Singapore River and Mekong River cannot be any more different. One is nearly 5,000 km long (4,909km to be exact), the other is..... 3km or 3.2km to be exact. One runs through six countries - China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The other runs its entire course in the tiny island state of Singapore, itself only 729 sq km in total in land area.
The Thai and Lao people call the Mekong, Mother of Waters, Cambodians call it Great Water. The Vietnamese revere it as the Nine Dragons. Singapore River is only known as.... Singapore River or Sungai Singapura in Malay.
Cradles of Nations
The Mekong and Singapore Rivers are the birthplace of nations.
The Mekong River is the birthplace of ancient civilisations, the precursors of the countries the great river runs through today. Two thousand years ago, a prince from India, Kaundinya, landed in the Mekong Delta and founded the Funan kingdom. The Funan kingdom which lasted from 1AD to 550AD is the foundation of today's Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Since Funan, many more kingdoms and empires rise and fell in the centuries leading up to today.
Over 700 years ago in 1299, Sang Nila Utama, a prince from the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra landed at the mouth of Singapore River to start his new kingdom. The kingdom of Singapura thrived for 99 years before invaders from the Majapahit empire in Java razed Singapura to the ground. Other historians believe it was Thais from the Ayutthaya empire who came at Singapura in 1398.
Rivers that Bind
Different people came to live along the Mekong River as it passes through six countries. One river, six countries. Today, over 70 million people live along the Mekong.
Today, people from across the world continue to come to the Singapore River to work, in Singapore's Central Business District. Singapore River has also become an international entertainment hub where visitors can taste cuisine from around the world including Thai, Cambodian, Lao, Myanmese and Vietnamese food.
Rivers of Life
Singapore River is also the river of life but in a different way from the Mekong. The banks of Singapore River once grew rice during the kingdom of Singapura. They even had enough to spare which they made into rice wine.
In modern Singapore, the river could no longer support large scale agriculture nor provide enough fish for the huge population. Singapore River became the marketplace, the artery where the life blood of goods (such as rice and fish) from Southeast Asia and the world arrived in Singapore.
If the Mekong River is the river of life, the Singapore River is the river of livelihood, that sustained the lives of Singaporeans.
Rivers of Business
Goods are brought from all along the Mekong River, across borders to trade in markets. (There are many floating markets on the Mekong, some going back centuries.) Mekong River has long been a super highway and marketplace for goods.
When the kingdom of Singapura was founded in 1299, it too prospered as a marketplace. Goods from India, China and the Malay archipelago were traded and exchanged. Taxes and fees brought great wealth to the kingdom of Singapura.
The British trading post at Singapore River established by Raffles in 1819 continued this tradition - goods were brought from all over the world to be traded.
Today, Singapore's Central Business District is Asia's largest financial centre (and third in the world after New York and London).
Rivers of Food
The Singapore River does not provide ingredients directly but food ingredients were brought here from the region and the world. The coolies of Singapore River created bak kut teh from local pork, spices from the Malay archipelago and soy sauce from China. And, they often pair it with with tea from China.
Rivers of Hope & Sustainable Development
Today's Mekong River face many challenges in pollution, rising population, dwindling fish stock, overfishing, climate change and sustainable development.
In 1995, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam signed the Mekong Agreement to establish the Mekong River Commission (MRC). MRC's focus is sustainable development and management of the Mekong River Basin's water and related resources.
Singapore River was once a highly polluted waterway. In the 1970s, Singapore began the big clean up costing $300 million. At that time, Singapore River was an open sewage and smelled of millions of rotten eggs, literally speaking. The clean up project was a huge success. By the 1980s, fish can live in the water and the unforgettable smell of old Singapore River is just a memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments submitted with genuine identities are published