Telok Blangah


Telok Blangah is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. Teluk Blanga is the district between Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Pagar.

Name

The region is named after the bay. Telok Blangah is a Malay compound of blanga "a type of cooking pot" and telok "bay" and so literally means "cooking pot bay", so named on account of its shape.
Teluk Blanga is known as sit lat mng in Hokkien, meaning "Singapore gate" or "north west gate".

History

Historically, this area is as old as the thirteenth century city of Temasek. According to the Malay Annals, Sang Nila Utama's boat ran into a storm and he threw everything overboard, including his crown before landing just off Telok Blangah beach.
The area gained prominence again during the British period when Sir Stamford Raffles in 1823 assigned Temenggong Abdul Rahman and his followers of land for their residence and a cemetery. The area flourished under Temenggong Abdul Rahman because of his monopoly over the gutta percha trade.
Temenggong Abdul Rahman's eldest son, Tun Haji Abdullah, informally took over as Temenggong of Johor after his death in 1825, followed by his second son Daeng Ibrahim informally in 1833 and officially on 19 August 1841.
In 1845, Telok Blangah Hill was renamed to Mount Faber after Captain Charles Edward Faber.
Following Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim’s death in 1862, his first son Temenggong Abu Bakar succeed him and moved his Istana to Tyersall. In 1885, when Maharaja Abu Bakar became the Sultan of Johor, he moved to Johor Bahru.
The former royal audience hall and the Johor Royal Mausoleum still remain today at Telok Blangah Road, near VivoCity and Sentosa Gateway. The last to be buried was Ungku Modh. Khalif, the younger brother of Sultan Abu Bakar in 1900.
Telok Blangah Road was officially named in 1907. The shrine of Puteri Radin Mas Ayu, a sixteenth-century Javanese princess, is located at Mount Faber Road, near the junction with Telok Blangah Road.