Memorial in a Garden
A founders’ memorial need not be a grand structure, but it must stand for our ideals, our values, our hopes and aspirations. It must belong to all Singaporeans and mean something significant to us all. It should be a place where we and future generations can remember a key period in our history, reflect on the ideals of our founding fathers, and pledge to continue the work of nation building.
Slated to open in 2028, the Founders’ Memorial will commemorate the values and ideals exemplified by Singapore’s first generation leaders, as well as other key personalities who played important roles in Singapore’s path to independence, and in the early years of Singapore’s nation-building process. The Memorial’s narrative will take a values-driven approach, which continues to be informed through engagement with Singaporeans.
Envisioned as an integrated gallery and gardens experience at the Bay East Garden, the Memorial aims to both commemorate how independent Singapore came to be, and inspire Singaporeans to commit themselves to building the nation’s future, together.
Groundbreaking Ceremony For The Founders’ Memorial At Bay East Garden 5 JUN 2024
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Founders’ Memorial marked a significant step in the development of the project since its inception in 2015. Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony at the Memorial’s site in Bay East Garden. The ceremony was also attended by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong, Minister for National Development & Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration Desmond Lee, Co-Chairs of the Founders’ Memorial Committee, Mr Lee Tzu Yang and Professor Tan Tai Yong, as well as representatives from the community including youths, volunteers and artefact donors whom the Memorial had engaged.
The groundbreaking ceremony featured the shovelling of soil and tree planting, which was inspired by the first tree planting campaign initiated by Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1963, which kickstarted Singapore’s greening journey. The involvement of youth representatives at the ceremony also symbolised younger Singaporeans taking over the baton of nation-building from Singapore’s founding leaders and generation.
Envisioned as an integrated gallery and gardens experience at the Bay East Garden, the Memorial commemorates the founding values and ideals exemplified by Singapore’s founding leaders and generation, as well as other key figures who played important roles in Singapore’s path to independence and journey of nation-building. The Memorial also aims to inspire Singaporeans to commit themselves towards a better future, as it will serve as a space to capture the spirit of our nation and unify Singaporeans. It is expected to open in 2028.
Singapore’s nation building journey deserves to be ‘commemorated and remembered’: SM Lee
With a vista of the city skyline and Marina Reservoir, the Founders’ Memorial will be a testament to the bold vision of our founding leaders and generations in overcoming land and water constraints and the values they stood for
The time has come for Singapore to build a memorial to commemorate its nation building journey, said Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (Jun 5). Speaking after the groundbreaking ceremony for the Founders’ Memorial, Mr Lee said that Singapore’s journey as a nation deserves to be “commemorated and remembered”.
Singapore has several memorials marking significant events in its modern history, like the Kranji War Memorial and the Civilian War Memorial. But it does not have one to tell the story of how it became what it is today, and bring to life the “ideals, impulses, and the spirit” that drove its founding leaders, Mr Lee explained. “Now, almost 60 years after Separation, and 80 years after World War II, the time has come for us to build one,” he added.
The Founders' Memorial will be located in Bay East Garden and will occupy reclaimed land fronting Marina Bay, said Mr Lee. It is expected to open in 2028, said the National Heritage Board (NHB) and Gardens by the Bay.
Founders’ Memorial’s construction set to cost $335 million
Slated to open in end-2028, the Founders' Memorial will be dedicated to independent Singapore’s pioneers and the values they exemplified
The upcoming Founders’ Memorial at Gardens by the Bay’s Bay East Garden is set to cost $335 million to construct.
Responding to a question from Mr Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC), Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong told Parliament on Sept 9 that the development cost is based on current outlook and projections.
The sum “encompasses building construction and fit-out costs for the exhibition galleries, viewing gallery and outdoor amphitheatre, education and family spaces and amenities, and a 5ha outdoor public garden”, said Mr Tong in a written response. He added that the annual operating cost of the memorial “is being worked out in tandem with the development of operational plans”.
Founders' Memorial to take 5-hectare site at Bay East Garden as development enters new stage
The view from Bay East Garden at Gardens by the Bay
A five-hectare site at Bay East Garden will be the home of the Founders’ Memorial, as the development to commemorate the values and ideals of Singapore’s pioneers enters a new phase.
The memorial site will include a garden, within which an indoor gallery will be built, the Founders’ Memorial committee said in a press release on Friday (Oct 19).
The next stage of the development, which will span two years, will focus on the memorial's design and content. It follows a two-year-period spent gathering views from more than 32,000 people that culminated in the recommendations the committee made last year.
Founders' Memorial at Bay East Garden will span 5ha, with plans moving into design phase
The Founders' Memorial will be located at a 5ha site in Bay East Garden in the Marina Bay area
The plans for a memorial to honour the pioneer leaders of Singapore are moving forward, with a committee calling for ideas on how the Founders' Memorial, which will be located at a 5ha site in Bay East Garden in the Marina Bay area, should look like.
A competition will be held in January next year to call for proposals from architects and designers for the design of the memorial, which will cover the period in Singapore after World War II to its first few decades of independence, focusing on key milestones and stories in the country's growth.
