Ang Mo Kio - Origin of The Name

Origin of The Name

The locality's name is believed by some to derive from the Hokkien phrase Ang Mo Kio (红毛茄 aka 番茄), meaning "Red Tomato". The term ang mo (literally "red hair") is a somewhat derogatory Hokkien reference to the people with fair hair who settled from the West and, because such a name might be considered unflattering, it is now written as 宏茂桥 which is pronounced in an almost identical way but means "Bridge of Expansiveness and Prosperity". Some local people have incorrectly assumed that the new version of the name refers to the bridges at the seventh milestone of Thomson Road (found at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Thomson Road). These two old bridges were known as Or-kio （乌桥）("black bridges") in the local spoken dialects. Research suggests that neither of these bridges were officially named, but they spanned the canal and the old Kallang River forming a link to the Peirce Reservoir.

The actual source of the name comes from the old survey maps which label the land as "Mukim of Ang Mo Kio" (Mukim meaning "area" or "precinct" in Malay). The word "Ang Mo" 红毛 may in fact not refer to Westerners. Rather, it is derived from two separate combined phrases in Hokkien. Ang Mo Dan means "rambutan" 红毛丹, a local fruit, red and covered in hair, found plentifully around the areas of old kampongs. Likely the second suffix "kio" 桥 ("bridge" or "bridges" in Hokkien) was added to the prefix "Ang Mo" 红毛 as an additional description to indicate a more precise location that residents would recognize i.e.红毛桥. There were many concrete bridges built by the old kampong dwellers. It first appears on the early maps drawn by surveyors who took those two phrases and combined them to form "Mukim of Ang Mo Kio" ("District of Ang Mo Kio"). The actual location of Ang Mo Kio New Town has been also known by the former name Kou-teu kio, Hokkien for "Ninth Bridge".