Telok Blangah

Telok Blangah (IPA: /ˈtəloʊk ˌblɑːŋɑː/ TUH-lohk BLAHNG-ah, Chinese: 直落布兰雅, Tamil: தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Telok Blangah is represented by three contiguous subzones of Bukit Merah in URA masterplans: Telok Blangah Drive, Telok Blangah Way and Telok Blangah Rise.^[1]

Telok Blangah
Subzone of Bukit Merah Planning Area & Housing Estate
Other transcription(s)
• Chinese	直落布兰雅
• Pinyin	Zhíluò Bùlányǎ
• Malay (Rumi)	Teluk Belanga
• Malay (Jawi)	تلوق بلاڠا
• Tamil	தெலுக் பிளாங்கா

Name

The region is named after the bay. Telok Blangah (Jawi: تلوق بلڠه) is a Malay compound of blanga "a type of cooking pot" and telok "bay" and so literally means "cooking bay”.

In the ancient maps, Telok Blangah's was often spelled as either Teluk Blanga or Teluk Belanga or Teluk Blangah.

Teluk Blanga is known as 石叻門 in Hokkien (POJ: Sit-Lat mn̂g), meaning "Singapore gate". It is the namesake of the Teluk Belanga (modern Malay spelling) style of Baju Melayu, the traditional costume of Malay men.

History

Historically, this area is as old as the thirteenth century city of Temasek. The area is rich with Malay aristocratic history of past royal events. According to the Malay Annals, Sang Nila Utama's boat ran into a storm and he threw everything overboard, including his crown before landing just off Telok Blangah beach.

The area gained prominence again during the British period when Sir Stamford Raffles in 1823 assigned Temenggong Abdul Rahman (died 1825) and his followers 200 acres (0.81 km²) of land for their residence and a cemetery. The area flourished under Temenggong Abdul Rahman because of his monopoly over the gutta percha trade.

Temenggong Abdul Rahman's eldest son, Tun Haji Abdullah, informally took over as Temenggong of Johor 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 (Malay: Bukit Telok Blangah) was renamed to Mount Faber after Captain Charles Edward Faber.

Following Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim’s death in 1862, his first son Temenggong Abu Bakar succeed him and moved his Istana 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) and the Johor Royal Mausoleum still remain today at Telok Blangah Road, near VivoCity 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 nearby is Keramat Bukit Kasita at Bukit Purmei, which is the final resting place of the Riau-Lingga royal family, a split of the Johor royal family.^[2]

Telok Blangah Road was officially named in 1907. The sacred shrine of Puteri Raden Mas Ayu, a sixteenth-century Javanese princess, is located at Mount Faber Road, near the junction with Telok Blangah Road.

Panoramic view of Telok Blangah from Mount Faber.

Other Landmarks

There are several century-old Chinese temples constructed to meet the spiritual and social needs of the Chinese immigrants who settled in the area around Telok Blangah in the late 1800s. Ban Siew San Kuan Imm Tong (萬壽山觀音堂) and Koon Seng Ting (堃成堂) were built in 1880 and managed to weather through more than 100 years at the same location.^[3] Both temples were proposed for conservation under the Draft Master Plan 2013 by Urban Redevelopment Authority.^[4] Another prominent old temple in the area will be Telok Blangah Ting Kong Beo (直落布蘭雅天公廟) which was built in 1923 or earlier.^[5]

Infrastructure

Transportation

Telok Blangah is served by the namesake MRT station of the Circle line, located at Telok Blangah Drive subzone. Tiong Bahru MRT station of the East West Line and HarbourFront MRT station of the Circle/North East lines are relatively closer from Telok Blangah Way and Telok Blangah Rise subzones, linked to by various public bus services.

The nearest bus interchanges are Bukit Merah Bus Interchange, located in Bukit Merah Town Centre, and HarbourFront Bus Interchange, in HarbourFront.

Education

There are three primary schools, a single secondary school and a single private school in Telok Blangah. They are: Blangah Rise Primary School, CHIJ Kellock, Radin Mas Primary School, CHIJ St. Theresa's Convent and Shelton College International.

Politics

Telok Blangah is politically divided into two constituencies, Radin Mas Single Member Constituency and Telok Blangah division of the Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency. The subzones of Telok Blangah Way and Telok Blangah Rise fall under Radin Mas SMC while Telok Blangah Drive fall under Tanjong Pagar GRC. The current Members of Parliament (MPs) are Melvin Yong in Radin Mas and Rachel Ong in Tanjong Pagar, of the People's Action Party.