Singapore? What a special name!

A name is not solely something to be called in order to distinguish a thing from others, what lies in the name is a thick book of history of that thing. Have you ever wonder what the meaning of a country's name is and how it was formed? Here are the names by which Singapore had been called.

Sabara/Sabana

The first name of Singapore may date to the 2nd century, when the island was identified as a trading post in the maps of the Greek astronomer, Ptolemy (Wikipedia). The map located a place called Sabara or Sabana in the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Pulong Ujong

After a century, somewhere in a 3rd-century record by a Chinese traveler, Pu Luo Chang, the Chinese translation of Pulau Ujong, meaning ‘Island at the End’ in Malay is mentioned as the name of this place. The names probably describes Singapore’s position which is at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula.

Temasek

Another name of Singapore is Temasek which means Sea Town. Today, Temasek can be heard as the name of several companies or institutions, schools. The most well-known state-owned investment company’s name is Temasek Holdings. Also, the highest national honours are the Bintang Temasek (Star of Temasek) and Darjah Utama Temasek (Order of Temasek).

Singapura

Singapura derived from Sanskrit. “Singa” means "lion" and pura is "town" or "city". Hence the people refer to Singapore as the Lion City. According to Malay Annals, a Sumatran prince called Sang Nila Utama landed on Temasek (Singapore's old name) and saw a Lion which is called 'Singa' in Malay. However, some people said that there was so lion in Singapore, that animal was actually a Malay Tiger.

Syonan-To

World War II Japanese Occupation period from 1942-1945, Singapore had a Japanese name ‘Synonan-to‘ which means ‘Light of the South’, and after Japanese surrendered the name quickly fell out of favor.

Singapore

The name “Singapore” marks the founding of modern Singapore after the arrival of the British in 1819. It was only around the 19th century that Singapore was used as the standardised English name, and it continues to be used today globally.

Singapore is also well known for its 'green' roads, buildings and botanic gardens. Hence it has a nick name of "The Garden city"

Walking along the streets in Singapore and you can see a lot of trees and flowers. Photo by IngeHG @Flickr

So what is your favorite name of Singapore? Please tell us in the comments. Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/singapore/articles/how-did-singapore-get-its-name/