Last Day for Clifford Pier

Today marks the last day of operation for Clifford Pier. This old historical building has been a faithful and loyal servant in Singapore for the last 73 years, overlooking the sea and welcoming seafarers, tourists and shipping crews to our shores. He has been quietly toiling long before Singapore’s independence. Built in 1931 by the Public Works Department, oversee by the Chief Architect then, Frank Dorrington Ward, this magnificent structure was officially opened on 3rd of June 1933 during the colonial times by Sir Cecil Clementi. After such a long period of time, this old faithful closes it door which marks the end of an era and its beautiful history.



No words can express how sad I am with the closing of Clifford Pier. I am not sure about others but to me Clifford Pier is a very special and memorable place. Not because it is closing down then I feel nostalgia or special about it but this place has been special ever since my childhood days.

Back to more than 2 decades ago, when I was still a little boy, my father will usually like to bring me out to town for a walk when he is not working on Saturday. I will really look forward to it when he said that he will be bringing me to “Ang Teng Bay Tiao”, 红灯码头 or in English, Clifford Pier area. We will take a bus from our Kampong that drove us to town. I will be fascinated by those tall buildings structures and the busy activities in Shenton Way and of course, the most famous landmark at that time and place, Clifford Pier.

My father will usually bring me to the hawker centre at Empress Place which is just next to Singapore River to have a cup of coffee for him and tea for me and something else breakfast, the coffee and tea were very cheap at that time, it is usually served in those small white caps with sauces. : )

I can always recall seeing how those bumboats that were parked at Clifford Pier; it is just such a sight. Other instance whereby I have the chance to go Clifford Pier is when my parents have to bring us (my elder sis and I) to Kusu Island to pray. We will usually leave the house early and reach Clifford Pier at around 7:00am plus and stay in the queue to wait for the ferry service to bring us to Kusu Island. Over the years, the crowd visiting Kusu Island just grew lesser and lesser. But during those days, the now large empty area inside the pier will be crowded with devotees waiting to go to Kusu Island, it is just so memorable.

I actually leave today just to spend the whole day at Clifford Pier to take some photos to record its past glory. However, I feel that no amount of photographs taken of Clifford Pier can be better than the real and original thing. All I can do is, to capture its beauty as it still stands and keep it as a part of my memory. I also hope to develop a few photos to show to my parents so that they can feel nostalgia about, I believe it has been long since they ever visited Clifford Pier. I just want to share the feeling with them so that we can talk about it and try to recall those glorious days of Clifford Pier and its ever-enchanting charisma and history. Just to share a few more photos that I took in IR.

Farewell Clifford Pier. Farewell.