Sentosa
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| Names | |
|---|---|
| English: | Sentosa |
| Chinese: | 圣淘沙 |
| (Pinyin: | shèng táo shā) |
| Malay: | Sentosa |
| Tamil: | satasa |
| |
Sentosa, which means tranquillity in Malay, is a popular island resort in Singapore, visited by some two million people a year. A major tourist attraction, it hosts a sheltered beach of more than two kilometres in length on its southern coast, a musical fountain which uses the interaction of lasers against water particles to create three-dimensional images, and historical fortifications in Fort Siloso, dating from World War II. There are also two golf courses and two 5-star hotels.
Etymology
Sentosa was once known as Pulau Blakang Mati, which in Malay means the "Island (pulau) of Death (mati) from Behind (blakang)". [1]
The name Blakang Mati was rather old and was not founded in the nineteenth century as generally believed. It was already identified as Blacan Mati in E.C. de Eredia's 1604 map of Singapore, though one never knew whether this was the reference to the nineteenth century island of Blakan Mati.
Other early references to the island of Blakan Mati were Burne Beard Island in Wilde's 1780 MS map, Pulau Niry, Nirifa from 1690 to 1700, and the nineteenth century reference as Pulau Panjang (J.H. Moor). The early maps did not separate Blakan Mati from the adjacent island of Pulau Brani, so one never knew which island the sixteenth century place names referred to.
The island has gone through several name changes. Up to 1830, it was called Pulau Panjang ("long island"). In an 1828 sketch of Singapore Island, the island is referred to as Po. Panjang. According to Bennett (1834), the name Blakan Mati was only given to the hill on the island by the Malay villagers on the island. The Malay name for this island is literally translated as "dead back" or "behind the dead"; blakang means "at the back" or "behind"; mati means "dead".
Different versions of how the island came to acquire such an unpropitious name abound. One account attributed the ominous name to murder and piracy in the island's past. A second claimed that the island is the material paradise of warrior spirits buried at Pulau Brani.
A third account has it that an outbreak of disease on the island in the late 1840s almost wiped out the original Bugis settlers on the island. Dr Robert Little, A British coroner investigating the deaths, stumbled upon what was called Blakang Mati Fever, purportedly a type of fever caused by miasmastic fumes arising from decaying leaves and swampy water on the island. This event led to a controversy in medical circles at that time as to the causes of what was recognised later in 1898 as malaria by the Anopheles mosquito. The government's malaria research station was originally here.
A fourth interpretation is that "dead back island" was so-called because of the sterility of the soils on the hills.
In 1827, Captain Edward Lake of the Bengal Engineers in his report on public works and fortifications had proposed an alternative name for Blakang Mati as the "Island of St George". However, the island was seen as too unhealthy for habitation and his proposed name was never realised.
The island was renamed Sentosa in 1972, in a contest organised by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, a Malay word meaning "peace and tranquillity".
History
Pre-1945
In the nineteenth century, the island was considered of importance protecting the passage into Keppel Harbour. Plans to fortify the island as part of the defence plan for Singapore were drawn up as early as 1827, but little actually materialised until the 1880s, when the rapid growth of the harbour led to concern over the protection of coal stocks against enemy attack. The forts built on the island were Fort Siloso, Fort Serapong, Fort Connaught and the Mount Imbiah Battery.
The western end of Pulau Blakang Mati, the place where Fort Siloso is now, used to be called sarang rimau (the tiger's den). Salusuh is a kind of herb used as a remedy in childbirth, but there is no explanation of how the fort came to be so-called, the orang laut of Kampong Kopit only knowing the place by the name of sarang rimau. By the 1930s, the island was heavily fortified and a crucial component of Fortress Singapore, and the base of the Royal Artillery.
During the Second World War, the island was a British military fortress. The British set up defending artillery guns in Fort Siloso which were then pointed to the south, facing the sea in expectation of a seaward Japanese assault. However, the Japanese eventually invaded and captured Singapore from the north, after having done the same to Malaya (now known as West or Peninsular Malaysia). Following the surrender of the Allied Forces on February 15, 1942, the island became a prisoner of war camp, housing Australian and British prisoners of the Japanese.
1945-1972
After the Japanese surrender in 1945 and the return of Singapore to British rule, the island became the base of the locally enlisted First Singapore Regiment of the Royal Artillery (1st SRRA) in 1947. Other locally enlisted men from Singapore were sent to the island for basic military training before being sent to other units of the British Army in Singapore.
