Up till 1983, there was a kampung (Malay: village) called Kampung Mata Ayer (Malay: spring), located nearby at Jalan Mata Ayer. It was first called Kampung Ayer Panas (Malay: Hot Water Village), after the hot springs. This kampung comprised some 250 villagers, many of them Javanese brought over as prisoners-of-war from Indonesia by Japanese forces during World War II. When the villagers settled here, they had trouble finding clean water. After some surveying, they finally managed to find a spring nearby, and the kampung was renamed to mark the occasion. In 1983, the kampung was resettled and most of the villagers moved to Yishun New Town.