SINGAPORE – In front of The Fullerton Hotel, five boys are either about to jump or already mid-plunge into the Singapore River – the city’s historical lifeblood.
They are part of a bronze sculpture named The First Generation that captures a slice of the river’s history and the communities that grew up around it.
“The sight and sound of boys, swinging from the trees that lined the river and jumping with gusto, breathed charm into the area,” says a sign that describes the work.
The historical communities whose lives were intertwined with the river are now gone. But at the World Cities Summit that Singapore hosted in mid-June, it was clear that such connections – bonds between people, and between communities and places – are what city leaders aspire to forge.
Here are three ideas for how the country can foster a greater sense of belonging – including bringing swimming back to the Singapore River – gleaned from plenaries during the summit.
Public swimming in the Singapore River
At the closing plenary, former Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said the city’s famous clean-up of the River Seine for the 2024 Olympics – and for public swimming for the first time in a century – was “about public health, ecological restoration, civic pride, and proclaiming the river as part of everyday urban life”.
The words of Hidalgo – who herself took a dip in the Seine in 2024 – harkens back to 1984, when Singapore was in the midst of a decade-long effort to clean up its eponymous river.
Participants taking part in a mass swim across the Singapore River organised by the Hong Lim Green community centre.
(PHOTO: ST FILE)
That year, Hong Lim Green Community Centre organised the first mass swim across it “to promote the river as a pleasant place for a cool dip and aquatic sports”, reported The Straits Times.
“It is no longer the old stinking river, the organisers would like Singaporeans to know,” the article said.
These days – especially since the river became part of Marina Reservoir – swimming has largely been disallowed there, except for events such as the local leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour.
But going by the experience of other cities, it could be time for swimming to return to the Singapore River – the maritime nation’s first port – as a fresh way for Singaporeans to experience and grow a deeper connection to the (Mer)Lion City.
Zoltan Ero, chief architect of Budapest Municipality, said his city’s efforts to make the Danube River more accessible to the public – including by opening pop-up public baths – “have changed the relationship between the city and its river, and between citizens and their city”.
A public bath along the Danube River in Budapest.
(PHOTO: MUNICIPALITY OF BUDAPEST)
Singapore, always in need of new ideas to help people fall in love with the city again, has a ready-made solution in its heart. Are Singaporeans ready to take the plunge?
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