Directory_and_Chronicle_1927 — Page 1191

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STRAITS SETTLEMENTS-SINGAPORE

SURVEYOR-GENERAL OF SHIPS OFFICE-

Singapore

Surveyor-General of Ships and Chief Examiner of Engineers, S.S., Chief Inspr. of Machinery, S.S.-W. Mellor A.M.I.N.A., A.M.I.MECH.E. Surveyors of Ships, Examiners of Engrs., Inspectors of Machinery, S.S.-J. D. B. Kellar, A.M.I.MECH.E., G. Heron, A.M.I.N A., A.M.I.MECH.E.,

H. Smith and A. C. Macnab, M.I.MAR.E., M.LIV.E.S.

Surveyors of Ships, Inspectors of Ma- chinery, S.S.-J. J. Vanstone, A. Graham and J. McGuffin Chief Clerk-E. H. Valberg

VETERINARY SURGEON-Singapore

Acting Govt. Veterinary Surgeon-

H. A. Hay-Barclay, M.R.C.V.S.

SINGAPORE

The town of Singapore, situated on the southern shore of an island of the same name, in lat. 1 deg. 16 min. N. and long. 103 deg. 43 min. E., is the seat of government of the Straits Settlements.

The Island of Singapore is about 26 miles long by 14 wide, containing an area of 206, or, with the adjacent islets, 223 square miles, and is separated by a narrow strait about three-quarters of a mile wide from the territory of Johore, which occupies the Southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Originally taken possession of in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, it was, until 1823, subordinate to our then settlement in Sumatra. In that year it became an appanage of the Indian Government, in which condition it remained until 1867, when it was placed under the Colonial Office in conjunction with Penang and Malacca.

The town proper extends for about four miles along the south-eastern shore of the island, spreading inland for a distance varying from half to three-quarters of a mile, though the majority of the residences of the upper-class Europeans lie much further back, within a circle with a radius of three and a half miles from the Cathedral. This portion of the Settlement is almost entirely level, the highest hill in the island, about seven miles from the town, rising to a height of only 500 feet. The country roads are well kept, and, thanks to the luxuriance of tropical vegetation, abound in shade. The town streets, on the other hand, though wide and well metalled, are, as regards architectural matters, drains, and gutters, not much credit to the Settle- ment. Government House, the Government Offices, Police Barracks, Magistrates' Courts, Library and Museum, Town Hall and Victoria Theatre, the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the Chartered Bank, and The Arcade are fine buildings. The tallest building in the Settlement is "Ocean Building," a new imposing five-storied structure of reinforced concrete with facings of artificial stone, at the corner of Collyer Quay and Prince Street. This building, however, will be eclipsed by the new Post- Office, which is to stand on the site now occupied by the Singapore Club and the vacant ground adjoining. It will have eight storeys, including the basement; will be built of ferro-concrete faced with artificial granite; and will be designed in the classic style. It will house not only the Post Office, but the_Singapore Club, the Master Attendant's Office, and other Government offices. The cost of construction will be about $4,000,000. The Settlement possesses a handsome Cricket Club which compares favourably with any in the East. A fine bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands in front of the Town Hall, to which position it was removed on the occasion of the Singapore Centenary on 6th February, 1919. A dignified and imposing cenotaph has been erected on the esplanade to commemorate men from the Settlement who fell in the Great War. This memorial was unveiled by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit early in 1922.

Singapore possesses a handsome Anglican cathedral called St. Andrew's Cathedral built in 1861; it is in the Gothic style, with a tower and spire 204 feet high. There is a neat Presbyterian Church, St. Gregory's (Armenian) Church, in Hill Street, and several mission chapels. The Roman Catholics have a roomy Cathedral dedicated to The Good Shepherd, at the corner of Bras Basa Road and Victoria Street, the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Queen Street, the Church of St. Joseph in