Singapore Electric Tramways

A Map showing Singapore Electric Tramways' routes (c. 1905) (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

The Tramways Ordinance of 1902 allowed the London-registered company, Singapore Tramways Limited, to set up a tramway system in Singapore. The first electric trams on the island began operations on 24 July 1905 under a new venture, Singapore Electric Tramways Limited, which acquired Singapore Tramways Limited. The board of directors sat in London, with Sir Frank A. Swettenham as its first chairman. The initial acquisitions and operations were handled by their Singapore agents, Messrs. Guthrie & Company Limited.

Workers laying a track at North Bridge Road c. 1904 (Source: blogtoexpress.blogspot.com)

There were 50 single-deck passenger cars for its tram operations, which had three classes of travel. For the transport of freight, the company bought locomotives and freight wagons, and the types of cargo transported included animals, construction materials, agricultural produce, manufactured goods and wares and parcels. There were six tramway lines, which were based on the routes of the former 1886 steam tram service that was discontinued in 1894.

Steam Trams at Tanjong Pagar (c. 1892)(Source: National Library Board, Singapore)

Tramcar (modern design) (c. 1905). (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

Tramcar (open design) (c. 1905) (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

Goods tram (c. 1905)  (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

The routes covered Telok Blangah Road to Keppel Road, Tanjong Pagar Road to Geylang Road, Anson Road to Johnston’s Pier, Bras Basah Road to Serangoon Road, Serangoon Road to Kallang Road and High Street to Tank Road. The generating station situated in McKenzie Road, adjacent to the Rochor canal, from which an ample supply of water was obtained for condensing purposes. The building comprised of the power station and boiler house, car shed, workshop, as well as the company's general office. The power station also supplied electricity to the Municipal Commissioners of Singapore which in turn supplied electricity to private consumers.

Singapore Electric Tramways Ltd's Power Station at McKenzie Rd. (c. 1905) (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

Power Station (interior) (c. 1905)  (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

Boiler House (c. 1905) (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

Car Shed (c. 1905) (Source: 20th Century Impressions of British Malaya).

A peculiar feature of the traffic is its denseness through China Town along North Bridge and South Bridge Roads. Almost two-thirds of the total number of passengers were carried on this section of the line, which extends for two miles. The tramway also ran into the less populated areas such as Geylang and Serangoon. This encouraged the ensuing development of both areas.

Electric Tram at Geylang terminus (Source: National Library Board, Singapore)

Tram rides were initially charged by the number of sections in a route or by the full distance of the route, with fares ranging from 10 to 20 cents. This was expensive in comparison to other existing modes of transportation such as rickshaws and horse carriages. Besides the limited tram routes covering areas away from town, high fares and the complicated payment structure added to the public’s reluctance to commute via tram. Fares were eventually reduced to as low as three cents per section. More people began to use the trams and in 1909 an average of 32,000 passengers a day used the trams.

However, trams faced a variety of issues such as obstructions on tramlines, vandalism, boycotts by Chinese guilds, as well as infrastructure and mechanical issues. In 1922, under advice from the Shanghai Electric Construction Company, tram operations were revamped, including repairs to the tramcars and revised fare scales in an effort to keep the system going. The situation improved and the operators were able to turn a profit.

Despite this turnaround, the municipality commissioners decided not to renew the tramway concessions. They cited incompatibility of the parties’ interests over the state of the roads on which the trams ran. It is said that the commissioners were embarrassed that the reconstructed tracks of the company ran on fine, metalled surface, while the outside lanes managed by the municipality were battered. The tram company was wound up and a new entity, the Singapore Traction Company, was formed in 1925 to operate electric-powered trolley buses introduced pursuant to the Singapore Traction Ordinance of 1925. The conversion from electric trams to trolley buses occurred in stages, with the last changeover happening at the end of 1927. The Singapore electric trolley bus system, dubbed as the world's largest, ceased operations in 1962.

