Pioneer architect Alfred Wong helped to build modern Singapore

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Alfred Wong, whose firm AWP Architects started in 1957, has designed some of Singapore's earliest modern landmarks such as the National Theatre and Hotel Malaysia (later renamed Marco Polo Hotel).
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SINGAPORE - The architect who designed two of Singapore's earliest modern buildings in the 1960s - the National Theatre (1963) and Hotel Malaysia (1968) - chafes at the hackneyed use of "iconic" to describe his oeuvre over the years.

"You can call the Parthenon 'iconic', but for everything else, find better descriptors," says Mr Alfred H.K. Wong with a laugh.

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