Hougang
Hougang | |
|---|---|
| Others transcription(s) | |
| •Chinese | Sau cảng(Simplified) Sau cảng(Traditional) Hòugǎng(Pinyin) Aū-káng(HokkienPOJ) |
| •Malay | Hougang |
| •Tamil | ஹவ்காங் Havkāṅ(Transliteration) |
      From top left to right: Hougang Central, Aerial view ofKovan,Kampong Lorong Buangkok,Flats along Hougang Avenue 4, Heritage Garden of theInstitute of Mental Health,Panoramic view ofPunggol Park | |
 Location of Hougang in Singapore | |
  Hougang Location of Hougang within Singapore | |
| Coordinates:01°22′17″N103°53′33″E/ 1.37139°N 103.89250°E | |
| Country |  Singapore |
| Region | North-East Region
|
| CDCs | |
| Town councils |
|
| Constituencies | |
| Government | |
| • Mayors | Central Singapore CDC
North East CDC South East CDC |
| • Members of Parliament | Aljunied GRC
Ang Mo Kio GRC Hougang SMC Marine Parade GRC |
| Area | |
| • Total | 13.93 km2(5.38 sq mi) |
| • Residential | 3.67 km2(1.42 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 226,240 |
| • Density | 16,000/km2(42,000/sq mi) |
| Postal district | 19 |
| Dwelling units | 51,646 |
| Projected ultimate | 72,000 |
HougangorAukangis aplanning areaandmature residential townlocated in theNorth-East Regionof Singapore. The town is the most populous in the region, being home to 247,528 residents as of 2018.[5]Hougang planning area is bordered bySengkangto the north,GeylangandSerangoonto the south,Bedokto the southeast,Toa Payohto the southwest,Paya Lebarto the east,Ang Mo Kioto the west andBishanto the southwest.
Geography[edit]
Subzones
Hougang is separated into 10 subzones, Hougang East,Defu Industrial Park,Tai Seng,Lorong Halus,Kangkar, Hougang West, Trafalgar, Lorong Ah Soo,Kovanand Hougang Central.[6]
Etymology and history[edit]
Hougangis thepinyinspelling ofAū-káng,aHokkienandTeochewname meaning "river's end ", as Hougang is located upstream or at the back of Sungei Serangoon. In the past, the name connoted the area stretching from the fifth milestone junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road/Boundary Road to the seventh and a half milestone junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Punggol Road. The area just beyond the seventh milestone along Punggol Road was formerly considered part of Punggol but is now within Hougang Town and that section of Punggol Road is now Hougang Avenue 8, with Punggol Road starting further north.[7]
Pig farming was carried out in Punggol, including the area of Punggol that is now part of Hougang Town. The last of these pig farmers were relocated by the late-1990s to flats built in Hougang. Today, Hougang is an HDBnew townwith over 40,000 housing units interspersed with pockets of private residential areas.
There was also a fishing port at the end of Upper Serangoon Road beyond the seventh milestone.
At Hougang Street 21, there was awellthat is still identified as thetua jia kha( đại giếng ngã ) well structure. This well identified the Teochew village oftua jia khawhich means the "foot of a big well". In the past, the village was a popular place for food, streetwayangs,itinerant Chinesemedicine menand story tellers spinning yarns.
The development of Hougang commenced in 1977 with the construction of Tampines Way. Further construction work was subsequently completed in Neighbourhoods 1 – 3 by 1983, and later Neighbourhoods 4 – 7 by 1992. Neighbourhood 8 is the town centre of Hougang and construction was completed in 1994. Neighbourhood 9 is the most recent with a completion date in 2000.
In 2015, a project named Hougang Capeview, a Build-To-Order project at Upper Serangoon Road, became the first public housing project to receive the CONQUAS Star, an accolade administered by the Building and Construction Authority. Hougang Capeview, which comprises 781 residential units in six blocks at Upper Serangoon Road, received a Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS) score of more than 95, above the national average of 88.2. The CONQUAS score is BCA's measure of construction quality across Singapore.[8]
Shopping[edit]
Hougang has 8 shopping malls which are
- Hougang Mall,a seven-storey shopping mall with an NTUC FairPrice outlet, Singtel outlet, Starhub outlet, and Popular bookstore. The mall serves the residents of Hougang Central.
- Hougang Green Shopping Mall, a four-storey shopping mall with a 24/7 Giant outlet. The mall serves Hougang West.
