Sleepless in Clarke Quay, Singapore

DESPITE the current global recession hitting Singapore, Clarke Quay—one of the central happenings in this city-state—has its own attractions to make local and foreign visitors frequent the area for dining in, river cruising, or just picture taking.

Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore, in which the quay is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and Boat Quay.

The place was named after Sir Andrew Clarke, the second governor of Singapore as well as the governor of the Straits Settlements from 1873 to 1875. Back then Clarke Quay used to play a key role in Singapore's trading as it was the main port for the Malay states of Perak, Selangor and Sungei Ujong.

Now, Clarke Quay turned out to be a venue of widest selection of restaurants, bars, clubs, bistros, entertainment hubs, recreation, and retail outlets. These facilities have attracted visitors domestically and internationally to visit the city-state with 4.7 million populations.

In July 2009 alone, visitors arrival to Singapore reached 881,000. Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets are Indonesia (169,000); Australia (79,000); China (72,000); India (66,000) and Malaysia (54,000). These markets accounted for 50 per cent of total arrivals for the month, said the Singapore Tourism Board website.

Once a trading port in the days of old, Clarke Quay today is a vibrant locale for scenic riverside dining and riverfront for partying, this was found written in a Clarke Quay brochure.

Haute cuisine, casual dining or outdoor restaurants are mushrooming along the area serving different kinds of menu of Western, Middle Eastern and Asian taste. The rich and unique food heritage dates back to the old days when the country was a trading post at the crossroads of the East-West trade routes for spices.

During a recent trip from September 17 to September 20 sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board, The Brunei Times was invited to take the tour along the Clarke Quay nightlife and Singapore's River precinct.

The journey began with a dinner at Jumbo Seafood which served among others the Singapore Chilli Crab—one of the signature dishes in Singapore. The story behind it was the chilli crab in Singapore had beginnings as humble as the country itself. In the 1950s, Cher Yam Tian and her husband Lim Choon Ngee set up a seafood hawker stall on the seashore, cooking by the light of a kerosene lamp daily from dusk till the wee hours. One of Cher's specialties was crabs in zesty chilli-spiked gravy, the first version of the chilli crab dish.

The next popular attraction in the area is River Cruise. During the 30-minute trip on a modern hybrid powered eco-friendly electric boat, one can enjoy the night scenery of the city. The route will pass under the 1990's Coleman Bridge, 1929's Elgin Bridge, 1869's Cavenagh Bridge (near Fullerton Hotel), 1910's Anderson Bridge and 1970's Esplanade Bridge.

Other sights include skyscrapers located in the financial and business area at night, Asian Civilisation Museum, Parliament House, Raffles Statue and the Supreme Court building as well as the GX-5 Extreme Swing. There is also the well-known symbol of Merlion at the Marina Bay, where visitors are still taking pictures at night.

This River Cruise will charge $15 for adult passenger and $9 for children. "This is the centre of happenings for night life entertainment," a local tour guide Toon Teng said.

The Brunei Times