Singapore
15 November 2014

The 2,500-square meter Merlion Park is one of the major tourist attractions in the city-state of Singapore. Located in front of One Fullerton Hotel and overlooking Marina Bay, the lion head statue with the body of a fish serves as a national symbol for Singapore to welcome visitors.

The Merlion fountain statue stands at 8.6 meters high and weighs around 70 tons. Its fish body represents Singapore’s origin as a humble fishing village when it was called Temasek, meaning “sea town” in Javanese while the lion head represents Singapore’s original name – Singapura — meaning “lion city” or “kota singa”.

There are a total of five Merlion statues in Singapore. Two of them are located at the park and the other three are located at Mount Faber, Sentosa and Tourism Court.

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