Pasir Panjang

SG neighbourhood
image

englishname=Pasir Panjang
chinesename=巴西班让
pinyin=Bāxī Bānràng
malayname=Pasir Panjang
tamilname="fill in"

Pasir Panjang is an area in the south-western part of Singapore. It is located at the southern part of the Queenstown Planning Area, an urban planning zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Kent Ridge is a topographical feature which runs through Pasir Panjang.

Etymology

The name "Pasir Panjang" appears as "Passir Panjang" in 1851. The Malay word "pasir panjang" literally means "long sand", a reference to the long sandy beach that stretched along the coast in this area.

Pasir Panjang is known as "hong heng sua" in Hokkien, meaning "Hong Heng's plantation".

History

Pasir Panjang Road, which once hugged the coastline, was laid down as far as the Jurong River by John Turnbull Thomson by 1850. Thomson was Government Surveyor of Singapore from 1841 to 1853.

In 1910, the Government took over the opium industry and a state-owned factory was established at Pasir Panjang. In the 1920s, many of the wealthy Chinese built holiday and residential bungalows along the coast, some of which are still visible today in this area. In 1930, some of the Malay families from the Kallang River Basin area were resettled here when Kallang Airport was constructed. In 1957, the Malay settlement here became known as the West Coast Malay Settlement. Right up till the early 1960s, this area contained many Malay fishing villages.

Since the late 1960s, the whole length of the coast, from the Singapore River to Jurong, has been reclaimed for wharves, almost entirely devoted to containerisation. The coastal area at Pasir Panjang has also been extensively reclaimed for the Pasir Panjang Terminal of the Port of Singapore.

Battle of Pasir Panjang

From 13 to 15 February 1942, a decisive battle for Singapore in World War II was fought on the slopes of Pasir Panjang, now Kent Ridge Park.

The Japanese 18th Division, well-armed and heavily supported from the air, descended upon the ridge, determined to capture it from the Allied forces. Defending the ridge were the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Malay Regiment, the British Second Loyals Regiment, the Australian Bren-Gun Carriers and the 44th Indian Brigade. Although the Allied defences on Pasir Panjang Ridge outnumbered the Japanese, the attackers had more ammunition and were far more ruthless fighters.

The Allied forces put up a heroic show, especially Second Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi of the Malay Regiment who led the combined Allied forces in battle. The Allied forces fought the Japanese to the bitter end. When ammunition ran out, they took on the Japanese in hand-to-hand combat and did not give up even when they were down to their last few men.

The Japanese did everything they could to force a surrender, including creating a lethal oil fire in a drain that the soldiers had to cross to clear the ridge. Despite this, the brave Allied soldiers refused to abandon the ridge, preferably to die honourably than surrender. Two soldiers were burnt alive when they tried to cross the drain, while four others collapsed before they even got there.

Second Lieutenant Saidi, like a true hero, was one of the last defenders on the ridge. He was captured by the Japanese and bayoneted to death. On 14 February 1942, the Japanese won Pasir Panjang Ridge. The following day, the British surrendered.

Highlights

Pasir Panjang Road

Starting at Alexandra Road, Pasir Panjang Road continues to Clementi Road where it becomes West Coast Road. Since the building of the West Coast Highway, Pasir Panjang Road has become a secondary road which now has less traffic.

The road passes through many developments built over a long period, ranging from some intact Malay kampong houses which were displaced from the Kallang Basin area in the 1930s (many of which have since been demolished), numerous villas, modern apartment and condominiums, Tiger Balm Gardens (now Haw Par Villa), The Haven (now the Salvation Army Pasir Panjang Corps) and Pasir Panjang Park. Pasir Panjang Park, established before World War II and about 11,800 square metres in area, is situated between Pasir Panjang Road and the wharves just past Pepys Road. At the end of Pepys Road is a small group of black and white colonial houses of the 1920s era which command a good view of the sea.

Alexandra Road was not laid out until 1864. It connected Pasir Panjang Road to River Valley Road. In the past, the road "in addition to being a useful line of communication, the side ditches improved the drainage of the neighbouring country".

Pasir Panjang Pillbox

Concrete pillboxes were built along Singapore's eastern and western coasts as part of the British World War II defence. Installed in the pillboxes were machine guns which could fire in any direction although they were usually oriented seawards. They were positioned at strategic intervals so that their fields of fire would overlap, thereby reinforcing each other and covering almost the entire southern coastline. Together with land mines and barbed wire on the beaches, the pillboxes and their guns comprised an important part of the coastal defence of Singapore.

The machine gun pillbox at Pasir Panjang is one of the few World War II relics that has survived to the present day. It lies within the area defended by the First Malaya Brigade, and may have been used by the Malay Regiment in their fierce battle against the 18th Japanese Division on Pasir Panjang Ridge in February 1942.

Pasir Panjang Terminal

In 1993, the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), now corporatised as PSA International, started constructing a new container terminal at Pasir Panjang, the Pasir Panjang Terminal. The terminal is located approximately 7 km west of the company's other container terminals at Keppel Harbour. This new, S$7 billion terminal, represents an immense expansion of PSA's container port. When fully completed in 2009, it is expected to raise PSA's container handling capacity by a further TEU|18 million|first=yes per year. The terminal's first four berths, of the planned 26, opened in 1998, with two more berths becoming operational by the time of the terminal's official opening in March 2000.

Old Pasir Panjang Police Sub-station

In 1986, the old Singapore Police Force Pasir Panjang Police Sub-station was vacated after almost 4 decades of service, its duty and areas of jurisdiction taken over by Pasir Panjang NPP and West Coast NPP respectively. Originally constructed in 1950, its location near the crossroad junction of Clementi Road, Pasir Panjang Road and West Coast Road provided the local residents of the many Malay kampungs dotted around the road and area with the security of a police presence. The old building was torn down in 1991 and the land leveled. The site is now a new condominium apartment - "The Spectrum", which is built directly over the old police building and the surrounding land.

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
*Norman Edwards, Peter Keys (1996), "Singapore - A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places", Times Books International, ISBN 9971-65-231-5
*National Heritage Board (2002), "Singapore's 100 Historic Places", Archipelago Press, ISBN 981-4068-23-3

External links

* [http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/heritage/kentridge/ Pasir Panjang Heritage webpage] . - Habitatnews webpage on history and nature of the area