RHND

Dhoby Ghaut is derived from the Indian Words dhoby , meaning “laundry” and ghaut, meaning “the steps along the bank of a river”. The name stems from the laundry activities that used to take place here from the 1830s onwards. Indian dhobies used to wash their clothes using the water from Stamford Canal. The clothes were dried on empty land subsequently occupied by the Ladies Lawn Tennis Club, now occupied by the triangular-shaped park opposite Cathay cinema. In the past, the whole area was associated with laundry activities and Queen Street in Tamil was vannan teruvu or “Street of the dhobies” and the Malays called it “Kampong dhobi”. [1] Launderers working in Stamford Canal, Singapore in the 1920s  Source: Thimbuktu, Blog to Express [2] Former Cathay Building The Former Cathay Building was designed by Frank W. Brewer in the Art Deco style, an architectural style that was very popular in Singapore in the early twentieth century. The Art Deco façade wall fronting the...

Geylang Serai The name “Geylang Road” can be traced back to 1831.   The word “Geylang” is believed to be either a corruption of the Malay   word kilang which refers to “mills” or “factories”, since the road used to be the site of coconut plantations and mills operated on it to produce coconut oil. Another possible origin is the early presence of the Orang Gallang tribe that lived along the coasts and rivers of Singapore island and was well-known for their piracy activities around the area. The term Geylang Serai refers to an area that is bounded by several adjacent roads in the area. The history of the street is linked to the Alsagoffs, a wealthy Arab family who owned a big property in the neighbourhood. Formerly, the area was called Geylang Kelapa because of the number of coconut palms (kelapa in Malay) planted in the area. In the later half of the 19 th century, the estate was developed into an estate for the cultivation of serai (lemongrass). The name was soon chan...

Street names in Singapore often tell important stories. These streets can be named after important leaders and early settlers that have contributed to Singapore’s development or after prominent landmark features present in the area. [1]   Toa Payoh Origins of Street name Toa Payoh , in the Hokkien dialect, translates to “big swamp” (with "Toa" meaning "big" and "Payoh" meaning "swamp" ). The Malay word for swamp is paya .   It is the Chinese equivalent of Paya Lebar, which also translates to big swamp land. [2] Toa Payoh therefore indicates the large swampy area that existed before Chinese settlers moved into the area.     Toa Payoh in the 1960s Toa Payoh is  the second satellite  town after Queenstown that  was  built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The plan to develop Toa Payoh was announced by then Deputy Prime Minister and Acting National Development Minister Toh Chin Chye in August 1960.  In total, Toa Payo...