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Pulau Bukom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| English | Pulau Bukom |
| Chinese | 毛广岛 |
| (Pinyin | máoguǎng dǎo) |
| Malay | Pulau Bukom |
| Tamil | fill in |
Pulau Bukom, also known as Pulau Bukum, is a small island located about five kilometres to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. The size of Pulau Bukom is about 1.45 km².
Pulau Bukom is also known as Pulau Bukom Besar, which has a small companion islet to its south called Pulau Bukom Kechil. The island's name is thought to come from the Malay name for a shell called rangkek bukom, which is wide at one end and tapers to a narrow point, the shape of the island prior to land reclamation.
Bukum is said to be the same as hukum, and there is a tradition that the Raja used to try cases on the island, hence the name, probably through the intermediate form berhukum.
Pulau Bukom appears in Franklin and Jackson's 1828 map as Po. Bukum. The island, originally a mangrove swamp, was also a source of fresh water for ships. In 1884, a trader named Gagino established a water company on the island to supply water to passing ships.
The island is currently the site of the Shell's oil refinery and plants for manufacture of chemicals. Shell's association with the island dates back to 1891, when the company used the island to store kerosene.
- Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