The memorial site will be housed in a garden, within which an indoor gallery will be built. There will likely be permanent and temporary galleries, as well as a visitor centre and multi-purpose rooms which could host school excursions and citizenship ceremonies.
Founders' Memorial
The Founders' Memorial is a memorial under development within the Bay East Garden of the Gardens by the Bay to commemorate the founding fathers of Singapore as well as to cover the country's contemporary history from after World War II to its first few decades of independence.[1]
On 9 March 2020, a collaboration between Kengo Kuma (Japan) and K2LD Architects (Singapore) won the international architectural competition to design the memorial. Initially expected to open in 2025,[2] the memorial is now scheduled to open in 2028.
Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, died on 23 March 2015. Lee had made it clear over the years that he did not want a monument solely to himself, and his will specified that his house at 38 Oxley Road was to be demolished. In a parliamentary statement[4] on 13 April 2015, his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated,
Civilian War Memorial
The Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation, usually called the Civilian War Memorial (Chinese: 日本占领时期死难人民纪念碑; Malay: Tugu Peringatan Bagi Mangsa Awam Pemerintahan Jepun; Tamil: ஜப்பானியர் ஆதிக்க காலத்தில் உயிர் துறந்த பொதுமக்களுக்கன நினைவுச் சின்னம்), is a war memorial and heritage landmark in Singapore next to Esplanade MRT station. It was built in memory of the civilians killed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II. The Civilian War Memorial sits on serene parkland in the midst of busy city traffic near Singapore's Padang and City Hall. Located within the War Memorial Park at Beach Road within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district, it is usually easy to spot in most backdrops encompassing the CBD landscape. It was gazetted as the 65th national memorial on 15 August 2013
During the Japanese Empire's occupation of Singapore during the Pacific War (1942–1945), thousands of ethnic Chinese were killed in the Sook Ching massacre. In an effort to remove anti-Japanese elements in Singapore, Chinese men between the ages of 18 and 50 were to report to the Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese Army military police. The death toll was reported to be 6,000 by the Japanese, but official estimates range between 25,000 and 50,000.
In February 1962, remains belonging to civilian victims of the Japanese occupation were unearthed in areas like Siglap, Changi and Bukit Timah. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCC) undertook the responsibility of gathering the remains and creating a memorial.
Civilian War Memorial
Not far from the Esplanade Park Memorials stands the Civilian War Memorial, the first memorial in Singapore dedicated to the civilian victims of the Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945). It calls to mind the shared sufferings of the various ethnic communities in Singapore, and the ardent hope that locals had after the war to rebuild their homes.
During the 1950s and 1960s, extensive excavations were carried out around Singapore as part of the foundation works for residential and industrial development projects. In 1962, several mass graves containing the bodily remains of thousands of civilian victims were discovered in multiple locations; more than 40 of these were found in the infamous ‘Valley of Death’ in Siglap.
The remains belonged to victims of Operation Sook Ching (肃清), an attempt by the Japanese to sieve out anti-Japanese elements – primarily among the Chinese populace – during the war years. Thousands of men, many who were innocent, were arrested at screening centres and taken to different suburban locations around the island where they were brutally massacred and unceremoniously buried in mass graves.
Kranji War Memorial
The Kranji War Memorial (Chinese: 克兰芝阵亡战士公坟; Malay: Tanah Perkuburan Perang Kranji; Tamil: கிராஞ்சி போர் நினைவு) is located at 9 Woodlands Road, in Kranji in northern Singapore. Dedicated to the men and women from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Sri Lanka, India, Malaya, the Netherlands and New Zealand who died defending Singapore and Malaya against the invading Japanese forces during World War II, it comprises the War Graves, the Memorial Walls, the State Cemetery, and the Military Graves.
The War Memorial represents the three branches of the military – the Air Force, Army and Navy. The columns represent the Army, which marches in columns, the cover over the columns is shaped after of the wings of a plane, representing the Air Force, and the shape at the top resembles the sail of a submarine, representing the Navy.
The Memorial's walls inscribe over 24,000 names of Allied personnel whose bodies were never found, spread over both sides of 12 columns of the war memorial itself. On the Kranji War Memorial the names of 191 Canadian airmen are inscribed. The grounds of the memorial is set on a hilly terrain. The grounds are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and accessible only from Woodlands Road,[2] the same road that the Imperial Guards Division of the Japanese 25th Army had marched down on 9 February 1942.
Kranji War Memorial and Cemetery has been included into the photographic archive by the War Graves Photographic Project in association with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Each individual grave has been recorded together with each and every column on the memorials.
Kranji War Memorial
The Kranji War Memorial was erected in honour of the Allied soldiers who died during WWII. Marked graves of thousands of servicemen who sacrificed their lives during the Japanese Occupation stand on the lawns, while the names of those whose bodies were never found are inscribed on the walls of the Memorial. Designed by Colin St. Clair Oakes, the cemetery was built to symbolise military formations, representative of the army, the navy and the air-force services.