Seletar
Encyclopedia
Seletar is an area of Singapore
within its North-East Region
. Seletar commonly refers to the areas south of Yishun
and west of Sungei Punggol
, covering Yio Chu Kang
near Jalan Kayu
(where there is Seletar Road), the Lower Seletar Reservoir
and part of Upper Thomson
(which is near to the Upper Seletar Reservoir
).
The Seletar Planning Area, an urban planning
zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority
, covers only the area between Lower Seletar Reservoir and Sungei Punggol, north of the Tampines Expressway
, and the reclaimed
islands of Pulau Punggol Barat and Pulau Punggol Timor.
Seletar is the site of the Seletar Airport
. A new S$60 million Seletar Aerospace Park
that spans 140 hectare
s will be built at Seletar, and is expected to be completed in 2018. The aerospace
park will house industries specialising in aircraft maintenance
and repair services.
There had been plans to transform Seletar into one of the Singapore's regional centres along with Jurong East
, Tampines
and Woodlands
in the early 1990s' but eventually the plan was scrapped.
word seletar refers to the aboriginal coastal dwellers (orang laut) called orang seletar, who lived along the mangrove
creeks
of the Johor Straits
and especially at the mouth of the Seletar River (which has since been dammed up to form the Lower Seletar Reservoir
), hence the river's name. Later, Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor is said to have taken these people from Seletar to Sungai Pulai in southwest Johor.
Franklin and Jackson
's 1830 Plan of Singapore makes reference to the River Saleta. In the mid-nineteenth century, the editor
, Cameron (1865:86-88) notes that the East India Company
maintained a small wood and attap
bungalow
for its company's servants nine miles from town at Selita.
In Chinese, Seletar is koon kung, or naval base
.
, was first cut in the 1840s.
The British naval
and air
bases were in Seletar. The decision to build the base was made in 1921. Work started in 1927, with the mangrove
swamps being filled in, hills removed and rubber
trees cut down. The work was completed in the early 1930s. RAF Seletar was the first Royal Air Force
base east of India and the first civilian airport in Singapore.
The Seletar Reservoir, now the Upper Seletar Reservoir
, was built in 1935.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
within its North-East Region
North-East Region, Singapore
The North-East Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the city-state. It includes seven urban planning areas. As its name implies, it is located in the north-eastern part of Singapore.The land area is about 13,810 hectares....
. Seletar commonly refers to the areas south of Yishun
Yishun
Yishun, or Nee Soon as it was initially named, is a suburban town in the northern part of Singapore, encompassing the Yishun Planning Area, in the North Region, which includes Yishun New Town and the Nee Soon private residential estate....
and west of Sungei Punggol
Sungei Punggol
Sungei Punggol is a river located within the North-East Region in Singapore.-Geography:...
, covering Yio Chu Kang
Yio Chu Kang
Yio Chu Kang is a sub-urban area in the northeast of Singapore, with proximity to the Ang Mo Kio, Seletar and Serangoon areas. Deriving its name from the Yio Chu Kang Village, it is still known for lush greenery and low-density housing with high-rise public housing in its southern fringes...
near Jalan Kayu
Jalan Kayu
Jalan Kayu is a name of a street situated within the Sengkang Planning Area in the North-East Region of Singapore, under the urban planning scheme of the Urban Redevelopment Authority...
(where there is Seletar Road), the Lower Seletar Reservoir
Lower Seletar Reservoir
Lower Seletar Reservoir is a reservoir located in the northeastern part of Singapore, to the east of Yishun New Town. The reservoir has a surface area of 3.6 km², and a capacity of 9.5 million m³. The mean depth of the reservoir is 2 m, with a maximum depth of 5.5 m...
and part of Upper Thomson
Thomson, Singapore
Thomson is a relatively narrow area stretching from Novena in the Central Region of Singapore up north till Yishun. The area is mainly located within the central catchment area where some of Singapore's reservoirs are located, including MacRitchie Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Lower Peirce...
(which is near to the Upper Seletar Reservoir
Upper Seletar Reservoir
Upper Seletar Reservoir is Singapore's third impounding reservoir, after MacRitchie Reservoir and Peirce Reservoir...
).
The Seletar Planning Area, an urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority
Urban Redevelopment Authority
The Urban Redevelopment Authority is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government.-Mission:The authority was established on 1 April 1974, and is of especially critical importance to the city-state,...
, covers only the area between Lower Seletar Reservoir and Sungei Punggol, north of the Tampines Expressway
Tampines Expressway
The Tampines Expressway is a highway in the north-eastern fringe of Singapore, joining the Pan Island Expressway near Singapore Changi Airport in the east with the Central Expressway and Seletar Expressway in the north of the island.The original part of this expressway started at the end of...
