North-Eastern Islands | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 1°24′52.9″N104°00′20.7″E / 1.414694°N 104.005750°E | |
Country | Singapore |
Region | North-East Region |
CDC | |
Town council |
|
Constituency | |
Government | |
• Mayor | South East CDC |
• Member of Parliament | East Coast GRC |
Area | |
• Total | 42.8 km2 (16.5 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 38 |
• Density | 0.89/km2 (2.3/sq mi) |
The North-Eastern Islands is a planning area and a group of islands located within the North-East Region of Singapore. The cluster is made up of three islands, namely Pulau Tekong, Pulau Tekong Kechil and Pulau Ubin. Pulau Tekong and Pulau Tekong Kechil was formerly home to 10 villages while Pulau Ubin was home to a number of granite quarries. At present, Pulau Tekong houses the Singapore Armed Forces Basic Military Training Centre while Pulau Ubin is one of the last areas in Singapore that has been preserved from urban development, concrete buildings and tarmac roads. [3] [4]
The North-Eastern Islands planning area shares maritime boundaries with Changi, Pasir Ris and Punggol. The entire planning area is situated on the Straits of Johor.
The islands were first inhabited by the Malays in the 1850s and by 1957, the population of the islands reached its peak at 4,169 residents, with 10 kampongs (villages) with predominantly Chinese residents. [5] The islanders were all resettled onto the mainland by the 1980s due to Singapore's urbanisation and land reclamation works were carried out by the government to merge Pulau Tekong Kechil with the larger Pulau Tekong. [6]
In the 1880s, a number of Malays led by Endut Senin, from the Kallang River were said to have moved to the island that began the thriving Malay community on the island. During the 1950s and 1970s, there were 2,000 residents living on the island and the island had its own schools. [7] With a student population that once numbered 400, enrolment fell as Singapore developed and many islanders resettled onto the mainland. The school closed in 1985, and was demolished on 2 April 2000. There was also a private Malay school around 1956 at Kampung Melayu, which closed in the late 1970s. [8]
Since the British founding of Singapore, the island has been known for its granite. The numerous granite quarries on the island supply the local construction industry. The granite outcrops are particularly spectacular from the sea because their grooves and fluted sides create furrows and ridges on each granite rock slab. These features are captured in John Turnbull Thomson's 1850 painting —Grooved stones on Pulo Ubin near Singapore. In the 1970s as the granite quarries closed down and jobs dwindled, residents began leaving. [9]
Jurong is a major geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, and Pioneer, along with Jurong Island in the Western Islands cluster and the southernmost portions of the Western Water Catchment. Should it be described at its greatest historical extent, the region can also include present-day Bukit Batok and Tuas.
Jurong Island is an island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore. It was formed from the amalgamation of seven offshore islands, the islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kechil, Pulau Sakra, Pulau Seraya, Pulau Meskol, Pulau Mesemut Laut, Pulau Mesemut Darat and Anak Pulau. This was done through Singapore's land reclamation efforts. Land reclamation on Jurong Island was completed on 25 September 2009, 20 years earlier than scheduled. Pulau Buaya was joined to Jurong Island via reclamation in 2010. Jurong Island forms a land area of about 32 km2 (12 sq mi) from an initial area of less than 10 km2 (4 sq mi), and is the largest of Singapore's outlying islands.
Pulau Tekong, also known colloquially as Tekong or Tekong Island, is the second-largest of Singapore's outlying islands after Jurong Island. Tekong is located off Singapore's northeastern coast, east of Pulau Ubin. Since the 1990s, the island has been used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and is generally restricted from public access. Transport to the island for permitted persons is via the SAF Changi Ferry Terminal at Changi Beach.
