26 March 2008

To: Mr Johnson David
Tour Group Leader
Tour Group

From: Wong Weng Lok
Sec 3G Monitor
Victoria School

The Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore

The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor and located in the civic district of Singapore. The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall was gazetted as a national monument on 14 February 1992.

Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall has a long history. The complex started off with the building of a town hall in 1862. Built during an era of Victorian Revivalism was occurring in Britain, its design reflected this architectural influence with Italianate windows and rusticated columns, and was the first building to reflect this style in Singapore's buildings.

In the lead up to World War II, the memorial hall was used as a hospital for victims of bombing raids by the Japanese forces during the Battle of Singapore before their successful occupation of the colony. During the occupation, the buildings themselves escaped major physical damage, although the colonnade was destroyed, and Raffles's statue moved to the National Museum. At the end of the war, the statue was returned to its original site in 1946. The hall also served as the venue for Japanese war crime trials.

Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall in the present years was considered the venue with the best acoustics in the city, and has been the main performance venue for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) until the completion of the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in 2002 whereby the orchestra moved its home base to take advantage of superior acoustics and facilities brought about by technological and architectural advances over the years.

I feel that all of you should pay a visit to Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. It is a place where many important historical events had taken place. It will be a fruitful and eye opening experience. I wish all of you a wonderful trip to Singapore.

Wenglok
Wong Weng Lok