Constructed using convict labour, the road appears on G.D. Coleman’s 1836 Map of Singapore as Beras Basah (beras is the Malay word for harvested rice with the husk removed). The road was so-called because in the early days wet rice was laid to dry here on the banks of the “fresh water stream” (now the Stamford Canal). Another version is that before the area between Bras Basah Road and Stamford Road was filled in, cargoes of rice were brought by boats into the lagoon and spread to dry on the road. On one occasion, the high tides wet the rice.