Merlion reopened

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s most famous tourism icon, the Merlion, reopened Wednesday.

It started spouting water again around noon.

It had been closed for repair work for two and a half weeks to rectify damage on the Merlion’s facade after it was struck by lightning on February 28.

The repair work will continue on the wave form at the base of the Merlion until the end of March.

The Singapore Tourism Board said on March 9 that it is studying possible lightning protection measures for the Merlion Park to prevent similar incidents from happening.

The Merlion was designed and built as a sculpture and did not include a lightning conductor.

STB added that there were no records of lightning damaging the national icon since its inauguration 36 years ago on September 15, 1972.