TheMerlion (/ˈmɜːrˌlaɪən/) is the official mascot ofSingapore. It is depicted as a mythical creature with the head of alion and the body of afish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore andSingaporeans in general, it is widely used to represent both the city state and its people in sports teams, advertising, branding, tourism and as anational personification.[1]
The Merlion was first used in Singapore as the logo for the tourism board.[2] Its name combines "mer", meaning thesea, and "lion". The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was calledTemasek, which means "sea town" inJavanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name—Singapura—meaning "lion city" or "kota singa".
The symbol was designed byAlec Fraser-Brunner, a member of the Souvenir Committee and curator of theVan Kleef Aquarium, for thelogo of theSingapore Tourism Board (STB) in use from 26 March 1964 to 1997 and has been itstrademarked symbol since 20 July 1966. Although the STB changed their logo in 1997, the STB Act continues to protect the Merlion symbol.[3] Approval must be received from STB before it can be used. The Merlion frequently appears on STB-approvedsouvenirs.
Merlion at its original location on the mouth of the Singapore River in 1994
On 15 September 1972, Prime MinisterLee Kuan Yew officiated the installation ceremony of the Merlion statue.[5] The original statue stood at the mouth of theSingapore River inMerlion Park.
The completion of theEsplanade Bridge in 1997 blocked the views of the Merlion from the Marina Bay waterfront.[5] The location of the Merlion was also no longer at the entrance of Singapore River due to land reclamation works[5] and also not sprouting water due to awater pump malfunction in 1998, requiring maintenance works on it.[5]
To give the Merlion an unblocked view of the Singapore River, it was suggested to raise the Merlion on a pedestal at its original location. It was deemed unsuitable as the view would still be blocked by the bridge. The other solution was to relocate the Merlion to other places. Possible relocation sites considered included 120 metres away at a new Merlion Park,Nicoll Highway Extension Bridge,Esplanade Park,Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, a promontory at Marina Centre (near where theSingapore Flyer is located now), a promontory site at Bayfront (near the tip ofMarina Bay Sandsintegrated resort) and Kim Seng Park.[5] A new Merlion Park, 120 metres away, on a newly reclaimedpromontory in front of theFullerton Hotel with a Merlion Pier was chosen after the other relocation choices were either unsuitable or not technically feasible.
The relocation took two days, from 23 to 25 April 2002. A carefully engineered journey required onebarge, two DEMAG AC1600Scranes of 5000 tonnes lifting capacity, plus a team of 20engineers and workers on site. The entire statue was hoisted onto the barge, which then sailed to the new installation site at the current Merlion Park, near the mouth ofSingapore River. During the voyage, the statue had to be hoisted from the barge, over theEsplanade Bridge and then back onto the barge, as it was too tall to pass underneath.
Exactly 30 years after he officially unveiled the Merlion,Senior MinisterLee Kuan Yew returned on 15 September 2002 to ceremonially welcome the statue again, this time in its new home. A viewing deck now stretches over the Singapore River, allowing visitors to pose for a photograph with a front or side view of the Merlion, including a new city skyline backdrop in the picture. The sculpture was aligned to face East, a direction advised to be mostauspicious.[6] Relocated, the statue once more spouted water from its mouth. The Merlion now has a new two-unit water pump system with units working alternatively, so a backup is always on standby. The relocation and new site (four times larger than the original) costS$7.5 million.[6]
From 5 June till 10 July 2006, the Merlion at Merlion Park underwent maintenance. The last one was right after its relocation. Dirt and stains were removed using high-pressure water streams, and various wear and tear of the statue was mended.[7]
During that period, visitors were greeted withillustratedhoardings andcanvases covering the safety nets andscaffolding. The illustrations were designed byMiel,[8] an award-winning seniorartist atThe Straits Times. The illustration on the canvases made them look likeshower curtains, with the Merlion sticking its head out with the shadow of its tail behind the curtain. The illustration on thehoardings showed the Merlion scrubbing himself with a brush and showering using a Merlionshower head spouting water. The Merlion said, "EXCUSE ME while I take a shower..." in aspeech bubble.