Sources:

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Singapore

2. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1085_2006-06-08.html

3. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/9210d580-a90b-41f7-a50d-4b92df3eb83c

4. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/easterndaily19060413-1.2.24.2

5. https://blogtoexpress.blogspot.com/2011/10/north-bridge-road-then-and-now.html

6. "Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources" Arnold Wright & H. A. Cartwright, Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Co. Ltd., 1908.

Kayaroganam Thamboosamy Pillay (1850-1902)

Kayaroganam Thamboosamy Pillay (1850-1902) (Picture 1) worked as a clerk at the legal firm of Woods & Davidson, Singapore. He moved to Klang in the early 1870s with James Guthrie Davidson, when the latter was appointed Malaya’s first British Resident. He was later transferred to the Treasury where he eventually became chief clerk and acted as State Treasurer on a few occasions. He was also a Justice of Peace and member of the Kuala Lumpur Sanitary Board. 

Picture 1 : Kayaroganam Thamboosamy Pillay

He founded the famous Sri Mahamariamman Temple in 1873. The temple was first sited near the Railway Station and moved to its current location in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee in 1885. In the 1880s, he resigned from the government and went into partnership with Loke Yew in the Rawang Mining Concession in which they both did extraordinarily well. He promoted Batu Caves as a place of worship and decided to dedicate it to Lord Murugan around 1891 by establishing the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple. He also contributed a sizeable amount of money to the building fund of St Mary’s Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur in 1893. Thamboosamy, together with Sultan Abdul Samad, Yap Kwan Seng and Loke Yew, proposed to set up an English-medium school for boys in Kuala Lumpur. It led to the establishment of the Victoria Institution in 1894. 

Picture 2: The Padang with the old Selangor Club in the foreground (c. late 1880s)

Picture 3: K.T. Pillay's family residence at 1st mile Batu Road (c. 1906)

Picture 4: Luncheon party at K. Thamboosamy Pillay's residence at Batu Road (c. 1899).

Picture 5: Sekolah Kebangsaan Lelaki Jalan Batu

The earliest record of power generation can be traced back to a small mining town in Rawang, Selangor. Here, Thamboosamy Pillai and Loke Yew and installed an electric generator in 1894 to operate their mines; thereby making them the first to use electric pumps for mining in Malaya, and marked the beginning of electricity use in Malaysia. In the same year, private supply for street lighting purposes was extended from their mines to Rawang town.  Thamboosamy Pillay was also a committee member of the Kuala Lumpur Electricity Board and played a key role in supplying electricity to the city. One of the first organization to receive electricity supply was the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station around 1895.

Thamboosamy was the acknowledged leader of the Tamil Community and was consulted by the Government on all matters of importance. He was a Member of the Selangor Club (Picture 2) and a strong supporter of the Turf Club, owning many race horses and was a member of practically every public body in the State. He died in Singapore in 1902, where he had gone for a race meeting. Sir Frank Swettenham sent his body back in the Governor’s yacht to Port Swettenham, Klang, and it was then transported in a gun carriage from the Royal Selangor Club to his house. His eldest son, K.T. Parimanan Pillay, took over the family business. Upon Parimanan's death in 1918, his younger brother K.T. Ganapathy Pillay took charge. It is believed that their family house at 1st mile Batu Road (Picture 3 & 4) was demolished around 1920s to make way for a primary school managed by the trustees of Victoria Institution, known as Batu Road School (now Sekolah Kebangsaan (Lelaki) Jalan Batu).(Picture 5).

Source:

1. Bygone Selangor: A Souvenir (1922), Rimba.

2.  "Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources" Arnold Wright, H. A. Cartwright, Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Co. Ltd., 1908.

