Seletar is an area located in the northern part of Singapore. ‘Seletar’ is a Malay word that refers to the aboriginal coastal people called ‘orang seletar’ who had originally lived along the mouth of the Seletar river and marshlands of the Johor Straits. Seletar was where the base of the British was situated. The construction of the airbase began in 1927 and was completed in the early 1930s. The project was led by Mr. C.E. Woods who was assisted by a team of British engineers and supervisors, and a large labour force of Chinese, Malay and Indian workers. The Seletar airbase was the first RAF base east of India. It also served as a civilian and commercial airport from 1930 until the opening of the Kallang Airport in 1937.
