Bishan, Singapore
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Bishan ( ), also known as Peck San, Bishan New Town or Bishan Town, is a
planning area Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the capaci ...
and matured residential town located at the northernmost portion of the Central Region of
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. Statistically, the area is ranked the 38th biggest in terms of geographical size and the 22nd most populated planning area in the country. It is located at the most Central point of Singapore, and it comprises Upper Thomson, Marymount, Shunfu, Sin Ming, Bishan North and Bishan East. There are also many private residential properties in Bishan. Bishan is ranked 15th in terms of population density. Apart from its boundary with the
Central Water Catchment The Central Water Catchment, also known as the Central Catchment Area, is a designated Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and one of the two main water catchments of Singapore. The country's main reservoirs—MacRitchie Reservoir, MacR ...
in the west, Bishan borders three other planning areas: Ang Mo Kio to the north,
Toa Payoh Toa Payoh ( or , , ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borde ...
to the south, and Serangoon to the east. What is now Bishan today was once land that belonged to Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, a century old cemetery that mainly served the
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
communities in Singapore. Following the establishment of the cemetery in 1870, the first human settlements began to appear in the area, forming what eventually became Kampong San Teng. During the Battle of Singapore in 1942, Peck San Theng was the site of a fierce firefight between the invading Japanese forces and the defending British. The subsequent fall of the island to the Japanese that same year eventually made Peck San Theng a place of refuge for most of the Singapore population. In 1973, Peck San Theng ceased accepting burials, and six years later, following a government lease, the land was acquired for development. Graves were then exhumed between 1982 and 1984, paving the way for the construction of Bishan New Town in 1983. Today, Peck San Theng remains in operation, although it has since been converted into a
columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...
. Bishan New Town became the first in Singapore to depart from the brutalist design seen in most previous
Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...
(HDB) towns. Instead of slab-like residential blocks that were built in uniformed rows, apartment blocks in Bishan varied in height and were often dislocated. Flats within the town also featured pitched roofs which have since become closely associated with the skyline of Bishan. The town is also home to three of Singapore's most prestigious educational institutions: Catholic High School, Raffles Girls' School, and
Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...
.


Etymology

Bishan derived its name from the
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
term for large burial ground, ''Peck San Theng'' (), which literally translates as "pavilions on the green". This term reflects the neighbourhood's origins as a burial ground that was established in 1870 by
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
immigrants. This burial ground has since been redeveloped and the original graves were relocated to the nearby Peck San Theng Temple.


Geography


Location

The Bishan planning area, as demarcated by the
Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...
(URA), is situated in the Central Region of Singapore, bounded by planning areas of Ang Mo Kio to the north,
Toa Payoh Toa Payoh ( or , , ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borde ...
to the south and Serangoon to the east. Bishan New Town sits within this planning area.


Subdivisions

The Bishan planning area is further subdivided into three subzones, which are divided into three roughly vertical areas in the Bishan planning area as follows (from east to west):


Demographics

As of the General Household Survey from SingStat in 2015, Bishan's population consisted of 90,700 people, with 85.1% Chinese, 4.1% Malay, 7.7% Indian and 3.0% Others. The population density was 11,564 residents per square kilometre (29,652.1/mi2), ranking as the 15th planning area in Singapore by population density. Based on the 2023 population trends from SingStat, Bishan had a total of 31,600 households, with 63.5% being Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing, 26.2% being condominiums, and 9.8% being landed properties.