3. The Star 26.10.2013, retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/news/community/2013/10/26/a-reminder-of-a-philanthropic-man-sri-mahamariamman-temple-and-victoria-institution-part-of-thamboos

4. https://agathiyarvanam.blogspot.com/2015/09/thambusamy-pillai-in-malaya.html

5. https://www.bfm.my/podcast/the-bigger-picture/live-learn/santa-kumarie-k-thamboosamy-pillai-life-legacy

Singapore Naval Base

The Singapore Naval Base in Sembawang was opened on 14.2.1938 by Sir Shenton Thomas (1879-1962), the High Commissioner for the Malay States and Governor of Straits Settlements, at a ceremony attended by 11,000 people including the Rulers of the Malay States. In this first film footage sourced from the Imperial War Museums, we are able to identify the presence of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar (1873-1959) who accompanied Sir Shenton Thomas on the incoming ship. Also recorded was the presence of the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin al-Mu’azzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdullah al-Mu’tassim Billah Shah (1904-1974), as well as the Yang diPertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad (1895-1960) and Tunku Ampuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tunku Kurshiah binti Almarhum Tunku Besar Burhanuddin (1911-1999). The event also comprised a parade of 42 naval ships, including the British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, and a low flypast by 64 aircrafts.

There is a second film footage by British Pathé which covers the 1938 opening ceremony including the flypast.

The King George VI dry dock was big enough to take the largest ships in existence and Singapore was provided with airfields in Seletar, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft batteries, as well as a battalion of infantry as a garrison. It was hailed as ‘the Gibraltar of the East’ and a ‘bastion of British might’.

The base cost £28 million to build, equivalent to more than £2 billion today, but its formidable defences were not adequately manned. The British assumed that any attack would come from the sea and that its military and air cover would protect Singapore until the Royal Navy could send ships that would take an estimated 70 days to arrive. What actually transpired was that Japanese troops moved swiftly south by land through Malaya and descended on Singapore at the end of January 1942 in overwhelming force. Singapore surrendered to them on February 15th.

Source: 

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore_Naval_Base

2. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1820_2011-07-19.html

3. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/16e4cb2c-7e75-4d33-b1cf-b11cf2da4104

4. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19380106-1.2.97

5. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressb19380214-1.2.113.6

6. Imperial War Museums.

7. British Pathé.

Prince of Wales' Visit to Singapore (1922)

The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor) travelled on the H.M.S Renown for his 1921-1922 tour of the Far East. His Majesty arrived in Singapore on 31.3.1922 for his two-day visit.  Among his official duties during the first day of his visit were unveiling of the Cenotaph, which was built to commemorate those who perished during the First World War, attending his reception ceremony, and the opening of the Malaya-Borneo Exhibition.

Lead tickets for the Malaya Borneo Exhibition

The Malaya-Borneo Exhibition, held on a 65 acre reclaimed land adjacent to the Telok Ayer Basin, showcased the economic potential of British Malaya and North Borneo and was held for 17 days between the 31.3.1922 and the 17.4.1922.

On the second day of his visit, HRH Prince of Wales met the office bearers of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, attended civic luncheon at the Victoria Memorial Hall, and attended investiture ceremony at the Government House. The investiture ceremony was attended by the Sultan of Johor, Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan of Kedah, Sultan of Brunei and Raja of Perlis. The Sultan of Terengganu was recorded as absent during the investiture ceremony.

HRH Prince of Wales visiting Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce

Later in the evening, HRH Prince of Wales had dinner with HRH Rajah of Sarawak and HE Governor of Straits Settlements at the Government House and thereafter attended a Ball in honour of officers and men of HMS Renown at Memorial Hall.

HMS Renown accompanied by HMS Durban left Singapore at 6.00am on 2.4.1922.

Source:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.
2. Liu, G.,(2001), Singapore: A Pictorial History, 1819-2000, Reed Business Information, Inc.
3. National Library Board, Singapore.

RAF Tengah Air Base

RAF Tengah in 1938 (Source: Imperial War Museums)

This footage from the Imperial War Museums shows scenes shot during the construction of the Royal Air Force (RAF) air base in Tengah, Singapore. It was shot by Wing Commander Robert Milward, while serving in RAF 39 Squadron on air policing duties and training in Singapore in 1938.

