Singapore 65 - Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak
Bukit Batok used to be a sleepy rural outback. The undeveloped area was occupied by forest, farm lands and factories. Prominent factories included the Hume Industries and the Ford Motor Works Factory along Upper Bukit Timah Road. The former Ford Factory is the venue where the British surrender to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. The surrender took place in the Boardroom of the building. The front portion of the building has been conserved.
The Bukit Batok area was also used for military training and granite quarrying as early as the 1950s. In fact the word Bukit Batok was derived from the Malay word "Bukit" which means Hill and "Batok" which means cough. The blasting of the granite quarries was seen as though the "Hills were coughing", hence the name "Bukit Batok". In the 1960s, Bukit Batok was sparsely populated with the bulk of its population living in squatters and temporary structures. In the 1970s, the squatters were cleared to make way for a modern satellite town. In the 1980s, the HDB flats were in Bukit Batok.
Bukit Batok Central Post Office
1 Bukit Batok Central Link
#05-09
West Mall
Singapore 658713
Map of Bukit Batok Nature Reserve
Updated On: 05.06.17