Aljunied ( ) is a suburban area located in the central part of the

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

of Singapore. Named after Aljunied Road, it was formerly agricultural land which has since been heavily urbanised and presently comprises a variety of land uses. Today, Aljunied is a bustling neighbourhood with HDB flats with amenities like shops, schools, parks and recreational facilities, as well as several traditional Singaporean shophouses.

Etymology

Syed Sharif Omar bin Ali Al Junied owned large tracts of agricultural land in the area. In

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

, he established a business after migrating from his hometown in Tarim,

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Syed Omar came from the well-respected Arab family who were descendants of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. Masjid Kampong Melaka was renamed Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka in his honour. In 1823, at the behest of

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...

, Syed Omar donated the land on which St Andrew's Cathedral now stands. He and his family also donated land for the establishment of

Tan Tock Seng Hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital (abbreviation: TTSH) is a tertiary referral hospital in Singapore, located in Novena. Named after Tan Tock Seng, the hospital has 45 clinical and allied health departments, 16 specialist centres and is powered by more ...

. Syed Omar's descendants continue to reside in Singapore. Madrasah Aljunied was a leading Islamic religious school which produced many religious leaders of Southeast Asian countries.

Education

Kindergarten

* St Magdalene's Kindergarten

Primary schools

* Canossa Catholic Primary School * CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel * Geylang Methodist School (Primary) * Kong Hwa School

Secondary schools

* Geylang Methodist School (Secondary)

Special schools

* Canossian School

Former schools

* MacPherson Secondary School

Politics

Aljunied formerly falls under Aljunied Constituency from 1959 to 1988. In 1968, the MacPherson area of Aljunied was under MacPherson Constituency and in 1988, renamed as MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC). In 1988, both wards were merged into

Aljunied Group Representation Constituency The Aljunied Group Representation Constituency is a five-member group representation constituency (GRC) in the north-eastern and eastern region of Singapore. It consists of a large part of Hougang (excluding Hougang SMC), Paya Lebar, Serang ...

(GRC). In 1991, the MacPherson area went under

Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency was a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the Central Region, Singapore, central, East Region, Singapore, eastern and North-East Region, Singapore, north-eastern are ...

and then became its own individual constituency again as MacPherson Single Member Constituency (SMC) again in 1997. In 2001, the MacPherson area was merged back into Marine Parade GRC again and split back as MacPherson SMC again in 2015.

References

External links

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), ''Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern Universities Press, {{Places in Singapore Places in Singapore Geylang