SHAPE SHIFTER
Back in 1965, Singapore’s geographical shape
looked rather dif ferent to what it is now! The former
post of fice (now The Fuller ton) dominated the
mouth of the Singapore River. The seaside flanked
the Padang, where Lee Kuan Yew announced
Singapore’s independence. Marine Parade was
exactly that in 1965 – a promenade by the sea,
complete with holiday houses and a sandy beach.
It made way for land reclamation shor tly after.
We tend to think of land reclamation as being a
relatively recent endeavour, but it actually dates
back to 1822, when Sir Stamford Raf fles levelled a
small hill in what is today Raf fles Place. The ear th
from the hill was then used to reclaim land in the
Singapore River.WHERE THE HEART IS
The PAP set up the Housing and Development
Board (HDB) way back in 1960, with the aim
of building new houses to solve the housing
shor tage. By 1965, they had built 53,000 flats.
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) had been set up
earlier, in 1955. By 1968, the government introduced
the Public Housing Scheme, and HDB flats could
be bought through CPF savings.POWER PLAYPOWER PLAY