singapore virtual tour

A collaboration with The Straits Times, the multimedia interactive site offers users an immersive experience of touring the building and grounds of Istana through augmented reality and 360-degree virtual tours.

Inside the Istana

Take a closer look inside.

Explore the rooms in the Istana main building where guests are honoured and entertained at state functions and other gatherings.

You may be tempted to head straight up the grand staircase to the drawing rooms with their cosier atmosphere on the second level.

Before you do so, explore the stately rooms on the first level in 360-degree photos.

Rolling out the blue and beige carpet

Look around the Reception Hall . Here, the Istana rolls out the red, or rather, an exquisite blue and beige Persian carpet for visitors.

There are two more beautiful rooms to explore on the first level.

Go across the entry foyer to get to the State Room.

Official ceremonies, such as award investitures, are usually held in there.

A place for honouring good people

Look around the formal and dignified State Room where the stage is set for official presentations.

Before you glide up the grand staircase to check out the drawing rooms and more, there is one more stop on the first level.

It is a grand one, and it is where guests are hosted to state dinners and other gatherings.

Glittering and grand

Look around the Banquet Hall , where warm ties are made over meals and conversations.

That cosier feeling upstairs

Nyatoh wood covers most of the floor on the second level.

It gives the area on the second floor a feeling of a home-like place - albeit a grand and big one. It contrasts with the formality of the rooms below.

Scroll on and step right up to the grand staircase to see how it will lead you to a space with a cosier atmosphere.

You get that cosier feeling when the Statuario white marble of the grand staircase, which begins at the entry foyer, ends at the second landing. The latter is finished in hardwood floorboards and leads to flights of timber treads and rises on each side.

On your way up, your feet will sink into an Axminster woven runner carpet in red sitting on the central portion of the staircase.

You will pass by the Guardian Of The House statue. The convict-artisans who built the Istana worshipped the divine entity as a spiritual benefactor.

But if climbing the stairs is not for you, there is a lift.

It is finished with teak-veneered panels on the sides, a bevelled mirror at the rear, and rust-coloured leather padding on the lower wall panels.

The lift door is etched with a classic trellis design.

At the reception area on the second floor, a Maria Theresa-style chandelier hangs from the ceiling. It is even bigger than the one in the Banquet Hall below, measuring 3.6m by 1.7m, and weighing a massive 350kg.

Mahogany armchairs with blue upholstery, blackwood-stained Chinese coffee tables and a fine wool Persian carpet in red and blue tones complete the look of the reception area.

It might just tempt a visitor to sink into a chair to gaze at the dazzling chandelier for a while before heading into the drawing rooms on either side.

Perhaps you would prefer to head to the verandahs instead to enjoy more of that pleasing wooden floor.

The verandahs enclosing the rooms on the second level add to that sense of cosiness. Standing there while enjoying a view of the grounds, you are protected from the heat and humidity by glass panels enclosing the verandahs. You are also shielded from harsh sunlight by mechanically operated louvred shutters.

Although there is air-conditioning in the Istana main building, there are still period ceiling fans in it. It is a nod to the tropical architectural aspects of the building, along with the antique furniture, from the Chinese altar tables to the mother-of-pearl inlaid chairs.

The choice of furnishings in the West Drawing Room is dominated by Louis XIV chairs in dark leather, complemented in turn by sofas upholstered in rich damask.

The West Drawing Room is separated by a chinoiserie divider from the Sheares Room with its boat-shaped mahogany table.

Click here to view other chapters of the multimedia interactive site.

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The President is responsible for safeguarding the national reserves and the integrity of the public service. The President also receives foreign dignitaries, officiates at state functions and performs other ceremonial and community duties.

The Istana turned 150 in 2019. A series of events and activities were held over the past year to commemorate this landmark anniversary.

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Discover Singapore through an immersive augmented reality tour

Feb 01, 2024

[[read-time]] min read

Singapore Tourism Board has added more landmarks to their immersive tour of Singapore, an experience powered by Google’s ARCore and Geospatial Creator.

At Google I/O 2023, we announced a partnership with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to create “Merli’s Immersive Adventure”: an augmented reality (AR) guided tour of Singapore’s landmarks and best hidden secrets. This innovative AR tour, powered by Google’s ARCore and Geospatial Creator , is accessible in the Visit Singapore Travel Guide app.

STB has expanded to even more landmarks around the city with interactive AR experiences to kick off the 2024 travel season. AR makes it easier for travelers to discover new sights, and provides a richer understanding of Singapore through immersive storytelling. Increasingly, AR and similar technologies have become particularly popular in the travel industry. “STB actively looks for possible tourism use cases in emerging technologies like Extended Reality (XR),” says Simon Ang, the STB Director for The Collaboratory. “We’ll always be open to piloting new technologies to create novel experiences for visitors, and are excited to be working with Google to pioneer this movement.”

