The story of the Singapore River, the other rivers flowing into the Kallang Basin, and Marina Bay. It covers their commercial role over the centuries; victory over pollution, including mass dispersal of people and businesses clustered around the waterways into new towns around the island; the role of planners and the planning system in reclamation, and the creation of Marina Bay and the New Downtown; the role of Marina Bay as a water reservoir and the that of the rivers in Singapore's water supply; the transformation of the rivers and Marina Bay into a lifestyle setting, Singapore's "new Padang".