Jan

19

Why Tanglin has a Halt

Filed Under Places 


Block 80, Tanglin Halt

Yesterday, someone tweeted something quite innocuous – about food and about how she was about to eat food – but the locality she tweeted about – “Tanglin Halt” – piqued my interest.

I’ve always wondered who Tanglin was named for, and why there is (or was) a “Halt” in Tanglin. It isn’t exactly a burning question, so I’ve left it aside for the best part of three decades, until now.

Googling “Tanglin Halt History”, I found the NHB site, “Heritage Trails“, which explained:

This area, bordered by Stirling Road, Queensway and the Malayan Railway, derived its name from Tanglin Road and the Malayan Railway, which used to have a stop (thus the word ‘halt’) near the junction of Tanglin Halt Road and Tanglin Halt Close. ‘Tanglin’ came from “Tua Tang Leng” (Hokkien: Great Eastern Hills), a name given by the Chinese to the hilly area around Tanglin Road. Tanglin Halt was also known as ‘Tanglin Halt Chap Lau’ (Hokkien: Ten Storeys), after the ten-storey blocks which make up the estate. Today it is called Tanglin Halt Green with three new 40-storey blocks towering over the original Chap Lau which are still standing

So now I know: The Ten-Storey Blocks on The Great Eastern Hills where The Train of the Land of the Malays (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) used to Halt.

Comments

  • Thanks for using my photo, miyagi.

    The explanation by NHB may be correct but unconvincing. How did the Halt get its name from a road that is more than two MRT stops away? Even the name 'Great Eastern Hills' is strange, so the point of reference must be west of Tanglin then, but what? Bukit Timah Hill? lol
  • No worries! Didn't think of the geographical factor... Hmmm.
  • dancingbunny
    now i know....my mother in law stays at chap lau
    there is another chap lut lau (16 storeys) nearby
  • I like how some people pronounce Tanglin as if it were an ang moh name
  • Interesting - thanks for finding that. I've started collecting old photos of former railway stations in Singapore. Just got one of Newton Railway Station. There's also Tank Road Station and Bukit Timah Station. Now to find an old railway map.
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