Bukit Merah, also known as Redhill, is a

planning area Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the capaci ...

and

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

situated in the southernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. The planning area borders Tanglin to the north, Queenstown to the west and the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

, Outram and Singapore River planning areas of the Central Area to the east. It also shares a maritime boundary with the Southern Islands planning area to the south. Bukit Merah is linked to Sentosa Island via Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Broadwalk, Sentosa Express and the Cable Car. Bukit Merah planning area also includes two offshore islands which are linked to the mainland by road, namely

Pulau Brani Pulau Brani is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore, near Keppel Harbour. The island is situated between the main island of Singapore and the resort island of Sentosa, and is linked to the mainland via Brani Terminal Avenue. T ...

and Keppel Island. It is the most populated planning area in the Central Region, and the 12th most populated planning area in the country overall, being home to more than 150,000 residents.

Etymology

''Bukit Merah'' translates to “ red

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

” in Malay, and is a reference to the red-coloured lateritic soil found on the hill. According to the ''

Sejarah Melayu The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: ), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and destruction of the Malacca Sultanat ...

'', Singapore used to be plagued by

swordfish The swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as the broadbill in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are the sole member of the Family (biology), family Xiphiidae. They ...

attacking the people living in the coastal regions. A young boy named Hang Nadim proposed an ingenious solution, to build a wall of banana stems along the coast at the present location of

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District of Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urba ...

. When the swordfish attacked, their snouts were stuck in the stems. With the swordfish problem solved, Hang Nadim earned great respect from the people, but also jealousy from the rulers. The fourth King of Singapura, Paduka Seri Maharaja, finally ordered his execution, and it was said that his blood-soaked the soil of the hill where he was killed, giving rise to the red-coloured hill. The hill was eventually trimmed to its current state in 1973, when it made way for Redhill Close and what would eventually become the now defunct Henderson Secondary School. During its existence, a Chinese cemetery was situated on the reverse side of this hill, which is today, the location of Tiong Bahru.

History

Keppel Harbour dates back to the 14th century when an ancient Chinese traveller,

Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller from Jiangxi in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages. Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Nanchang). During 1328� ...

named the harbour''" Long-Ya-Men" or "Dragon Teeth Gate"'' after two rock outcrops located near Labrador Park, which resembled dragon's teeth. The two rock outcrops were subsequently blown up by the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

Surveyor, John Thomson, in August 1848 to widen the entrance a new harbour. With the earliest records of Bukit Merah's existence in the

Malay Annals The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: ), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and destruction of the Malacca Sultanat ...

, the town had a huge role to play in the early maritime trade of the

Kingdom of Singapura The Kingdom of Singapura ( Malay: ''Kerajaan Singapura'') was a Malay kingdom thought to have been established as a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom during the early history of Singapore on its main island Temasek from 1299 until its fall sometime b ...

. Mount Faber was once known as Telok Blangah Hill. Its name was changed to Mount Faber after Captain Edward Faber cut the road up to the top in 1845 to set up a signal station. The Singapore General Hospital site dates back to 1882. Labrador Nature Park was used as a defence outpost in the 19th century until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The town's fertile red soil was employed to great effect when it was a district rich in gambier cultivation during British colonial rule. Even before the industrialisation of Jurong, Bukit Merah already had a small head start in the emerging heavy industry market in Singapore. With the first brickwork factories and mills emerging in the precincts of Henderson Hill and Redhill as early as the 1930s. The town is also home to the first housing estate in the country, Tiong Bahru, which was developed by the Singapore Improvement Trust in the backdrop of a rapidly growing population in

post-war Singapore The Colony of Singapore was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom that encompassed what is modern-day Singapore from 1946 to 1959. During this period, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Labuan were also administered from Singap ...

. The estate later became the basis of what would eventually become the first new town in the Republic, Queenstown.

