"The Merlion"

[ene_gal]

Did you know that :

* The Merlion symbol was designed by Mr Fraser Brunner in 1964 and trademarked in 1966.

* The Merlion symbol comprises a fish body resting on a crest of waves and a lion head

* The fish body of the Merlion represents the ancient city of Temasek (old name of Singapore)

* The lion head of the Merlion tells the legend of Malay ruler Sang Nila Utama's discovery of a lion in the area.  This led him to name the island Singapura

* The Merlion statue was created by local artist Mr Lim Nang Seng

* The Merlion statue, including the crest of waves, weighs 70 tonnes

* The Merlion statue measures 8m tall when standing on its base

* The Merlion Park was built in 1972.  The installation ceremony of the Merlion on 15 Sep 1972 was officiated by Mr Lee Kwan Yew

* The Merlion Park was refurbished in 1993

* The Merlion will be relocated to the mouth of the Singapore River, overlooking the Marina Bay.

Received this in the mail and thought I'll share it with all of you  

[Mabel]

Thanks ene-gal...very interesting. I've wondered about where it originated.

Cheers
Mabel

[DevG]

At one time the merlion used to have a stream of water gushing out of its mouth. Maybe it will resume spouting upon relocation.

It led some wags to say, "That's why everyone spits, even the national symbol does it".  

[Burbage]

Thank you ene-girl, very informative. And there I was thinking I wasn't going to learn anything today.

[cs]

Have u seen the Merlion on Sentosa?
At night there are laser beams that come out of its eyes.
And in complete violation of nature, you  enter it via the ar** and emerge via the mouth.

[This message has been edited by cs (edited 09-03-2002).]

[ene_gal]

cs : *LOL*

I've always wondered...Sang Nila Utama (the Malay ruler in the legend) saw a lion first which led him to call this sunny island 'Singapura' (which means lion or something).

Think about it : What if he saw something else ? Say, a herd of wild dogs ? a lady washing her laundry ?  The list is endless...

[Fat Bob]

It was wrong, anyhow, it was more than likely a tiger, not a lion!

But hay, Tigerpore sounds cool as well!!

[ene_gal]

FB : Tiggerpura ??  

[Arry]

Hehehe - tiger in Bahasa is Harimau, and btw, the -pura prefix denotes 'city'.  

Harimaupore or Harimaupura would be too hard to pronounce for the expats! Hehehe.

Just another trivia as for the two other main capital cities in the region. Jakarta has undergone several name changes, since it was founded some 400 years ago. If I'm not mistaken, the city is founded by Prince Fatahillah, and named "Sunda Kelapa", then it was renamed Jayakarta. When the Portuguese and the Dutch landed there, they misspelt the name Jayakarta and shortened it to 'Jacatra'. However, when the Dutch ruled Indonesia at the end, the city was named 'Batavia'. When Indonesia obtained its independence in 1945, the name was restored to "Djakarta" (In the old spelling, dj = j; and j = y *grin*).

Do you know that Kuala Lumpur in Malay actually means "Muddy Estuary"?   No wonder Mahathir wants to move the capital city and rename it 'Putrajaya'. Putra means son(s), and jaya means glorious.  

[Fat Bob]

Tigger? As in T-I-Double Ger

[want_to_believe]

not to forget that tiger beer would be singa beer in this case . Great , singa has 13%  

[Billy]

The REAL story behing the Merlion is far more sinister, and has been covered up by the government for years. It goes something like this.

Back in the olden days, before mobile phones and cheese were invented, the was a small but happy community of "land fish" living on what is now known as "singapore". These "land fish", were the rulers of the island, and were a nice lot, except for their rascist attitude towards the other islands inhabitants, the Lions. the lions, although stronger than the fish, were not as clever, and often got taken advantage of. Anyway, it was strictly forbidden for lions and fish to wed, so when the fish king discovered that his daughter, Beryl, had been secretly courting a common lion, he was very pissed off. He killed the lion in question, and banished his daughter to Sentosa. Whilst on sentosa, Beryl gave birth to a son, whom she named Darren. Darren was half fish, and half lion, what you might call a "merlion". Anyway, Darren grew up to be a strong young man, although he did have trouble walking, what with his large head and lack of legs. Soon Darren discover what his grandad had done, so he set out to take revenge. The rest is history.

So there you have it. The merlion is actually the illigitemate son of Princess Beryl, and is the founding father of Singapore. Well one of them anyway.

[Arry]

Hehehehehehehehehehe  

Darren and Berryl, eh?  

[want_to_believe]

ohh..these lions . They nail everything , even fish