Seletar is probably one of the older local place names. The Malay word seletar refers to the aboriginal coastal dwellers (orang Seletar River (which has since been dammed up to form the Lower Seletar Reservoir), hence the river's name. Later, Sultan Abu Bakar of Johor is said to have taken these people from Seletar to Sungai Pulai in southwest Johor.
Read more about Seletar: History