The Singapore River a century ago

Until the 1970s-1980s, the river was the commercial heart of Singapore, where coolies loaded and unloaded goods between the warehouses lining the banks (known as 'godowns') and lighters, small boats acting as a link to the larger ships anchored in the harbour beyond the river mouth.

This image is taken from a tiny snapshot no more than a couple of inches across, and dates from around 1910, from the look of it. The buildings on the left were government offices, and now house the Asian Civilisations Museum. Many of the those facing us in the centre of the picture have been replaced by high-rise blocks (mainly banks), although a line of godown buildings to the right of this shot (outside the frame) has been preserved. A promenade runs along the bank, lined with restaurants and bars. All the boats disappeared in the late 1980s, as part of a clean-up exercise.

The Singapore River in the early 1900s