[1] The original statues of the Merlion and its miniature version used to stand at the mouth of the Singapore River with Anderson Bridge as its background.

The main statue was made from November 1971 to August 1972 by Singaporean sculptor Lim Nang Seng.

[3][4] Due to the completion of the Esplanade Bridge in 1997, the statue could no longer be viewed clearly from the Marina Bay Waterfront.

[3] On 23 April 2002, the Merlion statue and its miniature statue were relocated from its original location to a new pier specially built on the other side of the Esplanade Bridge adjacent to the One Fullerton Hotel, which was completed on 25 April 2002.

The new Merlion Park, which is four times bigger than the original site, had officially been opened since then.