When Sir Stamford Raffles stepped onto Singaporean soil for the first time in 1819 the island was only inhabited by about 400 people. Not much is known of its history in the previous centuries, except that it was a base for pirates. Raffles discovered its deep natural harbour which was put to use as a trading station for the British crown. In the light of Singapore’s subsequent rapid rise to a trading metropolis, it is right to consider Raffles as the true founder of Singapore. Two Armenian brothers built the first hotel to be named after Raffles in 1887 and as the town grew so did the hotel. It owes its present appearance to the last phase of major restoration work in 1991. The colonial hotel is pure nostalgia itself and one of the most highly reputed in Asia. Our model only shows the main building of the massive complex. Its fame today is largely due to the “Singapore Sling”, the recipe for which is given below instead of the technical data.