, and the reclaimed
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
islands of Pulau Punggol Barat and Pulau Punggol Timor.
Seletar is the site of the Seletar Airport
Seletar Airport
"RAF Seletar" & "Seletar Airbase/Airfield" redirects here.Seletar Airport is a civilian airport located at Seletar, in the northeastern region of Singapore, and is managed by the Changi Airport Group...
. A new S$60 million Seletar Aerospace Park
Seletar Aerospace Park
Seletar Aerospace Park is an industrial park in Singapore catering to the aerospace industries. Located in Seletar, the S$60 million plan to develop 140 hectares of land adjacent to Seletar Airport will further strengthen Singapore's position as an aviation hub...
that spans 140 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s will be built at Seletar, and is expected to be completed in 2018. The aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
park will house industries specialising in aircraft maintenance
Aircraft maintenance
Aircraft maintenance is the overhaul, repair, inspection or modification of an aircraft or aircraft component.Maintenance includes the installation or removal of a component from an aircraft or aircraft subassembly, but does not include:...
and repair services.
There had been plans to transform Seletar into one of the Singapore's regional centres along with Jurong East
Jurong East
Jurong East is a neighbourhood in Singapore, bounded by the Pan Island Expressway, a canal and the shoreline of Jurong Lake, Jurong Town Hall Road, the eastern side of Jurong Gardens, Ayer Rajah Expressway, Penjuru Road, West Coast Road, Sungei Pandan and back to the Pan Island Expressway.It is...
, Tampines
Tampines
Tampines is the largest residential area in the city-state of Singapore and is located in the East Region of the main island. The town is so named because in the 1900s a large forest of Tampines trees were there....
and Woodlands
Woodlands, Singapore
Woodlands, or the Woodlands New Town , is a suburban town in northern Singapore, part of the North West Community Development Council district...
in the early 1990s' but eventually the plan was scrapped.
Etymology
Seletar is probably one of the older local place names. The MalayMalay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
word seletar refers to the aboriginal coastal dwellers (orang laut) called orang seletar, who lived along the mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
creeks
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
of the Johor Straits
Straits of Johor
The Straits of Johor is a strait that separates the Malaysian state of Johor to the north from Singapore to the south....
and especially at the mouth of the Seletar River (which has since been dammed up to form the Lower Seletar Reservoir
Lower Seletar Reservoir
Lower Seletar Reservoir is a reservoir located in the northeastern part of Singapore, to the east of Yishun New Town. The reservoir has a surface area of 3.6 km², and a capacity of 9.5 million m³. The mean depth of the reservoir is 2 m, with a maximum depth of 5.5 m...
), hence the river's name. Later, Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor is said to have taken these people from Seletar to Sungai Pulai in southwest Johor.
Franklin and Jackson
Philip Jackson (surveyor)
Philip Jackson was a British Royal Navy lieutenant, who laid out the city plan for Singapore in 1822. He was a key person in Raffles plans for the settlement. The Elgin Bridge in Singapore was once named in his honour.-References:...
's 1830 Plan of Singapore makes reference to the River Saleta. In the mid-nineteenth century, the editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, Cameron (1865:86-88) notes that the East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
maintained a small wood and attap
Nypa fruticans
Nypa fruticans, known as the attap palm , nipa palm , and mangrove palm or buah atap , buah nipah , dừa nước , Ging Pol in Sinhala in Sri Lanka and gol pata , dani . It is the only palm considered a mangrove in the Mangroves Biome...
bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
for its company's servants nine miles from town at Selita.
In Chinese, Seletar is koon kung, or naval base
Naval base
A naval base is a military base, where warships and naval ships are deployed when they have no mission at sea or want to restock. Usually ships may also perform some minor repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usually stay on the ships but are undergoing maintenance while...
.
History
Seletar, now Thomson RoadThomson Road, Singapore
Thomson Road is a major trunk road linking Singapore's central business district with the northern suburban areas. Taking its name from John Turnbull Thomson, a Scotsman who was the Government Surveyor and Chief Engineer of the Straits Settlements from 1841 to 1853 and who helped build many roads...
, was first cut in the 1840s.
The British naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
and air
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
bases were in Seletar. The decision to build the base was made in 1921. Work started in 1927, with the mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swamps being filled in, hills removed and rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
trees cut down. The work was completed in the early 1930s. RAF Seletar was the first Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
base east of India and the first civilian airport in Singapore.
The Seletar Reservoir, now the Upper Seletar Reservoir
Upper Seletar Reservoir
Upper Seletar Reservoir is Singapore's third impounding reservoir, after MacRitchie Reservoir and Peirce Reservoir...
, was built in 1935.