The following are taken from URA website. Click on the area and look for "Historical Background" under "Introduction" heading.
http://www.ura.gov.sg/landuse/devtguide-frame.htmBishan:Bishan used to be known as Kampong San Theng and Soon Hock Village.
The history of Kampong San Theng dates back to more than a century ago. Kampong San Theng together with the temple and other facilities, was the result of joint efforts by pioneer members of the three perfecters namely, Kwong Fu, Wai Chow Fu and Siew Hing Fu from the province of Canton, China.
Soon Hock Village was part of the larger Kampong San Theng. Prior to its resettlement programme, Soon Hock Village was an exclusive Chinese village with a predominance of Hokkiens. It was popular for its production of sesame oil and noodles.
Bukit Timah:John Prince, Acting Resident of the Incorporated Settlement first explored Bukit Timah in 1827 in preparation of cutting the road, which is now Bukit Timah Road. Apparently, the area was infested with tigers and it was such a serious threat to human life that Indian convicts were deployed to capture and kill these animals. Apart from this unpleasant presence, the area was rural with few inhabitants. It was a diverse area, having a spread of old kampung housing, rubber plantations, villages such as Bukit Timah Village. Moving into 1900s, other developments sprung forth - the railway route, industries, schools and a race course, the Bukit Turf Club.
Geylang:The history of Geylang Serai begins wih a small settlement consisting of Orang Laut and the Malays on the banks of Gaylang River. In the 1840s, the British Government dispersed the Malay floating village at the mouth of the Singapore River because of its obstruction to port traffic. The Malay inhabitants thus moved inland, with some setting up home in Geylang.
This new settlement at Geylang was known as 'Geylang Kelapa'. 'Kelapa' meaning coconut in Malay suggesting the presence of coconut plantaions. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, the settlement has been known as 'Geylang Serai', 'Serai' in Malay is 'Lemon grass' indicating the growth or cultivation of lemon grass in the area.
Tanjong Katong (Marine Parade):Tanjong Katong is the Malay name for "turtle point"; "Katong" was a species of sea turtle which is now extinct. The name can also mean the rippling effect of a mirage across the shoreline.
The old Tanjong Katong area stretched from the coastal line at the end of Upper East Coast Road to the Tanjong Rhu area. Many wealthy Straits Chinese, Europeans and Jews built mansions, hotels and recreation clubs along the beach as weekend retreats that is distinctive of Marine Parade to enjoy the sea breeze and tranquil atmosphere.
Stretching from the shoreline towards the former Grove Road (now Mountbatten Road) was a vast coconut plantation known as the Grove Estate. It was owned by Thomas Dunman, Singapore's first Superintendent of Police, who planted groves of coconut trees. Demand for housing due to population growth and the advent of motorized transport led to the gradual fragmentation of the plantations and accelerated the urbanization of the eastern part of the island. By 1941, the residential areas as what we know today were well established.
Queenstown:Queenstown was previously an agricultural area. Before the war in 1942, there were hundreds of people living in attap huts cultivating vegetables, growing fruits and rearing pigs and chickens. The British also set up a military camp, known as Buller Camp, in Queenstown. It was not until 1953 when the SIT cleared the camp site and built a housing estate there.
Pasir Panjang:Pasir Panjang in the south is the Malay name for "long sandy beach". Malay villages used to dot the coastline along Pasir Panjang. The main economic activities were fishing and small scale agriculture. Developments in the area only took place later after the war. In the 1950s, the area began to take on a suburban character as bungalows were built along the coastline, fronting the sea. The sea and facilities such as Haw Par Villa has made Pasir Panjang a popular recreational area for residents and vistors alike.
Toa Payoh:'Payoh' originates from the Malay word 'paya' for swamp. Toa Payoh is the Chinese equivalent of Paya Lebar, that is, the "big swamp land". It was an extensive and notorious squatter district. Most squatters were engaged in farming and rearing pigs. The others were hawkers, factory workers, mechanics or domestic helpers.
The squatters started moving out in 1962 as a result of increased compensation rates and other practical inducements offered by the Government. Clearance work was able to commence and the redevelopment started in early 1964. The Toa Payoh New Town, HDB's second satellite town, was built in 1970. The housing estate was self-contained and had a town centre acting as a focal point for the shopping and entertainment needs of the residents. Industrial developments were also build within the town to provide residents with job opportunities close to home while schools were built within the neighbourhood.
