The photograph shows two-time Premier of France and War Minister (1917-1919) Georges Clemenceau at the ceremony to mark the foundation of Clemenceau Avenue (formerly Tank Road), a road near the town centre of Singapore that was named after him. The original Clemenceau Avenue stretched between Newton Circus to the southern bank of the Singapore River. Clemenceau was on an eastern tour in the 1920s when he visited Singapore and was invited to witness the laying of the foundation stone of the road. Many landmark buildings in Singapore had stood upon Clemenceau Avenue throughout the years, including the Salvation Army Headquarters and the Rediffusion (Cable) Broadcasting Studios. It is not uncommon even in present-day Singapore to come across streets that echo the nation’s colonial past, as many roads, streets, buildings and institutions have been named after numerous colonial personalities including Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (founder of modern Singapore) and William Pickering (head of Chinese Protectorate in Singapore).
