Located to the West of Singapore, District 22 is mainly an industrial and residential area with landscaped parks. In this District you can also find a golf course and Singapore’s only ice-skating rink. District 22 comprises of Boon Lay, Jurong and Tuas. It is densely populated with many industrial buildings, contributing to Singapore’s booming economy.

Introduction/History

Boon Lay

Between Jurong West and the new Jurong West Extension is Boon Lay, an area named after Mr Chew Boon Lay, a famous landowner in the late 19th century and 20th century. The growth of Boon Lay village was attributed to his rubber plantation. Before the 1960s, a portion of Boon Lay was a swampy jungle. Subsequently, it was turned into Singapore’s first industrial estate with its first factory, the National Iron and Steel Mills.

Jurong

A large part of Jurong is the Jurong Industrial Estate. Catering to the working population for the industries, Jurong contains old but larger housing estates area in Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Hong Kah. Plans are underway to develop a new commercial hub in Jurong, the Jurong Lake District. Some 750,000 square metres of land have been allocated at Jurong Gateway for offices, hotels, dining and entertainment.

Tuas

Here in Tuas, Singapore’s progress and development is sustained by the heavy industries of this district. This district is fairly isolated, thus workers in Tuas has to travel a distance to commute from home to work. Tuas is a Malay word referring to the method of using coconut fronds and leaves to lure fish into nets that are submerged underwater. The fishermen who used this method were then later migrated to HDB estates when Tuas began its transformation into an industrial area. You can find many international companies such as Sony, Hitachi, Compact and Epson in the area. There are also national industries such as the Singapore Tin Industries and Tuas Incineration Plant. The Tuas Biotechnology Park is one of the few designated industrial parks in the area. In 1998, the Tuas 2nd link was opened as an alternative route between Singapore and Malaysia. The opening of the Tuas 2nd link helped to ease the heavy traffic on the Causeway, Singapore’s first bridge to Malaysia.

Amenities/Facilities

Places of interests in Boon Lay include Jurong Hill Park, which offers a 360 degree vista of Jurong from its spiral tower. Located on the hilltop is Garden of Fame, a green version of the Walk of Fame where famous visitors such as Queen Elizabeth II, President Suharto and President Benjamin Henry Sheares planted trees here. There is also the Jurong Bird Park, one of the largest bird park in the world with 9,000 birds and 600 species.

Chocolate lovers can savor the flavors at the world’s largest chocolate company, Barry Callebaut, located here in Boon Lay.

Escape to the flora and fauna of the Chinese and Japanese Gardens as well as the Jurong Country Club of Jurong. Here, you can also find Singapore’s sole ice-skating rink in town. Jurong is also renowned for its Science Centre, the golf course and IMM shopping mall, which hosts Giant Hypermart, Akira stores and other shopping facilities.

In Tuas, there is the Raffles Country Club, the largest and most expensive club in the district.

Transportation

The Lakeside MRT and Boon Lay MRT stations serve the area while the Bus Interchange services caters 30 bus services to other parts of Singapore. There is also the Malaysian Inter-State Express Buses located at the former Savoy Movie theatre that caters routes to Malaysia.

source: http://www.iproperty.com.sg/resources/District.aspx?nid=22