Lighthouse is located on Pulau Satumu, indicated by the arrow, south of Singapore.

The Raffles Lighthouse was first mooted in 1833, but the foundation stone was only laid in 1854 when William John Butterworth was the Governor of the Straits Settlements from 1843 to 1855. The stones on which Raffles Lighthouse stands come from the granite quarries on Pulau Ubin. The lighthouse was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore in 1819.

The lighthouse was erected on a 1.3-hectare rocky island called Pulau Satumu, the southernmost off-shore island of Singapore. Pulau Satumu means "one tree island" — sa refers to satu (one) and tumu is the Malay name for the large mangrove tree, Bruguiera confugata.

The lighthouse comprises a 29 metre tall white round tower granite structure with a lamp that can emit three white flashes every 20 seconds, visible for 20 nautical miles (37 km).

See also

• History of Singapore
• List of countries by southernmost point

Panoramic image

The Southern Islands, Singapore. Panoramic view of Pulau Satumu (Raffles Lighthouse), Pulau Biola, Pulau Senang, Pulau Pawai and Pulau Sudong, from Pulau Semakau. (Note: This is as close as you can get to see the islands due to its military sensitivity.)

References

• Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1

External links

• Singapore Infopedia: Raffles Lighthouse
• Lighthouse Depot: Raffles Lighthouse (with photo)
• Satellite image of Raffles Lighthouse and Pulau Satumu
• Lighthouse Directory:SGP
• Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society World List of Lights (WLOL): Singapore

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