Have you heard of a Spoonerism? It is an unintentional (or sometimes, intended for comedic effect) slip-up of words such that the first sound of a group of words are mixed up – such as “bowel feast” (foul beast), “cop porn” (popcorn), and “you’ve tasted two worms” (you’ve wasted two terms). This state of verbal mix-up is attributed to one Reverend William Archibald Spooner, who was said to be prone to such slip-ups. In Singapore, we also know of one Spooner, but he’s not so much known for verbal mix-ups as he is for the town drain (ie, down train).


Yes, there’s even a Spooner Road – although much of where this road leads to is technically Malaysia. Who was this Spooner?

The road is named after none other than Mr Charles Edwin Spooner, who came over as a State Engineer with the Public Works Department (PWD) in Selangor after a stint with the PWD in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Among the projects that he oversaw and possibly influenced being in charge of the Selangor PWD was the construction of the wondrous and iconic Moorish styled Sultan Abdul Samad building which many now identify Kuala Lumpur with. In 1901, Spooner was appointed as the first General Manager of the FMS Railways (FMSR) and in that capacity oversaw the rapid expansion of the predecessors to what became the Malayan Railway, including the construction of the 120 mile long Johore State Railways linking Gemas to Johor Baharu, and the magnificent station building in Kuala Lumpur, which was completed a year after Spooner’s untimely death in 1909. It was after Mr Spooner, that not only saw a Spooner Road named after him in Singapore, but one associated with the Railways in Kuala Lumpur (I am not sure if this exists anymore) and also in Ipoh (which is now named Jalan Spooner). And it is for all his achievements, spending a better part of his life in the improvement of the colonies both in Ceylon and Malaya that we owe Mr Spooner at least a place in our own history and for our future generations not only to honour the memory of Charles Edwin Spooner, but also to serve as a memory of the Railway line that once ran through Singapore.

Jerome explores the area around Spooner Road, land currently owned by Malaysia and managed by the Malaysian Railway and you can read about it here.