The Padang ( Malay for 'field') is an open playing field located within the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

of the Central Area in Singapore. It includes the Padang Cricket Ground. The Padang is surrounded by several important landmarks, which include Saint Andrew's Cathedral,

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, the Old Supreme Court Building and the

City Hall MRT station City Hall MRT station is an underground Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the North South MRT line, North–South line (NSL) and East West MRT line, East–West line (EWL). Situated in t ...

. Due to its prime location and historical significance, it has been used as a venue for a variety of events. It was the first host of the Singapore National Day parade (NDP), and has hosted it on a regular cycle (every three years from 1984 to 1994, every five years since) and during years that mark national milestones (such as the bicentennial of modern Singapore in 2019). From 2023 through 2025, it will host the parade due to the reconstruction of its designated main venue

The Float @ Marina Bay The Float at Marina Bay, stylised as The Float@Marina Bay and also known as the Marina Bay Floating Platform, was a multi-purpose outdoor venue at the Downtown Core area of Marina Bay, Singapore. The venue consists of a steel platform in the Ma ...

as NS Square. On 4 November 2018, the Padang hosted the live finals of the

Mandopop Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop ...

reality music competition ''

SPOP Sing! ''SPOP Sing!'' () is a Chinese singing reality competition broadcast by Mediacorp Channel 8. Season 1 premiered on 9 August after the broadcast of National Day Parade and ended on the live finale on 4 November at Padang. During the live finals ...

''. On 3 August 2019,

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Heng Swee Keat Heng Swee Keat (; born 15 April 1961) is a Singaporean former politician and former police officer who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 2019 until 2025. He was the Parliament of Singapore, Member of Parliament (MP) who rep ...

announced that the Padang will be gazetted as a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

along with the Anderson Bridge,

Cavenagh Bridge Cavenagh Bridge is a suspension bridge and one of the oldest bridges in Singapore, spanning the lower reaches of the Singapore River in the Downtown Core. Opened in 1869 to commemorate Singapore's new Crown colony of the Straits Settlements statu ...

and the Elgin Bridge (collectively known as the Singapore River Bridges), due to the historical significance - these include the World War II surrender in 1945, National Day Parade and the signing of the country's formation in the British colony and self-independence. The Preservation of Monuments (Amendment) Act will allow open spaces or the whole of the area to be gazetted as national monuments, such as

Fort Siloso Fort Siloso is a decommissioned coastal artillery battery in Sentosa, Singapore. It consists of 12 such batteries which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II, and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a ...

and Padang. On 8 August 2022, it was announced that the Padang would be gazetted as the nation's 75th national monument on 9 August, the 57th anniversary of the Republic's independence.

History

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), ''Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern University Press, {{Authority control National squares Downtown Core (Singapore) Landmarks in Singapore Places in Singapore National monuments of Singapore