Red Hill, or otherwise known as Bukit Merah in Malay (Bukit = Hill, Merah = Red), has a mysterious and bloody legend tied to the area.

According to Malay legend, when Singapore was populated by fishing villages in the early days, swordfish attacks were a threat to the fishermen. A young boy, concerned for these village men, proposed to the Sultan to build a line of banana tree trunks to ward off the swordfish. The Sultan agreed and executed the boy’s idea. To everyone’s delight, the defence was tough and eliminated the swordfish threat.

But the Sultan saw a new concern: the boy’s intelligence was apparent, and he was afraid that the villagers would shower the boy with more respect and the boy will eventually become more popular than him. He feared being dethroned and realised it was necessary to eradicate this risk. To that, he ordered his soldiers to murder his young competitor.

On that fateful night, four soldiers made their way up to the hill where the boy lived to carry out the mission. But they stopped in their tracks when they saw a fountain of blood spouting from the ground and a woman with long hair standing right before them. Terrified of this sight, the soldiers did not accomplish the mission. It was believed that the strange apparition was caused by a lady spirit.

There is also another version to this legend, where the soldiers carried out the deed. Upon killing the boy, his blood streamed down the hill and in turn caused the soil to turn red.

Ever since, the area has been named Red Hill.