North-Eastern Island of Singapore
Map of Pulau Tekong in Singapore
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
.
The original 25 km
2
(6,178-acre) island has undergone extensive
land reclamation
works for military use on its southern and northwestern coasts subsuming many of its surrounding small
islets
, including the former 89-hectare (220-acre)
Pulau Tekong Kechil
(Small Tekong Island). When fully completed, the island is estimated to reach an area of about 75 km
2
(18,530 acres).
[1]
Etymology
[
edit
]
Pulau Tekong appears in the Franklin and
Jackson
's 1828 map as
Po. Tukang
.
[2]
The early name could have arisen because the island served as a
trading
station for both residents of
Pulau Ubin
and the state of Johor.
Tukang
means merchants in this case.
Tekong
means "an obstacle", so-called because the island blocks the mouth of the
Sungai Johor
.
Pulo Tekong Besar
came under the
Changi
district, and the island had a sizeable population, being the largest island off Singapore and two miles from Fairy Point.
Ferries
plied from the
pier
at that point and the island daily. After 1920, it was mostly known for its rubber plantations.
History
[
edit
]
Civilian era
[
edit
]
The island was once home to 5000 inhabitants, the last of which moved out in 1987. 60 percent of the inhabitants were Chinese, out of which 70 percent were
Hakkas
and 30 percent were
Teochews
, and 40 percent were Malays.
[3]
[4]
There were a few Indians as well.
The reason for Hakka being the majority of the Chinese population is that most of the
Hokkien
and Teochew businessmen already had flourishing businesses on the mainland. When the Hakkas arrived, they decided to make a living on an island less inhabited. Most were
farmers
,
fishermen
and shop owners selling sundry goods.
Wild
pigs
and
deer
were once plentiful on Pulau Tekong, and attracted hunters from Singapore.
Pulo Tekong Besar
had undergone so much development after
World War II
, with
vegetable
,
fruit
and
poultry
farms, that the wildlife has mostly disappeared.
Military era
[
edit
]
On 29 May 1990, national servicemen spotted a family of three
Indian elephants
which had swum 1.5 km (0.9 mi) across the
Straits of Johor
.
[5]
The
Singapore Zoo
worked with the
Malaysian Wildlife Department's
Elephant Capture and Translocation Unit to help in its plan to recapture the runaway elephants. On 10 June, all three elephants were captured and relocated back to the
jungles
of
Johor
.
In March 2004, Pulau Tekong was the hiding place for a group of armed robbers comprising two
Indonesians
and a Malaysian. The robbers had fled from Malaysia, sparking off a massive coordinated manhunt involving Air Force helicopters, commandos, ground surveillance radar, troops from the 2nd Singapore Infantry Regiment, troops from the 40th Singapore Armoured Regiment and the
Singapore Police Force
. All three were caught by
police officers
; two by members of the
Gurkha Contingent
and one by the
Police Coast Guard
's Special Task Squadron. They were later charged with
illegal entry
and possession of
firearms
.
[6]
On 25 September 2006, the
Combat Engineers
of
Singapore Armed Forces
handed over a new field camp,
Sanyongkong Field Camp
, named after a depopulated village Kampong Sanyongkong,
[7]
after a year of construction. The field camp would allow for longer training periods without returning to mainland Singapore.
[8]
Land reclamation
work is currently undergoing off the southern part of the island, with works on the northwestern coasts having been largely completed as of 2022. In contrast to other land reclamation works at other parts of the country, Singapore has been using the
polder
method to create new land for Pulau Tekong.
[1]
[9]
Current usage
[
edit
]
Pulau Tekong is used exclusively as a training base for the
Singapore Army
. Pulau Tekong Besar is one of the islands that is a training base for the various
Singapore Army
with other islands, including
Pulau Sudong
,
Pulau Pawai
and
Pulau Senang
.
The
Basic Military Training Centre
is based here, where recruits to the Singapore Army are trained in basic military operations. The
School of Infantry Specialists
(SISPEC) was formerly situated at Rocky Hill Camp. A new training area, called
Sanyongkong Field Camp
, has been completed on the reclaimed land south of Dogra Bridge. Built by the
Combat Engineers
, this field camp will be used to train
Infantry
and Guards battalions.
It also provides habitat to some wild animals that are rarely seen in the main island of Singapore, such as the
leopard cat
,
Sunda slow loris
and
Sunda pangolin
.
[10]
The extended Pulau Tekong will massively replace all training grounds, like
Mandai
,
Marsiling
,
Seletar
, Nee Soon,
Lower Seletar
,
Upper Thomson
and
Simpang
.
The island also houses Singapore's second hot spring, Pulau Tekong Hot Spring in the former grounds of Kampung Unum.
