APD Campus Reporters| How Much Has Changed? How Much Has Remained?

Olivia Wang |National University of Singapore

Fastgrowingandeverbustling,SingaporeandHongKongarethetwoiconiccitiesinAsiathathappenedtoshareverysimilarroutesofdevelopment.ThestorySingaporeversusHongKongneverfailstocatchtheattentionofpeopleinthisregion.

Nevertheless,thistime,Iwouldattempttotellitfromadifferentperspective:theSingaporeRiverandtheVictoriaHarbor.Thechanginglandscapesofthesetwocriticalportareasledthechangingfateofthecities.

Generationshavepassedandtransformationshavebeenwitnessed.Yet,whathasbeenthesignificanceoftheseancientyeteverlivelyportstowardstherespectivelivesofSingaporeansandHongKongners?Areoursocialmemoriesandhistoricalidentitiesdissolvinginthesechanginglandscapes?

ThehistoriesoftheSingaporeRiverandtheVictoriaHarborconstitutetheuniquenessofthetwocities.

TheSingaporeRiverhaswellbeenthelife-bloodoftheislandthroughoutthehistory.Standingattheconfluenceofvariouscivilizations,Singaporehasgraduallymadehertransformationfromatinyportcalled“Temasak”totoday’sregionalandinternationalhuboftrade,finance,technologyandculture.

SingaporeRiverThroughTime

WoodenBoatsatSingapore,1885;photocredittoAlfredHindRobinson,GettyImages

CooliesatworkalongtheSingaporeRiver,1916;photocredittotheNationalArchivesofSingapore

SingaporeRivertoday,2012;photocredittoBrynPinzgauer,Flickr

Similarly,theVictoriaHarbor,beinganaturallandformharborstrategicallylocatedbetweenHongKongIslandandKowloonPeninsula,hasassumedinstrumentalrolesinbothmilitaryandtradethroughouthistory.ItsrecordscanbetracedallthewaybacktothesailingmapsofZhengHeinthe15thcentury.DepictedindetailsonthemarinechartsfortheEastIndiaCompany,livedthroughtheBritishColonizationandwitnessedthevicissitudesofthecity,theVictoriaHarborisstillthecity’sthrobbingheart,pulseswithlife,withshipsandferriescomingandgoing.

VictoriaHarborThroughTime

VictoriaHarbour,1860-1890;photocredittoNewYorkTimes

SampansinVictoriaHarbour,1963;photocreditto1960sMikeCussans’sphotos

VictoriaHarbour,2015;photocredittoIQRemix,Flickr

However,thefastchanginglandscapesaregraduallyerasingthesenseofhistoryfromthecoastlines.Now,mostoftheyoungergenerationsviewtheriverandtheharborfromatouristperspective,whiletheeldergenerationsareoverwhelmedbytheirnewappearances,findingthemselveslostinthisrapidlydevelopingworld.Itisafraidthatthehistoricalidentitiesarebeinglost.

BacktothetimewhentherewerestillbustlingtradeactivitiestakingplaceontheSingaporeRiver,peoplehadtheirlivescloselytiedtotheriver.Mostofthemweremigrantsfromtheregion,attractedbythereputationofSingaporeasapromisingport-city.HongKonghasasimilarpast.

Fromthereadingsandvisualresourcesofthepast,wecanfeelforthecooliesontheirresentmentandhelplessnessinhavinglittlechoicebuttowithstandtheimpoverishedenvironmentforliving;andtheeagernessofthemerchants,whoviewedthecitiesasthe“landofwealth”.

However,bywalkingalongtoday’sSingaporeRiverandVictoriaHarbor,onecouldhardlyberemindedofthesituationsandemotionsofthepeoplebackinhistory.Althoughsomeofthetraditionalhousingsarepreservedandrepainted,andtherearethepresencesofmemorialstatuesalongthecoastlines,thesearefarfromenoughinconveyingthehistory.Mostpeopleregardthemasman-madescenesinsteadofpreservedheritages,astheycouldhardlyfindanydetailedexplanationsoftheserepresentativesofthepast.

TraditionalHousesalongSingaporeRiver;photocredittoBernardTey,Flickr

Thegovernmentshavebeensuccessfulintransformingtheoncepollutedandcongestedwaterbodiesintotoday’slife-styleandrecreationdestinations.Theclustersofwarehousesanddilapidatedresidencealongthecoastlineswerereplacedwithhigh-raisedandwell-designedbuildings,housingsforinternationalfinancialinstitutionsandsitesforentertainments.Thegovernmentsweretryingtocreateanimageoftheplacesofbeingworld-class,vibrantandhip.

Itis,tothecorporateemployees,businessmenandtheyouthwhocongregatethecoastlines,ahallmarkofawealthycity.However,howmuchcantheyassociatetoday’scoastlinestothestoriesofthepast?ThesepeoplewhoarecloselyrelatedtotheSingaporeRiverandtheVictoriaHarbortodaymayperceivetheplacesasiftheyhavebeenintheirpresentlandscapesthroughoutthehistory.Theheartrendingexperiencesandpainstakingeffortsthepioneerswentthroughwereeasilytakenforgrantedandgonewiththewind.

OneofthefewhistoricalremainingsthatonecanfindontheSingaporeRivertodayistheElginBridge.ItremindsusthedarkesttimesofSingapore-theJapaneseOccupation.

However,whenIaskedaround,fewoftheyoungerSingaporeansknowaboutit’spainfulpast.

TheyregarditassimpleasadecorationontheRiver.Lookingaround,Icouldhardlyfindanyexplanatoryboard,exceptatinywhitesignboardshowingtheyearofthebridge’scompletion.Thosehistoricalsitesthatareluckyenoughtobepreservedtilltodayweretakenlight-heartedlybythepeople.

However,whatIfindintriguingwasthatwhileitistruethatthesocialmemoriesandhistoricalidentitiesaredissolvinginthechanginglandscapes,buttowhatextentdoesitaffecttheaffectionofthepeopletowardsthesefast-changingandculturally-diversifiedcountry,astherearealwaysnewmemoriesandidentitiesassociatedwithchanges?

Itisexpectedthatchangesmayleadtosensesofvoidandnostalgia,aspeopleoftenfindtheirsenseofrootednessandidentitybyrecallingthepast.Thisisespeciallytruefortheeldergenerationwhohaswitnessedtheprocessoftransformation.However,Ifeelthatdespitecomingfromthehistory,thesenseofbelongingmayaswellbeestablishedinthechangingenvironment.Youngergeneration’saffectiontowardsthecitiesgrowamongitsartisticandtranquilenvironment,fashionablelife-styleandrapidpaceofadvancement.

TheSingaporeRiverandtheVictoriaHarborhavewellbeenthearteriesofthecitiesthroughoutthehistory,buttheimpactsofthechanginglandscapesoftheSingaporeRiverandtheVictoriaHarborvaryfordifferentgenerationsofSingaporeanandHongKongers.Ibelievethatwithalltheeffortswehaveputinacrossgenerations,theywillcontinuetolineagethesocialmemoriesandhistoricalidentitiesinonewayoranothertotheeternity.