sentence: since 1995 , it has been planned that the ndp would be held there for every five years , the main venue for that major event is at marina bay floating stadium ( formerly at the old national stadium ) history in june 1819 , modern founder of singapore , thomas stamford raffles instructed the first resident of singapore , william farquhar , to reserve the whole space within the old lines and the singapore river ( i.e. the northern bank ) for public purposes .