Ten years later, the 1st SRRA was disbanded and its guns dismantled. The coast artillery was replaced with Gurkha infantry units, first the 2/7th Duke of Edinburgh's own Gurkha Rifles and later the 2/10th Princess Mary's own Gurkha Rifles. Fort Siloso and Fort Serapong became a Catholic retreat and a Protestant church house respectively. Fort Connaught was left in ruins.
In the early 1960s, during the Indonesian Confrontation, the 2/10th unit defended the island against Indonesian saboteurs. With the end of the Confrontation in 1966 and the withdrawal of the Gurkha units from the island, the British handed over Sentosa to the Singapore Armed Forces of the newly independent Government of Singapore in 1967.
A year later, the government decided to develop the island into a holiday resort for local visitors and tourists.
1972-Present
The island was renamed “Sentosa” in 1972, which means tranquillity in Malay, from a suggestion by the public. The Sentosa Development Corporation was formed in 1972 to oversee the development of the island [2]. Since then, some S$420 million of private capitals and another S$500 million of government funds have been invested to develop the island. [3]
In 1974 the Singapore Cable Car system was built, linking Sentosa to Mount Faber.[2] A series of attractions were subsequently opened for visitors including Fort Siloso, Surrender Chamber wax museum, Musical Fountain, and the Underwater World. The causeway bridge was opened in 1992 connecting Sentosa to the mainland.[2]
The Sentosa Monorail system was opened in 1982 to transport visitors to various stations located around the island. On 16 March 2005, the monorail service was discontinued to make way for a new Sentosa Express system which will operate by end of 2006 to provide a more efficient mode of transport.
Geography
The island has an area of 5 square kilometres. It lies just half a kilometre (a quarter of a mile) away from the southern coast of the main island of Singapore. It is Singapore’s fourth largest island (excluding the main island). 70% of the island is covered by secondary rainforest, the habitat of monitor lizards, monkeys, peacocks, parrots as well as other native fauna and flora. The island also has 3.2 kilometre stretch of white sand beach. Significantly large portions of land are currently being added to Sentosa due to land reclamation.
Transport
Sentosa can be reached from the Singapore mainland via a short causeway or Cable Car, which originates on Mount Faber and passes through HarbourFront en route.
In the future, the island will also be accessible by a SGD$140 million Sentosa Express between Sentosa and the main island's train system from VivoCity . When it becomes operational in 2006, visitors can easily transfer from the North East MRT Line at HarbourFront MRT Station onto the Sentosa Express, which will then bring tourists directly into the island in well under 4 minutes. When this is completed, an uninterrupted chain of public transport will exist between Sentosa and most of the residential towns in Singapore.
Transport within Sentosa is now served by 4 bus services, identified as Blue, Yellow, Red and Green lines, and by a tram service called the Beach Train. Since 1998, passengers cars are allowed to enter the island.
Attractions
Sentosa offers a variety of attractions, museums and other facilities to provide a variety of experiences, recreation and entertainment to visitors.
Carlsberg Sky Tower
The Carlsberg Sky Tower is the tallest free-standing observation tower in Asia. At a height of 110 metres above ground and 131 metres above sea level, it offers visitors a panoramic view of Sentosa, Singapore, and the Southern Islands. On clear day, the view extends to parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. At ground level, visitors enter a large disc-shaped airconditioned cabin fitted with glass windows all round. The cabin then revolves slowly as it ascends the column of the tower. The cabin has a capacity of 72 visitors.
The Sky Tower, first opened on 7 February 2004, is situated in the Imbiah Lookout zone in the centre of Sentosa and can be reached by Cable Car, Sentosa Luge Chair Lift, or by bus.
Butterfly Park
The Butterfly Park is a landscape garden with over 15,000 live butterflies, representing more than fifty species. Housed in a cool outdoor conservatory, these butterflies range from the 25 millimetre (1 in) Eurema sari to the 150 mm (6 in) Papilio iswara.
Insect Kingdom
The Insect Kingdomhouses some 3,000 species of rare insects from around the world, including a 160 mm size Dynastes Hercules beetle.
Underwater World oceanarium
Another living museum, the Underwater World oceanarium, contains 2,500 fish of 250 different species, including starfish, stingrays, giant turtles, and baby sharks.
