The Lim Bo Seng Memorial is an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...

pagoda A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...

-like

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Esplanade Park Esplanade Park is a park located at the Esplanade area within the Downtown Core district of Singapore. History Built in 1943 when Singapore was ruled by Japan, the Esplanade Park is one of the oldest parks in Singapore. The park was redevelope ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. It was erected in 1954 in honour of the late

Lim Bo Seng Lim Bo Seng (; 27 April 1909 – 29 June 1944) was a Chinese-born resistance fighter based in Singapore and Malaya during World War II. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, he was a prominent businessman among the Chinese community in Singa ...

for his heroic acts and selfless sacrifice during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The war memorial is the only structure in Singapore that commemorates an individual's efforts in World War II and was gazetted as a national monument on 28 December 2010.

History

In 1946, The Lim Bo Seng Memorial Committee was established to raise funds for the memorial and prepared the proposals of the plan to colonial government, one of which proposed the construction of a memorial park around the late

's grave at

MacRitchie Reservoir MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's oldest reservoir. The reservoir was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir. History Before the early 19th centu ...

. The colonial government rejected five of the committee's proposals, and would later grant permission in 1953 for a memorial to be built at the

Esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

based on the sixth proposal. On 3 November 1953 at 5.30 pm, the British Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia

Malcolm MacDonald Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle ...

laid the foundation stone for the structure at the ceremony with Lim Bo Seng's widow Gan Choo Neo and her children in present.

Architecture

The memorial was designed by Ng Keng Siang, the first overseas trained Singaporean architect, it was a high Chinese National Style architecture of

-like structure made of marble with a three-tier bronze roof, and the marble and concrete

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

with four bronze lions stand guard around the memorial. The bronze roof and the bronze lions are imported from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Four bronze plaques imprinted with inscription account of Lim's life in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and Jawi, were installed around the memorial. The memorial occupied the site which was donated by the government measuring by .

Unveiling of the Memorial

On 29 June 1954, the completed Memorial was unveiled by Sir Charles Loewen, the Commander-in-Chief of the

Far East Land Forces The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command ( ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded ...

in front of a crowd of people with Lim's widow, her children and some members of the Force 136 in present at the 10th death anniversary ceremony of Major-General Lim Bo Seng. On 29 June 1959 on the 15th anniversary of the death of Major-General Lim Bo Seng, Lim's widow and her eldest son Lim Leong Geok and daughter Lim Oon Geok among others laid wreaths at the Memorial at

and at his memorial tomb at

National Monument

On 28 December 2010, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial was gazetted by the Preservation of Monuments Board as a National Monument along with

The Cenotaph The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the British and Commonwealth dead of the First World War, was rededicated in 19 ...

and the

Tan Kim Seng Fountain The Tan Kim Seng Fountain is a fountain in Singapore that was erected in 1882 in honor of notable philanthropist Tan Kim Seng for his donations for the Singapore's first reservoir and waterworks. History The erection of the Tan Kim Seng Fountain ...

at the

and the

Singapore Conference Hall The Singapore Conference Hall is a multipurpose building located in the heart of the financial district of Shenton Way in Downtown Core of Singapore. The first building to be constructed along Shenton Way, it was a place for conferences and exh ...

along

Shenton Way Shenton Way is a major trunk road serving Singapore's Central Area and is most commonly known for the commercial skyscrapers flanking both sides of the road. The road is a one-way street that starts at the junction of Boon Tat Street, Raffles Qua ...

Gallery

File:Lim Bo Seng Memorial View from Fullerton Road 20130210.jpg, Lim Bo Seng Memorial, View from Fullerton Road File:Lim Bo Seng Memorial.JPG File:Lim Bo Seng Memorial, Aug 06.JPG File:2016 Singapur, Downtown Core, Memoriał Lim Bo Senga (01).jpg File:2016 Singapur, Downtown Core, Memoriał Lim Bo Senga (02).jpg File:2016 Singapur, Downtown Core, Memoriał Lim Bo Senga (03).jpg

References

{{Authority control National monuments of Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Buildings and structures completed in 1954 Landmarks in Singapore Monuments and memorials in Singapore World War II memorials