The Merlion on Sentosa was designed and sculpted by an Australian Artist named James Martin. It is made of Glass Reinforced Cement over a steel armature that is attached to the centre.[9]
The Merlion Park was temporarily turned into a single-unithotel suite, as part of an artwork byTatzu Nishi, for the duration of the 2011Singapore Biennale.[10]
On Saturday, 28 February 2009, at about 4:26 pm, the Merlion in the Merlion Park was struck by lightning.[11] A breaking news from938NOW local radio showed an image with fragments from the Merlion's head on the ground.
Examination of the damage was done quickly with woodenscaffolding set up on Sunday, 1 March 2009 for workers to take a closer look at the hole. The incident happened as a result of the lack oflightning protection on the Merlion itself.[12]
The smaller two-metre-tall statue standing behind the original statue weighed 3 ton and was commonly referred to as the "Merlion cub". It was inlaid with Chinese porcelain plates and bowls as part of its design.[16]
The three-metre-tall glazed polymarble statue at Tourism Court (near Grange Road) completed in 1995
The three-metre-tall polymarble statue placed onMount Faber's Faber Point
A pair of Merlion statues were constructed by the Ang Mo Kio Residential Committee in 1999. They are sitting at the entrance of the car park along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1.[17]
One of the previously approved statues, a 37-metre-tall gigantic replica atSentosa, with Mouth Gallery Viewing Deck on the ninth storey, another viewing gallery on its head and Sentosa Merlion Shop, and capable of shining laser beams from its eyes,[18] was closed on 20 October 2019.[19] The area around the statue would be replaced by aS$90 million Sentosa Sensoryscape project targeted to be completed by 2022.[19]
Shortly after the introduction of the symbol, Dutch artistJohnny Lion composed a song calledMerlion City Singapore which sought to boost Singapore's reputation and characteristics overseas.[22]
In the 2021 animated movieMy Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, a Singaporean hero with a design clearly based on the Merlion is seen. His quirk (superpower) allows him to spit high-pressure water from his mouth, just like the main Merlion statue. His name is Big Red Dot, a reference to Singapore's nickname ofLittle red dot.
The Merlion statue also made a brief appearance in the 2006 romantic action filmKrrish.
The Merlion (Japanese: マーライオン) appeared in the influential animeCowboy Bebop (episodes 18 and 24), where its appearance in an ancient home movie offers Singaporean amnesiac bounty hunter Faye Valentine a clue to her true origins.
The Merlion featured heavily in Hajime Satō's (佐藤 肇, Satō Hajime) re-imagining ofShinjuku in the 2005 anime,Karas.
The Merlion is seen in special episode 1 of the manga,Hidamari Sketch.
The Merlion appears when the lady landlord is searching for an apartment key in Episode 10 ofHidamari Sketch X: "Hoshimittsu".
The Merlion was used in an exclamation by Kyoko Toshino in episode 8 ofYuruYuri in response to seeing Chizuru Ikeda drooling.
Together with the Little Mermaid of Denmark andManneken Pis of Belgium, the Singapore Merlion is ranked in Japan as the 'Three Major Disappointments of the World'.[23][24][25][26] This meme was played out in episode 6 of the anime seriesA Place Further than the Universe, when two of the characters expressed to their chagrin that the Merlion was not as disappointing as they thought.
InPhineas and Ferb's "Summer Belongs To You!", The Merlion was seen when the gang was bouncing around the world in a large rubber ball.
The Merlion was briefly seen in episode 52 ofYu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.
The Merlion and its supposed history are explained inJoJo's Bizarre Adventure:Stardust Crusaders in episode 7 of the series in which the main characters travel to Singapore. Also inStardust Crusaders, there is a supporting character named Anne Merlai (Japanese: マーライ・アン), named after the Merlion,[28] though only her given name “Anne” is mentioned.
OnTLC reality seriesCake Boss, a cake was made in the shape of The Merlion to commemorate Singapore's 50th Anniversary, incorporating flavors that are typically used in Singaporean desserts.
In episode 2 ofKonohana Kitan, Yuzu exclaims "Merlion!" and mimics its water spout after she is pulled into the hot springs bath by Satsuki.
InWe Bare Bears's episode titled "Lil' Squid", a Merlion statue makes an appearance in the aquarium which the bear cubs enter.
