A lighthouse on the top of a 25-storey apartment block, a unique rocky area that looks like Guilin in China, the remains of a Shinto shrine built in the jungle by prisoners of war, houses from the Ming and Qing periods donated by Jackie Chan, the bottoms of soya-sauce bottles used to decorate the Sultan Mosque, the “leaning tower” of Singapore, the last remaining stretch of natural beach, a forgotten bomb shelter under a national monument, the beautiful modernist door of a former biscuit factory, a hidden kampong (rural village) dwarfed by residential towers, the splendidly preserved old Changi prison gates, the stately Masons Hall inside the Freemasons’ headquarters …
Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Singapore still has a number of hidden treasures for people who know how to wander off the beaten track.
This is an indispensable guide for those who think they know Singapore … or who want to discover another side to the city-state.
Writer Heidi Sarna has lived in Singapore for over 15 years and she started exploring soon after she arrived, eager to uncover the secrets behind the island’s shiny modern office and apartment towers. Her journey of discovery started with her finding the ruins of an abandoned colonial-era house that had been swallowed up by the relentless tropical sprawl. When she’s not nosing around Singapore’s back lanes and forgotten places, Heidi writes about travel and small-ship adventure cruising for her award-winning blog, QuirkyCruise.com, which earned an Honorable Mention in the SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition 2018–2019.
Singaporean heritage enthusiast Jerome Lim has been writing the ‘The Long and Winding Road’ blog since 2008 as a repository for his memories of old Singapore. Considered one of the most knowledgeable authorities on the island’s history, Jerome loves exploring and photographing the Singapore many people have forgotten or never knew existed. A naval architect by profession, he also leads tours to offbeat places for the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). Jerome Lim loves nothing better than researching fascinating aspects of Singapore’s past in the National Library or out in the field, notebook and camera in hand, searching for vestiges of what has come before.
AUTHORS: Heidi Sarna, Jerome Lim
PAGES: 256
FORMAT: 10.5 x 19 cm
ISBN: 978-2-36195-326-3
PRICE: 17,95 € – US$21.95 – £15,99
CONTACT: [email protected]