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"One of these kids is not like the others...."
A couple of days ago, LTA announced the approved names for 14 stations in the Circle and Downtown Lines.  Check out the names and see if you can spot which one's the odd one out:

Final name (working name)

Haw Par Villa (West Coast)

Caldecott (Thomson)

Telok Ayer (Cross Street)

Downtown (Landmark)

Bayfront (Bayfront)

Rochor (Rochor)

Stevens (Stevens)

Tan Kah Kee (Duchess)

Sixth Avenue (Sixth Avenue)

King Albert Park (Blackmore)

Beauty World (Beauty World)

Hillview (Hillview)

Cashew (Cashew)

Bukit Panjang (Petir)

Well, what was glaringly obvious to me was that every single station was named after a geographical location except one: Tan Kah Kee, which was named after a person.  In fact, if you look at the entire public transport rail map, not a single tube station is named after a person—apart from Newton, Yishun, MacPherson, Bartley, Boon Keng, Mountbatten, and Clementi (yes, that's actually a person's name, for all you historically disinclined people), which are named after the physical location named after a person.

The difference between those and Tan Kah Kee, however, is that the area which the station is located is not called Tan Kah Kee—it's called Bukit Timah or Dunearn.  Even the estate where the station is to be located is called Duchess or Watten (which were the other shortlisted names).

How did the station come to be called Tan Kah Kee then?  What happened is that the staff, students, and alumni of Hwa Chong and Chinese High, upon hearing of LTA's public consultation exercise to name the stations, started a campaign to name the station 'Hwa Chong', in spite of the fact that LTA had already stated that "the names chosen should identify the station readily and also have a link to the heritage of the neighbourhood [but] should not be named after public structures, or commercial and residential developments".  So they campaigned to have it named 'Kah Kee' instead; after all, LTA said a station should not be named after public structures, but they didn't say it can't be named after a public person what.

No offence to Hwa Chong people (after all, it could happen to any one of us), but I think this is another example of how daft people can become when they stop thinking and adopt herd mentality.  Can you imagine what would happen if Bras Basah station was named 'De La Salle' or 'St Joseph's' instead (because it's right next to the Old SJI), or if the Esplanade station had been named 'Rajaratnam' (since the Durian was Rajaratnam's idea), or Novena Station had been named 'Tan Tock Seng', or Potong Pasir had been named 'St Andrew's' or 'Sherman Venn' (after the founder of SAS)?  Tourists are going to be so puzzled trying to get to Bukit Timah wondering what/where on earth 'Tan Kah Kee' is because they can't find it on a map!

This is why something integral to public transport, such as a tube station, should not be named after a person or even a public structure or commercial development.  LTA rightfully pointed this out when they forbade the names of the latter as those structures or developments could move away or be demolished and the physical link to the station name lost.  For the same reason, stations should not be named after people because there is hardly any physical link in the first place!  In fact, it might even have been more appropriate if it were named 'Hwa Chong', because at least there is a physical presence to link the station name to its surroundings, and would "identify the station readily" (as LTA stipulated).  As far as I can recall, in all the cities around the world that I've been to, all the tube stations are named after physical and geographical place names, not people.


On the note of being readily identifiable, I bet that once the Circle Line is operational, a lot of people are going to end up waiting for friends at Farrer Road station when they said Farrer Park instead.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_392000.html

June 18, 2009
Hwa Chong founder gets station
MRT station sited outside school to be called Tan Kah Kee
By Nicholas Yong

HWA Chong Institution (HCI) and its students past and present have welcomed a decision to name an MRT station to be sited outside the school after their founder, the late philanthropist Tan Kah Kee.

Principal Ang Wee Hiong said the school was 'very happy and proud' at the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) decision, calling it a tribute to the pioneering spirit of its founder.

A Facebook group celebrating the move, called Kah Kee Station, has attracted more than 800 fans on the popular networking site.

Alumna Lee Shi Min, 19, who is waiting to attend university, said: 'It's definitely something to be proud of.'

The LTA had sought suggestions for the names of nine stations on the 16.6km Downtown Line 2, which will open in 2015.

The LTA received more than 3,000 suggestions from the public. Almost 9,000 people participated in a polling exercise on the shortlisted names.

The LTA had said the names chosen should identify the station readily and also have a link to the heritage of the neighbourhood.

It added that stations should not be named after public structures, or commercial and residential developments.

But HCI canvassed students and alumni to take part in the exercise, in hopes that the station would be named Hwa Chong.

Following the public consultation exercise, three names were shortlisted: Duchess (the station's working name), Watten and Kah Kee.

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