Introduction p. 2 Jurong Bird Park (p. 64) ship berths and handled a diverse range of cargo including metals, Masjid Hasanah (p. 68) SAFTI (p. 51) Early History 2 Jurong Hill raw sugar, industrial chemicals and timber. The port is not open for 492 Teban Gardens Road 500 Upper Jurong Road public access. Historical extent of Jurong Jurong Railway (p. 58) The Orang Laut and Selat Samulun A remaining track can be found at Ulu Pandan Park Connector, Early accounts of Jurong between Clementi Ave 4 and 6 The gambier pioneers: opening up the interior Evolution of land use in Jurong Following Singapore’s independence in 1965, the Singapore Armed Growth of communities p. 18 Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) was established to provide formal training for officers to lead its armed forces. Formerly located at Pasir Villages and social life Laba Camp, the institute moved to its current premises in 1995. Navigating Jurong One of the most-loved places in Jurong, the Jurong Bird Park is the Following the resettlement of villagers from Jurong’s surrounding largest avian park in the Asia Pacific region with over 400 species islands in the 1960s, Masjid Hasanah was built to replace the old Science Centre Singapore (p. 67) Beginnings of industry of birds. suraus (small prayer houses) of the islands. With community 15 Science Centre Road Early educational institutions support, the mosque was rebuilt and reopened in 1996. Jurong Fishery Port (p. 57) Fishery Port Road Opened in 1966, Jurong Railway was another means to transport Nanyang University (p. 28) Tide of change: World War II p. 30 12 Nanyang Drive (Library and Administration Building); Established in 1969 at the former Tanjong Balai, this fishery port raw materials and export finished products from the industrial Yunnan Garden (Memorial); Jurong West Street 93 (Arch) 101 Special Training School handles most of the fish imported into Singapore and is also a estate. Operations ceased in the mid-1990s. marketing distribution centre for seafood. The Jurong Fishery Port Kranji-Jurong defence line Jurong’s brickworks industry and dragon kilns (p. 24) and Market are open to public visits. 85 Lorong Tawas (Thow Kwang Industry) and 97L Lorong Tawas Backbone of the nation: Jurong in the Singapore Story p. 35 (Jalan Bahar Clay Studios), both off Jalan Bahar Jurong Hill (p. 63) Industrialisation, Jurong and the making of modern Singapore 1 Jurong Hill Goh’s folly? Housing and building a liveable Jurong One of the first such facilities in Asia when it opened in 1977, the centre aims to promote and inculcate a love for scientific learning. Jurong Heritage Trail p. 44 It houses over a thousand exhibits in its 14 galleries. Legacy of old Jurong Singapore Discovery Centre (p. 53) Hawker centres in Jurong The creation of Nanyang University is a milestone in local and 510 Upper Jurong Road regional education and a marker of community action. Established Hong Kah Village in 1955, Nanyang University was the first Chinese university Chew Boon Lay and the Peng Kang area outside of China. The abovementioned three focal points of the Thow Kwang Industry and Jalan Bahar Clay Studios currently host university are national monuments. Leading the Forces: the Singapore Armed Forces in Jurong Currently the highest ground in Jurong, this hill provides a vista of Singapore’s last two remaining dragon kilns. Jurong was known for SAFTI Jurong Industrial Estate. In the late 1960s, the hill was transformed its brickworks industry, which played a critical role in the Old Jurong Road (p. 2) into a recreational space. Visiting heads of state and dignitaries construction of Singapore’s public estates in the 1960s. Brickworks Accessible from Bukit Batok Road or Jurong West Avenue 2 Army Museum of Singapore commemorated their visit to Jurong by planting trees in the Garden operated in Jurong as early as the 1920s. Before the development of Jurong in the 1960s, Jurong Road was Singapore Discovery Centre of Fame on the hill. the only road leading to south-western Singapore. Jurong Shipyard (p. 56) Industrial Heritage Jurong Lake (p. 62) 29 Tanjong Kling Road Our Museum @ Taman Jurong (p. 71) Bounded by Yuan Ching Road and Boon Lay Way, 1 Yung Sheng Road Former Jurong Town Hall accessible from various points Begun from the idea of setting up a National Defence Exhibition Jurong Port Centre, Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC) opened in 1996, focusing on National Education to inspire a sense of confidence in Jurong Shipyard the future of Singapore and in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Jurong Fishery Port Tong Whye Temple (p. 69) The Jurong Railway 212 Jurong East Street 32 Jurong and Singapore’s waste management Around Sungei Jurong Jurong Lake Jurong Shipyard enabled Singapore to establish itself as a major Our Museum @ Taman Jurong is Singapore’s first community Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden player in the shipping and shipbuilding industry. The shipyard museum, showcasing exhibitions co-created with the Taman Jurong Lake is one of the scenic green spaces earmarked for leisure began operations in 1964 to construct and repair ships and vessels. Jurong Hill Jurong community. and recreation in Jurong. In 1971, the upper section of Jurong River It is not open for public access. Jurong Birdpark was dammed, creating Jurong Lake. The Nature Society of Tong Whye Temple was established in 1932 by Hokkien migrants Singapore has catalogued some 123 species of birds in the area. Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan (p. 65) from southern Fujian in China. The migrants, who settled at the Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan Jurong Town Hall (p. 54) Accessible from West Coast Road or Jalan Buroh 9 Jurong Town Hall Road 10.5 milestone of Jurong Road, named the temple after their Former Jurong Drive-In Cinema Jurong Port (p. 55) hometown temple in Quanzhou. 37 Jurong Port Road Former Tang Dynasty Tuas Tua Pek Kong Temple (p. 69) Singapore Science Centre 118 Boon Lay Drive Religious Institutions in Jurong p. 68 Masjid Hasanah Tong Whye Temple Tuas Tua Pek Kong Temple Arulmigu Murugan Temple Before the Pandan Reservoir was constructed in 1974, the swamps This temple found its origins in the Japanese Occupation of Church of St Francis of Assisi Constructed as the headquarters of the Jurong Town Corporation, of Sungei Pandan were where Singapore’s most productive prawn Singapore. Following the death of 39 villagers by invading Japanese the building gained Conservation Status for its unique architecture farming ponds used to thrive. Today, the reservoir is a facility for forces in 1942, a group of eight villagers founded the Tua Pek Kong Jurong’s deep harbour made it suitable for a modern port to be and symbolic history in Singapore’s industrialisation. The building water sports, such as canoeing, rowing and sport fishing. temple in an attap hut in Tuas, seeking spiritual solace. Our Museum @ Taman Jurong p. 71 developed. Jurong Port officially began operations in 1965 with two is also a national monument. Prawn farming, 1960s. 29 Opening of Nanyang University, 1958. 50 The many methods of making it up the hill 40 rounds from the night of February 8 to did have a dramatic eff ect on the leg muscles 4.30am the next morning. of some, as Major (National Service) Paul Supramaniam testifi ed: The Japanese then began to bombard the Pasir Laba area with artillery and dive-bombing “Once you were used to running up Peng Kang Hill planes. By 8.15am, the battery had been hit in boots, often with your Standard Battle Order several times and the 44th Indian Infantry (SBO) and helmet, to be able to just run in PT Brigade in the area was in retreat. Amid the kit (physical training kit of a t-shirt and shorts) confusion, Allied troops that were attempting felt like you were fl ying! We were so fi t, and we to withdraw from Pasir Laba by sea were also were so honed that when we were in PT kit, we hit by friendly fi re, from the Fort Siloso Battery felt like we could defy gravity! That was the most on Sentosa. Demolition parties arrived and by positive, exhilarating experience. Nothing else 6.30pm, the guns, magazines, lights and stores of the Pasir Laba Battery were destroyed to quite matched it, not even being commissioned!” prevent the Japanese from using them. The sinew-straining, backbone-testing aspects Following Singapore’s independence in 1965, of Peng Kang Hill and its nearby elevations the new nation needed to establish a formal made Pasir Laba the perfect place for a military training structure for offi cers to lead its armed proving ground. It was said that while recruits forces. Existing regiments and battalions such of many races including Malays, Chinese, as the First Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR) Indians and Eurasians passed through the had been led by Malaysians or British offi cers. gates of SAFTI, all inside were of one colour – a The camp chosen to house the new Singapore deep sun-burnt brown. Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) was Pasir Laba Camp, in the western reaches of The area was a military focal point since the Jurong near the intersection of Upper Jurong 1930s, when the colonial authorities installed a Road and Pasir Laba Road. pair of artillery batteries at the end of Pasir Laba Road for coastal defence. The two six-inch guns, part of the Faber Fire Command, were intended to protect the western approach to Sembawang Naval Base from potential naval assaults. During the Japanese invasion of Singapore in February 1942, the Pasir Laba Battery was used to shell Imperial Army troops embarking to cross the Straits of Johor.