Raffles' Landing Site
Encyclopedia
The Raffles' Landing Site (Chinese: 莱佛士登陆点) is the location where tradition holds that Sir Stamford Raffles landed in on 29 January 1819. The site is located at Boat Quay
Boat Quay
Boat Quay is a historical quay in Singapore which is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River on its southern bank.It was the busiest part of the old Port of Singapore, handling three quarters of all shipping business during the 1860s...

 within the Civic District, in the Downtown Core
Downtown Core
The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...

 of the Central Area, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

's central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

.

History

On 29 January 1819, Raffle's landed at this site for his first visit, which lasted ten days. During this period, he concluded the first treaty with the local rulers.

The site is denoted by a statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 of Sir Stamford Raffles and is located on the north bank of the Singapore River
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river in Singapore with great historical importance. The Singapore River flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean...

.
The present polymarble statue was unveiled in 1972 which was made from plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...

 cast
Molding (process)
Molding or moulding is the process of manufacturing by shaping pliable raw material using a rigid frame or model called a pattern....

s from the original 1887 figure that currently stands opposite Victoria Concert Halls.

Plaque inscription

The Plaque at the landing site reads "On this historic site, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore on 28th January 1819, and with genius and peception changed the destiny of Singapore from an obscure fishing vilage to a great seaport and modern metropolis."
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