This is a perfect then-and-now.
Top row: 1981 - MBJ Woodlands, warships alongside, white uniforms on parade. Bottom row: May 2021 – the same 400-metre concrete spine, now Woodlands Waterfront, where kids fish and jog.
For those of us who served there, that jetty was never just a park.
From MBJ to Waterfront: Memories of the Malaysian Base Jetty, Woodlands (1981-82)
By Hj. Zulheimy Maamor - Ex-RMN
If you were with the Royal Malaysian Navy in the 1980s, stationed at Woodlands, Singapore, you were part of a unique chapter in history: a time when Malaysia maintained a sovereign military base right in the heart of Singapore, long after separation.
For me, that chapter was 1981-1982. I served with 3 units based at Woodlands MBJ and Base during that period:
1. KD Ganas (P3503) - 1st Squadron Fast Attack Craft (Missile)
2. KD Raja Jarom (A1502) - 32nd Sealift Squadron
3. FOCRMNCCS - Fleet Operational Command RMN Communication Contingency System.
This is the story of the jetty that tied them all together.
The Base: KD Malaya at Woodlands & MBJ
What we called MBJ Woodlands was officially KD Malaya. Built in the early 1950s off Admiralty Road West, it was the first headquarters of the Royal Navy Malay Section and served as HQ of the Royal Malaysian Navy from 1952 until it moved to Lumut on 9 September 1984.
Completed in 1966, the former Malaysian Base Jetty is a 400-metre-long structure that was once part of KD Malaya. Before it was built, the RMN used another structure nearby called Ruthenia Jetty, built by the British before World War II.
This jetty served as a site for formal parades as well as the commissioning of new ships. In the top-right photo you see it – sailors in whites marching, signal flags flying, ships dressed overall. That was our daily reality.
In 1997, the Malaysian government handed over the Woodlands Naval Base to Singapore. The naval jetty was converted into Woodlands Waterfront Park in 2011 and opened to the public.
My Ships on That Jetty
Malaysian Base Jetty, Woodlands, Singapore (1980's)
1. KD Ganas (P3503) - 3 Feb 1981 - 27 Jul 1981
After my Basic Radio Communication course at KD Pelandok, Lumut, I was drafted to KD Ganas. She was a Perdana-class Fast Attack Craft (Missile) equipped with the Exocet MM38, commissioned on 20 March 1973 in Cherbourg, France, alongside KD Perdana, KD Serang and KD Ganyang.
The CO during my time was Lt. Cdr Abdul Rashid Md Isa. The most unforgettable memory? July 1981, holy month of Ramadan. KD Ganas participated in a live missile firing exercise in the Singapore Straits, successfully sinking the decommissioned ex-KD Ledang. On-the-job training that you never forget.
2. KD Raja Jarom (A1502) - 28 Jul 1981 - 28 Jun 1982
After 6 months on KD Ganas, I was transferred to KD Raja Jarom while she was undergoing refitting at Malaysian Shipyard & Engineering (MSE), Pasir Gudang, Johor. CO was Cdr Zainal Dali – and XO Lt Cdr Zainal Talib.
She was a former US Navy LST-542 class, USS Sedgewick County (LST-1123), saw action in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, transferred to Malaysia in 1976 and commissioned 19 Feb 1977.
From that very jetty in the photo, we sailed for:
- OPS Terumbu - Swallow Reef: transporting construction materials to Swallow Reef in the Spratly Islands
- Misi Meriam Purba Pulau Aur: special mission from the Sultan of Johor to retrieve ancient cannons off Mersing
- And we provided crew for the 1981 National Day Parade at Dataran Merdeka.
3. FOCRMNCCS - The Heartbeat
The building marked with a red arrow...that is FOC RMNCCS. My third unit was not a ship, but the Fleet Operational Command RMN Communication Contingency System at the base itself. The Communication Centre was the link between ships at sea and HQ. In 1981-82, before satellite comms, we worked the HF sets that kept the fleet connected. From our building you could see the whole Strait of Johor – the view in the top-left photo was my office window.
Life Around the Base
The jetty was a restricted military zone filled with diesel and the sound of orders. Off-duty was Admiralty Road West, the Art Deco admin block at No. 21 – which is the only building still standing today – and Kampung Wak Hassan for teh tarik. That kampung is gone now, replaced by modern housing, but Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang still stands.
The Sick Bay of K.D. Malaya, the long white building on the hill with the steps going down to the field. It is quite spooky to be on sentry duty patrolling here at night... ha ha... Luckily I'm a naval communicator (signalman)... my duty was at the Communication Centre... not at the sentry post.
What It Looks Like Today - Woodlands Waterfront (May 2021)
The photo of May 2021. The transformation is total, yet familiar.
Today, the former Malaysian Base Jetty forms part of Woodlands Waterfront Park, which opened in 2011. The refurbished jetty features old mooring anchors that have been converted into seats and an old shed, now a restaurant, containing a preserved hoist system.
It is now a 400-metre refurbished jetty – the longest recreational one in Singapore – with a 1.5 km promenade and views of the Causeway and Straits of Johor. The site actually had 5 jetties historically: Torpedo Jetty, Royal Malaysian Naval Jetty, Woodlands Jetty, Ruthenia Oiling Jetty and Customs Jetty. By 2009, only 2 remained.
You can still stand at the end and look across to Johor Bahru, just as we did on watch in 1981. On the far west, you now see the RTS Link construction.
The barracks and Admiralty West Prison are gone – demolished around 2021-2025 for Woodlands North housing – but the Singapore National Heritage Board has conserved the admin block and put up heritage markers explaining KD Malaya and our story.
This photo above was taken in 1982 with my own camera.... I have restored this photo using Google AI. The image every sailor of RMN will remember is the main guardroom, the white anchor with T.L.D.M. on the slope, and the iconic 3-storey administration block behind.
This block is the only building that survived. While almost all barracks and functional buildings were demolished to make way for Woodlands North housing, No. 21 Admiralty Road West was conserved for its historical significance.
In 1981, that gate meant you were entering Malaysia. Pass in hand, uniform checked.
A Final Thought
For a civilian it is a fishing spot. For us, it was home. When the ensign was lowered at Woodlands in September 1984, we didn't just move a base to Lumut; we left a town, friendships with Singaporean villagers, and our youth.
If you served at MBJ Woodlands 1981-82 on KD Ganas or KD Raja Jarom or whatever RMN ships, share your memories below. The jetty may have changed its name, but the concrete still remembers our boots.
All these photos are for my shipmates from KD Ganas, KD Raja Jarom and FOC RMNCCS, who will remember every building in these frames.
Epilogue: What Remains?
- Gone: The barracks, FOC RMNCCCS houses, MT garage, and Sick Bay – all demolished after the Admiralty West Prison era. Even the bus stop that long read "Bef R.M.N. Barracks" is gone.
- Saved: The Administration Block at 21 Admiralty Road West, the jetty itself, and Masjid Petempatan Melayu Sembawang from Kampung Wak Hassan.
- New: Information boards by National Heritage Board now tell our story to joggers who have no idea they are walking on a former foreign naval base.
To my fellow veterans: If you have photos of KD Ganas or KD Raja Jarom alongside that jetty in 1981-82, please share. This jetty may now belong to a park, but for us it will always be MBJ.
Hj. Zulheimy Maamor
Ex-RMN, Radio Communication
Woodlands, Singapore 1981-1982
22 September 2026: 12:27 a.m.
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