So, what’s all the fuss about the bizarre half-fish, half-lion? It’s supposed to symbolize the “unity of the lion city and the sea.” In 1964, not too surprisingly, this symbol was created by the tourism board and the current statue at the mouth of the S’pore River was erected in 1972. There are additional Merlion Statues at Sentosa Island and Faber Park (we haven’t visited those, but if you’ve seen one, you’ve…haha). 
So, the Merlion is now on postcards, embedded in acrylic paperweights, printed on the box of cookies, key chains, t-shirts, magnets, etc. Some say it’s become a “visual cliché” of the city but it still represents what Singapore used to be. Before the British changed the name, the island was called Temasek, which means “sea town” (thus, the fish body) & the original name was Singapura means “lion city” (thus, the lion head). Oddly enough, the statue was hit by lighting just this past year in February that resulted in minor damage – it was not protected. Some Feng Shui specialists have said that since the back of the head was struck “ill tidings” are coming – a quite looming warning to the government and Singaporeans (http://purefengshui.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/ka-boom-went-the-merlions-head/).
The “Baby” Merlion you see below has also been called the “Sister Merlion.” I haven’t really been able to find a definite answer but here’s a good picture of both of them.
People were really funny today taking pictures of the Merlion – they would stand on the pier in front of the Merlion and act like it was spraying water right into their mouths – do you think I could get Paul to do that?
No comments:
Post a Comment