Singapore History Part 1

As promised, every sunday, I'm going to post something that isn't related to my life... 1st topic of the year is Singapore's History

As we know, Do u guys realised that we have a lot of singapore names (especially malay names) around Singapore ?? For e.g in a MRT system, we have chinese & malay names but have guys wondered what each name means ??? Below are the names & the history behind it:

East-West Line
Pasir Ris: The original name that was first in 1852 is Passier Reis in a village. But, there's contraction to the name, Pasir Hiris ( where Pasir means "sand" & Hiris means "to Shred"). this place is known to be white sands because Pasir Ris is located along the sandy beaches !!!

Tampines: It is named after an ironwood tree, tempines. The area was once a plantation, a village, forest as well as sand quarrying area in the 80s !!!

Simei: The original spelling is "See May"... The original name is a pinyin for 4 beauties in chinese. There were several other chinese names around the area at tht time. But, due to difficulty in pronouncing the names on the road, the govt decides to name the roads as Simei st 1-6.

Tanah Merah: This name is considered as old name that appears in the map as Tana Mera. It is derived from red lateritic cliffs around the area. (i.e Tanah means soil & Merah means red)

Bedok: The name derived from "Bedoh", a malay word for a "large drum" that is used for calling people to a mosque for prayers...

Kembangan: It means "expansion" in malay.

Eunos: named after Eunos Abdullah, a wealthy business man who is respected by the malay community.

Paya Lebar: Paya means "swamp" & lebar means "wide". It is used to be a swampy area.

Aljunied: named after Syed Omar bin Ali Aljunied. He was highly respected by malay community as a prince and as a descendent of muhammad, founder of Islam

Kallang: named after a group of orang laut called Biduanda Kallang. However there are many versions to it. It can be the meaning of "kelang", which means "mills" in malay as there are rice mills there or "galang", which means "to put a boat on wooden stocks & roll".

Lavender: NIL

Bugis: named after a ethnic group that came from Sulawesi,Indonesia that migrate here.

City Hall: As the name suggests, it is located in the central area... =D

Raffles Place: named after sir Stamford Raffles, who lands in Singapore next to Singapore river.

Tanjong pagar: it means "cape of stakes" in malay, a name that reflects on origins as a fishing village. Another version is Tanjong means cape & pagar means gate since tanjong pagar is located at PSA gate 3.

Outram Park: named after sir James Outram

Tiong Bahru: NIL

Redhill: named after a bloody incident(legend) that leads to the hill that turns red. The malay word for it is Bukit Merah...

Queenstown: named after Queen Elizabeth marks a coronation in 1853.

Commonwealth: NIL

Buona Vista: named because the area has a good view. Buona Vista means "good views" in Italian.

Dover: it is derived from celtic word which means "The Waters". Dover was previously a british millitary & residential area.

Clementi:It is named after sir Cecil Clementi Smith, a governor of straits settlements. The area was once occupied by squatters & British armed forces barracks.

Jurong East: the word "jurong" probably derived from jerung which means "voracious shark" in malay. Another version is jurong came from the word jew-orang means there are jews community way back in the 70s... Since this part of Jurong is in the east side, therefore, it's called Jurong East !!! =D

Chinese Garden: named after a garden besides the MRT station...

Lakeside: NIL. Probably it is named because the station is located besides Jurong lake.

Boon Lay: named after a prominent businessman, Chew Boon Lay. His rubber estate used to locate there...

Pioneer (Future): This is a future station, which will be opened in 2009... Well, I think it is named as the station is loacted near to the junction of Jurong West St 63 & Pioneer Road North...

Joo Koon (Future): This is a future terminus in the west side of EW line which will be opened in 2009. I think it is named as the station is located at the junction of Joo Koon Circle & International Rd...

Changi Airport Extention
Expo: named after the buliding next to the station, Singapore Expo !!! =D

Changi Airport: Duh !!! The station is directly below Changi Airport's Terminal 2 !!!

See ??? Singapore is full of its culture & history behind it... Next week, I'll continue with North-South line... =D

(Source of Information: Wikipedia)