Bishan, Singapore

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Bishan
New Town
Bishan Town
Other transcription(s)
 • Chinese 碧山
 • Pinyin Bì Shān
 • Hokkien POJ Pi̍k-san
 • Malay Piksan
 • Tamil பீஷான்
1 2014 panorama bishan park aerial gopro dji phantom.jpg
BishanTown-SG.JPG Bishan Depot trains.jpg
Guide House Bishan Singapore.jpg Bishan Stadium and Sports Hall.JPG Raffles Institution Admin Block.jpg
BishanatNight-Singapore-20091130.jpg
From top left to right: Aerial panorama of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Aerial view of Bishan Town Centre, Bishan Depot, Guide House of the Girl Guides Singapore, Bishan Stadium, Raffles Institution, Bishan at night
Bishan is located in Singapore
Bishan
Bishan
Location of Bishan within Singapore
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country  Singapore
Region Central Region
Government
 • CDC
 • Constituencies
 • Members of Parliament Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC
Area[1][2]
 • Total 7.62 km2 (2.94 sq mi)
 • Residential 1.72 km2 (0.66 sq mi)
Population (2015)[1][2]
 • Total 90,700
 • Density 12,000/km2 (31,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Bishan resident (official)
Bishaner
Bishanian
Bishanite (informal)
Postal district 20
Dwelling units 19,665
Projected ultimate 34,000

Bishan (Chinese: 碧山, Malay: Piksan, Tamil: பீஷான்), officially Bishan Town, is an urban planning area and residential town located in the Central Region of Singapore. Covering 762 hectares of land,[1] Bishan shares borders with Ang Mo Kio to the north, Toa Payoh to the south, Serangoon to the east and the Central Water Catchment to the west.

Built above what used to be a cemetery, there were initial fears that the Bishan HDB flats would face poor occupancy as cemeteries bode bad fengshui. This proved to be false, however, and Bishan became one of the most popular towns when newly built. Today, HDB flats in Bishan are priced above-average because of the town's accessibility.

Etymology

Bishan derived its name from the Cantonese term for large burial ground, Peck San Theng (Chinese: 碧山亭; pinyin: bìshāntíng), which literally translates as "pavilions on the green".[3][4] This term reflects the neighbourhood's origins as a burial ground that was established in 1870 by Chinese immigrants from Canton.[3] This burial ground has since been redeveloped and the original graves were relocated to the nearby Peck San Theng Temple.[5]

History

Peck San Theng cemetery was established in 1870 on the site of present-day Bishan by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants.[5] People began to settle around the cemetery, and Kampong San Theng and Soon Hock Village (which lay within Kampong San Theng grounds),[3] soon grew in size.[5] Singapore Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, a federation of 16 Cantonese clans in Singapore, managed and ran Kampong San Theng.[5] This settlement grew over time to accommodate nearly 2000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century.[6]

During World War II, the Peck San Theng cemetery became a battle ground between British and Japanese forces. The 2nd Battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment had engaged the Japanese forces on 14 February 1942 over the nearby strategically important Macritchie Reservoir. The Japanese also bombed Kampong San Teng, which resulted in significant civilian casualties. The battle ended the next day, 15 January, when the British surrendered to the Japanese. At that point, British troops were still holding out along Braddell Road.[6] During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, this area became a refuge for people trying to evade the Japanese because the Japanese occupiers were afraid to enter the cemetery.[7]

After the war, the graves of Peck San Theng became a known gangster hideout and gang-related crimes became rife in the area.[8][9][10] In 1973, the government ordered the cemetery to be closed and mandated that no fresh burials can be done within the cemetery.[11] The government later acquired this cemetery land from the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng foundation for SGD$$4.95 million in 1979.[12][13] As compensation, the government gave 3 hectares of the land back to the foundation for the foundation to build a columbarium.[13] The foundation subsequently built a multi-story columbarium complex on this land.[14]

In the early 1970s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) built the first housing estate which is located at Sin Ming Road along with clusters of industrial sectors. The first blocks of residential flats were numbered Block 22-26, now known as Sin Ming Ville. Sin Ming industrial estate is also known to be a popular destination for cars and vehicles related matters as the estate houses mainly workshops and establishments specialising in vehicle maintenance and registration.

