Bart Bear's Blog

This statue is the Merlion. The Merlion is a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. It is the mascot of Singapore. The statue was made in 1971/72 and originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River. Construction work and dredging for the Marina Bay complex blocked the view of the Merlion and also moved the mouth of the river, so in 2002 it was moved to a new spot in a special park where it can be seen from most of Marina Bay. There are other Merlion statues in Singapore; a small cub behind this one, a 3 m one on Mt Faber and a huge one on Sentosa Island. The Oldies visited the Sentosa one in 2007. It has a viewing platform on top and they have promised to take me there next time we are in SingyPaw. I like the way that this Merlion spurts water out of his mouth into the river. It is supposed to bring luck to the city, and it seems to be doing its job rather well. And just in case you were wondering, the Merlion is male; small bears find out these things.