Tanjong Rhu (; ; English: Rhu Point and formerly Sandy Point), is a subzone within the planning area of

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The perimeter of Tanjong Rhu is made up of Nicoll Highway in the north; Mountbatten Road and Fort Road in the east; East Coast Parkway (ECP) in the south; as well as Marina Channel and Kallang Basin in the west. Tanjong Rhu is the largest in terms of physical area among the nine subzones that make up Kallang. Consisting of residential, commercial and recreational developments, Tanjong Rhu is famous for being the location of the Singapore Sports Hub, which includes the Kallang Wave Mall, new National Stadium and the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Previously, the old National Stadium which hosted a total of 18 National Day Parades sat on the land now occupied by the new National Stadium. The former Kallang Airport once extended into this area, with part of its old runway being the modern-day Stadium Boulevard. Other sports facilities in Tanjong Rhu include the Kallang Tennis Centre, Kallang Field, Kallang Ground, Kallang Track, Kallang Netball Centre, Kallang Squash Centre and PAssion WaVe @ Marina Bay. Notable places include Kallang Theatre, Leisure Park Kallang, Mountbatten Fire Post, Katong Community Centre, Singapore Swimming Club, the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and Dunman High School, one of Singapore's leading educational institutions. Tanjong Rhu is also a residential neighbourhood, made up of mostly condominiums and private housing along Tanjong Rhu Road. A few blocks of public housing built by the

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...

(HDB) exist along Kampong Arang Road and Kampong Kayu Road. These residential estates are connected to the Singapore Sports Hub via Stadium Way, across the Geylang River.

Etymology

The name ''Tanjong Rhu'' appeared in Manuel Godinho de Erédia's 1604 map of Singapore spelt as ''Tanjon Rû'', it means "casuarina cape" in Malay from the trees of '' Casuarina equisetifolia'' or almost similar ''C. littoria'' (''ru'' or ''rhu'') species that grew along the beach between

and

Rochor Rochor ( or ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area located within the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Rochor shares boundaries with the following planning areas � ...

. It was known as ''sha tsui'' (沙咀) in

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, which means " sand spit".

History

Tanjong Rhu has been associated with ship building and repairing from the early days. Captain William Flint, a harbour master, started a boat building and repair company here in 1822. Thomas Tivendale had his (Wilkinson, Tivendale and Company)

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

here in the 1860s. The shipyard would be acquired by John I. Thornycroft & Company in 1926 and close in 1986 by successor Vosper Thornycroft Pte Singapore. As late as the 1980s and the early 1990s, the Tanjong Rhu area was an industrial area with shipyards. The water surrounding Tanjong Rhu was polluted with industrial and domestic

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

, creating an extremely unpleasant environment. A massive relocation exercise was then undertaken by the Singapore Government to transform Tanjong Rhu into a high-end residential area. Reclamation of land along the Tanjong Rhu coast began as early as 1992. Private developers then started the new luxury residential developments in Tanjong Rhu. Today, the shipyards have since been relocated elsewhere and

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

s have replaced them. In September 1993, 12 men were arrested in an entrapment operation in Tanjong Rhu coined the "Fort Road Incident". The operation, which targeted homosexual men, led to charges of "outrage of modesty". Six of the men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to three strokes of the cane each and imprisonment ranging from two to six months. The names, ages and occupations of all 12 men were published in all major Singaporean newspapers. The operation has been noted for its controversial nature due to its entrapment tactics and harsh punishment of homosexual individuals. Those were the last reported cases of such police entrapment. A short 19-minute 2009 film, "The Casuarina Cove" by Boo Junfeng told the story of one of those men.

Residential developments

HDBs

Condominiums

*Costa Rhu *Pebble Bay *Fort Gardens *Water Place *Sanctuary Green *Parkshore *Tanjong Ria *Camelot By The Water *Casuarina Cove *The Waterside *The Line @ Tanjong Rhu *Fulcrum *Crystal Rhu *La Ville

Public transport

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

Tanjong Rhu is served by four MRT stations, spread across two lines, namely the Circle Line and the Thomson–East Coast line. The stations are: *

Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

* Mountbatten * Tanjong Rhu * Katong Park

Bus

Tanjong Rhu is also served by the public trunk bus services 11 and 158, which connect the neighbourhood to different parts of Singapore. Bus 11 cuts across the Tanjong Rhu Bridge and connects residents to Kampong Bugis and Geylang, while Bus 158 connects residents to Mountbatten, Geylang, MacPherson and Serangoon.

Notes

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), ''Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern University Press,

External links

The Changing Faces of Singapore - Tanjong Rhu

TheLine@Tanjong Rhu
{{Places in Singapore Places in Singapore Central Region, Singapore Kallang