The Big Four "O" - Happy Birthday Merlion

Source: Flickr

To think that the Merlion turns 40 today.  It was first unveiled on September 15th. 1972 on the Marina Bay waterfront and what an inspired piece of tourism marketing it has turned out to be.

If there is one icon that has endured over the years and become synonymous with Singapore it is the mythical Merlion.  It has even survived the odd lightning strike so the birthday celebrations are well deserved.

People may not realise that there are actually five sanctioned versions of the Merlion in Singapore with the best known being the 8m statue designed by Kwan Sai Kheong, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Singapore, and sculpted by Lim Nang Seng.

Its original design concept was created by Fraser Brunner, curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium in 1964.