11. Mural Wall

We continued on our trail and came across some walls with intricate carvings that seemed to tell a story. And so, we decided to take a closer look…

But it was the boards near these mural walls that gave us a more complete idea of what the carvings were all about…

The mural walls actually depict some of the significant events that had happened during pre-colonial Singapore. These include:

* Construction of the Royal Palace on Fort Canning

workers carving on pillars, carrying tools and construction materials

* Siamese attack on Singapore

locals defending the island with spears, bows and arrows, behind a defence barricade

* Singapore's Golden Age

Malay, Indian and Chinese traders meeting on shore to exchange their goods

* Singapore's ruler taking flight

Parameswara being whisked away by his followers as the island lays under seige

* Burning of Singapore in 1613 by the Portuguese

houses on the island going up in flames as the Portuguese looked on from aboard their ships

We even tried to do a 3D depiction of the carvings on the wall!

After looking up some information from the Sejarah Melayu library and quotes like the Daoyi Zhilue from history lesson, we find that the sign board merely provides a general idea of what happened in Singapore from the early 14^th Century onwards. In particular, certain information might be too vague or even misrepresented, hence misleading readers. For example, we found, from the primary source Daoyi Zhilue, that the Siamese ceased the attacks on Singapore when they realized the presence of an envoy from Java. In contrast, it was written on the board that ‘a passing Chinese fleet forced the Siamese to withdraw’.

Resource:
http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/library/