Fodor's Expert Review Padang

Used primarily as a playing field, the Padang (Malay for "field" or "plain") is behind the Singapore Cricket Club and has traditionally been a social and political hub. Once called the Esplanade, it was half its current size until an 1890s land reclamation expanded it. During World War II, the Japanese gathered 2,000 British civilians here before marching them off to Changi Prison and, in many cases, to their deaths. Today, it serves as a sports facility for cricket, hockey, and rugby teams.

Beyond the Padang's northeastern edge, across Stamford Road and the Stamford Canal, are the four 220-foot (67-meter) tapering white columns of the Civilian War Memorial, known locally as the Four Chopsticks. The monument honors the thousands of civilians from Singapore's four main ethnic groups (Chinese, Malay, Indian, and "others," including Eurasians and Europeans) who lost their lives during the Japanese occupation or were dispatched to build the Burma–Siam Railway.