Dalhousie Obelisk
Dalhousie Obelisk stands at Empress Place in Singapore’s Civic District, beside the Singapore River. From here, you can see the Asian Civilisations Museum and Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall nearby. Bricks covered with plaster give the monument the appearance of a single stone monolith. A stone plinth and steps raise the slender structure above the surrounding ground.
John Turnbull Thomson designed the obelisk after Cleopatra’s Needle on London’s Thames Embankment. Built in 1851, it commemorates James Broun-Ramsay, the first Marquis of Dalhousie, who visited Singapore in February 1850. The mercantile community connected that visit with hopes for free trade and fewer restraints on commerce. Inscriptions in Jawi, Chinese, Tamil and English now occupy the monument, replacing its original plaque.
The structure first stood near the Cenotaph on Connaught Drive before moving to Empress Place. Its present position lies only 300 feet from that earlier site, while trees partly obscure the monument.
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Image: User:SengkangCopyrighted free use 
Image: User:SengkangCopyrighted free use 
Image: User:SengkangCopyrighted free use
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