top of page

Blog

Blog Picture.jpg
Search

How did Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC come about?

Why is it so oddly-shaped, stretching from Marine Parade in the south to Lorong Chuan and Serangoon Central in the north, from Aljunied in the west to Chai Chee in the east?

What might this have had to do with one of its former Members of Parliament?

What is the nature of its curious relationship with MacPherson and Joo Chiat wards?

And what is it with the GRC and walkovers?

Marine Parade Town Council... in Serangoon Central.
Marine Parade Town Council... in Serangoon Central.

As it is election season in Singapore, here is a brief history of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC’s evolution. 


Part I: A new ward for a rising star

Marine Parade was once a promenade south of East Coast Road, facing the sea.

Land reclamation began in 1966, and a housing estate of over 7,000 flats was constructed on reclaimed land between the 1972 and 1976 General Elections.

Accordingly, the estate was named Marine Parade.

Marine Parade Estate was part of the ward of Joo Chiat, a single seat - all wards were single-seat at the time.


However, because the estate saw significant population growth, the new ward of Marine Parade, with 19,528 voters, was carved out of Joo Chiat for the 1976 General Election.

In this map of electoral boundaries for 1976, take note of Marine Parade, Joo Chiat, Katong, and Mountbatten wards. They were all aptly named because they respectively covered Marine Parade Estate, Joo Chiat Road, and the areas of Katong and Mountbatten.

For Marine Parade, a new candidate, 35-year-old Goh Chok Tong, ran for the People’s Action Party against the United Front’s Mohamed Mansor bin Abdul Rahman. Goh won in a landslide, garnering 78.6% of valid votes.

Goh Chok Tong, victorious in 1976.
Goh Chok Tong, victorious in 1976.

In a previous blog post about the history of Aljunied GRC, I discussed the role of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), responsible for the drawing of polling districts.


While the EBRC does its work taking into account population changes and shifts across constituencies, many boundary changes have been made without clear explanation.


Fast forward to the 1984 election.


The constituency of Katong disappeared, absorbed by both Joo Chiat and Mountbatten. A ward that had existed since 1951 disappeared forever.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

Part II: The creation of Marine Parade GRC


For the 1988 election, the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system was implemented. My blog post on Aljunied GRC covers this too.

Marine Parade GRC formed from the amalgamation of Marine Parade, Joo Chiat, and Geylang Serai wards. By now, Marine Parade MP Goh Chok Tong was already Deputy Prime Minister, so he became the anchor minister for the GRC of 62,385 voters.


(Meanwhile, Mountbatten SMC grew in size because of land reclamation.)

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
The PAP's three-man slate for Marine Parade GRC in the 1988 election.
The PAP's three-man slate for Marine Parade GRC in the 1988 election.

Even though Joo Chiat was the geographical centre, the GRC was named Marine Parade, Goh’s ward. Perhaps to maintain the identity of a GRC helmed by the Deputy Prime Minister?


In 1988, the three-member Marine Parade GRC saw a straight fight between the PAP and the Singapore Justice Party. Goh’s team won with 73.8% of valid votes.


Part III: The new Prime Minister’s home turf


In 1990, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (below, right) stepped down; Goh (below, left) became the second Prime Minister of Singapore.

And this was when Marine Parade GRC began growing in size…

For the 1991 election, Marine Parade grew to a four-member GRC, absorbing MacPherson ward to the north.

In 1991, the four-member Marine Parade GRC, with 74,032 voters, saw another challenge from the Singapore Justice Party. Goh Chok Tong’s team won again, this time with 77.2% of valid votes.

The following year in 1992, Marine Parade GRC saw Singapore’s only by-election for a GRC, called deliberately by PM Goh to secure a stronger mandate after the disappointment of the 1991 election, which saw the PAP lose an unprecedented four single-seat wards (one of which was Hougang to the Workers’ Party, a seat they have never relinquished).


In the four-cornered fight, PM Goh’s team won solidly, getting 72.9% of valid votes.


Part IV: The seaside GRC heads inland


For the 1997 election, Marine Parade GRC received major surgery.


