Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Singapore’s Merlion

I’m not picky. I’ll add to my collection any way I can. I have this habit of enlisting friends, family and coworkers to help my collection grow. When I learned a colleague was traveling to Singapore, I used my typical line, “Did I ever tell you about my souvenir building collection?” I described what I look for and assure them if they should find something, “I pay cash-money!” She brought back a replica of something I never knew existed….a merlion statue. Designed by Fraser Brunner and built in 1964, the merlion measures 8.6 meters high and weighs 70 tons. With a lion head and fish body, the creature recalls the story of Prince Sang Nila Utama, who saw a lion while hunting on an island which became the sea port of Temasek, which eventually became Singapore.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

How much "cash-money" did you pay her? How much does a typical building cost? T.

Dave said...

I believe this Merlion was about $15. Costs vary greatly...I've seen common building sell for $1 and I've seen rare replicas sell for well over $1000.

Anonymous said...

guys

i am a collector from india and currently residing in dubai. I collect various monuments including buildings, wonders of the world, national symbols, mascots etc. Would u be interested in exchanges..if so contact me on satyampet.chandra@emirates.com

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