Although Singapore is known as a city-state island in southeast Asia and a big metropolis, there’s much more to see and know than the city.
Bukit Timah State is the highest natural point in Singapore, its name originally is inspired on the Temak tree, which are common trees in there, but Bukit Timah literally means tin hill in Malay (Butik is hill and Timah means tin), because of a belief they could find tin in the hill.
In 1828 Bukit Timah was first explored by John Prince. Mr. Prince was acting in the name of Incorporated Settlement to build the Bukit Timah Road, a road that would lead until the top of the hill. In his explorations John found a dense tropical rainforest full of tigers which were exterminated by the Indian convicts deployed to do so. But tigers weren’t the only thing living in there, some villages used to live in there too.
16 years later the road was finished but two years after that (in 1845) the road were expanded until Kranji. By 1900 there were no more remains of wild tigers or the dense jungle although it’s mostly rural and some old villages (called kampong) still house there. In the nineties giant industries such as Cold Storage Dairy Farm, Eveready Batteries, Ford Assembly Plant and also some schools such as the University of Singapore, Chinese Girl’s High School and Anglo-Chinese School took over the place and is also near to Mayfair Modern Bukit Timah
When the second world war was happening, Singapore tried to resist to the Japanese army, which was trying to conquer the place, for a time but doe to the strength of the attacks Singapore had to surrender. Bukit Timah had a big part this history, it was the location of Singapore’s surrender. Nowadays Bukit Timah is an increased state and it might seen it does not have any remnants of its history but does! It still keeps its core.
In 1980 the Kampong had to adaptate their life-style so they could continue living in their place. Some of them changed their houses made of wood to houses that follow the building standards of the day. Unfortunately not all of them liked or changed their lifestyle and moved out due to this. Now many relics can be found on some trails, such as remaining structures and parts of houses.
But kampong’s culture didn’t disappear, some religious buildings remains and still serve residents. And that’s not all, some kampong’s buildings were adapted to be used for other wills, for example the Masjid Al-Huda, which was an old kampong’s building but now is a place of worship for Muslim villagers.
Bukit Timah is now considered the natural point in Singapore with a lot of activities. the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is an example of that. Considered one of the most valuable places in Asia, it remains the original rainforest and offers many activities such as cycling, jogging, hiking and also rock-climbing. Other places and activities like Tree Top Walk, Singapore Botanic Gardens and National Orchid Garden, make Bukit Timah a perfect place for those who like nature and adventure.