By the 1980s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) had already begun further expanding the area into a satellite housing estate to meet the rising demand for housing from Singapore's then-growing population.[15] The residents in Kampong San Teng were resettled and a mass exhumation of the 170,000 graves were carried out in 1980.[16] Redevelopment of the area officially started in 1982.[5] On this land, HDB planned to construct 24,600 residential units distributed across 4 distinct neighbourhoods: Bishan East, Bishan North, Bishan West (subsequently renamed Sin Ming Garden Estate in 1988)[17] and Shunfu Estate, of which Bishan East will be the largest.[16]

The first five blocks of housing units were completed by 1985.[16] There were initial fears of a poor demand for houses in Bishan as they had bad fengshui since they were built on a former cemetery.[3] However, the first batch of houses were all snapped out during their launch to buyers who were attracted by the central location of Bishan.[16]

Sports

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See also: Bishan Sports Hall and Bishan Stadium
Gymnastics competitions at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics

Bishan Sports Centre, formerly known as Bishan Sports and Recreation Centre, houses sporting facilities such as a sports hall, a stadium, a dance studio and a swimming complex.[18] Managed by Sport Singapore, these sporting facilities cater to both the general public and professional athletes.[19]

Several major national and international level sporting events has been held at the Bishan Sports Centre, including the 2009 Asian Youth Games and the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.[19] Bishan Sports Hall, which serves as the primary venue for gymnastics competitions in Singapore,[18] has hosted gymnastic competitions as part of the 2009 Asian Youth Games,[20] 2010 Youth Olympic Games[21] and the 2015 SEA Games.[22] It is also the venue for national-level gymnastics competition in Singapore.[23][24] Similarly, the 4,200-seat Bishan Stadium[25] has hosted the athletics and football competitions at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2015 SEA Games respectively.[21][22]

Bishan Stadium is the home of the Home United Football Club, a professional football club that plays in Singapore's S.League.[22]

Opened in 2008, the Bishan Active park also offers sporting facilities to the residents of Bishan.[26] This 24,000 square metres park houses facilities such as a roller blading track, basketball courts and a beach volleyball court, augmenting the facilities found at the Bishan Sports Centre.[26][27]

Infrastructure

Transport

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See also: Bishan MRT Station and Bishan Bus Interchange

Bishan is connected by road to the rest of Singapore via the Central Expressway, a major expressway connecting Northern parts of Singapore with its city centre.[3] In addition it has its own Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, the Bishan MRT Station, which is an interchange station on both the North South Line and Circle Line.[3] Bishan also has a bus interchange that provides bus services to other parts of Singapore (such as Changi and Punggol).[28] There are also feeder bus services that operate within the neighbourhood.[28]

The Kallang Park Connector, which begins in Bishan, provides a cycling route between Bishan and the Central Business District along the Kallang River. This 10 km route is the first park connector constructed in Singapore.[29]

Bright Hill MRT Station, a station on the upcoming Thomson-East Coast MRT Line, will link the Sin Ming area of Bishan with the Central Business District of Singapore.[30]

Shopping centres

Bishan currently has 6 shopping centres.

  • The Junction 8 Shopping Centre, run by CapitaLand, is situated at Bishan Central near the Bishan MRT Station and Bishan Bus Interchange.
  • The Bishan North Shopping Mall is a non-airconditioned complex of shops that specialise in the sale of day-to-day products. It features a wet market. Contrary to its name, it is not a shopping mall.
  • Thomson Plaza is located on Upper Thomson Road.
  • Thomsom V One and Two is a residential complex that comes with a mall featuring shoebox sized retail units on the ground floor and basements.
  • Thomson Imperial Court and Sin Ming Plaza, are residential complexes with retail outlets on the ground floor and basement.

Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

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Main article: Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park
The Kallang River at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

The riverine Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, is situated near the border between Bishan and Ang Mo Kio, located along the strech of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1. The Kallang River which channels through the middle of the park, can be crossed via a number of foot bridges and stepping stones. The park also spots ponds and fishing spots, and serves residents from both new towns.