[11]
Coastal protection
[
edit
]
The
National Biodiversity Centre
(NBC) and
National Parks Board
(NParks) has conducted coastal protection and restoration works at the north-eastern coastline of Pulau Tekong to prevent further
coastal erosion
. The NBC stated that the erosion had resulted from extensive movements of ships and strong waves in the area. A study NParks commissioned in 2006 found that 1.65 km (1.03 mi) of the north-eastern shore is most severely affected.
The coastal erosion poses a threat to the 92 ha (230 acres) of mangroves in Pulau Tekong which is one of the largest mangrove areas in Singapore with a mature and undisturbed habitat.
[12]
Local ecologists point out that the island is extremely rich in biodiversity and resident to some rare or endangered species,
[13]
including the Fern
Dipteris conjugata
.
[14]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
- In Singaporean
folklore
, the island is deemed to be extremely haunted.
- The
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
(now
Mediacorp
) Channel 8 drama "Son of Pulau Tekong (?答?)" portrayed the lives of the inhabitants of Pulau Tekong before it was turned into a training area for the
Singapore Armed Forces
. It is unclear whether the folklore actually dates back to the days when Tekong was inhabited by civilians, or the beliefs sprang up after the island was taken over as military territory.
[15]
- The
documentary
Every Singaporean Son
, consisting of 18 episodes, is also based in this area where majority of the scenes are filmed here, and tells the stories about real life recruits serving their
Basic Military Training
.
- The popular and successful
military
movies
Ah Boys to Men
and
Ah Boys to Men 2
, both directed by local celebrity
film director
Jack Neo
, are also filmed here and tells the stories about fellow recruits serving their
Basic Military Training
as well.
- The
Mediacorp Channel 8
drama known as
The Recruit Diaries
, which was released back in 2013, consisting of 13 episodes, was also filmed here and also tells the stories about the fellow recruits serving their
Basic Military Training
, where the storyline was also pretty similar to
Jack Neo
's
Ah Boys to Men
and
Ah Boys to Men 2
, where one of the cast members named Aizuddiin Nasser, portrays Recruit Deva in the drama, and he was also featured in
Ah Boys to Men
and
Ah Boys to Men 2
1 year earlier in 2012 where he portrayed Recruit Muthu Shanmugaratnam.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Prior to land reclamation.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Sajan, Chantal (25 June 2021).
"Singapore's first polder is a groundbreaking land reclamation project in Pulau Tekong"
.
www.straitstimes.com
. Retrieved
31 March
2022
.
- ^
"PIONEER - 10 things you didn't know about Tekong"
.
www.mindef.gov.sg
. Retrieved
2021-04-13
.
- ^
"Tekong Revisited"
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-12-08
. Retrieved
2015-12-02
.
- ^
"Home on Pulau Tekong"
.
Archived
from the original on 2015-12-08
. Retrieved
2015-12-02
.
- ^
"Runaway elephants on Pulau Tekong"
. Singapore National Library Board.
Archived
from the original on 2014-04-21
. Retrieved
2007-07-15
.
- ^
"Massive manhunt on Pulau Tekong for 3 armed robbers fleeing Johor"
.
ChannelNewsAsia
. Archived from
the original
on April 7, 2004
. Retrieved
March 5,
2011
.
- ^
Seng, Chen Poh; Lee, Leong Sze (2012).
A retrospect on the dust-laden history the past and present of Tekong Island in Singapore
. Hackensack, N.J.: World Scientific.
ISBN
978-981-4365-97-0
.
OCLC
1261967172
.
- ^
"Army Field Training Site Ready"
(Press release). 30 September 2006. Archived from
the original
on 11 May 2007.
- ^
"Book on land reclamation case launched"
.
The Straits Times
. 2013-08-06.
ISSN
0585-3923
. Retrieved
2021-10-13
.
- ^
Lim, K.K.P.; Chua, M.A.H.; Lim, N.T-L. (2016).
"Freshwater fishes, terrestrial herpetofauna and mammals of Pulau Tekong, Singapore"
(PDF)
.
Nature in Singapore
.
9
: 165?198.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2019-07-14
. Retrieved
2016-11-15
.
- ^
"10 Army Facts So Secret Even Our NS Boys Don't Know Them"
. 16 February 2016.
Archived
from the original on 2020-03-22
. Retrieved
2020-03-22
.
- ^
"NParks to conduct coastal protection & restoration works at Pulau Tekong"
.
Archived
from the original on 2010-05-14
. Retrieved
2010-06-14
.
- ^
Victor R. Savage,
Environment and Climate Change in Asia: Ecological Footprints and Green Prospects
, 2012.
- ^
Ibrahim, Hassan.
"Saving A Prehistoric Fern From Extinction"
.
nparks.gov.sg
.
Archived
from the original on 30 September 2019
. Retrieved
30 September
2019
.
- ^
Singh, Ishan (15 July 2021).
"Pulau Tekong: An island of ghosts, and the military men who train there"
.
The Skeptic
. Retrieved
31 March
2022
.
Works cited
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
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