Raffles Place
| Names | |
|---|---|
| English: | Raffles Place |
| Chinese: | 莱佛士坊 |
| (Pinyin: | lái fó shì fāng) |
| Malay: | fill in |
| Tamil: | fill in |
Raffles Place is the financial heart of Singapore. It is located within the Downtown Core and the Central Area and, as such, is home to the some of the tallest buildings and landmarks in Singapore. It is situated south of the mouth of the Singapore River. A hill originally stood in its place, the soil of which was then used to reclaim the southern bank of the Singapore River to form Boat Quay. The flattened area was then adapted into Commercial Square, but was renamed Raffles Place in 1858.
Several key buildings are located in Raffles Place, including UOB Plaza, OUB Centre, Republic Plaza, One Raffles Quay and OCBC Centre. The Fullerton Singapore, a hotel at the renovated old General Post Office building, and the famous tourist icon, the Merlion and an ultra modern Durian shape Art Centre Esplanade Theatre are located nearby. The stock exchange of Singapore - the Singapore Exchange - is also located in the vicinity. Several key administrative buildings in Singapore, such as the Singapore Parliament House, the Singapore Supreme Court and the Singapore City Hall are located north across the river, but are technically not part of Raffles Place.
Transportation
The underground Mass Rapid Transit station, the Raffles Place MRT Station, lies directly underneath the centre of Raffles Place, and is one of the primary public transport links for Raffles Place into Singapore's transport system. Bus services also run along Raffles Place, and these are especially important links, as traffic tends to bottleneck during peak hours along the roads near Raffles Place.
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