• The term “石叻” in “石叻坡” is a transliteration of the Malay word selat, which means “straits”. Singapore is fronted by the Singapore Straits and backed by the Johor Straits, hence it was known as “Selat”. The Chinese used the term to refer to Singapore since its beginnings as a trading port. The name is represented by different Chinese phonetic characters in writing, like “石叻”, “实力”, “实叻”, and “叻埠”. It also appears as “息辣”, “息力” and “息竦” in Chinese documents from the Qing dynasty.

I heard from my father that due to difficult living conditions, my grandfather journeyed south from China to make a living in what was then called Selat. (Lianhe Zaobao, 3/12/2018)

• In Portuguese works from the 16th century, the indigenous sea dwellers (Orang Laut, literally "sea people" in Malay) on Singapore island were referred to as “Cellates”.
• In 1881, See Ewe Lay established the Lat Pau (《叻报》) newspaper in Singapore, taking its name from “Selat”.