• The Mandarin term “草场” refers to fields in general. In the Singapore context, “大草场” (literally, “big field”) refers to a specific field, the Padang.
• The Padang has an area of approximately 4.3 hectares.
• In laying out Singapore’s town plan, Sir Stamford Raffles designated an “Open Square” along the shore, which later became the Padang.
• The Padang has witnessed many of Singapore’s most significant historical events and thus holds great historical value, even though it is not a building. These include the surrender ceremony of the Japanese troops in 1945, held on the City Hall’s steps facing the Padang; the inauguration of Singapore’s first Head of State, Yusof Ishak, in 1959; the declaration of Singapore’s independence by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1965; and the first National Day Parade in 1966 after
  Singapore gained independence.
• In 2009, the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee held a mass celebration event at the Padang when Singapore won the bid to host the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
• In 2022, the Padang was officially gazetted as a National Monument.

The Padang is located in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District and is of extraordinary significance to our country. (Lianhe Zaobao, 8/8/2019)