Bukit Timah

Bukit Timah, often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Central Business District, bordering the Central Water Catchment to the north, Bukit Panjang to the northwest, Queenstown to the south, Tanglin to the southeast, Clementi to the southwest, Novena to the east and Bukit Batok to the west.

This article is about the area that is located in the Central Region of Singapore. For the hill that the area was named after, see Bukit Timah Hill. For other, see Bukit Timah (disambiguation).

Bukit Timah
Planning Area and HDB Estate
Other transcription(s)
 • EnglishTin Hill
 • Chinese武吉知马
 • MalayBukit Timah
 • Tamilபுக்கித் திமா
Location of Bukit Timah in Singapore
Bukit Timah
   Bukit Timah in    Singapore
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah (Asia)
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah (Earth)
Coordinates: 1°19′45.88″N 103°48′7.48″E
Country Singapore
RegionCentral Region
CDCs
Town councils
  • Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council
  • Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council
  • Jurong-Clementi Town Council
  • Tanjong Pagar Town Council
Constituencies
Government
 • MayorsCentral Singapore CDC

North West CDC

South West CDC

 • Members of ParliamentBishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Holland-Bukit Timah GRC

Jurong GRC

Tanjong Pagar GRC

Area
 • Total17.53 km2 (6.77 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)[1][2][3]
 • Total77,430
 • Density4,400/km2 (11,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Official
  • Bukit Timah resident

Colloquial

  • Bukit Timaher
  • Bukit Timahian
Ethnic groups
 • Chinese64,150
 • Malays760
 • Indians3,650
 • Others5,910
Postal districts
10, 11, 21
Dwelling units2,423

Owing to its prime location, Bukit Timah has some of the densest clusters of luxury condominiums and landed property in the city, with very few public housing.

Etymology

Since the interior of the island was not fully explored at that time, the location and name of the hill for the map probably came from the Malay community. Bukit Timah, which literally means Tin Hill, was already identified on the 1828 map by Frankin and Jackson as Bukit Timah. The hill in question was depicted on the map towards the northwest as two hills at the eastern source of the Kranji River. Despite its name, Bukit Timah has nothing to do with tin. The original Malay name for the hill was Bukit Temak, meaning "hill of the temak trees", a tree that grew abundantly on the slopes of the hill. However, to the western ear, Temak in Malay enunciation sounded like Timah, hence the name Bukit Timah.[4][5]

History

In December 1843, a carriage way road was completed leading up to the hill. A small hut with chairs was constructed for visitors. The hill was viewed then as an "excellent sanatorium", as the air was "cooler and fresher than the plain, producing an agreeable exhilaration of spirits".

For some, it was synonymous with the Singapore Turf Club, where members and paying visitors flock on race days. This course is closed to the public, unlike the former course (now Farrer Park) where the general public enjoyed watching the king's sport for free.

The 25-km long Bukit Timah Road, the longest road in Singapore, running north and south, takes its name from this hill. The road to Kranji was completed in 1845. Apparently, the area was so infested with tigers that it constituted a serious threat to human life. In 1860, nearly 200 people were reported to have been killed by tigers in and about the gambier and pepper plantations. The first ride on horseback across the island was along Bukit Timah Road in 1840; it took four days and was made by Mr Thomson and Dr Little.

Bukit Timah Road is known as Tek Kha Kang a Kinn in Hokkien, which means "the side of the stream in the Tek Kha (or Selegie Road) district". This only refers to the lower end of the Bukit Timah Road. The Wayang Satu and Bukit Timah village parts are differently called. The Hokkiens also refer to Bukit Timah as Be Chia Lo Bue, meaning "end of the horse carriage road".

Bukit Timah Road witnessed the last defensive stand against the invading Japanese army. During World War II, when the British lost Bukit Timah to the Japanese on 11 February 1942,[6] they knew they had little chance of continuing the defence of the island as most of their food and supplies were stored there. On 15 February 1942,[6] the head of the Allied forces, Lieutenant General A.E. Percival surrendered to Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita at the Ford Factory in Bukit Timah.

