Saturday, 29 June 2013

Makam Tok Lasam


The word ‘Siglap’ is a transliteration of the Malay ‘Si-Gelap’, which can mean ‘the dark’ or ‘hidden’. There are several accounts theories as to how the place came to be called ‘Siglap’. One account says that the area begot its name because of the extremely dense vegetation in the area, making it rather dark, even in bright daylight. However, the most plausible explanation has to do with the only total eclipse of the sun Singapore has ever experienced, on 4 March 1821 at 0611 hrs GMT or 1341 hrs local time. It lasted for 2 minutes and 41 seconds.[1] The diagram below shows the trajectory of the umbral shadow cast by the eclipse in 1821.


Because ‘Siglap’ is an English transliteration, it has also been spelt as ‘Seglap’, ‘Segalap’ and ‘Seegelap’


[1]      Solar Eclipses in the period 1501 CE to 2100 CE (Calculator) http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/eclipse/ Singapore_Singapore.html (accessed 1 May 2015).







The Legend of Tok Lassam

The Serajah Melayu (Malay Annals) mentions 7 important villages or kampongs in 14th century Singapore, but not Kampong Siglap. This means that Kampong Siglap is of a much more recent vintage. The one name which has constantly been linked with Kampong Siglap is Tok Lassam. According to Ibn Jamaludin al-Kassim, it was the Sumatran Prince, Tok Lassam, who named the village Siglap after witnessing the solar eclipse of 1821.[1] There are several versions of the Tok Lassam legend, the first of which seems more plausible.[2]



[1]      Mohd Anis Tairan, Kampungku Siglap: Memoir Mohd Anis Tairan (Singapore: Majlis Pusat Pertubuhan-Pertubuhan Budaya Melayu Singapura, 2011) at 12.
[2]      Ibid, at 11–15.

No comments:

Post a Comment