Pulau Ubin, also simply known as Ubin, is an island situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. The granite quarry used to be supported by a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about 40 villagers remained as of 2012. It is one of the last rural areas to be found in Singapore, with an abundance of natural flora and fauna. The island forms part of the Ubin–Khatib Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of visiting and resident birds, some of which are threatened. Today, the island is managed by the National Parks Board, compared to 12 agencies managing different areas of the island previously.
Tanjong Chek Jawa is a cape and the name of its 100-hectare wetlands located on the south-eastern tip of Pulau Ubin, an island off the north-eastern coast of the main island of Singapore. Chek Jawa is among the last few places left in Singapore with a natural rocky shore.
Pulau Semakau is located to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. The Semakau Landfill is located on the eastern side of the island, and was created by the amalgamation of Pulau Sakeng, and "anchored" to Pulau Semakau. The Semakau Landfill is Singapore's first offshore landfill and now the only remaining landfill in Singapore.
Pulau Tekong Reservoir is a reservoir located on the north west of Pulau Tekong, an island in Singapore. It is part of the North-Eastern Islands planning area.
Pulau Bukom, also known as Pulau Bukum, is a small restricted-access island belonging to Singapore that is located about five kilometres to the south of Mainland Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. The size of Pulau Bukom is about 1.45 km2 (0.56 sq mi).
The Malaysia–Singapore border is an international maritime border between the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, which lies to the north of the border, and Singapore to the south. The boundary is formed by straight lines between maritime geographical coordinates running along or near the deepest channel of the Straits of Johor.
The North-East Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the country. The region is the most densely populated and has the highest population among the five, with Sengkang being its most populous town as of 2020 and Seletar as the regional centre. Comprising 13,810 hectares, it includes seven planning areas and is largely a residential region with 217,120 homes. Housing largely consists of high-density HDB public housing estates, however private housing is also present in the region. As its name implies, it is located in the north-eastern part of Singapore.
Pulau Sajahat, was a small island about 1.2 hectares located off the north-eastern coast of Singapore, near Pulau Tekong. The island, together with its smaller companion Pulau Sejahat Kechil, has been subsumed by Pulau Tekong with the land reclamation works on Pulau Tekong's southern and northwestern coasts.
Singapore Island, or Pulau Ujong, also known as mainland Singapore, is the main constituent island of the sovereign island country and city-state of the Republic of Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of Malay Peninsula, in-between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. The Singapore Strait lies to the south, while the Johor Strait lies to the north.
Singapore has about 65 species of mammals, 390 species of birds, 110 species of reptiles, 30 species of amphibians, more than 300 butterfly species, 127 dragonfly species, and over 2,000 recorded species of marine wildlife.
Serangoon Harbour is a harbour in Singapore located between the mainland island of Singapore and Pulau Ubin.
The Western Islands is a planning area located within the West Region of Singapore. It comprises a collection of islands located in the south-western waters of Singapore, namely Jurong Island, Pulau Bukom and Sudong Islands.
The Ubin–Khatib Important Bird Area, also known as the North-East Conservation Area , is an 8940 ha tract of largely undeveloped land in north-eastern Singapore on the border with the Malaysian state of Johor. It encompasses the island of Ubin and much of the islands of Tekong and Tekong Kechil, as well as a coastal strip of the main island, including the Lower Seletar Reservoir, with the intervening coastal waters, seagrass beds, mangroves and intertidal mudflats.
The German Girl Shrine is a shrine on the island of Pulau Ubin in Singapore. It marks the site of the burial of an unknown 18-year-old girl who died on the island in 1914 after falling from a cliff while fleeing from British forces who sought to detain a number of German nationals then resident on the island. Her body was recovered and interred in an urn on the site by Chinese workers, and a makeshift shrine structure was built. The site was visited frequently by gamblers who thought the spirit of the girl would bring them good luck. A permanent structure was erected in 1974 by a company carrying out quarrying on the island. Quarrying has since ceased, and the shrine is now within Ketam Mountain Bike Park. Visitors often leave offerings, including makeup and Barbie dolls, at the site.