History of the Origin Name of Singapore
History of the Origin Name of Singapore
The history of the origin of Singapore's name can begin to
trace from the footsteps of an old knight, the Sang Nila Utama.
Who is Sang Nila Utama?
He is a Prince of Sriwijaya, precisely the country of
Palembang. At the time of the Kingdom of Srivijaya at the brink of destruction
he sailed away from his hometown to anchor on Bintan Island (Riau Islands).
While there, the Nila Utama, who also held the title Sang Sapurba, continued
his journey to the north until he met an island called Temasek.
 |
| Old Singapore 1900 |
Meeting the Sang Nila Utama with the Lion
It was during this time on Temasek Island that Sang Nila
Utama made a great history that brought to Singapore the name today. Once upon
a time he met a Lion while on Temasek Island.
History of the name Singapore
According to the first version of Malay folklore, when the Sang
Nila Utama approached the Lion, the Lion that initially appeared to be sleeping
turned out to be running when approached by the Sang Nila Utama. That makes
Temasek's name better known as Singapore, which comes from the word Singapura "
pretending lion". In Malay language Singa is a lion and pura
(come from word “pura-pura”) which have mean “pretend”.
Whereas the second version of the story from the name
Singapore is when Sang Nila Utama met with Lion on the island of Temasek, he
also saw an advantage on the island. Say beautiful nature and strategic
location. Until finally he decided to establish a new town on Temasek Island.
The name of the new town is Singapura which comes from the name Singa
and Pura (temple; the holy place of Hinduism).
When English come to colonized Singapura slowly the name change into Singapore.
Controversy over the name of Singapore
I don't know which one is more precise in naming Singapore,
whether it's the first version or the second version. But beyond that too,
there is something intriguing. Whereas according to research, it is impossible
for an island in the peninsula to live a lion. Even if there are animals of
this type, then it is a tiger, which is widely spread on the island of Sumatra
or the Malay Peninsula. Singapore's environment is not suitable for the life of
a Lion. This made the experts speculate that in the past it was in fact the
Nila Utama was not looking at the Lion but was looking at the Tiger, the “Malayan
Tiger”.
Apart from controversy there is no lion population in
Singapore. Presumably the Lion that was encountered by the Main Nila and his
followers at that time was the Incarnation Lion, which was in the form of
stealth. Because after all it is not possible for a Srivijaya prince and his
followers who are used to living in Sumatra and trading with traders from
various countries not knowing which one is the Lion and which one is the Tiger.
They must have been accustomed to seeing Sumatran tigers, and even they would
have been accustomed to seeing Persian lions it was impossible for them not to be
able to distinguish between lions and tigers.