Bukit Merah, also known as Redhill, is a planning area and

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

situated in the southernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. the planning area borders

Tanglin Tanglin is a planning area located within the Central Region of Singapore. Tanglin is located west of Newton, Orchard, River Valley and Singapore River, south of Novena, east of Bukit Timah, northeast of Queenstown and north of Bukit Merah. ...

to the north, Queenstown to the west and the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

, Outram and

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

planning areas of the Central Area to the east. Bukit Merah shares a maritime boundary with the

Southern Islands The Southern Islands is a planning area consisting of a collection of islets located within the Central Region of Singapore, once home to the native Malay islanders and sea nomads before they were relocated to the mainland for urban redevelopm ...

planning area located beyond its southernmost point. It is the most populated planning area in the Central Region, and the 12th most populated planning area in the country overall, being home to more than 150,000 residents.

Etymology

''Bukit Merah'' translates to “

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

” in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, and is a reference to the red-coloured

lateritic Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

soil found on the hill. According to the ''

Sejarah Melayu The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...

'', Singapore used to be plagued by

swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

attacking the people living in the coastal regions. A young boy named

Hang Nadim In the Malay epic ''Sejarah Melayu'', Hang Nadim ( Jawi: هڠ نديم) Laksamana Hang Nadim was a warrior of the Johor-Riau during the Portuguese occupation of Malacca. He is the son of legendary Malacca Warrior Hang Jebat and foster son another l ...

proposed an ingenious solution, to build a wall of banana stems along the coast at the present location of

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urb ...

. When the swordfish attacked, their snouts were stuck in the stems. With the swordfish problem solved, Hang Nadim earned great respect from the people, but also jealousy from the rulers. The fourth King of

Singapura Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Paduka Seri Maharaja Paduka Sri Maharaja was the eldest son of Sri Rana Wikrama and the fourth Raja of Singapura. He was known as ''Damia Raja'' before his accession. According to ''Malay Annals'', the reign of Sri Maharaja was marked with the event of swordfish rav ...

, finally ordered his execution, and it was said that his blood-soaked the soil of the hill where he was killed, giving rise to the red-coloured hill. The hill was eventually trimmed to its current state in 1973, when it made way for Redhill Close and what would eventually become the now defunct

Henderson Secondary School Henderson Secondary School ( Abbreviation: HSS; ) was a co-educational, single session, government school in Bukit Merah, Singapore and was established in 1974. It was located at 100 Henderson Road, Singapore 159544. It was closed and merged wit ...

. During its existence, a Chinese cemetery was situated on the reverse side of this hill, which is today, the location of

Tiong Bahru Tiong Bahru is a housing estate located within the Bukit Merah Planning Area, in the Central Region of Singapore. Tiong Bahru was constructed in the 1920s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to the Housing Development Board and ...

History

Keppel Harbour dates back to the 14th century when an ancient Chinese traveller,

Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller of the Yuan dynasty from Quanzhou in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages. Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Nan ...

named the harbour as ''" Long-Ya-Men" or "Dragon Teeth Gate"'' after two rock outcrops located near Labrador Park, which resembled dragon's teeth. The two rock outcrops were subsequently blown up by the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

Surveyor, John Thomson, in August 1848 to widen the entrance a new harbour. Mount Faber was once known as Telok Blangah Hill. Its name was changed to Mount Faber after Captain Edward Faber cut the road up to the top in 1845 to set up a signal station. The

Singapore General Hospital Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is an academic health science centre and tertiary referral hospital in Singapore. It is located next to the Bukit Merah and Chinatown districts of the Central Region, close to the Outram Community Hospital (OCH ...

site dates back to 1882. Labrador Nature Park was used as a defence outpost in the 19th century until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. With the earliest records of Bukit Merah's existence in the

Malay Annals The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...

, the town had a huge role to play in the early maritime trade of the

Kingdom of Singapura The Kingdom of Singapura ( Malay: ''Kerajaan Singapura'') was an Indianised Malay Hindu-Buddhist kingdom thought to have been established during the early history of Singapore upon its main island Pulau Ujong, then also known as Temasek, fr ...

. The town's fertile red soil was employed to great effect, when it was a district rich in gambier cultivation during British colonial rule. Even before the industrialisation of

Jurong Jurong () is a major geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, and ...

