- Seletar
SG neighbourhood
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englishname=Seletar
chinesename=实里达
pinyin=Shílǐdá
malayname=Seletar
tamilname="fill in"Seletar is an area of
Singapore within its North-East Region. Seletar commonly refers to the areas south ofYishun and west ofSungei Punggol , coveringYio Chu Kang nearJalan Kayu (where there is Seletar Road), theLower Seletar Reservoir and part of Upper Thomson (which is near to theUpper Seletar Reservoir ).The
Seletar Planning Area , anurban planning zone under theUrban Redevelopment Authority , covers only the area between Lower Seletar Reservoir and Sungei Punggol, north of theTampines Expressway , and the reclaimed islands ofPulau Punggol Barat andPulau Punggol Timor .Seletar is the site of the
Seletar Airport . A newS$ 60 millionSeletar Aerospace Park that spans 140hectare s will be built at Seletar, and is expected to be completed in 2018. Theaerospace park will house industries specialising inaircraft maintenance and repair services.cite news | author = Karamjit Kaur | title = Plans for $60m Seletar Aerospace Park on course | publisher = "The Straits Times " | date = 19 June 2007] cite news | author = Karamjit Kaur | title = Seletar gets ready for makeover as aerospace hub | publisher = "The Straits Times " | date = 27 June 2007]Etymology
"Seletar" is probably one of the older local place names. The Malay 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 theSeletar River (which has since been dammed up to form theLower Seletar Reservoir ), hence the river's name. Later, Sultan Abu Baker ofJohor 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 ninemile s from town at Selita.In Chinese, Seletar is "koon kung", or
naval base .History
Seletar, now Thomson Road, 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 andrubber trees cut down. The work was completed in the early 1930s. Seletar was the firstRoyal Air Force base east ofIndia and the first civilianairport in Singapore.The Seletar Reservoir, now the
Upper Seletar Reservoir , was built in 1935.References
*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), "Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names", Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
ee also
*
RAF Seletar
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