- The Midtown, a mixed development with a condominium and a cluster of shops in Hougang Central.
- Hougang 1, a suburban mall with an NTUC FairPrice Xtra outlet in Hougang West.
- Heartland Mall,a suburban mall inKovan.It has a Cold Storage outlet and Popular bookstore.
- Kang Kar Mall, a two-storey shopping centre which has a Kang Kar Food Court and a two-storey NTUC FairPrice outlet.
- Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre, a suburban mall that has a cluster of shops, it serves residents of Kovan.
- Buangkok Square Shopping Mall, a mixed development shopping mall inBuangkokwith condominiums and a three-storey shopping mall withMcDonald's,and aPrime Supermarket.
Transport[edit]
Bus Interchange[edit]
Hougang Central Bus Interchange[edit]
Hougang Central Bus Interchange is a bus interchange serving the town of Hougang. It is located directly aboveHougang MRT station.By 2030, Hougang Central Bus Interchange will be modernised to accommodate theCross Island Linesection, in addition to becoming an Integrated Transport Hub.
Bus Depots[edit]
Hougang Bus Depot[edit]
Hougang Bus Depot is anSBS TransitWest Districtbus depotlocated in Hougang,Singapore.As of November 2014, the total fleet is 600 buses. Hougang Bus Depot started operations in 1983 when the north-east which is Hougang and Serangoon was developed and previously, all operations had been on Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot and Bedok Bus Depot respectively.
Mass Rapid Transit stations[edit]
Hougang MRT station[edit]
Hougang MRT station is an undergroundMass Rapid Transit(MRT) station on theNorth East LineandCross Island Linein the Hougang planning area inSingapore.Located within the Hougang Town Centre, the station is directly connected toHougang Central Bus Interchange.This station will become an interchange station along the Cross Island Line when Stage 1 of theCross Island Lineopens in 2030.
Kovan MRT station[edit]
Kovan MRT station is an undergroundMass Rapid Transit(MRT) station on theNorth East Linein the Hougang planning area. With the opening of Kovan station, the formerHougang South Bus Interchangesubsequently ceased operations in February 2004 and its services were transferred toHougang Central Bus Interchangelocated next toHougang MRT station.
Tai Seng MRT station[edit]
Tai Seng MRT station is an undergroundMass Rapid Transit(MRT) station on theCircle Line,situated on the boundary of Hougang planning area. Located along Upper Paya Lebar Road, Tai Seng station was named after and primarily serves the industrial clusters at Tai Seng, which in turn means 'big accomplishment' in Chinese. The name was first used on a rubber factory constructed in the area in 1917.
Defu MRT station[edit]
Defu MRT station is a future undergroundMass Rapid Transitstation on theCross Island MRT linein Hougang planning area,Singapore.It will serve theDefu Industrial Park.
Serangoon North MRT station[edit]
Serangoon North MRT station is a future undergroundMass Rapid Transitstation on theCross Island MRT linelocated on the boundary of Hougang planning area inSingapore.
Mass Rapid Transit Depots[edit]
Kim Chuan Depot[edit]
Kim Chuan Depot is atrain depotfor theMass Rapid Transitsystem inSingapore.The depot is constructed fully underground and provides maintenance, stabling and operational facilities for theCircle Line.It is located in Hougang, along Upper Paya Lebar Road, and is accessible via Kim Chuan Road. It used to be the first depot in Singapore to serve two independently operated MRT lines, until the adjacentTai Seng Facility Buildingbecame operational with the revenue operation of theDowntown LineStage 3 on 21 October 2017.
Tai Seng Facility Building[edit]
Tai Seng Facility Building, abbreviated as TSFB, (or Tai Seng) is an undergroundtrain depotfor theMass Rapid Transitsystem inSingapore.The depot is constructed towards the east ofKim Chuan Depotand will provide maintenance, stabling and operational facilities for theDowntown Line.It is located in Hougang along Bartley Road East. It is accessible via a surface building located along Bartley Road East. The depot is approximately 52 metres wide, 295 metres long and 20 metres deep. It is connected to Kim Chuan Depot and has underground access for trains to run between both facilities, allowing Downtown Line trains to be stabled in the Tai Seng Facility Building, and able to access its remote tracks. It is used in tandem with Kim Chuan Depot for the operations of theDowntown Line.
