The tallest Merlion statue in Singapore is already closed to the public for demolition. I was lucky enough I managed to have my last visit and farewell pose at the iconic statue last month.

If Dodong J didn’t come to Singapore to visit me on my birthday, I don’t think I’ll go to merlion Sentosa. Since I am touring him around, we both had the chance to bid our goodbye. I told him about the plan demolition too.

Call me sentimental, but I am. I felt sad about it, but then we all need to move forward for a better Singapore.

The 37m tall merlion will be demolished to make way for a themed linkway between the north and south shores of Sentosa, as part of plans to give the Sentosa resort island and its neighboring Pulau Brani a redevelopment.

To give you a little history, the Merlion was designed in 1964 by British zoologist Alec Fraser-Brunner to be the logo of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. According to stories, the lion is a reference to Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijaya prince who claimed he named the island Singapura, or “lion city” in Sanskrit after sighted a lion on the island.

There are seven Merlions around Singapore, including the Sentosa Merlion and the two statues at Merlion Park which means there are four more I haven’t seen yet.

Two of the other four statues, at 3m tall, are at the peak of Mount Faber and the STB headquarters near Grange Road.

The remaining two Merlions are a pair in the heartland, in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1. Flanking the entrance of a carpark that leads to Blocks 216 to 222, the creatures were built in 1998 by the Ang Mo Kio Residential Committee.

Dodong J strikes his last pose with Sentosa Merlion