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Tanah Merah is a region located in eastern Singapore. It consists largely of private residential properties, country clubs, and some light industrial parks. In this region also lies a segment of the East Coast Park. ==Etymology== The name ''Tanah Merah'' is an old name that appears in the seventeenth century (1604) map by Manuel Gomes de Erédia on Singapore, and is referred as ''Tana Mera''. This place name is likely to have been an important reference point for the ''orang laut'' (sea Gypsies) in their activities in the region. The Malay name for this area is probably derived from British references to this area based on the various surveys done. The name is derived from the red lateritic cliffs along the coast that were visible from the sea, hence the name ''Tanah Merah'' or "red land". The earliest written reference comes from James Horsburgh's 1806 chart of "Singapore and Malacca", which has the name "Red Cliffs". Later, two sets of red cliffs were identified in Franklin and Jackson's 1830 map: "Large Red Cliff" (Tanah Merah area) and "Small Red Cliff" (present Bedok area) and "2nd Red Cliffs" (Tanah Merah area). J.E. Tassin's 1836 ''Map of Singapore'' refers to the area as "1st Red Cliffs" (Bedok area) and "2nd Red Cliffs" (Tanah Merah area). While the other place names in Singapore were mentioned by their Malay names in the above maps, this area was recorded by its English reference, which shows that it had not as yet been given a local name. Old maps also show the existence of Tanah Merah Road as early as the 1840s, which stretched from Kallang River to Changi Point. Now, the road ran mostly along the original route but was renamed Geylang Road, Changi Road and Upper Changi Road, with a section between Siglap Road and Tanah Merah Kechil Road lost after the hills of Chai Chee and Bedok were levelled, and another short section lost under Changi Airport. Later, the road leading to "Large Red Cliff" was named "Tanah Merah Besar Road" while the other was named "Tanah Merah Kechil Road". ''Besar'' means "large" while ''Kechil'' means "little" in Malay. The presence of weathered lateritic soil provided the red-orange colouring of the area that led to its name even before Raffles' founding of Singapore. The exposed red lateritic soils were probably visible to many passing boats and hence the "landmark" was captured in early maps of Singapore. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tanah Merah, Singapore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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