Geography

According to the various master plans laid out by the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

, Bukit Merah is bounded by Alexandra Canal and the Singapore River to the north and HarbourFront and Keppel Bay to the south, Kim Seng Road, Outram Road and Cantonment Road to the east and Alexandra Road to the west. There are 17 subzones within the planning area, including

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

, Bukit Ho Swee, Bukit Merah, City Terminals, Depot Road, Everton Park, HarbourFront, Henderson Hill, Redhill, Singapore General Hospital,

Telok Blangah Telok Blangah ( , , ) 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 Urban Redevelopment Authority, URA maste ...

and Tiong Bahru.

Subzones

Transportation

Mass Rapid Transit

Outram Park MRT station was the first station to open in the planning area in 1987, followed by the namesake Redhill MRT station and Tiong Bahru MRT station in 1988. Today, there are currently 7 MRT stations that serve the planning area across 4 lines, the East West line, Circle line, North East line and the Thomson-East Coast line. HarbourFront MRT station is an interchange station between the North East line and the Circle line, which is also the current terminus for both lines. Outram Park MRT station was initially a double-line interchange station between the East West and North East lines but became a triple-line interchange station after the commencement of the third stage of the Thomson–East Coast line in 2022. The 7 stations are: * Havelock * Outram Park * Tiong Bahru * Redhill * Labrador Park *

* HarbourFront Future stations that are currently under construction include: * Keppel *

Cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

The future stations, Keppel and

will be located within the new town as part of Stage 6 of the Circle line that will be completed by 2026. During the 2025 Committee of Supply debate, Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat announced that feasibility studies are being conducted for a proposed MRT line, tentatively called the Tengah line. If found feasible, the line, which will serve areas including Bukit Merah, could be built from the 2040s.

Bus

There are two bus interchanges and one bus terminal in the new town. The Bukit Merah Bus Interchange, which serves Bukit Merah, is located at Bukit Merah Town Centre. Service Number 132 links the Interchange to Redhill MRT station while bus services 5, 16, and 851 link the interchange to Tiong Bahru MRT station. There are two feeder services originating from the interchange which serves the

estate. The HarbourFront Bus Interchange is located at the southern part of Bukit Merah, serving nearby amenities such as the HarbourFront Centre and VivoCity, the largest shopping mall in Singapore. The Kampong Bahru Bus Terminal is located along Spooner Road, near the vicinity of the Singapore General Hospital.

Education

Primary schools

*Alexandra Primary School *Blangah Rise Primary School *Cantonment Primary School * CHIJ Kellock *Gan Eng Seng Primary School *Radin Mas Primary School *Zhangde Primary School

Secondary schools

* Bukit Merah Secondary School * CHIJ St. Theresa's Convent * Crescent Girls' School * Gan Eng Seng School

Tertiary institutions

* Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School

Other schools

* Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST) * APSN Tanglin School * ISS International School (Preston Campus) * North London Collegiate School (Singapore) *Shelton College International

Amenities

Places of worship

Buddhist temples

* Wat Ananda Metyarama Thai Buddhist Temple * Kwan Yam Theng Buddhist Temple * Buddhist Fellowship West Centre, in Yeo's building

Chinese temples

Ban Siew San Kuan Imm Temple
(1880)
Giok Hong Tian Temple
(1887)
Hock Teck Tong Temple
(1932) * Kai San Temple (1904) * Kim Lan Beo Temple (1830, relocate in 1984) * Leng San Teng Temple (1879)
Koon Seng Ting Temple
(1880) * Lei Yin Temple (1957) * Qi Tian Gong Temple (1920) * Qi Tian Tan Temple (1949) * Tai Yeong Kon Temple (1947) * Tang Gah Beo Temple * Telok Blangah Ting Kong Beo Temple (1923)

Chinese clan temples

* Lim See Tai Chong Soo Kiu Leong Tong Temple * San Jiang Gong Ci Temple

Chinese combined temples

* Chia Leng Kong Heng Kang Tian Temple * Chin Leng Keng (Leng San Teng, Chin Lin Keng & Ban Sian Beo) * Temple of Liang Hong Sze Kong Hock Keng Heap Hoe Keng

