Lion of Singapore

By Vikram Wagh

Singapore has been known as the Lion City since the late 13th century when it was discovered by Sumatran Prince Sang Nila Utama, who saw what he thought was a Lion on the island and renamed it Singapura.

Since then, the Lion has been worshipped as a God, exalted in Singaporean culture and religion, used as a political and academic symbol in Singapore, and been a huge part of popular culture across the island. This book explores the nexus between the Lion and what he symbolises in Singapore, and delves into the relationships between the Lion and the country’s history and culture.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Candid Creation Publishing
• Release date: Feb 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9789811449628

Book preview

AUTHOR

Introduction

I first visited Singapore in 1999 when I was nine years old, and I fell in love with it. After that, I visited the country again in 2003 and 2005 while transiting on the way home from holidays, although I did not realise how much I loved it until 2007 when I was there again on transit. For a while after that, almost a decade after my first visit, I wondered what it was about Singapore that I loved so much. In 2009, when I was on a holiday there, I came to know that it is my love for the Lion that makes me love Singapore, because Singapore means Lion City.

Lions have fascinated me from an early age due to their uniqueness in the cat family, being its only social and sexually dimorphic members. I have seen Lions at the zoo when growing up. When I went on my first African safari in Kenya at the age of seven, I remember the excitement of seeing Lions in the wild and feeling the exhilaration for a long time afterwards. A decade later, I again saw wild Lions in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, Western India, where the Lions are smaller than their African relatives.

As a result of my fondness for Lions, most of my favourite travel destinations have something to do with Lions in one way or another. Singapore is first amongst them. The others are Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, China, South Africa, and Malaysia.

It has been my childhood dream to be a writer. This, my first book, has been an inspirational journey right from the start. The purpose of writing this book was to showcase an important Singaporean symbol, the king of the animals. Every time I have used the word Lion in this book, I have written it in capitals to emphasise that this book is related to him and a country he represents. Given that we are as much animals as the mammals we refer to as animals, I believe that any mammal should be referred to as he or she, including the Lion, which is what I have done in this book. As mentioned earlier, Singapore is one of my favourite topics and travel destinations. I love learning about Singapore. I have collected an enormous amount of information, photographs, and memorabilia during my visits to Singapore, so I believed that I had enough material to help me write this book. However, during my research, I realised how much more there is to the Lion in Singapore than I had imagined. The presence of the Lion in Singapore’s history, colonial heritage, racial diversity, popular culture, and religion is immense. Being on the autism spectrum due to having Asperger Syndrome, I have unique interests and my love for Lions is one of them, an interest that led me to my fondness for Singapore.

One of the challenges I faced was choosing images from the large collection that I own. Initially, I wanted to include every single picture of Lions that I took in Singapore. However, I had to accept that I would have to make some hard choices. I also required permission for using official insignia. I wrote to several organisations and people, including some government offices in Singapore. This experience in itself was enriching. At the time, it seemed like a monumental task. I was fortunate to receive permission to use most of the images. I am especially grateful to Her Excellency Madam Halimah Yacob, President of Singapore, the Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore, and Ms Grace Fu Minister of Culture, Community, and Youth, who have granted me permission to use the insignia required to illustrate the importance of the Lion in Singapore.

I would like to thank my parents, who have always taken a keen interest in my writing. Their belief in me and their support have been central during the process of working on this book. They know of my fondness for Singapore and the animal that represents it. So when I came up with the idea of this book, they encouraged me to go ahead with the project and helped me at every stage where I needed their involvement.

Since this is my first book, I was not clear about the process and needed professional advice for the project. I spoke to several people in the literary field in New Zealand but drew a blank since they were not familiar with the topic. It seemed clear that the only place to look for an editor was in Singapore and we were very fortunate to find Rosemary Lim who was perfect for this book in every possible way. I believe the Universe assisted us in finding her. I am very grateful to my parents for finding Rosemary. Until I met Rosemary, bringing this book to life seemed a million miles away. To my absolute delight, she went through my work and agreed to work with me on this project. From then on, it has been a journey filled with fun, challenges, learning, expectation, and excitement. It has been worth every moment!

C H A P T E R 1

THE PRINCE AND THE LION

The relationship between the Lion and Singapore was forged through the man who first founded a settlement on the island.

In 1299, Prince Sri Tri Buana, more commonly known to his people as Sang Nila Utama of Palembang (then the capital of the Srivijayan Empire in Sumatra), was on a journey to establish a new city. He was staying in the Riau Islands as a guest of the queen.

One day, while out hunting a stag, his chase took him up a small hill or rock, only for the stag to run back down once at the top. Before the prince could give chase again, out of the corner of his eye he saw, across the sea, a beautiful island with white sandy beaches. He was told that it was the island of Temasek and decided to visit it. However, on the way to the