The Dalhousie Obelisk was built on February 1850 to commemorate the visit of then governor general of India, Marquis of Dalhousie to Singapore. His purpose of visit was to cut down on administrative expenditure in Singapore.
Merchants and traders were appalled that Singapore infrastructure was not kept in pace with the economic development and thus tried to win over Dalhousie influence to their favour by renaming a pier to Dalhousie Ghaut and marking the place with an obelisk.
The obelisk also served to remind future merchants and traders of the benefits of free trade. It was first sited at Dalhousie Ghaut, the current location of Connaught Drive, but due to the land reclamation it was re-sited to its present location in front of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.
On visiting the site, we were quite amazed what the structure meant as we never really go and check it out even though it is situated at such an area where people usually walk pass when we normally passed the area.
We have no idea what Amelia is doing...
The structure is important in understanding early Singapore history where the early merchants and traders were struggling to get a proper foothold and market up and running in Singapore. It also shows to what extent the early merchants would go to in order to get support for their economic security and improvement in Singapore.
We feel that to us, this site stands as an evidence and proof of the struggles and determination that the early businessmen had to go through in Singapore and also as evidence that what free trade policy have on Singapore as a trading settle have brought about the determination and demand to make Singapore a successful economic trading port by the early businessmen in Singapore.
Just to show how bright the sun was on that...
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