, Bukit Merah already had a small head start in the emerging heavy industry market in Singapore. With the first brickwork factories and mills emerging in the precincts of Henderson Hill and Redhill as early as the 1930s. The town is also home to the first housing estate in the country,

, which was developed by the

Singapore Improvement Trust The Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) is a former government organisation that was responsible for urban planning and urban renewal in Singapore. Formally established in 1927 under the Singapore Improvement Ordinance, it was modelled after sim ...

in the backdrop of a rapidly growing population in

post-war Singapore Singapore was a British colony for 144 years, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945 during the Pacific War. When the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, at the end of World War II, Singa ...

. The estate later became the basis of what would eventually become the first new town in the Republic, Queenstown.

Geography

According to the various master plans laid out by the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. Mission The authority was established on 1 Apri ...

, Bukit Merah is bounded by Alexandra Canal and the

to the north and HarbourFront and

Keppel Bay Keppel Bay is a bay in Central Queensland, Australia at the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the coast of the Coral Sea. Extent Keppel Bay extends from Station Point on Curtis Island () in the Gladstone Region to Zilzie Point at Zilzie () i ...

to the south, Kim Seng Road, Outram Road and

Cantonment Road Cantonment Road (Chinese: 广东民路) is a road located directly on the boundary between Bukit Merah and the Central Area PAs of Outram and the Downtown Core in Singapore. The road starts at its junction with Outram Road, Eu Tong Sen Str ...

to the east and Alexandra Road to the west. There are several subzones within the planning area, namely

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

Bukit Ho Swee Bukit Ho Swee () is a subzone within the planning area of Bukit Merah, Singapore, as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Its boundary is made up of the Alexandra Canal in the north; Kim Seng Road and Outram Road in the east; Zion ...

, Bukit Merah Central, Depot Road, Everton Park,

HarbourFront Harbourfront may refer to: * Harbourfront (Toronto), a neighbourhood in Toronto ** 509 Harbourfront, Toronto streetcar route **Harbourfront Centre, cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto * HarbourFront (Singapore), waterfront site in Si ...

, Henderson, Redhill,

Telok Blangah Telok Blangah (, ta, தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. ''Teluk Blanga'' is the district between Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Paga ...

and

Subzones

Transportation

Mass Rapid Transit

The namesake

Redhill MRT station Redhill MRT station is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East West line (EWL) located in Bukit Merah, Singapore. The station is situated along Tiong Bahru Road, at the junction with Jalan Tiong. On the EWL, it's between ...

was the first MRT station to open in area, in 1988. Today, there are currently 7

MRT MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...

stations that serve the planning area across 4 lines, the East West line, Circle line,

North East line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the no ...

and the Thomson-East Coast line. HarbourFront MRT station is an interchange station between the North East line and the Circle line, which is also the current terminus for both lines. Outram Park MRT station was inititally a double-line interchange station between the East West and North East lines but became a triple-line interchange station after the commencement of the third stage of the Thomson–East Coast line in 2022. The 7 stations are: * Havelock *

Outram Park Outram is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area is bordered by these planning areas: Singapore River to the north, the Downtown Core to the east and south, and Bukit Merah to the west. ...

* Redhill * Labrador Park *

Future stations that are currently under construction include: * Keppel *

Cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

The future stations, Keppel and

will be located within the new town as part of Stage 6 of the Circle line that will be completed by 2026.

Bus

There are two bus interchanges and one bus terminal in the new town. The

Bukit Merah Bus Interchange Bukit Merah Bus Interchange is a bus interchange located in the Bukit Merah Town Centre, along Bukit Merah Central in Bukit Merah, Singapore. The interchange serves the nearby residential estates of Telok Blangah and Bukit Purmei and also the co ...

, which serves Bukit Merah, is located at Bukit Merah Town Centre. Service Number 132 links the Interchange to

while bus services 5, 16, and 851 links the interchange to

Tiong Bahru MRT station Tiong Bahru MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East West line in Bukit Merah, Singapore. This is the first and last underground station for eastbound and westbound trains respectively. Directly connected t ...

. There are two feeder services originating from the interchange which serves the

estate. The HarbourFront Bus Interchange is located at the southern part of Bukit Merah, serving nearby amenities such as the

HarbourFront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

and

VivoCity VivoCity is a shopping mall located in the HarbourFront precinct of Bukit Merah, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, with of net lettable area and of gross floor area spread over a three-storey shopping complex and t ...