Bedok:Bedok is the Malay name for the drum that was used in the pre-loudspeaker days to call worshippers to pray at the mosque.
At Jalan Sempadan, on the outskirts of Bedok there is a cemetery where Rhio and Bornean relatives who settled in the district in the pre-Rafflesian days are buried.
Siglap, the southern part of Bedok was a vast coconut plantation known as the Siglap Estate that stretched from the beach to Changi Road and narrow Siglap Road wound through it from Upper East Coast Road.
Changi:Changi was famous for its coconut plantations in the 1800s. The terrain of the area is generally flat except for three main hill areas namely the Battery Hill, The Fairy Point Hill and Temple Hill. As early as 1845, it was already a fashionable resort for picnic parties. The open land and sandy beach along Nicoll Drive offered a peaceful hideaway.
In 1926, the British cleared the plantations and the steep coastal cliffs off Changi coast to build an Air Base. Around the same time, the Changi Hospital was constructed. The Changi Point area during this period was mainly used for military barrack and administrative quarters.
Pasir Ris:"Pasir Ris", which means "White sand" in Malay, is the name that was used to describe the long stretch of sandy beach along the north-east coastline of Singapore that faces Pulau Ubin. The beach used to be dotted with balmy coconut trees and mangrove swamps.
Pasir Ris used to be a low-lying and undeveloped area with kampongs and villages, for example Kampong Pasir Ris, Kampong Bahru and the Chinese villages at Elias Road. The name "Sungei Tampines" is a reminder of "Tampinis" which is the old Malay name for Riau iron-wood tree; and the timber trade that flourished in the early days but has since been exhausted.
Despite its rural character, the Pasir Ris area, according to records obtained from the National Archives, was a popular beach resort with a hotel and a good beach that was ideal for swimming and picnics. Even in the 1950s, water skiing was already a popular sport there.
Paya Lebar:Paya Lebar used to be a big swamp area, and that is how it got its name. In Malay "Paya" means swamp and "Lebar" means wide.
In the early days, there were rural settlements and agricultural areas in Paya Lebar. On 20 August 1955, the Paya Lebar International Airport was opened by the then Secretary of State for the British colonies, Mr Alan Lennox Boyd. The airport had since become the chief landmark for Paya Lebar Planning Area. However, the airport ceased its civil aviation operation in 1981 when the Changi International Airport was opened.
To the east of the Paya Lebar Airport, the area was once used for sand quarrying. As a result, many disused sand quarry ponds were formed after the sand quarrying operations ceased in 1980s.
Tampines:The name "Tampines" originated from the name of a valuable timber tree. The name of the tree was formerly spelt as "Tampinis". It was changed to "Tampines" as it was the nearest romanised version of the word. The tree provided a strong and durable ironwood timber which was in great demand in the early days. As there was no forest conservation during those days, the popular demand of the wood from the Tampines tree almost made it extinct by the early eighties.
There used to be a village also named "Tampines" along the 7th mile Upper Serangoon Road.
Ang Mo Kio:The name "Ang Mo Kio" which means the "red hair bridge" was derived from a bridge in Thomson Road built by J.T. Thomson who was the government surveyor during the period 1841-1854. He was credited for having prepared a fully annotated SINGAPORE map in 1843. It was probably due to his preference for the name "ANG MO KIO" on learning what the Chinese settlers called the bridge that he named the district after it.
Ang Mo Kio Town is the seventh town developed by HDB. The area boasts some interesting firsts. It is the first to use new flats as distinct from improved flats. First to provide 5 room flats in slab block form (as distinct from point-block) and first HDB town to be designed in metric dimensions.
The Ang Mo Kio Town Centre is built over an elongated valley formerly occupied by squatters. This 29 ha town centre contains all the commercial office, cultural and community facilities serving 200,000 residents. It also won the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) Outstanding Buildings Award in 1983.
