The Singapore River flows from the Central Area with great historical importance. The Central Area (where Shenton Way is located) is a central business district.

Historically, the mouth of the Singapore River was the old port of Singapore. Activities such as trade, commerce and finance grew around this port. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles landed on Singapore River and established the river. He realised the importance of the river and in the same year of 1819, the north bank was drained for government buildings while in 1822 the south bank was reclaimed and a retaining wall with steps were built.

From 1880s, with the heavy traffic on the Singapore River, came water pollution. In 1977, Lee Kuan Yew (then the Prime Minister) submitted an action plan to clean up Singapore River. 10 years later in 1987, Singapore River was finally cleaned up.

			By MRT: Stop at Raffles Place MRT station (left: picture of station)   Boat Quay (above picture) houses many pubs and restaurants and the area comes alive after sunset while Shenton Way sleeps.