Place History

Playlist

A collection of short videos or selected podcasts, exploring topics around Singapore's place history.

Playlist: Place History

Singapore has undergone massive developments in the decades past. Take a look at how select places and spaces were like prior to redevelopment.

Playlist: Curiocity

Singapore has undergone massive developments in the decades past.(Take a look at how your neighbourhood has evolved through the Curiocity website ).

Curiocity leverages story maps, or place-based digital storytelling, to provide users an interactive and immersive way to uncover and rediscover the history of Singapore through a curated selection of heritage materials from the collections of the National Library (NL) and the National Archives of Singapore (NAS).

Learning Package

The Many Names of Singapore

We probably are familiar with the variant names of Singapore such as Temasek and Singapura today. Back in the 17th - early 19th century, Singapore was identified as a promontory, a strait, a ridge, an island, as well as a settlement, based on naming conventions on cartographical references that have been documented.1 For Singaporeans, this is a nation we associate with, and a place we call home. This learning package offers some trivia to the variant names of Singapore from early records.

Did you know...

Long before the British arrived and made Singapore a colonial port city, Singapore was already a port as part of the early maritime trade route. In early maritime charts and maps (17th to early 19th century), we learn that Singapore was known by many names.

Some names that Singapore was known by include:

• Temasek or Temasik 淡马锡
• Pulo ou Isle Panjang or Paulau Panjang [Long Island]
• Ujong Tanah [Land's End]
• Sincapour
• Governor's Island

Videos

Malaca, l'Inde Méridionale et le Cathay | From the Stacks S1