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The trailblazer of the Singapore entertainment scene,
Boat Quay is arguably Singapore's best place to 'chill
out'. With a good mix of high end restaurants and
alfresco dining and lively bars and pubs, Boat Quay is
the hangout for most professionals and expatriates.
Imagine that only a century ago, sun-tanned coolies and
swaylos (water-hands) balanced heavy gunny-sacks of rice
on their shoulders, with springy gangplanks under their
feet, loading and unloading a bewildering plethora of
produce. When Raffles signed the agreement securing the
auspicious title of free port for Singapore, this
instantly opened the floodgates of immigrants from
neighbouring countries. Within six months, Boat Quay had
become a hothouse for trading, and by the 1860's,
three-quarters of all shipping business was done at Boat
Quay. Here was the starting point of all that is
Singapore today: affluent, hardworking and adamant on
success.
Immigrants were keen to erect their shophouses on the
already crammed south side of the River, because it
resembled the concaved belly of a carp, which according
to Chinese belief, was where prosperity and wealth lay.
Notice how the row of shophouses, which have been
carefully conserved, vary in height. This was a sign of
each man's wealth - the higher the shophouse, the
wealthier the owner.
Check Out: Harry's Quayside (jazz bar)
Getting There: Head towards the Singapore River
from Raffles Place MRT (EW14/NS26).
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