Singapore, in its 51st year of independence is sold to the world as an ultra modern metropolis and a shopping and culinary paradise. It is the icons of the new age, such as the futuristic looking Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands, that now leap out from our tourist brochures and a common perception of Singapore is that it is one huge shopping mall. There is however much more to Singapore that goes practically unnoticed, including these 51 sights of Singapore that one would possibly not associate immediately with Singapore:
(1) The woods at Upper Peirce Reservoir.
(2) Terumbu Semakau, a patch reef off Pulau Semakau, in the moonlight.
(3) Pulau Jong, the last untouched southern island, seen at low-tide.
(4) The green housing area of the former Naval Base at Sembawang.
(5) The ‘spinning tops’ off Tampines Road.
(6) The gateway into a lost world at the former Kampong Tengah in Sembawang.
(7) The secret lake at Bukit Gombak (the disused Seng Chew Granite quarry).
(8) The light at the end of the tunnel to a lost world under Clementi Road.
(9) The western reaches of the lost railway.
(10) Tanjong Merawang, Tuas, with a view towards Malaysia and Indonesia.
(11) The pier at Sungei Pandan.
(12) The mangrove forest at Sungei Khatib Bongsu.
(13) The flats of Beting Bronok, a designated nature area off Pulau Tekong, seen at first light.
(14) A sandbar at the Terembu Pandan with a view to the container terminal at Pasir Panjang.
(15) A tributary of Sungei Kranji, near the Jalan Gemala nature area.
(16) A view across Terembu Pempang Laut, a submerged reef four nautical miles from Singapore’s southern coast.
(17) The last Malay kampung at Pulau Ubin.
(18) The petrochemical complex on Pulau Ular as seen from Beting Pempang (the silhouettes in the foreground are of trees on Pulau Hantu).
(19) The intertidal flats of Pulau Semakau.
(20) The greens of the Bukit Course as seen from the western shores of MacRitchie Reservoir.
(21) The kampong mosque, Masjid Omar Salmah, at the site of the former Kampong Jantai.
(22) The magical (and some say haunted) Jalan Mempurong.
(23) The western shores of MacRitchie Reservoir.
(24) A stream at the former Lorong Halus landfill, close to where Kampong Beremban once was.
(25) A pre-war outpost on southern slopes of Pasir Panjang (Kent) Ridge.
(26) A trough belonging to the demolished Syonan Jinja Shinto shrine in the MacRithcie forest.
(27) The wooded oasis found at the grounds of the former Bidadari Muslim Cemetery.
(28) The sand store at the construction aggregates receiving terminal at Pulau Punggol Timor.
(29) A view through the woods at Little Guilin.
(30) Mangroves at Pulau Hantu.
(31) One sister to another – across the channel between the two Sisters Islands.
(32) The swimming lagoon on Big Sisters Island.
(33) The last rural sundry shop, Tee Seng Store. It has been in the hands of its proprietor, Mr Ang, for some six decades.
(34) The illuminated towers of the petrochemical complex at Pulau Ular dwarfing the observer at the edge of the fringing reef at Pulau Hantu Besar.
(35) A newly established Hindu shrine behind the Wei To Temple on Pulau Ubin.
(36) A Tibetan Buddhist shrine at the Wei To Temple on Pulau Ubin.
(37) A below ground shelter and storage complex at a 1930s 9.2″ gun battery.
(38) The view up a deep escape shaft of a pre-war Command Bunker located some 20 metres underground.
(39) Exposed parts of the Jurong Rock Formation seen on Pulau Jong.
(40) The violin, Pulau Biola a.k.a. Rabbit Island close to the southern reaches of Singapore’s territorial waters.
(41) The cliff faces of Tanjong Tajam at the western end of Pulau Ubin.
(42) A sandbar at the Cyrene Reefs.
(43) The calm before the storm – Lower Seletar Reservoir.
(44) Light and shadow – Sembawang Shipyard and the Beaulieu Jetty.
(45) Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery
(46) MacRitchie Reservoir near the Syonan Jinja.
(47) Remnants of the Jurong Line near Clementi.
(48) Another of MacRitchie Reservoir.
(49) The Straits of Johor at Sembawang.
(50) Masjid Petempatan Melayu at Sembawang and its 6 decade old rubber tree.
(51) Changi Beach.
The Long and Winding Road 