, the largest shopping mall in Singapore. The

Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal ( Malay: ''Pertukaran Bus Kampong Bahru''; Chinese: 甘榜峇鲁路巴士终站) is a bus terminal in Singapore. It is situated along Spooner Road off Kampong Bahru Road in Bukit Merah, and is located near Outram Comm ...

is located along Spooner Road, near the vicinity of the

Education

Primary schools

*Alexandra Primary School * Blangah Rise Primary School *Cantonment Primary School * CHIJ Kellock *Gan Eng Seng Primary School *

Radin Mas Primary School This is a list of primary schools in Singapore. Children typically start their primary education in the year they turn seven. Primary education lasts six years, and is compulsory for all Singapore citizens. Primary schools in Singapore are clas ...

*Zhangde Primary School

Secondary schools

Bukit Merah Secondary School Bukit Merah Secondary School (BMSS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Merah, Singapore. BMSS has established itself as a Value-Added school since 1993, offering the Express, Normal Academic and Normal Technical streams leadi ...

* CHIJ St. Theresa's Convent * Crescent Girls' School *

Gan Eng Seng School Gan Eng Seng School (GESS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Founded in 1885 by philanthropist Gan Eng Seng, the school is the first school established by the overseas Chinese community in Singapore and i ...

Tertiary Institutions

* Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Other schools

* APSN Tanglin School *

ISS International School ISS International School (usually referred to as ISS and formerly known as the International School of Singapore) is a co-educational international school in Singapore. It is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School founded in 1981 and off ...

(Preston Campus) *Shelton College International

Amenities

Places of Worship

Buddhist Temples

* Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist Temple * Kwan Yam Theng Buddhist Temple * Buddhist Fellowship West Centre, in Yeo's building

Chinese Temples

* Ban Siew San Kuan Imm Temple (1880) * Giok Hong Tian Temple (1887) * Hock Teck Tong Temple (1932) * Kai San Temple (1904) * Kim Lan Beo Temple (1830, relocate in 1984) * Leng San Teng Temple (1879) * Koon Seng Ting Temple (1880) * Lei Yin Temple (1957) * Qi Tian Gong Temple (1920) * Qi Tian Tan Temple (1949) * Tai Yeong Kon Temple (1947) * Tang Gah Beo Temple * Telok Blangah Ting Kong Beo Temple (1923)

Chinese Clan Temples

* Lim See Tai Chong Soo Kiu Leong Tong Temple * San Jiang Gong Ci Temple

Chinese Combined Temples

* Chia Leng Kong Heng Kang Tian Temple * Chin Leng Keng (Leng San Teng, Chin Lin Keng & Ban Sian Beo) * Temple of Liang Hong Sze Kong Hock Keng Heap Hoe Keng

Churches

* Grace Assembly of God 1 * Church of God Singapore * Church of St. Teresa * Danish Seamen's Church * Grace Methodist Church * Pasir Panjang Tamil Methodist Church * St. Matthew's Church * Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church

Hindu Temples

Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple ( ta, ஸ்ரீ ருத்ர காளியம்மன் கோவில்) is a temple for the goddess Kali who is the presiding deity, along Depot Road, in Bukit Merah, Singapore. The other deities of the ...

Mosques

* Masjid Al-Amin Mosque * Masjid Jamiyah Ar-Rabitah Mosque * Masjid Kampong Delta Mosque *

Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim ( Jawi: مسجد تماڠڬوڠ دايڠ إبراهيم), also known as Masjid Diraja Telok Blangah ( Malay: ''Telok Blangah Royal Mosque)'', is a historical royal mosque that is located along 30 Telok Blangah Road i ...

Sikh Temples

* Gurdwara Sahib Silat Road

Shopping Centres

* Alexandra Central * Alexandra Retail Centre * Concorde Shopping Centre * Depot Heights Shopping Centre *

Tiong Bahru Plaza Tiong Bahru Plaza (Simplified Chinese: 中峇鲁广场) is a shopping mall located in Tiong Bahru Estate, in Bukit Merah, Singapore, near Tiong Bahru Road, Jalan Membina and Bukit Ho Swee Crescent, which is where the entrance to the mall is locat ...

