Pulau Sudong (Malay for Sudong Island) is a

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

off the southern coast 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 was enlarged through a

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

process during the late 1970s, and is home to the Pulau Sudong Airport.

Restricted area

Since the early 1980s, Pulau Sudong, together with

Pulau Senang Pulau Senang is an coral island in the Republic of Singapore, located about off the southern coast of Singapore Island. Along with Pulau Pawai to the north-west and Pulau Sudong, further north from Pulau Pawai, it is used as a military train ...

and Pulau Pawai, have formed the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A component of the Ministry of Defence (Singapore), Ministry of D ...

southern islands

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

training area and live-firing zone. As with all other military installations in Singapore, the entire live-firing zone is strictly off limits to all civilians at all times of the day and night. The only exceptions to this are for workers who are contracted by MINDEF to perform maintenance on the island's area calibration facilities. The island's

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

and

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

are maintained by the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF), with most areas covered by dense vegetation - the island is a wildlife haven for migratory birds and plants alike. The airstrip is only utilised for emergencies that involve military aircraft.

Etymology and history

''Sudong'' comes from the same root word as ''tudong'' in Malay, a

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

-shaped food cover made from matting, which is also used as head covering by padi planters. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

research station was formerly located on the island for a period in the 1940s. Prior to the airstrip being built, it was home to around 400 permanent inhabitants that lived in

kampong A kampong (this term is in Za'aba Spelling, ''kampung'' in both modern Malay and Indonesian) is a term for a type of village in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and a "dock" in Cambodia. The term applies to traditional villages, especi ...

s. In 2015, the former island inhabitants petitioned to be allowed back to the island for a day to fulfill their dying wish. However, their request was denied.

Sources

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), ''Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern University Press,

References

External links

Satellite image of Pulau Sudong
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Sudong Western Islands Planning Area {{Singapore-geo-stub