Fort Canning Hill

Fort Canning Hill was once known as Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill) and later as Government Hill when the British established Singapore as a crown colony. Malay and Chinese historical records indicate that this was the site of an ancient kingdom around 1300AD. Its name, Bukit Larangan stemmed from the belief that no one was permitted to go up the hill without being summoned by the ancient Malay rulers, whose royal palace probably stood on the summit.

Various archaeological digs at Fort Canning Park in 1984 reinforced the existence of this golden era of the five kings in 14th Century Singapore prior to the arrival of the British in 1819. Thousands of artefacts indicated a high likelihood of the area being used by palace craftsmen to manufacture glass and gold items. All these further lend evidence to the historical significance of Fort Canning.

Raffles built his residence, the Government House on the hill in 1823 during his third and last visit to Singapore. The site of his residence commandeered a magnificent view of the harbour and remained there till 1895 when construction began on Government hill to build a fort. Fort Canning was named after Viscount Charles John Canning, Governor-General and First Viceroy of India.

Prior to the opening of a cemetery at Bukit Timah Road, an old Christian cemetery existed here between 1830s and 1865. It was consecrated by Bishop Wilson of Calcutta in 1834. A Gothic-styled gateway to the cemetery still stands today and dates back to about 1833.

Fort Canning also has a military past. It was here in the underground operations rooms (the current Battle Box) that General Percival made the decision to surrender Singapore to the Japanese on 15th February 1942. The former military barracks have been converted to the Fort Canning Centre which today houses some of the arts groups like the Singapore Dance.

The current spice garden is a small replica of the original 19-ha tract Raffles established in 1822 as the first experimental and botanical garden of Singapore. This was actually the brainchild of Nathaniel Wallich, a Dane who came to Singapore in 1822 and wrote to Raffles to recommend that such a garden be set up. Wallich was previously the Superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Calcutta in 1815.

From Bencoolen (Sumatra) where Raffles was stationed, he sent commercially important spices such as clove and nutmeg for cultivation in the original spice garden. Part of the hill was designed as a park with walkways, 18-foot terraces, a brick wall with pillars, and surrounded by Chinese bamboo fences. The garden was discontinued in 1829 due to a lack of funding. It was subsequently revived in 1836 but was closed again in 1846. A third garden, which was initiated by the Agri-Horticultural Society in late 1859 is now part of the current Singapore Botanic Gardens at Tanglin.

When Singapore fell to enemy forces, he escaped and founded the great kingdom of Melaka two years later. Early Chinese records of Melaka report his death around 1420 but gave no clue to his burial place.

Malay chronicles state that the first King of Malays, Sri Tri Buana and his Chief Minister, Demang Lebar Daun were buried on this hill. Whilst the origin of the belief is unknown, by 1822, the Keramat was venerated by Muslims Chinese and Hindus. The original structure has since disappeared but recent archaeological excavations yielded 14th century artefacts a few metres north and east of this terrace.