Parks

* Alexandra Canal Linear Park * Alexandra Hill East Neighbourhood Park * Bukit Purmei Hillock Park * Henderson Park *

Labrador Nature Reserve Labrador Nature Reserve ( Chinese: 拉柏多自然保护区, Malay: Kawasan Simpanan Alam Semulajadi Labrador), also known locally as Labrador Park (拉柏多公园, Taman Labrador), is located in the southern part of mainland Singapore. It is ho ...

* Mount Faber Park * Rumah Tinggi Eco Park * Telok Blangah Hill Park *

Tiong Bahru Park Tiong Bahru Park is a public park between Henderson, Bukit Merah and Lower Delta Road in Singapore. First developed around 1967, it combined with a nursery site in 1977 and in 2000, it was redeveloped. See also * List of Parks in Singapore * Nat ...

Community Centres/Clubs

* Bukit Merah Community Centre * Henderson Community Club * Kim Seng Community Centre * Leng Kee Community Centre * Radin Mas Community Club * Telok Blangah Community Club * Tiong Bahru Community Centre

Sports facilities

* Delta Sports Complex * SAFRA Mount Faber * Sports Lifestyle Centre

Politics

Bukit Merah belongs to six political divisions in four constituencies. A large portion of Bukit Merah is under

Tanjong Pagar GRC The Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in Central and Western Singapore. The five divisions consists: Buona Vista, Queenstown, Moulmein-Cairnhill, Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru ...

with some areas under

Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs surrounding the Central Area of Singapore. There are four wards in the GRC: Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, Kolam Ayer, Wham ...

Radin Mas SMC The Radin Mas Single Member Constituency is a single member constituency (SMC) located in the central area of Singapore. The ward covers a portion of Bukit Merah, specifically the suburbs of Redhill, Bukit Merah Central, the eastern half of Tel ...

and

West Coast GRC The West Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the western area of Singapore. The five divisions consists: Ayer Rajah-Gek Poh, West Coast, Boon Lay, Nanyang and Telok Blangah ...

, served by the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

. As of the 2020 General election, the Members of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC are

Indranee Rajah Indranee Thurai Rajah ( ta, இந்திராணி ராஜா; born 1963) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance since 2018, Second Minister for Nat ...

for Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru division,

Joan Pereira Joan Cheng Sim Pereira (born 1967) is a Singaporean politician and businesswoman. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Henderson–Dawson division of Tanjong Pagar GRC ...

for Henderson-Dawson division and

Eric Chua Eric Chua Swee Leong ( zh, s=蔡瑞隆, p=Cài Ruìlóng; born 1979) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family D ...

for Queenstown division.

Melvin Yong Melvin Yong Yik Chye ( zh, s=杨益财, p=Yáng Yìcái; born 1972) is a Singaporean politician, union leader and former police officer. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representi ...

is the current Member of Parliament for Radin Mas SMC, Rachel Ong for Telok Blangah division of West Coast GRC and

Josephine Teo Josephine Teo Li Min (née Yong; zh, s=杨莉明, t=楊莉明, poj=Iôⁿ Lī-bêng, p=Yáng Lìmíng; born 1968) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of the Cyb ...

for Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng division of Jalan Besar GRC. The planning area is overseen by three town councils, namely Tanjong Pagar Town Council (TPTC), West Coast Town Council (WCTC) and Jalan Besar Town Council (JBTC). Bukit Merah is covered by two Community Development Councils (CDC),

Central Singapore District The Central Singapore Community Development Council is one of five Community Development Councils (CDCs) set up across the Republic of Singapore to aid in local administration of governmental policies and schemes. Constituencies As of March 2020 ...

and

South West District South West Delhi is one of the eleven administrative districts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Kapashera serves as the administrative headquarters of South West Delhi. South West Delhi is bounded by the districts of West De ...

Denise Phua Denise Phua Lay Peng ()Denise Phua Lay Peng
, Candidate Profiles, People's Act ...

is the current mayor for Central CDC and

Low Yen Ling Low Yen Ling ( zh, s=刘燕玲, p=Liú Yànlíng; born 1974) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Mayor of South West District since 2014, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Minister of State for Trade and Indu ...

is the current mayor for South West CDC.

References

Sources

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), ''Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern Universities Press, *https://lostnfiledsg.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/bukit-merah-town-centre/ *http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_779_2005-01-26.html

External links

Legend of Bukit Merah at the Singapore Museum website
{{Places in Singapore Central Region, Singapore Hills of Singapore Places in Singapore