Places Tours & Trails

The Lost Anchorage: Telok Ayer to Padang

by The Urbanist Singapore
9, 16, 23 May • 04:00pm

This guided walk traces Singapore’s 1840s shoreline as a lens to explore how a port city was shaped by migration, trade, faith, labour, and land reclamation, using historic map overlays to reveal where the sea once met today’s streets.

The-Lost-Anchorage-Telok-Ayer-to-Padang

Register here: https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/lite_thelostanchorage1

*Programme tickets will go live on 22nd April 2026 12pm

Saturday (9, 16 & 23 May): 4pm - 6pm

Explore a lost shore. This walk traces our 1840s shoreline and asks: what does a city look like when the sea is right here, at your feet?

Using a specially designed visual aid, we align the old coast onto today’s streets and watch the waterfront shift, revealing how reclamation, port growth, and trade infrastructure rewrote the city.

Along the original Telok Ayer shoreline, we encounter places of worship built by communities who arrived by boat and settled within sight of their landing points. We then move into the commercial heart of early Singapore, where markets, open squares and an old Chinese village lie. After a twist at the Padang, the walk concludes at City Hall MRT. You will leave with a mental map of old Singapore and how maritime forces still shape the city today.

Featuring original audio segments narrated by Kamini Ramachandran, a renowned storyteller.

What’s best? Take home the free limited-edition visual aid designed just for this walk!

The Urbanist Singapore

Yong Min is a heritage educator and founder of The Urbanist Singapore, reaching over 80,000 followers through engaging digital storytelling on Singapore’s history and urban design. His honours thesis at the National University of Singapore earned him the Preservation of Monuments Board’s Best Thesis Award in 2009. Yong curates immersive heritage walks and has been featured at major festivals, with his work recognised by leading media outlets.

Website: urbanistsingapore.com
Facebook: NIL
Instagram: www.instagram.com/urbanist.singapore





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