In this latest launch, Singapore’s tourism mascot, Merli, guides travelers through six stops in the popular tourism precincts of Singapore’s Civic District and Chinatown. Through a mix of historical, cultural and culinary experiences, both tourists and residents alike can explore and learn more about these areas. For instance, travelers can visit Singapore’s first-ever post office at what is now the Fullerton Hotel — and even send a virtual postcard to their friends or family. At the Great Emporium stop, they can marvel at a life-sized bumboat brought to life in AR and learn about the significance of the Singapore River for the city and its people. Merli also uncovers hidden spots like the Peranakan Tile Gallery, a local Chinatown business that sells tiles salvaged from demolished shophouses. And at Maxwell Food Centre, the interactive AR map of the popular food spot offers recommendations for must-try hawker dishes, helping first-time visitors visually navigate the vast range of food options.

Travelers can visit Singapore’s first-ever post office at what is now the Fullerton Hotel - and even send a virtual postcard to their friends or family.

As the first tourism partner in Google’s ARCore Early Access Program , STB’s in-house team of developers worked with the Google AR and Google Partner Innovation teams to design and bring to life authentic Singapore experiences in augmented reality. “Merli’s Immersive Adventure” is more than a guided tour— it’s a pioneering approach to travel and discovery. It invites tourists not just to see but to interact with and understand the intricacies of Singapore’s heritage and contemporary culture, right from their devices. 1

Visitors can witness history come to life in augmented reality at A Great Emporium, a sculptural ensemble of early-day workers.

STB shares a common vision with Google: to help people see the world and explore destinations in new ways. One shared objective is to grow the number of AR experiences at places of interest by leveraging immersive technologies like the ARCore Geospatial API that lower the barriers of entry to create location based AR content. Geospatial API empowers developers to build location-based AR experiences across more than 100 countries 2 without having to ever physically be there. From immersive games like SPACE INVADERS: World Defense to educational and cultural tools like the exploration of street murals with Global Street Art , there’s a vast range of possibilities for this technology.

We look forward to working with more developers, creators, and brands around the world to use Google’s AR tools to create helpful AR experiences and make the world their canvas.

More Information

Disclaimer: Available on compatible ARCore-enabled Android and iOS devices that support Geospatial API. Internet connection required.

Disclaimer: Available in areas covered by Google Street View.

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Bringing Singapore to foreigners through virtual tours and experiences amid Covid-19

SINGAPORE - With the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual local tours and experiences are attracting not only Singapore residents but also foreigners curious to learn about the sights and sounds here, or how life in Singapore compares with depictions in the cinema.

While the virtual tour experience remains novel to many, including tour guides here, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is looking to promote more of such local experiences abroad and encouraging local tour providers to take their tours online.

Last Thursday (Oct 22), STB and Airbnb signed a two-year memorandum of understanding to promote the local tours and experiences on Airbnb's platform.

The tours already on online platforms, such as TourHQ and Airbnb's Online Experiences, include on-site elements like live streamed walkabouts or cooking demonstrations, while others consist of pre-recorded segments, with hosts in their own homes or offices while engaging participants.

Ms P.S. Yeo is one of several here who have taken their tours and experiences online, in a bid to continue hosting travellers while globetrotting remains a challenge due to border restrictions arising from Covid-19.

Ms Yeo, who owns and operates Everyday Tour Company, started the Explore Crazy And Rich Singapore online tour in July, and said the majority of her participants are from abroad.

Her tour, centered around the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians which features Singapore prominently, aims to compare the lived experiences of Singaporeans to that portrayed in the movie, and has drawn audiences from around the world.

"The movie was super popular in the United States, so many of the tour participants come from there, but I've also received sign-ups from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and China," said Ms Yeo.

"The tour was always designed for an overseas market. I thought the movie was a good way for me to introduce Singapore to these audiences."

She hosts between 20 and 60 participants per week, depending on her schedule and whether she receives group bookings.

Like Ms Yeo, other tour operators and hosts are tailoring their tours and experiences to suit overseas audiences to give foreigners a better understanding of Singapore life.

Mr Dhruv Shanker, an expatriate from India, said his virtual cooking classes have been popular enough among foreigners for him to run them daily at 6am to cater to participants from the western hemisphere, before he begins work later in the morning as a marketing consultant.

Mr Shanker, who has lived here for almost seven years, said while his current classes focus on Indian food, he also makes it a point to share a list of must-eat hawker food and Singapore delicacies participants should try out here.

"When we're cooking we don't just talk about food - many are curious about life in Singapore. They ask me about the education system, law and order... It's a great way to find out more about the country. Sometimes, they even wonder about the view from my balcony," he said.

