Origin of Telok Kurau

Telok Kurau Road connects Changi Road to Marine Parade Road. Named after a fishing village called Telok Kurau on East Coast Road, the road has been a popular middle-class residential district since the 1960s.

History
The word Telok Kurau means "mango fish bay" as telok is Malay for "bay" and Kurau is Malay for "mango fish". Before kampongs were phased out by the 1980s, a Malay village called Telok Kurau was located on East Coast Road. It is not known when and why this village was named Telok Kurau Road.

In the pre-war days, it was common to see the Indians in Telok Kurau, They reared cows, leading the animals about freely on public roads. The cows would be led from one house to another and milked whenever someone wanted to buy milk.

Telok Kurau Primary School, formerly called the Telok Kurau English School, was established in 1926. A two-storey wooden building set in the middle of a coconut plantation, it shared the same football field with the Telok Kurau Malay School which lay in the adjacent compound. During the Japanese Occupation, the Telok Kurau English School was used as a screening centre before Sook Ching or "purging" was done by the Japanese soldiers. The road also had its share of violence during the Maria Hertogh riots.

Description
Since the '60s, Telok Kurau has been a sleepy and tranquil suburbia in Katong, known mostly as a residential enclave of the middle-class. This suburb roughly covers Telok Kurau Road which is intersected by several smaller roads namely Lorongs J, K, L, M and N, Telok Kurau. The charm of this area is in a big way due to the presence of unimposing buildings; a mix of modest bungalows, terrace and semi-detached houses and low-rise apartments, existing with coffee shops and small businesses. This settled charm it has managed to retain despite the thronging urban development that had taken place in nearby Katong.

Since the '90s, new housing projects has altered the landscape of Telok Kurau although not drastically. The low-rise character of the buildings still dominate with tall condominiums being the exception. New semi-detached houses have sprung up, and together with freshly-painted terrace houses, they constitute a notable feature in the changing landscape of Telok Kurau. Another prominent building along this road is the Hua Yan Jin She Temple.

By Thulaja, Naidu Ratnala written on 2003-08-04
National Library Board Singapore