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Kranji Road

History
Kranji Road gets its name from a local tree, the Kranji or Keranji tree (Dialium indicum), which was found in abundance all over Singapore in the first half of the 19th century. The Kranji area developed from the early 1900s onwards when the Singapore-Kranji railway was laid in 1903 extending from Tank Road to Kranji. Prior to this, a steam tramway operated here between 1885 to 1894. An electric tram system opened in the city on 24th July 1905. A ferry connection to mainland Malaysia used to exist at Kranji and this enabled passengers to travel from the city to Kranji by the tramway and then by ferry to Johore. A main road also used to run from the city to the causeway via Kranji. The establishment of the Johor State Railway in 1909 and the opening of the Causeway in 1923 led to further development of Kranji. A village, called Kampong Kranji, used to be located here and was found marked on a 1946 railway map. The railway land that belongs to the KTM or Malayan Railway in Kranji became a haunt for illegal settlers until recently when in 1997 110 legal eviction notices were issued to illegal squatters.

The Sungei Kadut School, the forerunner of Woodlands Primary School, was founded in 1953 and was situated deep within a kampong. Modern amenities then were unheard of; the kampong had no electricity making teaching during rainy days a nightmare as vision was made possible only with torches and candles. Access to the school was by a laterite road full of potholes and hence prone to flooding. Nevertheless, the ill-equipped school served the people of Sungei Kadut, Mandai, Kranji, Marsiling, Woodlands and even Johor Bahru for 22 years. Sungei Kadut school was renamed Woodlands Primary when it moved to Marsilling in 1976 to make way for the then upcoming wood-based industries. In 1986, the school moved to its present site in Woodlands New Town, at Woodlands Avenue 1.

Description
The road, originally part of rural Singapore, is currently a fledgling industrial area. The Kranji MRT station along Woodlands Road was opened in 1996 as part of the Woodlands MRT Line. The otherwise sleepy place comes alive over the weekend as the horses thunder across the tracks at the Singapore Turf Club, opposite the Kranji MRT station. The Kranji Industrial Estate was built over land that was reclaimed between 1965 to 1970, initially for the saw-milling industry. This reclamation project was the first ever recorded by the Land Office, though the credit for the earliest reclamation in Singapore is sometimes given to the filling of the swamps around the Singapore harbour during Raffles' times. The Sungei Kadut Industrial Estate was designated for heavy industries, but in 1996 a long stretch of it was acquired by the Land Office to facilitate the construction of the Woodlands MRT Line track from Yew Tee to Kranji stations.

The Kranji Memorials, located off Woodlands Road, was built in 1946 and designed by Colin St. Clair Oakes to commemorate the contributions of 24,000 soldiers of the allied forces who died during World War II. The memorial is made up of three cemeteries; the Kranji War Memorial, the Military Cemetery and the Singapore State Cemetery. The Sungei Buloh Nature Park at Neo Tiew Crescent near Kranji Road, is a 87-ha. wild bird reserve and nature park for mangrove flora and fauna that was designated as a nature park in 1989. The Kranji Reservoir, constructed in 1975, was created by constructing a dam over an estuary of the Kranji River. The Kranji Reservoir Park was constructed near it in 1979. This nine ha. park has two fishing areas and a children playground.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References 
Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: a study of Singapore street names (p. 228). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
(Call no.: SING 915.9570014 SAV)

Urban Redevelopment Authority. (1997). Sungei Kadut Planning Area, Planning Report 1997 (pp. 4-13). Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority.
(Call no.: RSING 711.4095957 SIN)

Urban Redevelopment Authority. (1997). Woodlands Planning Area, Planning Report 1997 (p. 8). Singapore: Urban Redevelopment Authority.
(Call no.: RSING 711.4095957 SIN)

Kadir, J.A. (1991, June 13). Rail land development the "best thing" for ties. The Straits Times, p. 12.

Leong, C. T. (1995, June 01). Kranji MRT station to handle race crowds. The Straits Times, p. 22.

Lim, Y. F. (1988, September 2). Teachers recall school's simple rustic days. The Straits Times, p. 27.

Nathan, D. (1992, June 27). Bird sanctuary ready for nature lovers in '93. The Straits Times, p. 25.

Yeow, P. L. (1996, January 3). Factory land along Woodlands MRT line to be acquired. The Straits Times, p. 3.

Northern region: home to private industrial developments. (1995, July 13). The Business Times, p. 2.

Singapore Railways: History. (2002, April 30). Retrieved December 15, 2003 from singaporerailways.tripod.com/SRhistory.htm


Further Readings
Sungei Buloh Nature Park. (1998). A guide to Sungei Buloh Nature Park: Where mangroves and wetland wildlife thrive. Singapore: The Park.
(Call no.: R 508.5957 SUN)

Tan, C. (1993, December 7). New kranji sanctuary offers much to behold. The Straits Times, p. 18.

Teo, G. (1993, October 23). How Singapore has grown. The Straits Times, p. 19.

Singh, J. (1997, March 29). KTM tells squatters to get out.The Straits Times, p. 2.

Woodlands Primary School. (n.d). Our History. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from schools.moe.edu.sg/woodps/about_us.htm

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. (n.d.). History of Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from
www.sbwr.org.sg/public/info_history.php

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Streets and Places
Geography>>Population>>Urban Planning
Street names--Singapore
Urbanization--Singapore
War Memorials--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings
Law and government>>National development>>Urban development

Librarian Recommendations
>> Kranji Memorials
>> Sungei Buloh Nature Park


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