This postcard shows an aerial view of the old civic quarters of the city centre on the north bank of the Singapore River and the Central Business District (CBD) on the south bank. Prominent landmarks situated on the north bank include (foreground, from left to right): the Old Supreme Court Building with its distinctive dome, built in 1939 at the site of the Grand Hotel de l'Europe; the Empress Place Building, erected in 1865 and initially referred to as Government Offices before it gained its new moniker after the public square in front of it was named after Queen Victoria in 1907; and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, originally known as the Town Hall and the Victoria Memorial Hall when the two structures were completed in 1861 and 1905 respectively. Notable buildings found in the CBD area include (right centre, from left to right): the Fullerton Building, which was erected in 1928 to house government offices and the General Post Office; the 44-storey Standard Chartered Bank Building, which was officially opened in 1984 to house the bank’s headquarters; and the 47-storey Raffles Tower owned by Singapore Land that was completed in 1982 and renamed Shell Tower after its main tenant. The Singapore Harbour and the Marina South strip of reclaimed land are shown in the background. Three phases of land reclamation works carried out between the 1970s and 1990s eventually resulted in the creation of the Marina Bay at the mouth of the Singapore River.