Road networks[edit]
Two of the oldest main roads: Upper Serangoon Road and Punggol Road run through Hougang since the town's beginning. The town is also linked to other towns by Yio Chu Kang Road in the West, Tampines Road in the East, Upper Paya Lebar Road to the south-East, Buangkok Drive & Buangkok Green in the North.
Other roads in Hougang New Town links the town to bigger roads, most importantly Avenue 2, 3 which links the town from East and West.
Amenities[edit]
Most of Hougang's commercial activity is centred on a fewshopping mallssuch as Hougang Mall, Kang Kar Mall, Heartland Mall, Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre and Hougang 1 (Formerly known as Hougang Point, and opened in End 1999).
Similar to most other residential towns in Singapore, Hougang was designed to be a partiallyself-sufficientwith enough amenities to minimize the number of residents commuting to the Central Area. Facilities include Hougang Sports Hall, an indoor sports complex operated by Sport Singapore which runs ClubFITT membership and sports programmes, Hougangstadiumhome toS.LeagueclubHougang United,an aquatics centre, a number of parks such as Punggol Park, along with manywet marketsandhawker centres.
One of the more prominent landmarks in Hougang is the Buangkok Green Medical Park, which houses several medical facilities including theInstitute of Mental Health(IMH) and Singapore Leprosy Relief Association (SILRA).
The Hougang Central Bus Interchange serves Hougang Town with a range of bus services going to other parts of the island. It is located in Hougang Central, near Hougang Mall and it has an underground link toHougang MRT station.This bus interchange was officially opened on 17 December 1994 by former cabinet minister Goh Chee Wee, who was then Senior Minister of State for Communications, Trade and Industry to serve all buses around the Hougang Area. Its sister bus interchange,Hougang South Bus Interchange(that is near toKovan MRT station) ceased operations in 2004 and was converted to Kovan Hub.
Two even older bus terminals operated in Hougang before the construction of the Hougang Central and Hougang South Bus Interchanges. One was at the end of Upper Serangoon Road in Kangkar Village, which was replaced by Hougang Central, while the other was at the sixth and a half milestone of Upper Serangoon Road, which was replaced by Hougang South.[9]
Highlights[edit]
A distinctive feature of Hougang lies in the large semi-circular balconies which occur in manyHousing and Development Boardpublic housingflats in the area. This feature is not as prevalent in public housing outside Hougang. The latest addition of new Condominium will beFlorence Residencesin 2019.
Politics[edit]
The political representation of Hougang was split into four different constituencies as of the2020 elections,three of which wereGroup Representation Constituencies(GRC) (Aljunied,Ang Mo Kio,andMarine Parade), and one Single Member Constituency (SMC) bearing the same name, theHougang Single Member Constituency.Currently, Aljunied and Hougang wards are managed by the oppositionWorkers' Party(WP), while Ang Mo Kio and Marine Parade are managed by the rulingPeople's Action Party(PAP). Previously, Hougang was administered by five now-defunct wards (Jalan Kayu,Paya Lebar,Punggol,Serangoon GardensandUpper Serangoon), before it redistricted into GRCs, notablyCheng San GRC(also defunct since2001).
Hougang SMC[edit]
The area covering Hougang Avenues 2, 5, 7 and a small portion of Hougang Central, falls under the namesake Hougang SMC, where it was carved out from Punggol ward ahead of the1988 elections.The first Member of Parliament (MP) of the ward was PAP'sTang Guan Seng,until it had been captured by former WP secretary-generalLow Thia Khiangin1991.Low left the ward to contest (and later elect himself in) Aljunied GRC ahead of the2011 elections,and was replaced byYaw Shin Leong,another WP candidate who previously contestedAng Mo Kio GRCin the2006 elections.[10]Yaw remained as an MP until his expulsion from the party's CEC and resigned his seat in February 2012 over an extramarital affair.Png Eng Huat,a candidate whose part of the WP team contestedEast Coast GRCin the 2011 elections, had since represented this ward after winning hisby-electionin May 2012 until he stepped down ahead of the 2020 election.Dennis Tan,who previously contestedFengshan SMCin the 2015 elections (now part of East Coast GRC) and become aNon-constituency Member of Parliament(NCMP), has replaced outgoing Png following the election.
