Merlion Park

Merlion Park is a small waterfront park in Singapore's Downtown Core, set on a pier beside The Fullerton Hotel at One Fullerton, where the 8.6 metre Merlion statue spouts water into Marina Bay. Built by local craftsman Lim Nang Seng and weighing about 70 tonnes, the statue has the head of a lion, for the name Singapura, and the body of a fish, recalling the island's past as the fishing village of Temasek. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew unveiled it on 15 September 1972 at its first site, at the mouth of the Singapore River.

After the Esplanade Bridge was completed in 1997, the statue could no longer be seen clearly from the waterfront, so the Merlion and a two metre Merlion cub were moved to the present pier, with the works completed in April 2002. Entry is free. A visit is short: most people walk out onto the pier to photograph the statue with the Marina Bay Sands towers and the ArtScience Museum across the water, then continue along the promenade. The park links on foot to the Esplanade, across the Esplanade Bridge, and back along the river towards the Singapore River bridges and Boat Quay. Raffles Place MRT station is the closest stop.