Down the Seletar River: Discovering a Hidden Treasure of Singapore
Eugene Wijeysingha
Singapore: Seletar Hills Estate Residents' Association, 2013
ISBN: 9789710579204

The Seletar Hills Estate Residents' Association, in commemoration of its 45th anniversary, has published a book entitled Down the Seletar River: Discovering a Hidden Treasure of Singapore. Seletar, as defined in this book, covers more specifically the area south of Yishun, encompassing Seletar Hills, Jalan Kayu, the Seletar Airbase and the Yio Chu Kang / Lorong Buangkok area.

This heritage book on Seletar documents its history from as early as the 1800s when the Seletar River was populated by indigenous river nomads called the Orang Seletar. It traces its development from the late 1800s when early Chinese migrants came up the River to farm the land and engaged first in vegetable farming and animal husbandry, later with cash crops such as pepper and gambier, to be followed by the cultivation of rubber. With the boom in the rubber industry in the early 1900s, large scale rubber cultivation transformed the area into a landscape of rubber plantations.

The book also touches on the development of the British Military Airbase at Seletar, the first of its kind in the Far East, which impacted the island state and gave rise to much needed housing development. The development of the airbase and residential housing estates to provide for the great shortage in housing, transformed Seletar, which had traditionally been agricultural, into a modern suburban landscape. The development of the new Seletar Aerospace Park, which will be a major hub for the aerospace industry, is another step towards modernization.

In exploring the region’s history, the book also reveals little nuggets of historical significance – Jalan Kayu, a food haven attracting visitors from all corners of the island, Kampong Buangkok, the last of the traditional kampongs on the mainland, Bukit Sembawang’s only rubber processing factory, and Seletar West Farmway, with its mix of mushroom and ornamental tropical fish farms.

Seletar has a rich history and charm of its own, and it is for this reason that the book has been compiled. Despite its physical transformation from a rural community to a modern suburb, it has still managed to retain its greenery and tranquility; it is a welcome retreat from the noise and bustle of city living, and is a much sought-after area to live in.

Down the Seletar River captures the nostalgic memories of many people who have been forthcoming in sharing their personal stories and recollections and expressing their sentiments of this little corner of Singapore they call “home”.

It is hoped that this book will enhance public awareness of the rich and vibrant heritage of this northern part of Singapore called Seletar, and also make interesting reading for future generations for whom it will be a chapter in the continuing tale of local heritage history.