Farrer Road station
Bukit Timah Road is one of the earliest roads in Singapore.

During Japanese rule, the Japanese built the Syonan Jinja, a Shinto shrine (Syonan-to was the Occupation name for Singapore), similar to the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan but of a smaller size, at Bukit Timah. Two war memorials dedicated to the Japanese war dead and, surprisingly, to the British and Empire troops who died defending Singapore, were built at the site. Students, Japanese commanders and British POWs' representatives would gather there regularly to commemorate the dead during the Occupation.

Shortly before the Japanese surrender, Japanese forces hastily destroyed Syonan Jinja, on fears that returning British forces would demolish it in a dishonourable manner. The site of the Syonan Jinja lies in a grey area between the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Singapore Armed Forces restricted area. Several historians have been to the site, and an episode from then Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS) history documentary programme, "Hey Singapore",[7] was based on Syonan Jinja. Since then, the Singapore Government has designated the place as a "Historical Site". No plans have been indicated to restore the site.

Some of the Japanese war dead were taken back to the Yasukuni Shrine, while the remains of the British troops were interred at the British Commonwealth's Kranji War Memorial in Singapore. Nothing of the Syonan Jinja shrine remains, except for the ritual cleansing pond and several Japanese stone pavements left at the site.

After World War II, the farms and plantations in Bukit Timah gave way to industrial buildings and high-rise flats. In the 1960s and 1970s, Bukit Timah was a major industrial centre. Today, these have been replaced with luxury bungalows, terraces and condominiums, making Bukit Timah Singapore's premier residential district.[8]

Infrastructure

The Bukit Timah area is a particularly prominent location with high land value.

The Bukit Timah Race Course, a thoroughbred horse racing facility, was opened in 1933 and operated until 1999. The land has since been renovated, and is currently home to The Grandstand, which hosts several food outlets, childcare services and a Giant supermarket.[9]

The nearby area hosts many bungalows, typically expensive in land-scarce Singapore, as well as high rise condominiums. Many expatriates and well-heeled Singaporeans live in this region.

This region was later extended and Upper Bukit Timah (District 21) was formed.

Mass Rapid Transit

There are 6 MRT stations within the planning area, spanning 2 lines, the Downtown Line and Circle Line. Stage 2 of the Downtown MRT Line train service started on 27 December 2015 and parallels the Bukit Timah Road. It connects Bukit Panjang in the North-Western edge of Bukit Timah to the city centre in the South. Both lines have an interchange station at Botanic Gardens MRT station. The 6 stations are:

Education

Bukit Timah is known to having many international schools in the region, due to the high number of expatriates and immigrants living in this region.

Primary schools
  • Bukit Timah Primary School
  • Henry Park Primary School
  • Methodist Girls' School (Primary)
  • Nanyang Primary School
  • Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School
  • Raffles Girls' Primary School

Secondary schools

Tertiary Institutions

Other schools
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See also

References
  1. City Population - statistics, maps and charts | Bukit Timah
  2. HDB Key Statistics FY 2014/2015 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Statistics Singapore - Geographic Distribution - 2018 Latest Data". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  4. Loi, Rachel (9 September 2017). "Many Sides of Bukit Timah". The Business Times. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  5. Timah, Bukit. "Bukit Timah". Bukit Timah Singapore. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  6. Japanese Invasion of Malaysia, accessed October 2009
  7. Search for Yamashita's treasure. (1996). In, Hey Singapore. Series 2, episode 2 [Videotape]. Singapore: Television Corporation Singapore.
  8. "Indonesian maid charged with socialite's murder". The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  9. K.C. Vijayan (17 March 2014). "Court battle over handover of Turf City". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.

Sources
  • Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
  • National Heritage Board (2002), Singapore's 100 Historic Places, Archipelago Press, ISBN 981-4068-23-3
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