Thank you Clivebenss for the information. With regards to
Old Kallang I am not sure liao cos that was not the area they
stayed. Also, if you have not informed me that it is an old
swamp area, it will be
relatively difficult for me to realise that "KELANG" = (Kallang) was an old swamp on that map.
However from the first british colonial map, anything below the
"Line" itself (If
you were to draw a Straight Line or put a Ruler on our Modern Maps)
from "GELANG" (geylang) to "KATONG Pt."
(katong) to "KURAU
B." (telok kurau) to
"SIGLAT" (siglap) to "BUDDOW"
(bedok), is the old
sea.
Also,
i) "KATONG Pt." =
"Katong
Point", the (point) is a giveaway that Katong was a
"seapoint" in the past (place of ships meeting the land)
and
ii)
"KURAU B." =
"Kurau
Bay", the (bay) is a giveaway that Telok Kurau was a
"bayshore" in the past. Many Singaporean people also do not
realise that the current estate "Telok Kurau" in Malay
simply means "Kurau Bay"!!!
(like "Telok
Ayer" = "Water Bay", "Telok Blangah" = "Pottery Bay", all
"Telok XX" areas
were bayshores in the past)
and
iii) both
"SIGLAT" =
"Siglap" and
"BUDDOW" =
"Bedok" were 2
kampong communities built on the old seashore.
I think almost no one realises Geylang, Katong, Telok Kurau,
Siglap, Bedok are all seashore community kampong unless one had
some ancestor who stayed there before.
Actually what grandma told me when she arrived in Sg 1851
disembarking at Telok Ayer, Thian Hock Keng was a sand beach about
50m from shore.
I suppose kelang means tidal mud flat so the Kallang area must
be a mud flat. Also Klang in Malaysia is called Pasang (=tide) in
Hokkien.
