Singapore Then and Now

Book excerpt: This long-awaited new edition of the classic reference on the changing landscapes of Singapore, which features 156 sites, may be said to have been more than 45 years in the making. Its genesis can be traced to a series of Then & Now articles produced by Ray Tyers for the British Association Beam magazine. Tyers selected 18th- and late-17th-century views of Singapore, stood at the spot where they were photographed or painted and took new images of the sites as they existed in the 1970s. In 1993, Landmark Books updated the book and added the then current views to those documented by Tyers. This 2018 edition continues the record. The result is that most sites now have at least four views taken over time. Some have even up to six pictures showing the dramatic changes that have shaped the built environment of our city state. As architectural historical Dr Lai Chee Kien states in his Introduction to the book: “Singapore Then and Now will continue to have importance and relevance because of the meticulous work that Ray Tyers and the book’s subsequent editors have done over many decades.”