Hougang and Serangoon:Serangoon Road is divided into two sections; the first extending from Selegie Road to Macpherson Road and the second from Macpherson Road northwards. This latter part is called Upper Serangoon Road, which forms the main transportation spine serving the Hougang Planning Area. Serangoon Road was named after `Rangong' a bird of the stork species. This bird used to abound in the swamp around the Serangoon River in the old days. The Chinese called Serangoon `Ow kung', that is back of the river. As the name implies, the Hougang Planning Area is located upstream or at the back of the Sungei Serangoon.
From post-World War II to the 1960's, Serangoon was characterised by a spread of old Kampong settlements, villages, rubber plantations and other agricultural activities. It was populated predominantly by Chinese with a few Malays and Hindus. They lived in small compounds where they grew fruit trees and poultry with their own supply of well water. The major crops were durian and coconut with other fruit trees. In addition, the Sembawang Rubber Plantation was located in Serangoon Garden. The primary roads connecting this area to other locations were Serangoon Road and Yio Chu Kang Road.
In the early 1960's, electricity supply was introduced to Serangoon North, and from 1970, roads were widened and the housing area was further developed.
Sengkang:Sengkang, meaning "prosperous harbour" in Chinese, is the new name for the planning area. The name comes from a road called Lorong Sengkang, off Lorong Buangkok. The area was formerly known as Kangkar (GangJiao) or "foot of the port" as there was once a fishing port located along Sungei Serangoon. Fishing villages and rubber and pepper plantations flourished in the area in the old days.
Punggol:Kampong Punggol, which was located in the vicinity of the Punggol Jetty, was believed to have existed 200 years ago, even before Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore. It was one of the oldest settlements in Singapore. The original settlers were predominantly Malays. Fishing was then the main activity. Villagers also planted fruits and vegetables.
In Malay, Punggol (also spelled Ponggol), means hurling sticks at the branches of fruit trees to bring the fruits down to the ground. It also refers to a place where fruits and forest produce are offered for wholesale.
The early Chinese immigrants, who settled in Punggol from the mid 19th century onwards, were engaged in plantation work (mainly rubber). As more and more Chinese immigrants settled in Punggol, poultry farming and pig rearing activities flourished.
Trading on farm produce, fruits and vegetables was carried out in the marketplace at the former eighth milestone of Punggol Road.
The Serangoon River mouth became the docking point for fishing boats where fishermen gathered to sell their catch.
In the 1960s, basic amenities like piped water, electricity, paved roads, and drainage systems were introduced through government and self-help programmes. It was also at this time that television became popular and antennas could be seen installed on many kampong rooftops.
Poultry and pig farms were gradually phased out when redevelopment commenced in the 1970s. Land vacated by resettled farmers were then tendered out on short term leases for non-pollutive agricultural activities (eg. vegetable farming).
Punggol was also known for its sumptuous seafood and boatels that provided services like docking and renting of boats for boating, water-skiing and skin-diving lessons. These seafood restaurants and boatels have since been relocated to facilitate reclamation works.
Sembawang:The Sembawang district got its name from the Sembawang tree. The area was originally planned as a naval base. The bungalows west of the junction of Sembawang Road and Admiralty Road East used to be residence for the British naval officers. They were built after World War II and are characteristic of the colonial architecture of the period.
The names of the minor roads within the bungalows area also reflect the previous British Naval Base: Falkland, Canada, Montreal, King's Avenue, Malta Crescent, Cyprus, St. Helena and Gibraltar Crescent.
Simpang:The area was formerly covered by coconut and rubber plantations, fruit orchards and farms. There were also large areas of natural vegetation consisting of forest and mangrove swamps. The northern part of Simapng was traversed by two major tributaries of Sungei Simpang. Fish and prawn ponds were created along the bank of Sungei Khatib Bongsu.
In 1987, large area of northern Simpang was cleared and levelled. The two tributaries of Sungei Simpang were filled. Only Tanjong Irau and the area lying between Sungei Khatib Bongsu and Sungei Seletar were left untouched.
Sungei Kadut and Woodlands:Sungei Kadut was the name of a small river located to the southern part of the existing Sungei Kadut Industrial Estate. The river used to flow northward into Sungei Kranji, which is the existing Kranji Reservoir. A large part of the planning area however was commonly known as "Kranji" or "Keranji" - the name of a tree (dialium indicum) growing in the district. A main road running from the city through "Kranji" was constructed to link up to the Causeway.
