The building was declared open on 3 August 1939 by Sir Shenton, who then handed it over to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Courts, Sir Percy McElwaine.īuilt in classical style, it features Corinthian and Ionic columns and spacious interiors with murals by the Italian artist Cavalieri Rudolfo Nolli. A time capsule containing six Singapore newspapers dated 31 March 1937 and a handful of Straits Settlement coins were buried beneath the foundation stone, only to be retrieved in the year 3000. The foundation stone, the largest laid in the whole of Malaya at that time, was laid by Sir Shenton Whitelegge Thomas, Governor of the Straits Settlements, on 1 April 1937. It was gazetted a National Monument of Singapore on 14 February 1992.
Most critics acknowledge that it was indeed his most significant creation. The structure is ornately spacious with an impressive interior and an exterior that rivals the best of the classical buildings built by the British anywhere in the Commonwealth.Ĭonstructed between 19 the building was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, the chief architect of the Public Works Department, who was apparently inspired by the Old Bailey in London. It housed Singapore’s highest Court for more than 60 years until 2005 when the Supreme Court moved into a sparkling new building of glass and steel. The Old Supreme Court Building is perhaps the most handsome and majestic of the historic buildings in Singapore. As a rookie lawyer, still wet behind my ears, I was awed by the very ornate Courtroom and chamber of the Chief Justice. The case was heard in the Old Supreme Court Building. It was a rather unfortunate case because I was representing the mother and sister against two other siblings who were disputing over a settlement of the family estate upon the death of the patriarch of the family.
I was called to the Bar in 1973, and in the same year, I had the opportunity to appear before the late Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin in the High Court on a contentious matter involving four members of a family. Interior of the main dome of the former Supreme Court building Down Memory Lane: Memories of the Old Supreme Court
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