It took in not one, but four wards: Mountbatten SMC, Kampong Ubi ward from Aljunied GRC, Braddell Heights SMC, and part of Serangoon Gardens ward of Thomson GRC to form a new ward, Serangoon.


Meanwhile, MacPherson was carved out as an SMC after one election cycle, and Joo Chiat was shifted to East Coast GRC.


The result: A bloated six-member GRC comprising the wards of Marine Parade, Geylang Serai, Mountbatten, Kampong Ubi, Braddell Heights, and Serangoon. Its electorate doubled to 142,106.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

Marine Parade GRC now stretched from Marine Parade by the sea to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, more than 9km inland!

Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3... once part of Marine Parade GRC.
Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3... once part of Marine Parade GRC.

Geylang Serai and Kampong Ubi were the geographical centre of the GRC, but its name remained Marine Parade, perhaps because the anchor minister was the MP for Marine Parade ward - and the Prime Minister.


Predictably, Marine Parade GRC was uncontested in 1997. After all, how does an opposition party effectively contest such a geographically huge GRC, helmed by the Prime Minister himself?


For the 1997 election, just 36 out of 83 seats were contested, and just 765,332 out of the eligible 1.8 million voters voted.


For the 2001 election, Marine Parade GRC saw minor changes.


Serangoon ward gained some polling districts from Teck Ghee ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC.


Kampong Ubi ward gained some polling districts from the reorganised Kampong Kembangan ward of Aljunied GRC.


Meanwhile, after just one election cycle, Joo Chiat ward was carved out of East Coast GRC to become an SMC again.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

In 2001, Marine Parade GRC was uncontested again. This was Goh Chok Tong’s last election as Prime Minister. In 2005, Lee Hsien Loong (below, centre left), MP for Teck Ghee ward of Ang Mo Kio GRC, became Singapore’s third Prime Minister. Goh (below, centre right) became Senior Minister, and remained the anchor minister of Marine Parade GRC.


Part V: The curious case of Marine Parade, MacPherson, and Joo Chiat


For the 2006 election, Marine Parade GRC reached to the east.


Serangoon ward was handed to Aljunied GRC in return for Aljunied-Kembangan. The ward was merged with Kampong Ubi to form Kampong Ubi-Kembangan ward.


Meanwhile, Kaki Bukit ward came in from East Coast GRC.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

For 2006, Marine Parade GRC had six wards: Marine Parade, Geylang Serai, Mountbatten, Kampong Ubi-Kembangan, Braddell Heights, and Kaki Bukit, with an electorate of 155,149.


For the third election in a row, the GRC enjoyed a walkover.

As a result of the walkover, four new MPs were easily ushered into Parliament - Seah Kian Peng for Braddell Heights, Lim Biow Chuan for Mountbatten, Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim for Kaki Bukit, and Fatimah Lateef for Geylang Serai. Of the four, Seah and Faishal are still MPs - for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.

More changes were in store for the 2011 election.


After 14 years, Mountbatten ward was carved out to form an SMC again.


After just one election cycle, Kaki Bukit ward was shifted to Aljunied GRC.


Meanwhile, the GRC took in part of Kampong Chai Chee ward of East Coast GRC; this was joined to Kampong Ubi-Kembangan to get Kembangan-Chai Chee.


And for the second time in 20 years, Marine Parade GRC absorbed MacPherson SMC.

History repeats itself:

  • In 1991, MacPherson SMC was folded into Marine Parade GRC, allowing newcomer Matthias Yao (below) to be elected through the GRC.

  • In 2011, MacPherson was folded into Marine Parade GRC again, allowing Yao’s replacement Tin Pei Ling to be elected through the GRC.

So, for 2011, Marine Parade GRC had five wards: Marine Parade, Geylang Serai, Kembangan-Chai Chee, Braddell Heights, and MacPherson, with an electorate size of 154,451.


For that election, the National Solidarity Party - with electoral debutant Nicole Seah, 24 - challenged for Marine Parade GRC for the second time in 19 years. Thanks to NSP, Marine Parade GRC saw its first electoral contest in 19 years. However, SM Goh’s team won 56.6% of valid votes.

