Seletar: from RAF airbase to aerospace hub

Independent notes on Seletar in north-east Singapore — the former Royal Air Force station, the black-and-white houses of Seletar Camp, the people of the Johor Strait and the places that shaped daily life around the airfield.

A short history

Plans for an airfield, flying-boat and naval base at Seletar were agreed by the RAF in 1921. The first aircraft arrived in February 1928, and Seletar became an RAF station in 1930. Apart from the Japanese occupation, it remained a British air base until the British withdrawal in 1971.

After the RAF left, the eastern part of the base went to the Singapore Armed Forces, while the western side continued in civil aviation as Seletar Airport.

The camp and its houses

Seletar Camp grew up around the airfield. Black-and-white bungalows were built in the 1920s and 1930s for RAF personnel and their families, with house sizes allocated according to rank. Many roads were named after London streets — Piccadilly, Maida Vale, Regent Street, Baker Street, Park Lane and others — which still gives the area an unusual feel on a Singapore map.

From 2006, part of the camp was redeveloped as the Seletar Aerospace Park under JTC. A number of the colonial houses were cleared, while others were kept and given new uses.

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