Alexander Laurie Johnston—Singapore.
Posted by: 
Ianatlarge
N 01° 17.160 E 103° 51.138
48N E 372313 N 142170
A statue of an early western trader in Singapore.
Waymark Code: WMAH4H
Location: Singapore
Date Posted: 01/15/2011
Views: 9
Alexander Laurie Johnston was a prominent Scots trader in early 19th century Singapore.
The sculpture depicts him, seated, while a Chinese and Malay merchant argue over goods and money, with the good Scotsman mediating the transactions. Also included (though separated by a short physical distance) is a bullock cart, onto which coolies of Indian and Chinese ethnicity load sacks. I am fairly sure that the sculpture is bronze. It is located at on the riverfront, outside the Maybank building, at the site of Mr Johnston's former business offices.
The full sculpture is named 'The River Merchants', and was created by Aw Tee Hong.
The statue is popular with both locals and tourists. Folk enjoy eating their lunch seated with the statues, and tourists enjoy photographing.
The most extensive biography of Mr Johnston which I could find comes from the Singapore National Library info pages. Mr Johnston is described as a kind and generous man, one respected both personally and professionally by those around him. I could not find a date of birth, but he arrived in Singapore in the year 1820, remained for twenty one years, leaving in 1841 to retire to Scotland, dying in 1850. An interesting life.
biography: infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_535_2004-12-27.html
URL of the statue: Not listed
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