By The Eye desk · Last verified 12 October 2026
Singapore’s design icons are mostly things people use without thinking. The kopitiam chair is a version of the Thonet No. 14 bentwood chair, launched in Austria in 1859 and advertised in Singapore by 1884. It sat beside the marble-top coffee shop table, standard kopitiam furniture from the 1950s to the 1980s. HDB’s dragon playground, designed by in-house designer Khor Ean Ghee, arrived in 1979; the full-sized one still stands at Lorong 6 Toa Payoh. Add the Merlion, drawn in 1964 by Fraser Brunner, and the sarong kebaya designed by Pierre Balmain for the airline in 1968, and you have a design history you can still visit, and sometimes sit on.
Good design here was rarely about luxury. It was about cheap, tough, cheerful objects that a whole country came to love. Here are the classics and the stories behind them.
Quick facts
- Kopitiam chair: Thonet’s No. 14, six parts, shipped flat, launched in 1859.
- Thonet bentwood furniture was advertised in The Straits Times on 11 October 1884.
- Marble-top kopitiam tables: common from the 1950s to the 1980s, in round, square and hexagonal shapes.
- Dragon playground: 1979, by HDB designer Khor Ean Ghee; fewer than 20 original HDB designs survive.
- Merlion: symbol designed in 1964; 8m statue unveiled on 15 September 1972.
- Sarong kebaya uniform: designed by Pierre Balmain, introduced in 1968.
The classics at a glance
| Icon | Designer or origin | Date | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kopitiam bentwood chair | Michael Thonet’s No. 14, copied widely | 1859; in Singapore by 1884 | Heritage-style coffee shops and museum collections |
| Marble-top coffee shop table | Kopitiam furniture tradition | 1950s–1980s heyday | Older kopitiams; National Heritage Board collection |
| Dragon playground | Khor Ean Ghee, HDB | 1979 | In front of Block 28, Lorong 6 Toa Payoh; also Ang Mo Kio |
| Merlion | Fraser Brunner; statue by Lim Nang Seng | 1964 symbol; 1972 statue | Merlion Park, Marina Bay |
| Sarong kebaya uniform | Pierre Balmain | 1968 | On Singapore Airlines cabin crew |
Why is it called the kopitiam chair?
Because generations of Singaporeans first met it over kopi and kaya toast. As The Peranakan magazine explains, Michael Thonet’s workshop in Austria found a way to steam and bend wood into curves, and his ’14’ chair of 1859 used just six parts, shipped flat and assembled by the retailer. That made it cheap enough to fill cafés around the world; the family firm counted more than 50 million made by its 150th anniversary in 2009. In Singapore, German agents were advertising Thonet’s bentwood furniture by 1884, and local shops sold their own versions. The round seat and bent hoop back became the look of the old coffee shop, paired with heavy marble-top tables that the National Heritage Board notes have mostly given way to light plastic furniture.
The dragon playground and its friends
In 1979, HDB began designing playgrounds that felt local, starting with the dragon. The Toa Payoh dragon has a slide inside its head, a body of multicoloured steel rings and a sand pit beneath. When many similar playgrounds were cleared in the late 1990s, this one stayed, and in 2014 it was announced it would remain even as the blocks around it were redeveloped. Through the 1980s came animals, fruit and heritage themes. HDB stopped designing its own playgrounds in 1993 and turned to imported modular sets.
- Full-sized dragons: Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio; smaller versions in Braddell and Macpherson.
- Other survivors named by the National Heritage Board: Tampines Watermelon Playground, Pasir Ris Bumboat Playground, Bishan Clock Playground, Dakota Crescent Playground and Lakeview Estate Adventure Playground.
- Visiting tip: these are working playgrounds in housing estates. Go in daylight, give children priority and keep noise down for residents.
The Merlion and the sarong kebaya
The Merlion began as a logo. Fraser Brunner, curator of the Van Kleef Aquarium, designed it in 1964 for the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, which used it as its logo from 1966 to 1997. The 8m statue, sculpted by Lim Nang Seng, was unveiled on 15 September 1972 and moved to its present pier at Merlion Park in 2002. The sarong kebaya uniform, designed by French couturier Pierre Balmain, was introduced in 1968, when the airline was still Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. Its batik print has been refreshed over the years but keeps the same palette, with colours that mark rank.
A half-day design walk
- Morning, Toa Payoh: see the dragon playground at Lorong 6, then have breakfast at a nearby coffee shop and look out for marble tables.
- Late morning, the city: take the MRT to Raffles Place and walk to Merlion Park.
- Lunch: sit somewhere with bentwood chairs and notice how the design still works after more than 160 years.
The WahLiao Verdict
Start with the dragon at Toa Payoh: it is free, it is real, and it tells you more about Singapore’s design spirit than any shop. If you want to own a piece, a bentwood chair or a marble-top table is the most practical souvenir of the kopitiam age; buy a modern reproduction if you will use it daily, and treat an older piece as an antique that needs checking. Most of all, look again at ordinary things. Singapore’s best design is often hiding in plain sight.
Questions people ask
Is the kopitiam chair a Singapore design?
No. It descends from Thonet’s 1859 No. 14 from Austria, but it became so tied to the local coffee shop that Singaporeans adopted it as their own.
Can adults go on the dragon playground?
It is a children’s playground in a housing estate. Photographs are fine; let children play first and be considerate to residents.
Who designed the Merlion?
Fraser Brunner designed the symbol in 1964. Lim Nang Seng sculpted the 8m statue, from a blueprint by Kwan Sai Kheong, unveiled in 1972.
How many old HDB playgrounds are left?
The National Heritage Board says fewer than 20 of the original designs survive, so visit while you can.
Sources: National Heritage Board (Roots.gov.sg), Mosaic Playgrounds in Singapore; National Heritage Board, kopitiam marble-top table; National Heritage Board, SIA sarong kebaya uniform; National Library Board Infopedia, the Merlion; The Peranakan magazine, the Thonet bentwood chair in Singapore. The Eye explains; it does not endorse.
Read next: The Kebaya: Why It’s on UNESCO’s Heritage List · The National Gallery Singapore: What’s Free and What to See · Back to The Eye
For what’s worth it this week, with the bill shown, read The WahLiao Week.
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