In 1932, an air field was initially constructed in Tengah to give air cover to the naval base in Sembawang. Upon completion of the required infrastructure, it was commissioned as RAF Tengah in 1939 with “Chergas” (Malay for ‘Active’) as its station motto. The air base was constantly improved upon to prepare it for the increasingly sophisticated aircraft that was coming in.

RAF Tengah Station Badge (Source: Wikipedia)

RAF Tengah in 1941 (Source: Wikipedia)

RAF Tengah was the target of carpet bombing when Japanese Navy bombers conducted the first air raid on Singapore, shortly after the Battle of Malaya began in December 1941. It was also the first airfield to be captured when Japanese forces invaded Singapore. After days of fierce fighting, the Japanese forces, led by Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita (a.k.a. Tiger of Malaya), settled in RAF Tengah on 11.2.1942.

After the Japanese capture of Singapore, Tengah came under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force while the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service took over the other two RAF stations of Sembawang Air Base and RAF Seletar. This effectively ensured that the Japanese Army took control of the south, including the administrative hub and population centre of Singapore City, while the Japanese Navy took command of the north, which included the Royal Navy dockyard at Sembawang.

During the Malayan Emergency, RAF Tengah was used to house Avro Lincolns of the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force and Bristol Brigands of RAF 84 Squadron which performed bombing sorties on communist terrorist hideouts of the Malayan Communist Party deep in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula.

It was renamed Tengah Air Base in 1971 when it was handed over to the Singapore Air Defence Command (SADC). From 1971 to 1976, under the Five Power Defence Arrangement, Tengah Air Base became home to the British, Australian and New Zealand forces.

Tengah Air Base is currently the most important airfield of the Royal Singapore Air Force (RSAF) as it houses the majority of the RSAF's fixed-wing frontline squadrons, home to all of RSAF's Airborne early warning and control (AEWC) assets, most of the F-16C/D Fighting Falcons and many UAVs. It is currently undergoing further expansion wherein about 100ha of land would be acquired. This includes privately owned farms as well as graveyard area comprising of 45,500 Chinese graves and 35,000 Muslim graves.

Source:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengah_Air_Base

Kallang Airport

Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was Singapore’s first purpose-built commercial airport. It was opened on 12 June 1937 in the Kallang Basin area. It was designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, then chief architect of the Public Works Department. The announcement to build Kallang Airport was made by Governor Cecil Clementi on 31 August 1931. The decision was made in anticipation of Singapore turning into a major aviation hub.

Construction of the Kallang Airport began in 1931 with 300 acres of mangrove swampland being reclaimed. It resulted in the displacement of a large Malay community consisting of about 5,000 individuals from 5 villages along the Kallang River.  Most of the residents resettled into Kampong Melayu Jalan Eunos.

Boasting an anchorage area for seaplanes along its perimeter, the Kallang Airport was dubed as "the finest airport in the British Empire" at that time. Famous aviator Amelia Earhart once described it as "an aviation miracle of the East". It contains a two-storey terminal building with a large viewing gallery and a circular control tower in the middle, two side blocks with attached hangars, a circular grass landing field, and a slipway for seaplanes. Overall, Kallang Airport took five years to complete at a cost of $9 million.

During World War II, the Kallang Airport was the only operational airfield in Singapore capable of supporting Allied campaigns against the Japanese forces. It was during the Japanese occupation period that the airport's grass landing zone was upgraded into a concrete runway and extended to 5500 feet.

As early as 1950, plans were made to build a new airport at Paya Lebar (the current Paya Lebar Air Base) as the Kallang Airport was unable to cope with the increase in air traffic  and larger planes despite being expanded. The Kallang Airport finally closed in 1955.

Source:

1. Imperial War Museums, London.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kallang_Airport

3. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19370613-1.2.213

How Did Singapore Get its Name?

