Changi Beach Park (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

: 樟宜海滨公园,

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

: Taman Pantai Changi,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

: சாங்கி கடலோர பூங்கா ) is a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

park located at the northern tip of

Changi Changi () is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Sera ...

in the eastern region of Singapore. The 28-

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

beach park is one of the oldest coastal parks in Singapore, retaining the "

kampung A kampong (''kampung'' in Malay and Indonesian) is the term for a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "port" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especially of the indigenous people, and has also been used t ...

" or village atmosphere of the 1960s and '70s.

Description

The park is bounded by the sea on one side, opposite

Pulau Ubin Pulau Ubin, also simply known as Ubin, is an island situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. The granite quarry used to be supported by a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about 38 villagers ...

, and by Nicoll Drive and Changi Coast Road on the other. It stretches for about 3.3 km from Changi Point to Changi Ferry Terminal.

History

The Japanese Occupation

Changi Beach served as one of the killing grounds of

Sook Ching massacre Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularl ...

for the

Japanese Imperial Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during the

Japanese Occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. Japanese military forces occupied it after ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, where 66 Chinese male civilians were killed on the beach by the Japanese Hojo Kempei on 20 February 1942. The war monument plaque was erected at the Changi Beach Park (near Camp Site 2) in the eastern part of Singapore. The inscription on the monument plaque reads:

Development

In March 1948, the Malaya Tribune reported that the beach at Changi Point was a popular place for people to spend their weekends, with attap houses available for rent and an enclosed area for swimming constructed using ship and aircraft remains. In 1950, the local government announced plans for the development of the beach, with the construction of a road connecting the beach to Tanah Merah Besar Road, as well as amenities for changing and the provision of refreshments. In addition, the attap houses on the beach were also to be cleared. In May 1953, further plans to turn of the beach into a resort were announced. The resort was to eventually have a capacity of several thousand patrons, and was to initially have changing facilities, a park and a bathing pagar. The road connecting Changi beach to Tanah Merah Besar Road was completed by the end of 1954, and work on the resort was completed in May 1958, at a cost of less than $1 million, lower than estimated. In October 1959, volunteers mobilised by the Singapore government cleared Changi beach of vegetation and rubbish. The government also announced plans to expand the resort with facilities such as carparks, hawker stalls, and a playground for adolescents.

The 1970s and 1980s

In April 1970, plans to rent out four sites on the beach to private developers were announced by the government. By August 1971, four blocks of buildings containing dining establishments were built, and work on an beach resort with fountains, sanitation facilities and restrooms was being carried out. A $600,000, development near Changi Point, consisting of a 1000-seat restaurant, a coffeeshop, food stalls and 16 chalets, was completed by January 1972, and Aloha Rhu, a $250,000, development with a Polynesian theme, was opened by

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

that year. In 1975, two-thirds of the beach was acquired by the government for the construction of a second runway as part of the development of

Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...

. With the closure of a large part of the beach, the beach lost its popularity among beachgoers. In November 1984, as part of plans to rejuvenate Changi Point, a portion of the beach was turned into a special park for children with eight playgrounds, sand pits, and park furniture. Constructed at a cost of $73,000, the facilities within the park were completed in May 1985. Between August 1987 and March 1988, the amenities at the park were improved.

The 2000s

In April 2001, the park was given a $4 million upgrade, which included new shelters and other facilities, intended to give the park a rustic charm.

Present

Changi Point ferry terminal and Changi Beach park 2015

Changi Beach Park is popular among locals as a hangout for overnight family picnics, especially on weekends. Some individuals enjoy fishing, watching landing airplanes, jogging and watching the sunrise or sunset here. Sunrise can be viewed from the

SAF Changi Ferry Terminal SAF, S.A.F or saf might refer to: Companies * SAF Tehnika, a producer of digital microwave data transmission equipment * Strip Art Features, a comic book publishing house * Svenska Automobilfabriken, a Swedish auto manufacturer Computing * Se ...

on the eastern end of the park and sunsets can be viewed from Changi Point. Barbecue parties, camping and watersports are some common activities. In addition, food lovers visit Changi Beach for seafood at the nearby The Seagrill, or for different food options at

Changi Village Changi Village is a modern village situated at the northern tip of Changi which is at the eastern end of Singapore. It is the usual connecting point for travellers heading to Pulau Ubin or Malaysia by ferry. Fishermen in the kelongs located in the ...

Seahorse Monitoring Project

Since May 2009, the

National Biodiversity Centre The National Biodiversity Centre (: NBC; Chinese: 国家生物多样性中心; ms, Pusat Kepelbagaian Bio Nasional; ta, தேசிய பல்வகை உயிரியல் நிலையம்) is a branch of the National Parks Board ...

, together with volunteers from

National Parks Board The National Parks Board (NParks) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. History In November 1989, Minister of National Development, S. Dhanabalan, presented the National Parks Bil ...

and nature groups such as Wild Singapore and TeamSeaGrass, initiated a project to monitor identified populations of Seahorse (''

Hippocampus kuda ''Hippocampus kuda'' is a species of seahorse, also known as the common seahorse, estuary seahorse, yellow seahorse or spotted seahorse. The common name sea pony has been used for this species under its synonym ''Hippocampus fuscus''. Physical d ...

'') and Pipefish (''

Syngnathoides biaculeatus The alligator pipefish or double-ended pipefish (''Syngnathoides biaculeatus'') is a species of fish in the family Syngnathidae and is the only species in the monotypic genus '' Syngnathoides''. It is found in shallow water in the tropical and su ...

'') in several locations including Changi Beach for conservation management purposes. The data gathered will help to estimate the population size, growth rate of individuals and track their movements in their natural habitats.

References

External links

National Parks Board, SingaporeChangi Beach Park
{{Parks in Singapore B Parks in Singapore