Deja vu for the 2015 election!


MacPherson ward was carved out to become an SMC for the second time in 18 years.


Meanwhile, Marine Parade GRC took in Joo Chiat SMC for the second time in 27 years.

Back in 2011, Joo Chiat SMC saw a very close fight: PAP’s Charles Chong narrowly defeated the Workers’ Party’s Yee Jenn Jong, 51% to 49% - a margin of just 388 votes.

Curiously, in 2015, Joo Chiat folded into the mighty Marine Parade GRC…


Yee’s reaction:

In 2015, the Workers’ Party challenged the PAP for the first time in Marine Parade GRC. Emeritus Senior Minister Goh, 74 years old by now, fended them off, winning 64.1% of valid votes.

For the 2020 election, a good part of Geylang Serai ward - which actually covers the Joo Seng and Bidadari areas, some distance from Geylang Serai - was transferred to Potong Pasir SMC.


Marine Parade GRC remained a five-member GRC, with the wards of Marine Parade, Geylang Serai, Kembangan-Chai Chee, Braddell Heights, and Joo Chiat, and an electorate of 139,622.

2020 was a watershed for the GRC, because Emeritus Senior Minister Goh retired from politics. For 44 years, he had helmed Marine Parade ward, overseeing its northward growth from a single ward to a six-member GRC, and then a five-member GRC. Replacing him in Marine Parade ward was newcomer Tan See Leng.


That election, the Workers’ Party made a second bid for the GRC, but lost again. The PAP won 57.7% of valid votes.


Part VI: Appending Braddell Heights


For this year’s election (2025), Marine Parade GRC was renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC - a change in name for the first time since its formation in 1991. Twenty-eight years after it was added to Marine Parade GRC in 1997, the name Braddell Heights was finally appended to the GRC’s name.


The ward of Braddell Heights was originally created for the 1976 election, from parts of Paya Lebar, Serangoon Gardens, Thomson, and Upper Serangoon wards (below). It was named after Braddell Heights Estate, which predates the HDB estates of Lorong Lew Lian and Serangoon Central. Hence, today, even though the majority of Braddell Heights ward’s population comes from the HDB estates, its name is still taken from the older private estate.

For this election, the GRC took in polling districts from Potong Pasir SMC - these were handed to Potong Pasir in 2020! - and Mountbatten SMC.


Also, the GRC’s curious relationship with MacPherson and Joo Chiat wards continued.


The GRC absorbed MacPherson for the third time in 34 years, and Joo Chiat ward was transferred to East Coast GRC for the second time in 28 years!

This is what MacPherson ward has experienced over 34 years:

  • 1991 - absorbed into Marine Parade GRC

  • 1997 - carved out as an SMC

  • 2011 - absorbed into Marine Parade GRC

  • 2015 - carved out as an SMC

  • 2025 - absorbed into Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC


This is what Joo Chiat ward has experienced over 37 years:

  • 1988 - absorbed into Marine Parade GRC

  • 1997 - transferred to East Coast GRC

  • 2001 - carved out as an SMC

  • 2015 - absorbed into Marine Parade GRC

  • 2025 - transferred to East Coast GRC


While Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC was formed as Marine Parade GRC in 1988, some of its wards were added after that:

  • Marine Parade, Geylang Serai - added 1988

  • MacPherson - added 1991, 2011, and 2025

  • Braddell Heights - added 1997

  • Kembangan-Chai Chee - added as Kampong Ubi in 1997


Sadly, the Workers’ Party made the difficult decision not to contest Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in 2025, resulting in a walkover - the first for the GRC (if one includes its history as Marine Parade GRC) since 2006, and its fourth in total. This was also the first walkover in a General Election since 2011.


But as history has shown, even if the GRC has enjoyed walkovers, that did not stop the GRC experiencing boundary changes for the subsequent election. Expect more tinkering for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in the next election.

Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in 2025. Internal ward boundaries will be drawn after the election.
Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in 2025. Internal ward boundaries will be drawn after the election.

The brief history above explains why as of 2025, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC is the geopolitical oddity that it is - stretching from Marine Parade in the south to Lorong Chuan and Serangoon Central in the north, from Aljunied in the west to Chai Chee in the east.

How did Aljunied GRC come about?

Why is it nowhere near Aljunied?

Why does it have a ward called Bedok Reservoir-Punggol?

What does this say about electoral boundaries in Singapore?

Aljunied GRC's Members of Parliament for 2011 to 2020.
Aljunied GRC's Members of Parliament for 2011 to 2020.

As it is election season in Singapore, here is a brief history of Aljunied GRC’s evolution. 


Part I: When Aljunied was in Aljunied


The political ward of Aljunied - a single seat, all wards were single seats then - came about in 1959, when a General Election was held for all 51 seats in the Legislative Assembly. This was a key election - Britain was to grant Singapore full internal self-government thereafter.

Aljunied's creation in 1959 made sense because Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road ran through it. The ward occupied an area which is roughly present-day Potong Pasir SMC and parts of MacPherson and Geylang Serai wards of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC. It covered the farming communities and villages of the Potong Pasir, Aljunied, and MacPherson areas (below).

For 1959, please take note of two other wards near Aljunied: 

  1. Paya Lebar. Its sharp boundaries to the east were because of the runway of Singapore Airport (now Paya Lebar Air Base).


  1. Kampong Kembangan (I'll explain why later).


In the 1959 election, Aljunied saw a three-corner fight, which the People's Action Party won (not the last time the PAP would win a three-corner fight). Suppiah Visva Lingam, 28, won 49.4% of the vote.

In all, the PAP, an opposition party, won 43 out of 51 seats to come to power.

Fast forward two elections to 1968.


Aljunied ward was carved up into Potong Pasir, Aljunied, and part of MacPherson. Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road was now Aljunied ward's western boundary.

Potong Pasir would go to the Opposition - Chiam See Tong of the Singapore Democratic Party - in 1984.


Meanwhile, to the east, the ward of Kampong Ubi was created out of Geylang Serai and Joo Chiat.

The ward of Kampong Kembangan was reduced in size, although it still made up a good portion of the Malay Settlement off Jalan Eunos (below).

Fast forward again to the 1980 election.


Aljunied ward more or less remained the same.


Kampong Ubi grew, absorbing some of Kampong Kembangan (below).

And as for Kampong Kembangan, it shifted east to relatively new Bedok North Avenue 1, to cover part of Bedok New Town (below).


Part II: The birth of Aljunied GRC


The 1988 election saw the implementation of the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system. The official reason: To "ensure that Singapore's Parliament would always be multiracial in composition and representation".

However, there are numerous criticisms of the GRC system, such as making it harder for opposition candidates to be elected, diluting voting power, and allowing less popular MPs - almost always from the incumbent - to be "protected" or "parachuted" into office.


As a result of the GRC system, 13 GRCs were created in 1988.

One of them was Aljunied GRC (below, in blue), created by combining the wards of Aljunied, Kampong Ubi, and Kampong Kembangan.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

It also took in parts of Braddell Heights, Geylang Serai, and Paya Lebar wards.


The result was a three-member Aljunied GRC which spread from Upper Serangoon Road to East Coast Road, with an electorate of 65,351.


Even though Kampong Ubi was the ward located in the geographical centre, the name adopted for the GRC was Aljunied.


In 1988, the Singapore Democratic Party contested the incumbent PAP in Aljunied GRC, but the latter won with a team of Chin Harn Tong, Wan Hussin bin Zoohri, and newcomer George Yeo, securing 56.3% of the vote.

 Yeo (below, right) became the MP for Kampong Kembangan.


Part III: Aljunied GRC grows... and grows


In the 1991 election, Aljunied GRC absorbed Paya Lebar ward to become a four-member GRC, increasing its electorate to 94,490.


Because of Paya Lebar ward, the GRC reached as far north as Tampines Road and Lorong Halus.

