Pulau Tekong

For the coaster, see MV Pulau Tekong.

Tekong Island

English	Tekong Island
Chinese	德光岛
– Pinyin	Déguāng Dǎo
Malay	Pulau Tekong
Tamil	தேக்கோங் தீவு
Coordinates	1°24′29″N 104°03′21″E

Pulau Tekong lies in the distance in the background, as taken from Changi Beach Park.

Pulau Tekong is the second largest of Singapore's outlying islands with an area of 24.43 km², and the island is still expanding due to land reclamation works on its southern and northwestern coasts which will eventually subsume many of its surrounding small islets, including Pulau Tekong Kechil.

Pulau Tekong is found off Singapore's northeastern coast, east of Pulau Ubin. Geographically, it is nearer to Johor, Malaysia than the Singapore main island itself. The Pulau Tekong Reservoir is also on the island.

Etymology and early history

Pulau Tekong appears in the Franklin and Jackson's 1828 map as Po. Tukang. 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 merchant 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.

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 (wild pigs are seen throughout the island today). Mainly Malays and a few Teochews and Hakkas lived on Pulau Tekong. Most were farmers, fishermen and shop owners selling sundry goods.

Current situation

Basic Military Training Centre, BMTC at Pulau Tekong.

Today, Pulau Tekong is used exclusively as a training base for various Singapore Army Units. Home to the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), this is also where young Singaporean males are conscripted into National Service. The School of Infantry Specialists (SISPEC), which was situated two kilometres from BMTC, relocated to a new campus at Pasir Laba Camp in December 2005. 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 main island Singapore such as the Leopard Cat, Sunda Slow Loris and Sunda Pangolin.

Past events on Pulau Tekong

Runaway elephants

On May 29, 1990, national servicemen spotted a family of three Asian elephants which had swum 1.5 km. across the Straits of Johor. 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 June 10, all three elephants were captured and relocated back to the jungles of Johor.

Land reclamation issues

Land reclamation work is currently undergoing off the southern part of the island. Malaysia has referred the reclamation issue to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on July 2003. Subsequently, the tribunal ordered a year-long joint study on the issue. The conflict was resolved on April 2005 following a signing of agreement between the two countries. The agreement includes modifications of the island in "Area D". The signed agreement was sent to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for final judgment.

Armed robbers incident

Pulau Tekong was the hiding place in March 2004 for a group of armed robbers comprising two Indonesians and a Malaysian. They fled from Malaysia, sparking off a massive, coordinated manhunt involving Air Force helicopters, commandos, ground surveillance radar, troops from the 2nd Singapore Infantry 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.

Pulau Tekong in Singaporean culture

In Singaporean folklore, the island is deemed to be extremely haunted. It is unclear if these beliefs actually date back to the days when Tekong was inhabited by civilians or if they sprang up after the island was taken over as military territory. The lives of the inhabitants of Pulau Tekong before it was turned into a training area for the Singaporean military was portrayed in the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp) Channel 8 drama Son of Pulau Tekong.

Coastal Protection and Restoration at Pulau Tekong

The National Biodiversity Centre and National Parks Board (NParks) will be conducting coastal protection and restoration works at the north-eastern coastline of Pulau Tekong which suffers from coastal erosion. The National Biodiversity Centre stated that the erosion resulted from the movements of ships and strong waves in the area. A study NParks commissioned in 2006 found that 1.65 km of the north-eastern shore is most severely affected. The coastal erosion poses a threat to the 92 hectares of mangroves in Pulau Tekong which is one of the largest remaining mangrove areas in Singapore with a mature and undisturbed habitat.

Sources

• Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1

External links

• Satellite image of Pulau Tekong - Google Maps
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