Bukit Pasoh Road

Bukit Pasoh Road (Chinese: 武吉巴梳路) is a road in Tanjong Pagar within the Outram Planning Area of Singapore. The road starts from Neil Road which is one way, but becomes two ways, when the road forks out into two parts, with one becoming Teo Hong Road, with both roads ending at New Bridge Road. The road is mainly lined with conserved shophouses and houses a high-end boutique hotel known as the New Majestic Hotel.

Etymology and history

The place got its name from the Ali Baba jars, the "tong" or "pasoh" used to store rice or water in homes. There were many kilns in the 19th century that made these pots, bricks and tiles in Telok Blangah, Silat and Bukit Merah. A part of Bukit Merah was known as Brickworks in the past, due to the number of brick factories in that area.

This road is located on the hill that in the 1830s marked the western boundary of the colonial town. "Pasoh" is the Malay word for "flower pot", and this was where earthenware pots used to be made. The hill has been renamed several times. It was first called Ryan's Hill from 1835 to 1836 after an early planter, Charles Ryan, who was the first owner of the hill as well as the first civilian Post Master of Singapore. It was sold to Hugh Syme in 1827 when Ryan returned to England; Syme renamed it Duxton Hill. It was bought by Dr Montgomerie in 1836 and developed into a nutmeg plantation together with nearby Craig Hill. Both were auctioned off in 1856 when Montgomerie died and fragmented it into building lots. The hill was later renamed Dickenson's Hill after Rev J.T. Dickenson, followed by Bukit Padre and finally Bukit Pasoh. Bukit Pasoh was owned by an opium farmer, Tan Keng Hoon, at the time of his death in 1877.

The road and its vicinity is a conservation area known as Bukit Pasoh Conservation Area, which is bounded by New Bridge Road, Keong Saik Road, Kreta Ayer Road, Neil Road and Cantonment Road. This area was given the conservation area status on 7 July 1989. The shophouses mainly consist of two and three storey shophouses in transitional, late and art deco styles. [cite web
url=http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/pasoh.htm
title="Conservation of Built Heritage"
author=Urban Redevelopment Authority]

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3

External links

* [http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/ethnic_quarters/chinatown/bukit_pasoh.html Uniquely Singapore website]