InMy Hero Academia, the Pro Hero of Singapore, Big Red Dot is modelled after the merlion.
The Merlion was used in an exclamation by Koshi Torako in the first episode ofMy Deer Friend Nokotan in response to seeing Shikanoko Noko drooling comically like a waterfall over deer crackers.
A character in 2023 Tom & Jerry episode 'Count on 'Merli' named 'Merli' who tries to get the cat and mouse to stop fighting, to little success.
The Merlion can be bought as a cash item and be used as a mount inRagnarok 2: Advent of Valkyrie.
The Merlion is also featured in one of the Alien Egg miracle cards of the English version ofAnimal Kaiser.
Merlion Virtual Airlines, virtually based in Singapore, is a virtual airline focusing on the free flight simulator,FlightGear, which uses the Merlion as its logo.
A kart based on the Merlion, known as the Roaring Racer, was added toMario Kart Tour during the game's Singapore Tour event in January 2022. The original Merlion statue also cameos on the Singapore Speedway track, which debuted during the same event and was later added toMario Kart 8 Deluxe as part of paid downloadable content. In addition, a Roaring Racer Mii Racing Suit based on the Merlion was introduced in the Winter Tour event forMario Kart Tour in January 2023.
Edwin Thumboo cemented theiconic status of the Merlion as apersonification of Singapore with his poem "Ulysses by the Merlion" in 1979. Due to Thumboo's status as Singapore's unofficialpoet laureate and the nationalistic mythmaking qualities of his poetry, future generations of Singaporean poets have struggled with the symbol of the Merlion, frequently taking an ironical, critical, or even hostile stand – and pointing out its artificiality and the refusal of ordinary Singaporeans to accept a tourist attraction as their national icon. The poem "attracted considerable attention among subsequent poets, who have all felt obliged to write their own Merlion (or anti-Merlion) poems, illustrating their anxiety of influence, as well as the continuing local fascination with the dialectic between a public and a private role for poets, which Thumboo (asYeats before him, in the Irish context) has wanted to sustain as a fruitful rather than a tense relation between the personal and the public." Among the poems of this nature are "Merlign" byAlvin Pang and "Love Song for a Merlion" by Vernon Chan. More recent poems include "Merlion: Strike One" byKoh Buck Song in the 2009 anthology,Reflecting on the Merlion.
Merlions as a species were fictional characters inGwee Li Sui'sMyth of the Stone (1993), the first full-length graphic novel published in Singapore. They were depicted as calm and wise creatures that fought on the side of good and eventually overcame the dreadedKraken. Gwee further popularised theiconoclastic image of the spitting Merlion in the early 1990s. It reappeared later with his well-loved poem "Propitiations" in his book of poemsWho Wants to Buy a Book of Poems? (1998).
For the inauguralSingapore 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, a pair of mascots,Lyo and Merly, were introduced. Merly is a "Merlion-ess cub" based on the Merlion. Her hair is inspired by the lion top half, while her fish half is represented in light-bluescales on her body. Unlike the actual merlion, she has hands and legs instead of a tailfin.
The 37m-tall Sentosa Merlion appeared in theMagical Sentosa show, awakening at the last scene of the show and shining twolaser beams out of its eyes at the audience. (Similar to the storyline of theSongs of the Sea show.)
The popular Instagram plushieMerRyan is a merlion.
A small Merlion, complete with aplaque giving information about the original statues, forms part of the decoration in the "Mystic East" area of British theme parkChessington World of Adventures.
The Merlion was featured– or, depending on the point of view, not featured– during the 2005Venice Biennale in the controversial workMike by artistLim Tzay Chuen. He had proposed taking the sculpture in the Merlion Park to the Singapore Pavilion at the exhibition,[30] but was refused by the STB.[31] STB offered to install of a life sized replica of the Merlion at the Singapore Pavilion at the Venice Biennale which was rejected by Lim.[31]
Analysis of the mythology and meaning of the Merlion from the perspective of country branding in: Koh, Buck Song (2011).Brand Singapore: How Nation Branding Built Asia's Leading Global City. Marshall Cavendish, Singapore.ISBN978-981-4328-15-9.
