I must confess that I did not know exactly where is Sennett Estate in Singapore until recently. (For those who still don't know, it is in the corner bounded by Upper Serangoon Road and Macpherson Road.)
All the while, I thought that Sennett Estate was off Upper East Coast Road where a cluster of streets with names starting with "Sennett" are found - Sennett Road, Sennett Lane, Sennett Drive, Sennett Place, Sennett Close and Sennett Avenue. Who would have thought that Sennett Estate is actually so far away?
Some people may also confuse Sime Road with Simei Road or Anderson Road with Henderson Road but at least their spellings are different. A taxi driver once complained to me that a passenger asked to be taken to "Bedok Park". When the taxi arrived at Bedok Park, the passenger said he actually wanted to go to "Bedok North" (pronounced as "Bedok Park" in Cantonese). Now how do you expect the poor taxi driver to ever decipher that?
Do you know of any other places in Singapore with similarly confusing names?
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14 comments:
That's an interesting bit of trivia from your incredible sleuthing Victor. Nice work.
I am surprised that you do not know where is Sennett Estate. This is a very old estate and a few years ago, it was very much in the news when the authorities wanted to name the MRT station nearby Sennett instead of Potong Pasir. Many saw it as a move to punish the residents in the Opposition ward.
There are 2 Sennett Estate Roads, one in MacPherson Road and one in Siglap Road.
but sennett estate is also in chiam see tong's ward, isn't it? it should be unless they have re-drawn the boundary before the last election.
Chai Chee School also not in Chai Chee area what? Something like this nonsense GRC which can stretch into traditional areas. My place is called Siglap when I know Siglap is the area around Siglap Center.
Maybe the Sennett were 2 brothers who could not agree?
Peter, I used to stay quite near you. I attended the PAP kindergarten below Lucky Heights and remember it was already called Siglap PAP. LOL
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For a number of years I travelled along Macpherson Road daily. Though I'm not an observant person, I did notice Sennett Estate.
How come you don't post this as a quiz. Hahaha, then I got chance to give correct answer see.
When I was staying at Sennett Estate, there was the election where Chiam See Tong contested the ward (oops, can't remember the exact year; bad Singaporean!). It was a HUGE event because Mr Chiam was expected to win and take over from the previous PAP MP. My parents were soooo psyched about the election (I know who my father voted for!), and it was a hot topic among residents in the estate. Of course, Mr Chiam won and he did many improvements for the ward. Gee, I was living a part of history!
What I remember about Sennett Estate - other than it having MacPherson Road and Upp. Serangoon Road on two sides, and being close to Upp. Aljunied CC, Mount Vernon and Bidadari cemetary - are the interesting street names. Our terraced house was on Belimbing Avenue, there was Chempaka Ave, Lichi Avenue etc.
I just thought of another pair of roads which can cause a lot of confusion if you don't pronounce their names properly - Lok Yang Way and Loyang Way. The former is in Jurong and the latter is in Changi. They are at opposite ends of the island.
Patricea - Chiam See Tong first won Pasir Panjang constituency in 1984. And do you know who he defeated? It was Mr Mah Bow Tan.
Victor. Are you trying to rewrite history? I mean Lokyang and Loyang can get mixed up. But Potong Pasir and Pasir Panjang .....
Victor must be a workaholic .. *hint hint*.
Erm, just this morning, he was commenting on Peter mixing up dental with mental. Opps.
Haha. Ok, Chun See and Icemoon. Slip of mind is not proof of mental case.
Both Pasir Panjang and Potong Pasir also have "pasir" (sand). Perhaps sand got in my eyes. Just like when I mixed up Philip Yeo with a fictitious Peter Yeo.
Hmm... Chun See, you are certainly getting more and more observant.
Victor, I think I can make you feel better - I am way younger than you.
That is because if Mr Chiam won the election and beat the PAP candidate for the first time in 1984, then it is not possible that I was there. I think it must have been the next election, which means he was fighting to retain his seat in Potong Pasir.
Wow, I was only 9 years old when we moved in to Sennett Estate in 1986. So long ago... Of course my memory is rusty!!! :p Also, I was never interested in Spore politics. I mean, Singapore youth are always more preoccupied about doing well in school than bothering about who is ruling the country.
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