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A monument unveiled yesterday among Housing Board blocks serves to remind Singaporeans of the nation’s development from a “mud-flat, swamp” to a “metropolis”.

Those were the words uttered by founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on Sept 12, 1965, in his historic speech “From Mudflats To Metropolis”, close to the marker near Block 312 Sembawang Drive.
Called Momentary Monument, the sculpture was designed by students Eion Goh and Grace Sim from Singapore University of Technology and Design, Gabrielle Wong and Ahmad Nazaruddin from the National University of Singapore and Matz Goh from Singapore Polytechnic.

The team’s design was brought to life after winning a competition held by Sembawang Town Council between May and July last year for students in local tertiary institutions to commemorate the Singapore Bicentennial.

The teams had to design “something relevant and realistic for the heartland”, the town council said.

The marker portrays two figures standing back to back, one looking back at the past, and the other forward to the future.

The words “Never fear”, used in Mr Lee’s speech, are embedded in the sculpture.

Mr Eion Goh said: “Our team took inspiration from the notion that each generation has a pivotal role to play in inspiring the generations that come after. As such, we wanted to embody this into the site, literally.”

The marker was officially unveiled by Sembawang GRC MPs Khaw Boon Wan, Ong Ye Kung, Amrin Amin, Vikram Nair and Lim Wee Kiak.