City Hall

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

It took us a really long time to realize that City Hall is one of the many building undergoing construction in that area. We were a little disappointed at first and we got really lost because of the many buildings that were not how we remembered them as. After travelling aimlessly for a while, we were really glad to find the signature board that could confirm the news that it is down. By 2015, however, the building together with the former Supreme Court Building will be converted to a gallery to house Singapore’s national art collection.

Designed by municipal architect F D Meadows, the City Hall building was built between 1926 and 1929, and was originally known as the Municipal Building. It was renamed in 1951 and thereafter housed various government bodies such as Public Utilities Board, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the former Ministry of Culture and the judiciary, before it became home to the Singapore judiciary in 1987. On 14 February 1992, it was gazetted as a national monument.

The City Hall was the scene of many important events in the history of Singapore.

It was here that:

- The British accepted the surrender of the Japanese on 12 September 1945.

- Mr Lee Kuan Yew, as Prime Minister, proclaimed self-government for Singapore on 5 June 1959.

- Mr Lee proclaimed the merger with Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

- The first fully-independent Singapore Government was sworn in at City Hall on 9 August 1965.

More memories will certainly be made when the building is up and ready. While the building may be new then, its significance throughout Singapore's history will not be forgotten. We continued on knowing that Singapore History will be well preserved.