• Originated from the Hokkien term te gu.
• In the 1950s, Singapore was still a colony that lacked resources, with a sluggish economy and limited job vacancies. The people were also generally poorly educated. To feed their families, many people became unlicensed hawkers, setting up all kinds of stalls in the streets and alleys. The earliest land or sanitary inspectors appeared during this period.
• At that time, all uniformed personnel with the authority to issue fines, such as inspectors from the City Council, Primary Production Department, and the Singapore Improvement Trust, were referred to by hawkers as te gu.
• It is believed that there are two possible origins of the term te gu. The first belief is that the term originates from a Chinese legend in Fujian and Chaozhou. The locals believed that there was a bull living under the ground and it carried the earth on one of its shoulders. When it gets tired, it would shift the earth from one shoulder to the other, causing the ground to shake. As early Chinese migrants moved to Southeast Asia, they used the legend of the underground bull (te gu) as a metaphor to describe the scene where inspectors arrest illegal hawkers, which was seen as chaotic as an earthquake. As a result, hawkers called the inspectors te gu.
• The second belief is related to the common name that the Teochew people have for a type of frog. The frog Microhyla pulchra, known as te gu in Chaozhou, is brownish-yellow, has black stripes, and is commonly found in Southeast Asia. In the past, the inspectors in Singapore wore khaki-coloured twill uniforms, which are similar in colour to the te gu. They also made noises and shouted during law enforcement operations that resembled the croaking sounds of the te gu. As the illegal hawkers detested the inspectors, they referred to the inspectors as te gu.

稽查员(Mainland China, Taiwan)

• During the COVID-19 period, the term te gu appears to have re-emerged in Singaporeans’ daily conversations, mainly to describe the Safe Distancing Ambassadors who would similarly issue fines if people did not maintain a safe distance.