Bishan Park 1 is smaller in area than Bishan Park 2, and is about 1.7 km in length from end to end. A park-spa has been newly built in this park. This park primarily serves walkers in the morning. Bishan Park 1 is more accessible than Bishan Park 2.

Bishan Park 2 sprawls over a larger area than Bishan Park 1 but is only about 1.1 km in length from end to end.

Education

In 1936, the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng foundation established a village school in the former Kampong San Teng to provide free education to the farming families living in the vicinity.[31] The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School (广惠肇碧山亭学校) was initially housed on the foundation's temple premises.[32] Starting with 60 students, the school gradually expanded to the point where it started an afternoon session to cater to the demand.[32] The school had to stop classes during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore but lessons soon resumed in 1945.[31] In 1957, the school shifted into a new school compound situated at the entrance of a cemetery compound near Upper Thomson.[32] The new school compound had 6 classrooms and could cater to 450 students in two school sessions.[31] The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School was also integrated into Singapore's mainstream education system that year.[31] In 1981, due to changes in Singapore's national educational policy, governmental funding to the school was halted and the Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School soon closed down.[31]

In addition, the current site of the Amtech Building located at Sin Ming Road also used to house another school known as Shin Min Public School (淡申律公立新民学校) from 1945 to 1986, which had closed due to low enrollment. [33]

An aerial view of the Bishan campus of Raffles Institution

Since its redevelopment in the 1980s, Bishan has become home to several educational institutions. According to the Ministry of Education, there are four primary schools[34] and seven secondary schools[35] that are located within Bishan. Raffles Institution, one of the oldest educational institution in Singapore, has been located in Bishan since 1990.[36] This campus houses both of the institution's secondary and high school sections.[36] There are rumours that Raffles Girls' School will also relocate to the area in the near future.[37] Other notable schools located in Bishan includes Ai Tong School, a primary school founded by Chinese pioneers in 1912,[38] and Catholic High School, a Special Assistance Plan school that names Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as one of its alumni.[39]

The Bishan campus of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) was established in 1994 as part of the government's plan to revamp Singapore's vocational education system.[40] It provided vocational courses in subjects such as accountancy and business.[41] In 2005, this campus became part of ITE College Central during a major revamp of the ITE system.[40] This campus was subsequently closed in 2012 and relocated to the new ITE College Central mega-campus in Ang Mo Kio.[42] The old facilities of ITE Bishan currently serve as a temporary holding site for schools which are undergoing renovation.[43]

In addition to mainstream schools, a campus of the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC), where students get to learn additional foreign languages such as French and German,[44] is located in Bishan.[45] The Singapore branches of the Girl Guides Association and the Scouts Association are also headquartered in Bishan.[45]

It was announced that new school named Eunoia Junior College is expected to be completed at the site of former Nature Park Golf Driving Range located at Sin Ming Avenue by late 2019. [46]

Housing

Housing estate in Bishan

The town is a mixture of three, four and five-room HDB flats. The majority of the flats are four-room-ed, with a few being five and three. Block numbers starting with 1 as the first digit, are generally smaller and more connected with the town center. Blocks numbers with 2 as the first digit, are more spread out and generally larger in size. However, even blocks numbers starting with 2 are further categorised;25_ tend to be the largest flats in the whole estate, with flat sizes ranging from 1650sq feet to 1700sq feet, one of the largest HDB flats in Singapore. Other numbers tend to be smaller and are usually from 1300sq feet to 1500sq feet. Sin Ming Ville (Block 22-26) is excluded from this category.

As is with Serangoon New Town, it was built in an area with a large extent of pre-existing private housing, resulting in a disjointed town layout. The oldest public housing blocks were located around Upper Thomson as housing for the surrounding industrial estate. When the area was designated as a new town, the main housing area was built in the vicinity of Bishan MRT Station, with neighbourhoods built in Bishan North and Shunfu. Newer blocks were also built in Upper Thomson, while the old blocks were refurbished.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 City Population - statistics, maps and charts | Bishan
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 HDB Key Statistics FY 2013/2014
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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