The former chef, who has been running food blog The Mad Onion Slicer since 2006, has about 50 students per week on average, with about 90 per cent of them tuning in to the classes from abroad. When he ran physical classes in his apartment mostly on weekend afternoons before the coronavirus pandemic, about half the participants were tourists from overseas.

For tour operator Monster Day Tours, its fortnightly virtual tours of one-north - which it dubs the "Silicon Valley of Singapore" - are mostly attended by locals but there are some foreign participants too.

Its founder Mr Suen Tat Yam said that about 80 per cent of the tour participants are Singapore residents, while the remaining 20 per cent are mostly from other parts of Asia.

He attributes this to the timing of the tours, which take place at 10.30am on Saturdays.

The company intends to add more virtual tour locations, and make such tours a permanent fixture in its offerings.

"There are some who do not have the privilege to travel, but still want to explore new places. We want to make tours accessible to them too," said Mr Suen.

Mrs Vandana Om Kumar, founder of TourHQ, a platform that connects guides and travellers around the world, said that virtual tours might be here to stay.

"It is budget friendly, and makes locations abroad a lot more accessible," she said. "You can only take that many vacations in a year, but with virtual travel, travellers can easily experience 10 different locations in a short period."

Mrs Om Kumar said virtual tours will also remain popular among senior citizens who may face mobility challenges when travelling.

But it remains to be seen whether virtual tours will be a game-changer financially, said Mr Ng Boon Gee, senior director of business development at Gardens by the Bay, which started offering virtual content on its website during the circuit breaker period and now hosts live virtual tours, workshops and webinars.

However, he noted that virtual tours have their benefits.

"Virtual tours have helped us to extend our outreach to new audiences who may otherwise not have thought of visiting the gardens or are unable to do so because of current travel restrictions," said Mr Ng.

Guides and tour operators here said virtual tours will not cannibalise future physical visits to the country.

Said Mr Suen: "If done well, the virtual tours will supplement physical ones. They are more of an opportunity than a threat. Even for local audiences, there are many who are seeing places in Singapore for the first time online, and express that they eventually want to visit them."

Mr Shanker said such virtual experiences are like an "appetiser" that will eventually bring travellers here for the "main course".

"I use locally sourced kampung chicken for my lessons. We once had a conversation for 15 minutes during a virtual class just about the chicken. But the participants don't just want to hear about it, they want to come and see and feel it," he said.

Heritage blogger Jerome Lim, who is running virtual tours of several sites in Singapore, including state properties like Old Kallang Airport, said: "Travellers will likely use this pandemic period to take a step back to plan their future trips.

"We have a chance to show them a different side of Singapore now, and encourage them to consider going off the beaten path when they eventually come."

Ms Jean Wang, chairman of the Society of Tourist Guides Singapore, said that while operators and guides conducting virtual tours are in the minority, she welcomes the idea of such tours.

"Covid-19 has caused us to explore new options, and if we can monetise virtual tours, then we (the guides) should give ourselves a chance and try it," she said.

Ms Wang also expressed hopes virtual efforts will eventually bring visitors here after the pandemic situation subsides.

"People will still want to come. The virtual tours can whet their appetite, but the dimensions they experience online are different from in-person, and they will still want to taste and smell - you cannot replicate that online."

Additional reporting by Ng Wei Kai

For more stories on exploring Singapore, go to the SG Go Where page.

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Singapore began as a boat quay at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Its early days bear few written accounts which are made more difficult to interpret due to the many names it has had. Its original name in Malay meant "island at the end" of the peninsula.

In the middle ages there was a settlement here with a trading post and fishing village; today Singapore technically contains sixty-three small islands. Here's a good view of the city from Merlion Park and up close at Raffles Place .

From the fifteenth century onwards Singapore's warring neighbors took turns taking over control of the city. Over the past five centuries this port city has been the property of Siam, the Majapahit Empire of Java, Thailand, Portugal, Britain, Japan and Malaysia. Singapore finally achieved its independence in 1959 and has existed as the Republic of Singapore, a UN member nation.

Singapore is really interesting because it's one of only five sovereign city-states which survived the colonial expansion period of world history. (The others are Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino and Andorra.) Its history as a busy port city has brought traders from all over the world, and their influence is commemorated in some interesting works of art. For example, see the British tea merchants along the Singapore river, and the Asian Civilizations Museum .

In the nineteenth century Singapore was a major port for ships traveling between Europe and East Asia. During WWII the Battle of Singapore ended with the largest British surrender in history -- nearly 130,000 troops.

Next time you have the chance to pass through Singapore, make sure to visit the zoo and see the white tigers , and be glad there's a fence in between. Also note how clean the city is, even under a bridge .

Text by Steve Smith.

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