Victor R Savage - Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics

Victor R Savage
Brenda S A Yeoh

Cover design by Bernard Go Kwang Meng

All images from the second edition of Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names published by Marshall Cavendish Academic except as indicated below: Edward Hendricks pages .

Victor R. Savage, Brenda S.A. Yeoh and Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd

Published in 2013 by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196

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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Savage, Victor R.

Singapore street names : a study of toponymics / Victor R. Savage & Brenda S.A. Yeoh. Singapore :

Marshall Cavendish Editions, c2013.

pages cm

eISBN : 978 981 4484 74 9

1. Street names Singapore Dictionaries. 2. Streets Singapore History. 3. Singapore History. I. Title. II. Yeoh, Brenda S. A., author.

DS610.4

915.9570014 dc23 OCN842138452

Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd

We are indeed pleased to present Singapore Street Names which is the new title given to the third edition of Singapores Toponymics. As place names feature both continuity and change in a fast-changing Singapore, we felt that it would be timely to update the book since it has been six years since the publication of the second edition.

As we stated in the Preface of the first edition of the book, we wanted Singaporeans and the public to engage us in this subject because many Singaporeans and foreign residents have unpublished information about streets and places arising from their own family histories. Indeed we are fortunate that from time to time, people have come forward to shed valuable insights into street and place names derived from their family heritage, provide alternative meanings and histories, or questioned the veracity of published material. This edition carries some of these inputs which we gratefully acknowledge.

In particular, we like to thank Lawrence Basapa, Elizabeth Chan, Gerry de Souza, Barry Desker, Jean Claude Fuchs, Raymond Goh, Richard Hale, Margie Hall, Dennis, Shirley, Daniel and Douglas Koh, Euston Quah, Marcus Lim, William Lim, Low Ee Chin, Lua Hock Keong, Mok Ly Yng, Joe Peters, Derek Seah, Paul and Margy Supramaniam, Benjamin B.C. Tan, Delphine Tan, Geoffrey Tan, Tan Teng Teng, Stephen Thompson, N. Varaprasad, Pauline Tan Wyatt, Pearl Yap, Yeo Hock Yew, Judith Montgomerie and Yeo Kang Shua for their inputs, contributions, clarifications and suggestions. We like to thank in particular Tan Teng Teng who has given us valuable information over the last year and put us in touch with relatives of important Singaporean pioneers who we then interviewed. We are also grateful to Azizah Binte Sidek, the Chief Librarian of the National Library for assistance in providing us with some images.

As new industrial, residential, business and leisure areas continue to transform the landscape of Singapore, new street and place names become decision-making issues for both the public authorities and private sector developers. In some cases, there are attempts to ensure original place names are retained and we are indeed happy with such outcomes because these longstanding place names give identity and historical resonance to streets, buildings and areas in a society where changing landscapes seem to be the norm.

Over the last six years, three street names in particular have encapsulated personal contributions to educational institutions and their names are now permanently endorsed in Singapores streets. Hence, we now have McNally Street in front of the La Salle School of the Arts in downtown Singapore; a name that rightly reflects the single-handed contributions of Brother Joseph McNally in establishing this school some two decades ago. In 2009 the Zubir Said Drive was named in front of the new School of the Arts in the Bras Basah-Prinsep Street area. The street name honours a Malay musician and composer, who also composed Singapores national anthem. We have at Nanyang Technological University, the naming of a road after Lien Ying Chow, one of the most well-known patrons and ardent supporters of the then Nanyang University. All three, Brother Joseph McNally, Zubir Said and Lien Ying Chow were immigrants, but their legacy and contributions to Singapore and education in particular now remain firmly embedded in Singapores landscapes.

Given the enormity of its scope, this project would continue to require painstaking, incremental research over several decades. This is an endeavour which cannot be single-handedly pursued but require the contributions of others to add more details and cross references to more street and place names. The most important additions to our research trajectory come from the increasing number of ethno-cultural community books to hit the book stands in recent years, focusing on the community history and contributions of the Jews, Parsis, Armenians, Sikhs, Irish, Peranakans, and Eurasians to the multiethnic tapestry of Singapores changing landscapes and rapid development. These studies include: Nadia Wrights (2003) The History of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia; the Singapore Indian Associations (2003) Passage of Indians, Joan Bieders (2007) The Jews of Singapore and Khoo Kay Kim, et al (2006) Study of Malays/Muslims in Singapore. While much attention has been given to various Asian communities and their landscape impact, Rosemary Lims (2008) interesting book, An Irish Tour of Singapore demonstrates that various European communities have also contributed to the shaping and development of Singapore, and leaving in its historical wake a litany of European place names. Singapores polyglot population since its inception as the British entrepot in the region gave sustenance and character to its current multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-linguistic and multi-religious society and landscapes. Indeed street and place names remain the tangible repository of Singapores multi-cultural developments.