Jalan Kayu

Jalan Kayu
Name transcription(s)
 • Chinese 惹兰加由
 • Pinyin rělánjiāyóu
 • Malay Jalan Kayu
 • Tamil ஜலன் காயு

Row of shophouses next to Jalan Kayu, famous to food-hunters for its roti prata.
Country Singapore

Jalan Kayu is a name of a street situated within the Sengkang Planning Area in the North-East Region of Singapore, under the urban planning scheme of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The area east of Jalan Kayu has been renamed as Fernvale to form the western part of Sengkang New Town.

Etymology and history

Jalan Kayu was built in 1928 when the first Royal Air Force base outside the United Kingdom was established in Singapore, in the northern part of the island.

Jalan Kayu means "wooden road" in Malay. One version for the road name's origin is that firewood used to be stacked on the roadside. Another version is that the muddy laterite roads leading to the rubber estates in the area were made passable due to logs of wood that used to cover the muddy roads, hence the term in Malay jalan kayu.

Highlights

The street itself is a relatively minor, one-lane road. However, it became prominent in Singapore for two reasons. Firstly, it was the main access route to the large British-built military compound in Seletar as well as the neighbouring Seletar Airport. Secondly, a range of road-side eateries selling roti prata gradually earned a reputation among the people of Singapore as arguably amongst the best in Singapore, and the road name became a household name for good food in a laidback setting.

Getting there

Only services 86 and 103(merger of services 103 and 103M), and lately, bus 85 which diverted its route to call at the Jalan Kayu Shophouses. The rest of the buses serve as a transferring point to other areas. A small section between Yio Chu Kang Road and Sengkang West Avenue was closed on 13 October 2013, to make way for developments around the area. As a result, services 50 and 163 will no longer serve that area. The Thanggam LRT Station of the Sengkang LRT Line can also be connected to the shophouses via Lorong Samak, a small road off Jalan Kayu.

Service Between And Notes
SBS Transit Trunk Services
39 Yishun Bus Interchange Tampines Bus Interchange
85 Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange Yishun Bus Interchange
86 Sengkang Bus Interchange Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange
103 Serangoon Bus Interchange West Camp Road (loop)
168 Bedok Temporary Bus Interchange Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange
SMRT Buses Trunk Services
858 Changi Airport PTB 1, 2 & 3 Bus Terminal Woodlands Regional Bus Interchange

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jalan Kayu.