What Singapore's Fullerton Hotel can teach Hong Kong about heritage conservation
Singapore is embracing its colonial past - unlike some former British colonies - by converting colonial-era buildings to new uses and attracting tourists. The Fullerton, jewel in the Lion City's crown, is a prime example, writes Fionnuala McHugh
Where is the Fullerton, exactly? At Mile Zero. The Fullerton, strategically located where the Singapore River meets the sea, is the point from which all distances in the Lion City are measured – and not just geographically. It’s played a central position in the island’s history.
You mean as a hotel? It’s only been a hotel since then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong declared it one at midnight on January 1, 2001. Before then it had been the General Post Office, the place where Singaporeans paid their taxes and – as home to the Ministry of Finance and the Economic Development Board – the so-called engine room of Singapore’s post-colonial success.
Impressive. It certainly is. When it was built, in 1928, in neoclassical style with massive Doric columns, it was a gigantic statement by a mighty power. Fourteen years later, the Fullerton was where the British surrendered to the Japanese; the empire never recovered.
So why’s it in the news now? It’s just been declared a National Monument. Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (son of first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew) and Goh were at the hotel for the ceremony.