• The term “芭” originated from the Hokkien (Minnan) term “芭窑”. This was a transliteration of the Malay term paya, meaning “marshland” or “wetland”.
• In the early days, when parts of Singapore had yet to be developed, villages away from the city were referred to as “山笆”. At the time, Toa Payoh and Paya Lebar were swampland. The Mandarin term for Toa Payoh was originally written as “大芭窑” (large swampland), before it was changed to the present “大巴窑” in 1970 by the Committee on the Standardisation of Street Names in Chinese. Similarly, the name Paya Lebar also refers to “large swampland” in Malay. 

The term “芭” has given rise to other terms used to describe methods of clearing land for cultivation, including “开芭” (clearing of foresty areas), “砍芭” (chopping down of foresty areas), “烧芭” (burning of foresty areas). It is also used to describe aspects of rural life, such as “山芭学校” (rural school), “山芭小孩” (rural children), “山芭榴莲” (wild grown durians), “山芭鸡” (free range chicken).