Pulau Tekong - Unum and the Second Hot Spring in Singapore

Posted by xinli under Personal, Reflections
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“There were also half a dozen hot springs on the island, though it took an eagle’s eye to spot them as they were hidden among bushes in a black swamp.”

Shoulder to Shoulder – Tekong Days Pg.48
Published in 2002 by Mindef.
ISBN: 981-04-6931-4

Unk Dicko has got me really exciting with his recent series of posts about Pulau Tekong! So today, I want to share a bit of this mysterious island in the northeast where almost every Singaporean males has spent at least part of their National Service yet doesn’t know much about.

The northern part of Pulau Tekong is covered by thick forests, swamps and streams. Even before Tekong was turned into an exclusive SAF Training Area, not much was known of this area except for pockets of areas inhabited by people.

In army tongue, this northern area was commonly referred to as “Unum” (apart from from the CCPs). Unum has a notorious reputation with the army guys on Pulau Tekong. It was reputedly where most paranormal activities took place with stories like rovers cannot start engines ominously around 5pm, navigation would go haywire as groups get separated easily and soldiers going missing then being found just nearby and on and on.

Today Unum is still a densely forested area, occasionally used for army trainings and field camps at the southern part of Unum. Read more about Unum and Singapore’s Second Hot Spring here!