Singapore Street Names by Victor R. Savage

Author:Victor R. Savage
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789814484749
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International

Kurau Grove/Place/Terrace/Walk

Kurau is the Malay name for a certain variety of fish.

Kusu Island

Formerly called Goa Island and then Peak Island, it was used as a burial ground. On 11 August 1875, Cheang Hong Lim petitioned Major McNair (Colonial Engineer and Surveyor-General) from using the island as a burial ground. The island was used by Chinese and native inhabitants for making sacrifices and paying their vows to certain deities known as tua peh kong, kusu and dato kramat. The government agreed that no more burials would take place on Kusu Island though it did not grant the title that Hong Lim had applied for to Peak Island.

It is another island that has been named as a result of a legend. The name Kusu means “tortoise” and the island is shaped like a turtle’s back. Legend has it that two fishermen, one Malay and a Chinese were in a boat off Singapore and realised it was going to capsize in a storm. A turtle, seeing their plight, transformed itself into an island to save them. Eternally grateful, both fishermen became sworn brothers and lived on the island harmoniously.

Every year, on the ninth lunar month, hundreds of thousands of Chinese pilgrims come to the island to visit the tua peh kong temple in honour of the resident diety and the keramat, a shrine honouring the first penghulu of the island, whose spirit is said to infuse the keramat with supernatural powers.

SOURCE: Song, 1967:179

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