Telok Blangah (, ta, தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind

Keppel Harbour Keppel Harbour (; ms, Pelabuhan Keppel), also called the Keppel Channel and formerly New Harbour, is a stretch of water in Singapore between the mainland and the southern islands of Pulau Brani and Sentosa (formerly Pulau Blakang Mati). Its natur ...

in Bukit Merah,

Singapore 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 ...

. ''Teluk Blanga'' is the district between

Pasir Panjang Pasir Panjang is an area located at the southern part of Queenstown in Singapore. Kent Ridge Park is a topographical feature which runs adjacent to Pasir Panjang. History Pasir Panjang Road, which once hugged the coastline, was laid down a ...

and

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar (New Rumi Spelling, alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram, Singapore, Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the ...

Name

The region is named after the bay. ''Telok Blangah'' ( Jawi: تلوق بلڠه) is a

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 ...

compound of '' blanga'' "a type of cooking pot" and ''telok'' "bay" and so literally means "cooking pot bay", so named on account of its shape. In the olden maps, Telok Blangah's name spelling was written as Teluk Blanga, Teluk Belanga and Teluk Blangah. ''Teluk Blanga'' is known as ''sit lat mng'' in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

, meaning "Singapore gate" or "north west gate".

History

Historically, this area is as old as the thirteenth century city of

Temasek Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ...

. The area is rich with

aristocratic history of past royal events. According to the Malay Annals,

Sang Nila Utama Sang Nila Utama was a Srivijayan prince from Palembang and is the founder of the Kingdom of Singapura in 1299. His official title adopted upon his coronation was Sri Tri Buana (), which can be translated as "Lord of Three Worlds"; the "Three Worl ...

's boat ran into a storm and he threw everything overboard, including his

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

before landing just off Telok Blangah beach. The area gained prominence again during the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

period when

Sir Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

in 1823 assigned

Temenggong Abdul Rahman Dato Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman bin Tun Daeng Abdul Hamid (1755 – 8 December 1825) was the Temenggong of Johor during the Bendahara dynasty. He was best known of being instrumental in the Treaty of Singapore with the British East India Compa ...

(died 1825) and his followers of land for their

residence A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside. Residence may more specifically refer to: * Domicile (law), a legal term for residence * Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...

and a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. The area flourished under Temenggong Abdul Rahman because of his

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

over the

gutta percha Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus '' Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex derived from the tree, particularly from ...

trade. Temenggong Abdul Rahman's eldest son, Tun Haji Abdullah, informally took over as

Temenggong of Johor The Temenggong of Johor is one of the members of the Orang Kaya Council first established by Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah himself. The first Temenggong being appointed in 1757 was Temenggong Abdul Jamal. The Temenggong of Johor was given the task of ...

after his death in 1825, followed by his second son Daeng Ibrahim informally in 1833 and officially on 19 August 1841. In 1845, Telok Blangah Hill (

: ''Bukit Telok Blangah'') was renamed to Mount Faber after Captain Charles Edward Faber. Following

Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim Raja Temenggong Tun Daeng Ibrahim bin Temenggong Daeng Abdul Rahman (8 December 1810 – 31 January 1862) was the Temenggong of Johor and later the ''de facto'' Maharaja of Johor from 1855 to 1862. Biography Early life Daeng Ibrahim was born ...

’s death in 1862, his first son

Temenggong Abu Bakar Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah ibni Almarhum Temenggong Seri Maharaja Tun Daeng Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 3 February 1833 – 4 June 1895) was the Temenggong of Johor. He was the 1st Sultan of Modern Johor, the 21st Sultan of Johor and t ...

succeed him and moved his

Istana ''Istana'' is an Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay word meaning "palace". Notable Istanas *Istana Alam Shah, the official palace of the Sultan of Selangor *Istana Besar, 19th- and early 20th-century residence of the Sultan o ...

to Tyersall. In 1885, when Maharaja Abu Bakar became the Sultan of Johor, he moved to Johor Bahru. The former royal audience hall (now a 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 ...

) and the Johor Royal Mausoleum still remain today at Telok Blangah Road, near

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 ...

and Sentosa Gateway. The last to be buried was Ungku Modh. Khalif (or Khalid), the younger brother of Sultan Abu Bakar in 1900. Another Malay royal cemetery and

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

nearby is Keramat Bukit Kasita at

Bukit Purmei Bukit Purmei is a small housing estate within Bukit Merah planning area in Singapore, near Telok Blangah estate. Bukit Purmei consists of 15 HDB blocks, private apartments and landed property. Within the estate, there is Bukit Purmei Hillock Park ...

, which is the final resting place of the

Riau-Lingga Riau-Lingga Sultanate ( Malay/ Indonesian: کسلطانن رياوليڠݢ, ''Kesultanan Riau-Lingga''), also known as the Lingga-Riau Sultanate, Riau Sultanate or Lingga Sultanate was a Malay sultanate that existed from 1824 to 1911, befor ...

Royal Family, a split of the

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

Royal Family. Telok Blangah Road was officially named in 1907. The sacred shrine of Puteri

Raden Mas Ayu is a Japanese termRaden.

Places in Singapore Bukit Merah