Singapore Civil Defence Force Headquarters Main Office Tower

Kampong Ubi, also known as Ubi Estate, is a subzone located in the

planning area Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the capaci ...

Geylang Geylang () is a planning area and township located on the eastern fringe of the Central Region of Singapore, bordering Hougang and Toa Payoh in the north, Marine Parade in the south, Bedok in the east, and Kallang in the west. Geylang is ...

in the Central Region of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It lies within a somewhat rhombic piece of land bounded by Airport Road at the north, the Pan-Island Expressway at the south, Eunos Link at the east and Paya Lebar Road at the west. The area was formerly a Malay

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Etymology and early history

The Malay word ''Ubi'' refers to the

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

plant. Malays used to grow small tapioca farms in the area. Kampong Ubi ( Jawi: كامڤوڠ اوبي) was a rather large village even for its time. The first settlements began at the junction of Jalan Ubi and Changi Road, and quickly expanded northwards to the areas designated as the Kampong Ubi subzone today. All the roads and side-lanes within the kampong were named after vegetables, e.g. Jalan Kobis (

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

), Jalan Bayam (

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

), Jalan Tauge (

bean sprouts Sprouting is the natural process by which seeds or spores germinate and put out shoots, and already established plants produce new leaves or buds, or other structures experience further growth. In the field of nutrition, the term signifies ...

) as these areas used to have many of these plants. These road names became expunged with the development of the area. Due to housing and industrial developments sometime in the late 80s, villages were resettled to nearby Bedok and Bedok Reservoir. Most of the Jalan Ubi main road was expunged, leaving a short lane in the Eunos area.

Ubi Estate

Today, Ubi Estate is mainly an industrial area with only the south-eastern corner developed for residential use with about 50 blocks of flats built by the

Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...

(HDB). The industrial estate has a high concentration of automotive related businesses with many major dealerships having their showrooms and workshops there. Other related businesses such as body-and-paint shops also have their workshops there, along with other

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

. A few factories of multi-national firms stand alongside purpose-built flatted-factories of the

Jurong Town Corporation JTC Corporation (JTC), formerly the Jurong Town Corporation, is a statutory board under Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry that champions sustainable industrial development. It master-plans clean, green and smart estates to create attra ...

and other private developers. Currently, two schools are located in Ubi. They are

Manjusri Secondary School Manjusri Secondary School (MJR) is a co-educational government-aided secondary school in Ubi, Singapore. Named after the bodhisattva Manjusri, it was established by the Singapore Buddhist Federation in 1982 and affiliated to two primary schools ...

and Maha Bodhi School. Two estates are currently located in Ubi, namely View@Ubi and Ubi Greenville. By last quarter of 2023, the new BTO estate by HDB called Ubi Grove was completed, on a plot of land next to Manjusri Secondary School. There is also a reserved plot of land along Ubi Road 3 for a place of worship. There are Chinese temples located along Arumugam Road and Paya Lebar Road within Kampong Ubi, like Sheng Hong Temple, Hong Hian Keng Temple, Kew Huang Keng Temple, Kim Hong Temple, Cheng Hong Siang Tng, Da Sheng Kong Temple, Sze Hock Keng Temple, Tien Sen Tua Temple and Fung Huo Yuan Temple. There are also two Chinese temples located at Ubi Road 4, Shi Niu Dong Temple and Sze Cheng Keng Temple. Teochew Temple & Funeral Parlour is located at Ubi Road 4. It is managed by

Ngee Ann Kongsi The Ngee Ann Kongsi () is a Charitable organization, charitable foundation in Singapore and governed by the Ngee Ann Kongsi Ordinance of 1933. It is one of many Overseas Chinese Kongsi, or clan associations, that were set up by immigrants from C ...

, and catered for Teochew community and general public.

Transportation

Ubi MRT station on the Downtown Line serves the residents and industrial workers in the estate. It opened on 21 October 2017.

Other organizations

* ComfortDelGro Driving Centre * SPF Traffic Police Department Headquarters

References

{{Places in Singapore Places in Singapore