Pulau Bukom

SG neighbourhood
image

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englishname=Pulau Bukom
chinesename=毛广岛
poj=
pengim=
pinyin=máoguǎng dǎo
malayname=Pulau Bukom
tamilname="fill in"

Pulau Bukom, also known as "Pulau Bukum", is a small island located about five kilometres to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. The size of Pulau Bukom is about 1.45 km².

Pulau Bukom is also known as "Pulau Bukom Besar", which has a small companion islet to its south called Pulau Bukom Kechil. The island's name is thought to come from the Malay name for a seashell called "rangkek bukom", which is wide at one end and tapers to a narrow point, the shape of the island prior to land reclamation.

"Bukum" is said to be the same as "hukum", and there is a tradition that the Raja used to try cases on the island, hence the name, probably through the intermediate form "berhukum".

Pulau Bukom appears in Franklin and Jackson's 1828 map as "Po. Bukum". The island, originally a mangrove swamp, was also a source of fresh water for ships. In 1884, a trader named Gagino established a water company on the island to supply water to passing ships.

The island is currently the site of the Shell's oil refinery and plants for manufacture of chemicals. Shell's association with the island dates back to 1891, when the company used the island to store kerosene. Shell is currently extending it's facilities on the island.

The island can be reached by Ferry from the new West Coast Ferry terminal. The access to the island is restricted. Visitors need to have a security pass which will only be issued for personnel working on the island. The security checks are very tight and no unauthorized person is allowed to enter the island. The ferry service is operated by Penguin ferries. The ferry is free of charge.

ee also

*Laju incident

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=1.231447,103.769946&spn=0.015403,0.032101&t=k&om=1 Satellite image of Pulau Bukum] - Google Maps