For this election, the GRC was uncontested, and the PAP retained it with a walkover.


Significant changes were in store for the 1997 election - Aljunied grew to a five-member GRC. 


It spread east, absorbing Eunos from Eunos GRC, and Changkat South from Tampines GRC. Changkat South was renamed Changi-Simei. 


Meanwhile, Kampong Ubi was carved out and moved to Marine Parade GRC.


As for the ward of Aljunied, it was redrawn. To the northwest, it absorbed part of Serangoon Gardens ward of Thomson GRC. To the west, a strip of land was handed over to Geylang Serai ward of Marine Parade GRC.


So, for the 1997 election, a geographical oddity was created. Aljunied-Upper Aljunied Road was no longer in Aljunied ward or Aljunied GRC - it was now between Potong Pasir SMC and Marine Parade GRC (below)!

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

For the 1997 election, Aljunied GRC comprised the wards of Aljunied, Kampong Kembangan, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Changi-Simei, with an electorate of 103,466. 


The SDP challenged the PAP again, but lost; George Yeo's team increased its vote share to 67%.


Part IV: The disappearance of a GRC


This is a good time to introduce the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC).


The 2001 election saw big changes for Aljunied GRC.


In 1997, there was a big battle between the PAP and the Workers' Party in Cheng San GRC, which the latter narrowly lost, grabbing 45.2% of the vote.

Back when the state media did fair and unbiased election reporting...
Back when the state media did fair and unbiased election reporting...
Workers' Party candidate for Cheng San GRC, Tang Liang Hong.
Workers' Party candidate for Cheng San GRC, Tang Liang Hong.

When the 2001 election came around, surprise, surprise! Cheng San GRC was dissolved.


Aljunied GRC took in part of Cheng San GRC's Punggol South ward, which was renamed the odd-sounding Aljunied-Hougang. The place name "Aljunied" was attached to "Hougang" only because an area in Hougang town was shoehorned into a new GRC.


Meanwhile, the ward of Kampong Kembangan was divided into Aljunied-Kembangan and Kembangan-Punggol. Again, "Aljunied" was attached to "Kembangan" only because an area in Kembangan belonged to Aljunied GRC.


For Kembangan-Punggol, it took in a part of Kampong Kembangan, the Paya Lebar Air Base part of Paya Lebar ward, part of Pasir Ris GRC's Pasir Ris South ward, and part of Cheng San's Punggol South ward.


As the ward covers Punggol Park (below), it explains why "Kembangan" was attached to "Punggol".

Punggol Park... in Hougang town... but part of Kembangan-Punggol in 2001 (and presently Bedok Reservoir-Punggol).
Punggol Park... in Hougang town... but part of Kembangan-Punggol in 2001 (and presently Bedok Reservoir-Punggol).

As for the ward of Aljunied itself, it was dissolved, probably divided among the wards of Aljunied-Hougang, Paya Lebar, and Marine Parade GRC's Geylang Serai. After 42 years, the ward of Aljunied had ceased to exist.


Finally, the ward of Changi-Simei was handed to East Coast GRC.


The redrawn Aljunied GRC for the 2001 election now comprised Aljunied-Kembangan, Kembangan-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Aljunied-Hougang, with an electorate of 125,115 (below, in blue).

Aljunied GRC enjoyed another walkover, and Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo (below) took charge of Kembangan-Punggol. 

Aljunied GRC had no Aljunied ward, but the place name "Aljunied" was attached to two wards.


Part V: A revolving door of wards


There were more changes in store for Aljunied GRC in the 2006 election.


First, it swapped wards with Marine Parade GRC, taking in Serangoon, and giving away Aljunied-Kembangan, which was reorganised and renamed Kampong Ubi-Kembangan.


Meanwhile, Kembangan-Punggol was renamed Bedok Reservoir-Punggol.


The result was that the Aljunied GRC of 2006 hardly overlaps the Aljunied GRC of 1988!


Below, Aljunied GRC is in blue; as reference points, Hougang and Potong Pasir SMCs are in red.

Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.
Base picture credit: sg-elections.com.

By 2006, Aljunied's original wards of 1988 - Aljunied, Kampong Ubi, and Kampong Kembangan - did not exist in name anymore.


In the 2006 election, the Workers' Party challenged the PAP in Aljunied GRC for the first time. George Yeo's team prevailed over Sylvia Lim's team, winning 56.1% of the vote.

For the 2011 election, Aljunied GRC swapped wards for the last time.


It took in Marine Parade GRC's Kaki Bukit ward, while Aljunied-Hougang - formerly of Cheng San GRC, which had strongly supported the Workers' Party in 1997 - was shifted to Ang Mo Kio GRC, taking on the odd name Ang Mo Kio-Hougang.

Aljunied GRC was now made up of Serangoon, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Kaki Bukit, with an electorate of 143,148.


What happened next was history. 


The Workers' Party challenged George Yeo's team again. This time, a team led by party chief Low Thia Khiang won, garnering 54.7% of the vote.

Low took over Yeo's seat in Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, running it for the next nine years until his retirement from politics in 2020.


Part VI: Aljunied forever?


Since 2011, Aljunied GRC has hardly seen significant boundary changes. It still has the five wards of Serangoon, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, Paya Lebar, Eunos, and Kaki Bukit.

Aljunied GRC in the 2015 election.
Aljunied GRC in the 2015 election.

While Aljunied GRC was formed in 1988, its five wards were added after that at various times:


  • Paya Lebar - added for the 1991 election

  • Eunos - added 1997 

  • Bedok Reservoir-Punggol - created as Kembangan-Punggol for 2001

  • Serangoon - added 2006

  • Kaki Bukit - added 2011

Aljunied GRC in 2020.
Aljunied GRC in 2020.

A notable boundary change, however, took place this year (2025) for the upcoming election.


Three polling districts in Bedok Reservoir-Punggol, with 3,834 voters, were transferred to Tampines GRC's Tampines West ward - reducing Aljunied GRC's electorate to 144,032. They include the residential projects of Waterview @ Tampines, The Tropica, and Tampines GreenGem.

According to the EBRC, this was "so that some of the electoral boundaries at the 2025 polls are aligned with key geographical features" - a puzzling comment, especially since much of Aljunied GRC is still misaligned with key geographical features! It would be interesting to see what were the voting patterns for these three polling districts in 2011, 2015, and 2020.


Historically, constituencies under opposition rule had their boundaries radically redrawn - or were dissolved - only after they had reverted to PAP control. It seems like the geopolitical anomaly of Aljunied GRC is here to stay as long as it remains in the hands of the Workers' Party.


The brief history above explains why as of 2025, Aljunied GRC spreads from Serangoon Gardens to Tampines Avenue 10, from Punggol Park to Bedok Town Park, but is nowhere near Aljunied Road or Aljunied MRT Station - and it doesn't even have a ward called Aljunied.


I’ve always been fascinated by the origin and evolution of Singaporean place names, and among many other things, my second book will make space for them.


One place name to be scrutinised is “Punggol”, currently one of Singapore’s largest and most youthful towns in terms of population. 

Credit: National Parks Board.
Credit: National Parks Board.

What does “Punggol” mean? 


Googling the word reveals that it is a Malay word, usually defined as “hurling sticks at the branches of fruit trees to bring them down to the ground”. 

This definition can also be found on one of a series of heritage panels lining Punggol Waterway, near Waterway Point – part of an “official” history of Punggol.

Credit: Eisen Teo.
Credit: Eisen Teo.

But is it? I decided to investigate further.


Going down the rabbit hole of citations


The likeliest source for this definition is a 2001 Straits Times article on Singaporean place names.

The article states that the Malay word, spelled “Punggol” or “Ponggol”, has two meanings: 


  1. “Hurling sticks into trees to bring fruit down”


  1. “A place where fruit and produce are offered wholesale” According to the article, this could have been a reference to a market at the 8th Milestone in the 1920s.


A check of old maps reveals that the second definition is not likely, as “Punggol” – and variations of its spelling – goes much further back than the 1920s. 


