History:

(Adapted from this blog page)

Bukit Panjang is one of the earliest named hills in Singapore. It first appeared on maps on a hydrographic chart "...Survey Of The Straits Of Singapore..." published in 1846, made by Samuel Congalton, the Commander of the Steamer, Diana, and J. T. Thomson, Government Surveyor. However, on that map the name "Bukit Pandan" is used instead. It is on an slightly latter map from 1848, "Map Of The Old Straits, Or Silat Tambrau And The Creeks To The North Of Singapore Island" surveyed by J.T. Thomson, that "Bukit Panjang" is used to denote the whole ridge that includes what is today, Bukit Gombak (See above map extract).

The 1898 edition of the "Map Of the Island of Singapore And Its Dependencies" shows a dramatic change (See Figure below). Along the long hill feature that was Bukit Panjang, is now labelled two 'Bukits'. Bukit Panjang still remains but is now more specifically a point on the northern part of the ridge, while a "Bukit Gombak" occupies a point on the southern part of the ridge. This seems to be the earliest mention of "Bukit Gombak" on maps. To add salt to the wound, not only did Bukit Panjang lose its 'monopoly' over the whole ridge, it was now not even the tallest on the ridge. You can see on the map, the heights of the hills have also been added, with Bukit Gombak at 437 ft (133.2 m) dethroning Bukit Panjang at 434 ft (132.3 m). This made Bukit Gombak and Bukit Panjang, the second and third tallest hills in the country. Incidentally, Bukit Batok also made its debut on this map.

Up through World War II till independence, the terrain stayed pretty much the same, although development, especially after 1950s, will soon drastically change the landscape. Fast forward to 1966. On the 1:25000 topographical map of 1966 (See Figure 8), Bukit Gombak is still marked as 434 ft. However, beside it, you can also see "Lian Hup Quarry". Ominously, you can see features that resemble teeth biting into the hill, detailing the results of quarrying activities. In fact, quarrying on Bukit Panjang has been on going for a while, and Lian Hup Quarry has already appeared on maps since as early as 1953.

Thanks to the quarrying activities, by 1974, the top of the hill was no more. The 1:25000 topographical map of 1975 shows that in place of the hill top, a big hole has appeared, and the high point, denoted by a dot, has shifted east a bit and reduced to 113 m.

Bukit Panjang Hill suffered further humiliations. It seemed to have lost even its name on maps from 1983 onwards. In Figure 10, in the blue box is the remnant of the hill with its 100 m contour line devoid of any name or label, while Bukit Gombak lies unscathed, and thriving.

By 1993, further quarrying scrapped away the northern part of the remnant summit of Bukit Panjang, and the highpoint shifted slightly south and further reduced to a height of 112 m.

Although reduced to 112 m presently (it is still marked as 112 m in the 2017 edition of the 1:50,000 topographical Map Of Singapore Island), it still retained its '3rd tallest hill' title in Singapore due to the fact that Bukit Mandai, which was originally at 129 m suffered a worse fate than Bukit Panjang.