We have been taught that 'Singapore' got its name from the native Malay name for the country, Singapura, which was in turn derived from Sanskrit which means 'Lion City'. Singa comes from the word siṃha(सिंह), which means "lion", and pūra (पुर) which means "city". This is also based on folklore as well as written records in the Malay Annals where a strange looking animal (possibly a lion) was sighted by Sang Nila Utama (a.k.a. Sri Tri Buana) when he was hunting in Temasek around 1299. He is said to have changed the name Temasek to Singapura based on this encounter. This etymology is also backed by the possibility that it may relate to similar use of the “lion” prefix in the Champa kingdom of Simhapura or perhaps the Javanese kingdom of Singhasari.


The Malay Annals (1612) describes the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama as a powerful, fast-moving and fine-looking animal with a "red body, black head, and white breast", and size "slightly bigger than a goat." It could have been a tiger. Then again, it is unlikely that Sang Nila Utama or his followers would not recognise a tiger to mistake it for a lion.


Scholars have pointed out that lions are not native to Singapore or South East Asia, and the "lion" therefore would have been an error in identification and perhaps a folk or false etymology. See: False etymology - Wikipedia.


While I do agree that 'Pura' means city, old maps never refer to "Siṃha", “Singha” or "Singa". Carta del Cantino's 1502 map shows the southern portion of the Malay peninsula being described as “Barxingaparaa'':

Also see Martin Waldaeemuller's 1513 map which shows the area as 'Bargimgapara':

Bargimgapara' or 'barxingaparaa' is said to be a corruption of "Bahr-Sincapura", where the word 'bahr' is Arabic or Persian for coastal kingdom or a large body of water.

Jan Huygen van Linschoten in his 1596 map described it as ‘Sincapura’:

Manuel Godinho de Erédia in his 1604 map described it as ‘Sincapvra’.

Captain Alexander Hamilton (1688-1733) said that around 1703, he rejected Johor Sultan’s gift of the island of Singapore. In his 1727 book "A New Account of East Indies", Hamilton describes 'Sincapure' as follows:

See also a 1748 book by Giovanni Botero which describes it as “Sincapvra”:

It is even pronounced similar to "Sinca" in various Chinese dialects. Wu: "sin ka phu", Gan: "sin-ka-po", Hakka & Southern Min: "Sîn-kâ-phô", & Mandarin: "Xīnjiāpō".

Thus it has always been "Sinca" and not "Singa".

So what does 'Sinca' means?

The word "Sinca" relates to the act of ritual purification i.e. sprinkling blessed or holy water as described in the Mahayana Sutra known as "Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra" (Purifying All Evil Paths). To practitioners, the mantra (Dharani), in particular, is considered powerful for removing karmic obstacles, eliminating disasters and calamities, fulfilling wishes, benefit all beings and helps to cure illnesses. The transliteration from the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra states "Tathagata Sinca Me Samasvasayantu. Sarva Tathagata Samasvasa". I believe the word 'Sinca' or 'Sin-cha' ( सिञ्चत ) is synonymous with the entire purification act. It is used perhaps like what is currently retained in the Malay culture of "Merenjis" (minus the recitation of the Mahayana Sutra of course). See Picture of the act of sprinkling rose water on a Boeing 747-200.

In this sense, I believe that the etymology or rather toponymy of ‘Singapore’ relates closely to mainland Johor. This is so as around the 10th and 11th century mainland Johor was known by contextually-similar names i.e. "Ganggayu" or "Gangga Ayu" (Sanskrit meaning "water from river Ganges" i.e. holy water), and subsequently "Wura-wari" (old Javanese meaning "blessed, clear or pure water"). The ancient names of mainland Johor as well as Singapore could therefore relate to ritual purification practised by both Hinduism and Buddism. Both were practised by the native Malays in the southern Malay peninsula during Srivijaya rule (7th-13th century) and the subsequent Majapahit rule (13th-14th century).

Locals and tourists bathing in holy spring water at the Hindu temple in Bali, Pura Tirta Empul. 

Thus the etymology of the word ‘Singapore’ could possibly be attributed to its old name “Sincapura” which in Sanskrit means a city which has been sprinkled with blessed water i.e. “Purified City” or “Pure Land”.