In an 1828 map, the peninsula eventually known as Punggol is named Tanjong Rangung (below), possibly after the burung ranggung, the same bird which gave Serangoon its name. 

By 1843, the peninsula was renamed Tanjong Pongol, and in an 1868 map, it is Tanjong Pongal, although the country road running through it is Pongole Road (below). Subsequent spellings of the road include “Pongol”, “Pongul”, “Ponggol”, and “Punggol”. 

The 2001 article does not state its sources, but it could have lifted the meanings of “Punggol” from a 1955 Straits Times article by S. Ramachandra, again on Singaporean place names

This article defines “Punggol” as “to hurl or throw violently”, citing R. J. Wilkinson’s 1901 A Malay-English Dictionary, and “to bring down fruit by throwing stones or striking the branches with pies (?) or sticks. It also means the gathering place of farmers with their produce preparatory to despatch to the markets, which is still practised by the Chinese farmers.” 


A conflation of definitions


What does Wilkinson’s dictionary actually say, though? 

In the dictionary, “Punggol” or “Ponggol” (ڤڠݢل) merely means “to hurl” or “to throw violently” – as Ramachandra cited. 

However, it is “Punggai” (ڤوڠݢاي), a Kedah word, that means “a stick used to throw at trees with the purpose of knocking down the fruit”. 

There is also “Punggah” (ڤوڠݢه), meaning “unloading, discharging; removing goods from one place to another”, which is the closest to Ramachandra’s definition involving farmers despatching produce. 

It appears that Ramachandra had conflated the definitions of “Punggol / Ponggol”, “Punggai”, and perhaps even “Punggah”, a development which was parroted by the 2001 article, and subsequent physical and online publications. 


A fallen tamarind tree


Due to a lack of British familiarity with Malay words when recording them on British maps and news articles, it is also possible that the place name had originated from other Malay words which sound similar to “Punggol / Ponggol” and “Punggai”. 


There is “Punggok / Pungguk” (ڤوڠݢوق) — the burung punggok is “a small owl which is proverbially represented as the lover of the moon and therefore as the type of despairing but passionate love”. 

Today, the brown hawk owl (below) is the burung pungguk; the oriental bay owl is the burung pungguk api; and the barn owl is the burung pungguk jelapang. Any of these species could have been common in the peninsula in the 19th century.

Credit: Michael Gillam, CC BY 2.0.
Credit: Michael Gillam, CC BY 2.0.

The likeliest alternative is “Punggor” (ڤوڠݢور), meaning “a fallen tree, a dead trunk; a leafless or fallen trunk”. 

According to the oral accounts of Awang Osman (1906–1990), headman of Kampong Punggol, his maternal great-grandfather Wak Sumang was the founder of his 11-acre village, also known as Kampong Wak Sumang, probably mapped as early as 1848. 

Wak Sumang.
Wak Sumang.
Kampong Punggol in a 1964 map.
Kampong Punggol in a 1964 map.

Wak Sumang had constructed a hut for his farm, and there was an asam jawa (tamarind) tree next to it. Eventually, it shrivelled up, died, and crashed upon the hut – a punggor. Because of this, Awang related, Wak Sumang declared: “I’ll name this village ‘Punggur’”. 

An asam jawa (tamarind) tree. Credit: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0.
An asam jawa (tamarind) tree. Credit: Mokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Thereafter, Wak Sumang dumped the punggor into a river, to cast it out to sea. The next time he visited the river to catch shrimp, he realised the punggor he had let loose somehow returned upstream. Hence, he decided to call the river Sungei Punggur –  known later as Sungei Punggol. 

Sungei Punggol in 1999. It is now Punggol Reservoir. Credit: The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.
Sungei Punggol in 1999. It is now Punggol Reservoir. Credit: The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

So, what is the true meaning of “Punggol”? It could have been the action of hurling, a fruit-harvesting stick, a species of owl – or a fallen tamarind tree which refused to be cast away.

Copyright © 2025 Eisen Teo. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page