Bukit Gombak
2nd Highest Hill in Singapore. Shares with Bukit Panjang the same ridge that runs parallel to Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Height: 139 m [Spot height according to the map: Singapore 1:50,000 Series SMU 075, Edition 11 (Mapping Unit, Ministry of Defense, Singapore, 2017)]
Location: 1°21'55.9"N 103°45'27.7"E
View of East side of Bukit Gombak. Picture taken from Block 204, Petir Road (2020-12-29).
Route(s) to Summit: The Summit is out of bounds unless you have some stars or crabs on your epaulette. Occupied by Singapore Ministry of Defense. The southern slope of Bukit Gombak can be accessed from various places. The highest spot (that is not obviously illegally) you can access on Bukit Gombak, is right up to the fences (see below) of the military area, on its south slope at about 110 m.
Other Names: Some of the older maps has the hill's name as Bukit Gombak I. There is therefore a Bukit Gombak II as well. Unfortunately Bukit Gombak II no longer exist, as ithas succumbed to quarrying activities. Its remnants is currently better known as Little Guilin.
History:
Bukit Gombak first appeared on maps in the 1898 edition of "Map Of the Island of Singapore And Its Dependencies" (See extract from map below, from National Archives of Singapore). This is an early series of maps that details the interior of Singapore island. On the map, its height was posted as 437 ft (133.2 m) and is situated towards the southern end of the ridge that bears the name of Bukit Panjang (Check out this blog page for more details).
By 1989, the Singapore Ministry of Defence has moved to Bukit Panjang/Gombak Ridge and presumably most of Bukit Gombak became out of public access before then.
Other Information: Non currently
Picture Gallery:
View of Bukit Gombak from the west. Photo taken about 8.6 km away, from the top floor of the Student Services Centre atop Nanyang Hill (2020-08-30).
View of Bukit Gombak. The Summit is on the right side of the picture. Where you see a little finger sticking out (it is actually some kind of military hardware), the summit is right next to it. The summit is out of bound for the public as it is part of the Ministry of Defence complex. The highest part that you can legally (or rather not illegally) visit is near the patch of grass you see slightly to the left of center of the picture. (Picture taken from Bukit Timah Hill, 2020-10-30).
View towards the summit of Bukit Gombak from Blk 395 of Bukit Batok West. (2020-08-30).