Aljunied GRC[edit]
The area covering south of Hougang Avenues 6, 8, 10, as well asPunggol Park,Defu Industrial Park and the subregion of Kovan, falls under Aljunied GRC. The western portions of Hougang, previously being Serangoon Gardens division, were split into two divisions with Jalan Kayu in the Ang Mo Kio GRC and Serangoon in the Aljunied GRC. The area was previously belong to the short-livedThomson GRCin 1991.
The GRC was not contested in 2001 with the WP being disqualified due to incomplete applications, but in the 2006 elections, the WP were able to pose a strong challenge for this ward, with the members consist of WP's chairwomanSylvia Limand former membersGoh Meng SengandJames Gomez.[11]
The GRC was managed by the PAP which members includeCynthia PhuaandGeorge Yeo,until it became the first opposition held GRC since the creation of the GRC in Singapore after the2011 Singaporean general electionbeing taken over byLow Thia Khiang's WP team. The WP continued to hold the GRC in the2015and2020 Singaporean general electionswithLeon PereraandGerald Giamreplacing Low andChen Show Mao.
Ang Mo Kio GRC[edit]
The north-western portions of Hougang (Avenues 4, 8 and 9, and Street 91), which includesHougang Stadiumand Regentville Condo, falls under the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang division of the Ang Mo Kio GRC. Its MP isDarryl David,who replaces former MPYeo Guat Kwangafter the 2015 elections. Prior to the 2011 elections, the ward was a part of Aljunied GRC (under the name of Aljunied-Hougang), where Yeo was then the MP.
The northern portions of Hougang (north of Avenues 6, 8 and Street 51) also falls under the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang division, part of Ang Mo Kio GRC. It previously belonged toPasir Ris-Punggol GRC(under the name of Punggol South) until it was carved out in 2015. After the 2020 elections, the portion was merged with the Ang Mo Kio-Hougang division.
The western portions of Hougang, previously being Serangoon Gardens division, were split into two divisions with Jalan Kayu in the Ang Mo Kio GRC and Serangoon in the Aljunied GRC.
Marine Parade GRC[edit]
The southernmost portion of Hougang, Tai Seng, was under the Geylang Serai division of Marine Parade GRC, whereMohd Fahmi Alimanrepresented the ward. Marine Parade was also contested by WP during the 2015 and 2020 elections.
Education[edit]
Hougang has a total of nine primary schools, eight secondary schools and a single international school as of 2024.
Primary schools[edit]
- CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity
- Holy Innocents' Primary School
- Hougang Primary School
- Montfort Junior School
- Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary)
- Punggol Primary School
- Xinghua Primary School
- Xinmin Primary School
- Yio Chu Kang Primary School
Secondary schools[edit]
- Bowen Secondary School
- Holy Innocents' High School
- Hougang Secondary School
- Montfort Secondary School
- Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Secondary)
- Serangoon Secondary School
- Xinmin Secondary School
- Yuying Secondary School
Other schools[edit]
- DIMENSIONS International College (Kovan Campus)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ab"Bukit Merah (Planning Area, Singapore) – Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".citypopulation.de.Archivedfrom the original on 23 July 2020.Retrieved20 February2016.
- ^HDB Key Statistics FY 2014/2015Archived4 March 2016 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Land Area and Dwelling Units by Town".Data Singapore. 2016. Archived fromthe originalon 12 June 2019.Retrieved26 January2018.
- ^"Statistics Singapore – Geographic Distribution – 2018 Latest Data".Archivedfrom the original on 30 January 2016.Retrieved11 February2019.
- ^"Hougang (Planning Area, Singapore) – Population Statistics and Location in Maps and Charts".City Population (with data from Singapore Department of Statistics).Archivedfrom the original on 10 August 2019.Retrieved15 August2016.
- ^"STATISTICS SINGAPORE – Map of Planning Areas/Subzones in Singapore – Population 2017"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 29 March 2019.Retrieved13 April2022.
- ^"OneMap, see Historical Maps from 1970s or earlier".Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2015.Retrieved13 May2015.
- ^"Hougang BTO development gets top award for construction quality – Channel NewsAsia".Channel NewsAsia. Archived fromthe originalon 22 September 2015.
- ^List of former bus stations in Singapore
- ^"E: WP takes Hougang, PAP wins 11 SMCs".Channel NewsAsia.Archivedfrom the original on 22 October 2012.Retrieved8 June2012.
- ^Aljunied Group Representation Constituency
Sources[edit]
- Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003),Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names,Eastern Universities Press,ISBN981-210-205-1
- The Florence Residences
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