Volcanoland
Volcanoland features an artificial volcano along with Mayan motifs and scenery.
Dolphin Lagon
The Dolphin Lagoon is home to some Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins where visitors can observe them in the water.
Musical Fountain
A Musical Fountain has a water fountain, laser, and song while introducing the history of Sentosa. The refractive and reflective effect of laser against water particles from several directions then create a three-dimensional image.
Fort Siloso
In the west of the island stand the guns of preserved Fort Siloso which guarded the western approaches to Singapore during World War II. Fort Siloso was built by the British in 1880s to guard the narrow western entrance to Keppel Harbour. It was later modernised and by 1939 was armed with two 6-inch Mark2 guns and two rapid firing 12-pounder guns. Fort Siloso is now the only surviving coastal gun battery from the twelve such batteries that made up Fortress Singapore at the start of the war. [4]
The ammunition bunkers, barracks, tunnels, and gun emplacements of the fort are now open to visitors, as a military-themed attraction. Also on display is a collection of artillery guns dating from the 17th century to World War II. Life-sized replicas of British soldiers and other people were on display to depict lives at the fort in the past. There is also an exhibition with a large collection of photographs, documents and film clips.
Merlion
A Merlion statue that recalls the story of the legendary Sang Nila Utama, who saw a lion in Singapore (originally known as Temasek) while hunting. The 37m (12 storey) high statue can be entered through the ground floor, and one can take the lift up to 12th floor to view the city state. Opened in 1996, it is the tallest Merlion in Singapore and is undergoing renovation since 2005.
Sentosa Luge
The Sentosa Luge is a self driving car system.
Defunct attraction
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island was a water based theme park in Sentosa. Opened in 1994 at a cost of S$54 million, it had numerous water slides and other features. A popular favourite park then, it has been plagued by several accidents including two fatalities. It was eventually closed on 2 November 2002.
Beaches
Sentosa has a stretch of sheltered beach of more than two kilometres in length on its southern coast, divided into three portions: Palawan Beach, Siloso Beach, and Tanjong Beach.
Palawan Beach
Palawan Beach lies in the centre of the southern coast of Sentosa. There is a suspension bridge that leads to a small islet off the coast which is said to be the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia, or Asia's closest point to the Equator. [5]
There are several bars along the beach offering food and beverage to visitors.
Siloso Beach
Siloso Beach lies on the west portion of the southern coast and it is known as the place for beach volleyball and other outdoor activities such as canoeing, skim boarding, mountain biking or rollerblading. There are also dining and shopping outlets along the beach. The Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort is located at the western end of Siloso Beach.
Tanjong Beach
Tanjong Beach is a relatively more secluded part of the southern coast. The crescent-shaped beach is sometimes used for special events or parties.
Events
Singapore Open
The 2005 Singapore Open golf event was held during 8-11 September at the Sentosa Golf Club's Serapong Course. It is the richest golf tournament which is exclusive to the Asian Tour with a US$2 million prize fund. [2]
ZoukOut
The Siloso Beach in Sentosa is host to the annual ZoukOut beach dance party organised by Zouk nightclub. On 10 December 2005, some 18,000 people attended the event. [6]
Future development
Future plans by the government for Sentosa aims to establish it as one of the world's most luxurious holiday locations, with a SGD$10 billion masterplan for the future involving the construction of private housing, the aforementioned partial redevelopment of Siloso Beach, and Asia's first tourism academy. These large scale island redevelopment projects are expected to complete in 2012.
The largest impact is expected to be from a family-oriented Integrated Resort, with a casino at its core. This world-class Integrated Resort is expected to be completed in 2009. A resort developer and operator will be chosen by 2nd quarter of 2006. Development of the resort will be financed privately and will not receive any government subsidies. The proposal for a casino has met with extensive opposition from many conservative critics.
See also
References
- ^ Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 9812102051
- ^ a b c d Milestones - Sentosa official website.
- ^ Sentosa then, Sentosa today - Sentosa official website.
- ^ "The "Main Fleet to Singapore" Strategy". National Archives of Singapore. 20 January.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ "Palawan Beach". Sentosa. January 30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ "ZoukOut draws record 18,000 party-goers from Singapore and region". 11 December 2005.
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External links
- Sentosa official website
- Template:Wikitravelpar