SINGAPORE – From certain vantage points along Woodlands Waterfront Promenade at the northernmost point of Singapore, towering green industrial tanks peek through gaps in the dense foliage.

The same tangle of overgrown shrubbery separates Admiralty Road West – which faces Johor Bahru – from a roughly 5ha plot of land, or around the size of 12 football pitches, where an abandoned factory sits quietly behind lock and chain. 

Unassuming as it is now, the sprawling complex – known as the former Shell Woodlands North Lube Oil Blending Plant – was once a powerhouse of Singapore’s industrial boom in the 1960s. 

As someone who rarely visits Woodlands, except for the occasional leisure trip across the Causeway, the site was never on my radar. 

But an invitation from local tour operator Hidden Heritage Singapore to step beyond its chained gates changed that. 

Run by husband-and-wife duo Stanley Cheah, a heritage tour curator and content creator, and Amanda Cheong, a bank officer, the Industrial Relics and Wartime Secrets tour (3½ hours, $98 a person, str.sg/faXy) offers participants a look inside the plant, where much of energy giant Shell’s dated machinery remains.

The tour includes a visit to the grounds of a former mental institution, View Road Hospital, and Singapore’s first and only refugee camp Hawkins Road Refugee Camp.

Shell moved to Tuas and launched its new lubricants plant on Nov 1, 2017. 

Upgraded machines and tools at its new facility rendered the old ones obsolete, which is why most of the Woodlands North plant remains intact. 

The urban explorer couple say the opportunity to run the tour came unexpectedly. They had initially requested permission from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to hold their wedding at the abandoned Old Changi Hospital, but were rejected.

Instead, SLA suggested the Woodlands North plant, which had been vacant for about six years then. The couple held the...