Sembawang Singapore Historical Overview

I've been wanting to do some writing about where we live in Singapore.  Many of you have asked what it is like here, so I'm going to try to do a few entries that give you a feel for my community.

Recently, I went on a historical tour around my neighborhood.  Most of the homes in our community were built in the 1930's by the British Military.  At that time Singapore was under British rule and this was a great place to have a Royal British Naval Base.

In World War II, some of the homes were destroyed by bombs and then in 1942, Singapore was invaded by Japan.  The schools and base community were taken over by the Japanese but many areas were destroyed when the British knew they were loosing the battle.  In 1945 when the war ended the military base was once again transferred back to the British Navy.

In 1971 after Singapore became it's own country and separated from British rule many of the homes and facilities in Sembawang were rented out to New Zealand, Australia, Britain, and the United States military.  Most of the piers were converted to shipyard work areas.  An area along the Straits of Johor, that was mostly destroyed during the war was made into Sembawang Park in the 1970's. This park has one of the remaining natural beaches in Singapore. This area is about a mile away from our home and makes a wonderful walk to and from.  This a a photo of the park today.

Recently a playground was added with a climbing structure that replicates a broken battleship.

Below is a link to a video that you can watch that shows the community of Sembawang.  Enjoy.-- if you want more on Singapore just wait- there will be more entries about my community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnFOpt8RbcU