Long Ya Men

Long Ya Men (Chinese: 龙牙门; pinyin: lóngyámén) or Dragon's Teeth Gate, is the name given to a craggy granite outcrop that formerly stood at the gateway to Keppel Harbour in Singapore. The rocky outcrop served as navigational aids to ancient mariners sailing through the swift waters of the narrow channel between them, but was subsequently destroyed by the British in 1848 to widen the channel for larger vessels to sail through. In 2005, a symbolic replica was erected by the Singapore government near its original site to mark the role it played in Singapore's maritime history.

Long Ya Men was documented in Wang Dayuan's travelogue Daoyi Zhilüe, and in the Mao Kun navigational map historical maritime annal Wubei Zhi said to date from the voyages of Ming dynasty's Admiral Zheng He. Long Ya Men in the map was also used to refer to the strait between Sentosa island and Labrador Point, and named after a pinnacle of stone that was called Batu Berlayar, which means “Sail Rock” in Malay. Another suggestion is that it refers to the Singapore Main Strait south of Pulau Satumu. The Long Ya Men's unique features was said to have assisted Zheng He in navigating the waters around Singapore during his seven maritime voyages to the west between 1405 and 1433 AD.

Historically the rocky outcrop was known locally by the Malays in earlier times as "Batu Berlayar" ("Sailing Rock") near the present site of Labrador Park, off Pasir Panjang Road. Another rock outcrop used to stand on the opposite shore of Tanjong Rimau on Sentosa Island. These two rock outcrops once formed a gateway at the western entrance to Keppel Harbour. British sailors named the more prominent Batu Berlayar, "Lot's Wife" in reference to the biblical story of the wife of Abraham's nephew. She was transformed into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed divine orders not to look back at the destruction of Sodom while fleeing from the city. It is argued that the two rocky outcrops are the two hills of Temasek named in Yuan sources as Long Ya Men (Dragon's Teeth Gate) since they resembled two dragon's teeth between which a passage of water runs. Another name Ling Ya Men (Chinese: 凌牙門; pinyin: Líng Yá Mén) is recorded in the Song Dynasty work Zhu Fan Zhi, however it is usually considered to be a different place.

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