Mandai is a planning area located in the North Region of Singapore, famously known for being the access point of the

Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested Central Water Catchment, central catchment area. Opened in 1973 ...

and Night Safari. The

Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium is a crematorium and columbarium complex located at Mandai Road in Mandai, Singapore. The complex is operated by the Government of Singapore under the National Environment Agency. It is one of two government cre ...

, the largest crematorium and columbarium in Singapore, is also located in Mandai planning area. Other features include the Sembawang Hot Springs and Sembawang Golf Course. In 2012, a new river-themed park,

River Safari River Wonders, formerly known as River Safari, is a river-themed zoo and aquarium located in Mandai, Singapore, forming part of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve. It is built over and nestled between its two counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the ...

, opened beside the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Mandai is also slated to house the Bird Paradise by Q2 2023.

Etymology and history

Mandai Road Mandai Road () is a major road located in Mandai, in the northern area of Singapore. The road starts from Woodlands Road and ends at the junction of Sembawang Road and Upper Thomson Road. The road was built in 1855 in a jungle and appeared in the ...

was cut in 1855. The name ''Mandai'' appears in the Franklin and Jackson ''Plan of Singapore'' (1828) as a river indicated as "R. Mandi". There was also a reference of a hill called ''Bukit Mandai'' which appears as “Bt. Mandai” in the olden maps. The name is said to come from a Malay tree called "''pokok Mandai''". Others suggest that “Mandai” might be a corruption of ''mandi'', meaning “bathe” in

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 ...

, as the river could have been used for this purpose.

Military training

Parts of Mandai are commonly used as military training areas as there is undeveloped land there. The following locations are used as training areas: Kwok Min, Asrama/Ulu Sembawang, Mandai Bumbong, Gali Batu and Mandai Central. Mandai Camp and Mandai West Camp are in Gali Batu, while Mandai Hill Camp and a live firing range are in Kwok Min. Mandai is also the location of Chong Pang Camp and the Sembawang Air Base. Because of the massive makeover with the new bird park and rainforest park, all the military training areas (except Sembawang Air Base and Chong Pang Camp) will soon be moved to Lim Chu Kang and Pulau Tekong; and will be progressively cleared by 2023. MINDEF will release all the Mandai training areas for redevelopment.

Transportation

Apart from Mandai Road, the

Mass Rapid Transit system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

Mandai Depot Mandai Depot (Malay: Depot Mandai; Chinese: 万礼车厂) is an integrated train and bus depot located in Mandai, Singapore. The train depot serves as the maintenance and control centre of the Thomson-East Coast line while the bus depot is used ...

, which will be used for the Thomson-East Coast Line, is located in Mandai.

References

*. North Region, Singapore Places in Singapore {{Singapore-geo-stub