Churches

* Grace Assembly of God 1 * Church of God Singapore * Church of St. Teresa * Danish Seamen's Church * Grace Methodist Church * Pasir Panjang Tamil Methodist Church * St. Matthew's Church * Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church

Hindu temples

* Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple

Mosques

* Masjid Al-Amin Mosque * Masjid Jamiyah Ar-Rabitah Mosque * Masjid Kampong Delta Mosque * Masjid Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim

Sikh temples

* Gurdwara Sahib Silat Road

Shopping centres

* Alexandra Central * Alexandra Retail Centre * Concorde Shopping Centre * Depot Heights Shopping Centre * HarbourFront Centre * Tiong Bahru Plaza * VivoCity

Parks

* Alexandra Canal Linear Park * Alexandra Hill East Neighbourhood Park * Bukit Purmei Hillock Park * Henderson Park * Kim Pong Park * Labrador Nature Reserve * Mount Faber Park * Rail Corridor (South) * Rumah Tinggi Eco Park * Telok Blangah Hill Park * Tiong Bahru Park

Community centres/clubs

* Bukit Merah Community Centre * Henderson Community Club * Kim Seng Community Centre * Leng Kee Community Centre * Radin Mas Community Club * Telok Blangah Community Club * Tiong Bahru Community Centre

Sports facilities

* Delta Sports Complex * SAFRA Mount Faber * Sports Lifestyle Centre

Tourist attractions

* Amped Trampoline Park * Baba House * Berlayer Beacon * Bukit Chermin Broadwalk * Former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (Temporarily closed for restoration works) * Gillman Barracks * Henderson Waves *

Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum (Abbreviation: SAM) is an art museum with multiple venues across Singapore. It is the first fully dedicated contemporary visual arts museum in Singapore with one of the world’s most important public collections by loc ...

(SAM) at Tanjong Pagar Distripark * Singapore Cable Car stations at Mount Faber and HarbourFront * The SGH Museum

Politics

Bukit Merah belongs to six political divisions in four constituencies. A large portion of Bukit Merah is under

Tanjong Pagar GRC The Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in Central Region, Singapore, Central and West Region, Singapore, Western Singapore. The five divisions consists: Buona Vista, Telok Bl ...

with some areas under Jalan Besar GRC, Radin Mas SMC and West Coast GRC, served by the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

. As of the 2020 General election, the Members of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC are

Indranee Rajah Indranee Thurai Rajah (; born 12 April 1963) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance since 2018 and Second Minister for National Development and ...

for Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru division,

Joan Pereira Joan Cheng Sim Pereira (born 1967) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Henderson–Dawson division of Tanjong Pagar GRC since 2015. Ed ...

for Henderson-Dawson division and Eric Chua for Queenstown division. Melvin Yong is the current Member of Parliament for Radin Mas SMC, Rachel Ong for Telok Blangah division of West Coast GRC and

Josephine Teo Josephine Teo Li Min. In this Chinese name, the family name is Teo (''née'' Yong). In accordance with custom, the Western-style name is Josephine Teo and the Chinese-style name is Teo Li Min. (née Yong; born 8 July 1968) is a Singaporean ...

for Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng division of Jalan Besar GRC. The planning area is overseen by three town councils, namely Tanjong Pagar Town Council (TPTC), West Coast Town Council (WCTC) and Jalan Besar Town Council (JBTC). Bukit Merah is covered by two

Community Development Council The Community Development Council (CDC; ; zh, 社區發展理事會; ) is a government-led organisation to organise grassroot organisations and community programmes into smaller, local units as a bridge between the government and the community i ...

s (CDC), Central Singapore District and South West District.

Denise Phua Denise Phua Lay Peng (;Denise Phua Lay Peng
, Candidate Profiles, People's Ac ...

is the current mayor for Central CDC and Low Yen Ling is the current mayor for South West CDC.

References

Notes

Sources

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), ''Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern Universities Press, *https://lostnfiledsg.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/bukit-merah-town-centre/ *http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_779_2005-01-26.html

External links

Legend of Bukit Merah at the Singapore Museum website
{{Authority control Central Region, Singapore Hills of Singapore Places in Singapore