B Societies all over the world name places in similar ways．Quite often there is no official namingceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people．Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name．Frequently it happens that a place has two names：One is named by the people and the other by the government．As in many areas，old habits died hard，andthe place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost． Many roads and places in Singapore(新加坡)are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generation．Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place．This is in keeping with tradition in many countries——in both the West and the East． Another way of naming places is naming them after other places．Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after．The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases．If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus——0bviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel． Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places． Bras Basah Road is an interesting example．“Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay(马来语)．Now why would an yone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road” The reason is ．During the pioneering days，wet rice was laid out to dry along this road． A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes．There is“Circular Road”for one．Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes，like “Paya I．ebar Crescent”．This roadis called a crescent(月牙)because it begins on the main road，makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again． Bras Basah Road is named ．