When you picture the Merlion, ERP gantries, and Orchard Road, Singapore is the only place that comes to mind – there’s no way these uniquely Singaporean things exist in other parts of the world, right? Well if you ever find yourself in the city of Medan, Indonesia, you may come across these very icons at what they’ve dubbed as “Singapore of Medan”.
Officially known as CitraLand Gama City, the estate has various replicas of signature Singaporean attractions and places that’ll have you going, “Am I really in Indonesia?”
Not quite Marina Bay, but close enough.
Image credit: @bu_san02 via Instagram
Who knew our beloved half-lion-half-fish icon had a long-lost twin in Indonesia. Meet the equally handsome Merlion of The Merlion Park in the Singapore of Medan. It is quite astonishing to see carbon copy outside of Singapore, but it really does look like the one we have back home down to the little details.
Image credit: @suryati_regar via Instagram
You’ll realise, though, that no matter where the statue is, people will always strike the same poses for photos.
Image credit: ASEAN Skyline via Facebook
The sight of these will have the blood of any Singaporean driver boiling – thankfully this ERP gantry labelled CLGC in Medan is a non-functional replica. As much as the majority of us try to avoid it, we’ve got to admit that the ERP system is definitely something that’s unique to us.
Eh, where did ION go?
Image credit: @notifikations via Instagram
If they’ve got the ERP gantry, then they have to have the roads to go with it too. And what more of an iconic road to choose if not Orchard Road? It’s quite bizarre not seeing rows of malls and shops in the background of the street sign though.
Image credit: ASEAN Skyline via Facebook
Hearing that someone lives in Fullerton, Raffles Place, Dempsey Hill, or Clarke Quay will definitely raise some eyebrows. They’re either filthy rich, or they own a property in one of these residential clusters in Little Singapore.
A 2-bedroom, 80sqm house in Medan’s Fullerton will cost you about Rp1,585,000,000 (~S$143,837). A landed property of the equivalent size in Singapore would cost you upwards of a million SGD – and that’s not even in the same area as Singapore’s Fullerton. While they have brought the names over, they thankfully left out Singapore’s residential property prices.
Image credit: CitraLand Gama City Medan via Google Maps
We’ve got to applaud the Singapore of Medan for the effort in replicating the icons of our country. I mean, the estate comes complete with duplicates of Suntec City’s Fountain of Wealth, their very own Orchard Road, and even our national mascot.
We’d even go as far as to say visitors might fool their friends into thinking their photos weren’t actually taken at this Little Singapore in Indonesia. It makes us wonder if the residents of CitraLand Gama City will also be able to replicate our Singaporean spirit of kanciongness and kiasuness in their everyday lives.
Address: Kenangan, Kec. Percut Sei Tuan, Kabupaten Deli Serdang, Sumatera Utara 20371, Indonesia
For other stories on things uniquely Singapore, check out;
Cover image adapted from: @suryati_regar via Instagram & ASEAN Skyline via Facebook
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