from the city terminus. At Woodlands the straits are three-quarters of a mile wide and the island is here connected to the mainland by an aqeduct, built in 1921.

This structure was a triumph of engineering skill, for the great depth of the channel and rapid currents almost doomed the project shortly after the construction had been started. Facing the' base from the mainland is Johore Bahru, the capital of Johore and seat of the Sultan (Ibrahim II.), whose palace. Istana Llalima, is a tourist attraction. Here, nestled between the jungleclad hills of Johore and an island, unrivalled in fiction, is where the dock will come to journey’s end; and what was once a playground for crocodiles will become the “Home of the Navy” in the East.