In the 1970s, HDB started development of the Woodlands Town. The first 1,300units were completed at end of 1972. This was followed by the development of the Town Centre with more public housing and industrial development.
Yishun:The history of Yishun can be traced back to the mid 19th century when gambier and pepper plantations flourished along the Seletar River. These plantations, which were mostly owned by Teochew immigrants, were replaced by more profitable pineapple and rubber estates at the end of the 19th century. Amongst local entrepreneurs who dominated the rubber industry was Lim Nee Soon, from whom the area later derived its name.
From post-World War II to the 1960s, most of the farmlands in Yishun area were devoted to mixed farming, in particular a combination of horticulture, poultry and livestock breeding. Fishery production activity could also be found near the three rivers of Sungei Simpang, Sungei Khatib Bongsu and Sungei Seletar.
Yishun continued to be a rural area in the 1970s until it was developed as a satellite town in early 1980s.
Bukit Batok:Bukit Batok used to be a sleepy rural outback. The undeveloped area was occupied by forest, farm lands and factories. Prominent factories included the Hume Industries and the Ford Motor Works Factory along Upper Bukit Timah Road.
The Bukit Batok area was also used for military training and granite quarrying as early as the 1950s. In fact the word Bukit Batok was derived from the Malay word "Bukit" which means Hill and "Batok" which means cough. The blasting of the granite quarries was seen as though the "Hills were coughing", hence the name "Bukit Batok".
In the 1960s, Bukit Batok was sparsely populated with the bulk of its population living in squatters and temporary structures. In the 1970s, the squatters were cleared to make way for a modern satellite town. In the 1980s, the HDB flats were in Bukit Batok.
Bukit Panjang:Bukit Panjang gets its name from the range of low hills which begins from Mandai and ends in Bukit Timah to the south. It means a "long spread of hill" in Malay. The Bukit Panjang area used to comprise rural settlements which grew up along Bukit Timah Road in the early 1900s.
Choa Chu Kang:The name "Choa Chu Kang" is derived from the word "kang chu". In the late eighteenth century or the early nineteenth century, the Sultan of Johor allowed the Chinese immigrants to plant "ganmi" and pepper along the river bank. These immigrants were called "Kangchu"-the word "kang" means river and "chu" is the clan name of the first headman in charge of the plantations in the area.
Choa Chu Kang became a small rural Chinese district. It was a diverse area with old kampong housing and rubber plantations. Residents had to depend on boats or bullock carts for transportation. Among the few villages which sprang up were Kampong Belimbing and Kampong Choa Chu Kang. Interestingly, most of the inhabitants belonged to the Teochew dialect group. The early Teochew settlers were mainly farmers growing "ganmi" and pepper. The Hokkiens, who moved in later, established pineapple, rubber and coconut plantations as well as vegetable farms and poulty farms.
In the early days, the area was infested by tigers. The last tiger of Singapore was shot here in the 1930s.
The old attap houses, street hawkers and Chinese kampongs have since disappeared from Choa Chu Kang. Today, Choa Chu Kang is being developed into a modern housing estate with ample community and recreational facilities.
Clementi:The Clementi area is named after Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner during the period 1887-1893. He was an accomplished Chinese scholar who spent most of his career in the East. He was so well liked that when he left Singapore in 1893, the Chinese community petitioned for his continuation as Governor for another term.
Part of Clementi used to be a swampland. The other part comprised kampongs and villages with squatter-type homes, backyard trades, cottage industries and farms.
Clementi Town was developed in phases between 1975 and 1979. The town was the eighth town to be developed by the Housing and Development Board. The town was planned to be self-sufficient to accommodate an adequate range of facilities and services with employment opportunities.
Jurong East and Jurong West:Jurong was chosen as the site for Singapore's first industrial estate. The area was a hilly jungle-covered land with fish and prawn ponds and crocodile-infested rivers.
The land was rural and mostly state-owned. The small number or residents meant easier relocation. Levelling the land was also easier as the low hills around the area would be cut down to fill swamps and reclaim land.
In the 1950s, Jurong West was mainly swamp land with low hills, shrubs and a jungle. It was eventually developed into an industrial base in the 1960s, supported by low-cost housing.
