Finance Malaysia

The One Thing The Media Missed On Sentosa Island

Sentosa Island, what a charming name in Malay. I mean, did the name came by accident. In Malay, "sentosa" means peaceful or tranquility. Ta-dah ... Sentosa was the new name for the island, renamed by smart Singapore government officials. Does anyone have a clue of its old name? I think, if they stuck with the old name, there WOULD HAVE BEEN LOUD GUFFAWS heard around the region.

The previous name for Sentosa Island was Pulau Belakang Mati. Literally it translates to "Stabbed In The Back Island" or "Died In The Rear Island". I cannot fathom anyone wanting to name an island with that name. Can you imagine a casino with the name Belakang Mati Casino - man, talk about bad fengshui - Masuk Hidup, Belakang Mati (Enter Alive, Die In The End ..) could be the slogan then. The thing is the words "Belakang Mati" are so vague, it could literally taken to mean so many things, for example:

a) Stabbed in the back
b) Died in the rear or back alley
c) An unfortunate homosexual incident
d) Standing in the queue and finding out those behind have somehow died
e) Possibly a very good punchline to a good Bengali joke
f) Something died around your anal area

Whatever it is, I seriously cannot find any positive connotation with the name used. It would have been cool though to have Belakang Mati Integrated Resort emblazoned in bright lights!! "Belakang Mati hotel reservations, may I helpthch chew?"

p/s for a more politically correct history and opinion on Sentosa, please visit the following site of a fellow blogger which also posted on Sentosa Island:
http://zentrader.blogspot.com/

Title:
Posted by:Iwanr
Published :2006-12-10T20:56:00-08:00
Rating: 3.5
Reviewer: 5 Reviews

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Ditulis oleh Iwanr pada tanggal Sunday, 10 December 2006