The First Generation
The First Generation stands along the Singapore River at Boat Quay, near the Fullerton Hotel and Cavenagh Bridge. Chong Fah Cheong’s bronze sculpture shows five boys poised in different stages of jumping into the water. One pushes another from the wall, while a second hangs mid-air above the river.
Unveiled on 28 December 2000, the work belongs to the People of the River sculpture series commissioned by the Singapore Tourism Board. Its playful scene recalls a time when migrant communities lived, worked and played beside Singapore’s riverbanks. Children once swam there despite polluted water, making the river a setting for both daily life and youthful freedom.
Look closely at the boy rushing to join his friends with his shorts around his ankles. The mixture of delight, alarm and sudden movement fixes one lively instant in bronze.
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