History

Peck San Theng cemetery was established in 1870 on the site of present-day Bishan by
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and
Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
immigrants. People began to settle around the cemetery, and Kampong San Theng and Soon Hock Village, which lay within Kampong San Theng grounds, soon grew in size. Singapore Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, a federation of 16 Cantonese
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
s in Singapore, managed and ran Kampong San Theng. This settlement grew over time to accommodate nearly 2000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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 February, when the British surrendered to the Japanese. At that point, British troops were still holding out along Braddell Road. During the
Japanese Occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Colony of Singapore, Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. The Japanese military ...
, this area became a refuge for people trying to evade the Japanese because the Japanese occupiers were afraid to enter the cemetery. After the war, the graves of Peck San Theng became a known gangster hideout, and gang-related crimes became rife in the area. In 1973, the government ordered the cemetery to be closed and mandated that no fresh burials were allowed to be done within the cemetery. The government later acquired this cemetery land from the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng foundation for SGD$$4.95 million in 1979. As compensation, the government gave 3 hectares of the land back to the foundation for the foundation to build a
columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...
. The foundation subsequently built a multi-story columbarium complex on this land. In the early 1970s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) built the first housing estate which was 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. In late 2021, it was announced that Block 26 Sin Ming Industrial Estate will be demolished to make way for redevelopment. Sin Ming industrial estate is also known to be a popular destination for matters relating to automotive needs as the estate houses mainly vehicle workshops and establishments specialising in vehicle sales, maintenance, registration as well as inspection. To date, many of the low rise workshops have since been demolished and relocated to the nearby Sin Ming Autocare and Sin Ming Autocity high rise complexes. Plans are underway for the vacated lands to be redeveloped for residential use. In addition to Sin Ming Ville, the development of Lakeview Estate was simultaneously completed somewhere in mid 1977. Lakeview Estate was segregated into two segments with fourteen low rise blocks numbered Blocks 1-14 and three high rise flats numbered Blocks 97A, 97B and 97C. The low rise blocks consisted of shophouses and a wet market with food centre located at Block 9 whereas the high rise flats consist of HUDC apartment units. Later in the late 1990s, the low rise segment of Lakeview Estate was demolished and it remains vacant to date. By the 1980s, HDB had already begun expanding the area into a satellite housing estate to meet the rising demand for housing from Singapore's then-growing population. The residents in Kampong San Teng were resettled and a mass exhumation of the 170,000 graves were carried out in 1980. Redevelopment of the area officially started in 1982. 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) and Shunfu Estate, of which Bishan East will be the largest. In 2011, after plans to construct the North–South Corridor (NSC) expressway was announced to ease congestion along Marymount Road and the Central Expressway (CTE), Marymount Terrace was acquired by the
Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...
(URA) and later demolished. In 2018, Shunfu Ville HUDC flats were demolished to make way for the Jadescape Condominium project. The first five blocks of housing units were completed by 1985. There were initial fears of a poor demand for houses in Bishan due to prevailing local superstitions about bad fengshui since they were built on a former cemetery. However, the first batch of houses were all snapped up during their launch to buyers who were attracted by the central location of Bishan.


Sports

Bishan Sports Centre, formerly known as Bishan Sports and Recreation Centre, houses sporting facilities such as a sports hall, a
stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
, a dance studio and a swimming complex. Managed by Sport Singapore, these sporting facilities cater to both the general public and professional athletes. Several major national and international level sporting events has been held at the Bishan Sports Centre, including the
2009 Asian Youth Games 2009 Asian Youth Games, officially known as the 1st Asian Youth Games and also known as Singapore 2009, was a pan-continental multi-sport event held in the city state of Singapore from 29 June to 7 July 2009, with 90 events in 9 sports. The plan ...
and the
2010 Youth Olympic Games The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...
. Bishan Sports Hall, which serves as the primary venue for
gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
competitions in Singapore, has hosted gymnastic competitions as part of the
2009 Asian Youth Games 2009 Asian Youth Games, officially known as the 1st Asian Youth Games and also known as Singapore 2009, was a pan-continental multi-sport event held in the city state of Singapore from 29 June to 7 July 2009, with 90 events in 9 sports. The plan ...
,
2010 Youth Olympic Games The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, ) officially known as the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2010, were the inaugural edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), an Olympic Games-based event for young athletes. Held ...
and the 2015 SEA Games. It is also the venue for national-level gymnastics competition in Singapore. Similarly, the 4,200-seat Bishan Stadium has hosted the athletics and
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
competitions at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2015 SEA Games respectively. Bishan Stadium is the home of the Lion City Sailors, a professional football club that plays in Singapore Premier League. Opened in 2008, the Bishan Active park also offers sporting facilities to the residents of Bishan. This 24,000
square metres The square metre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or square meter ( American spelling) is the unit of area in the International System of Units (SI) with symbol m2. It is the area of a square ...
park houses facilities such as a roller blading track,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
courts and a
beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...
court, augmenting the facilities found at the Bishan Sports Centre.


Infrastructure


Transport

Bishan is connected by road to the rest of Singapore via the Central Expressway (CTE), a major expressway connecting Northern parts of Singapore with its city centre. 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 (NSL) and Circle Line (CCL). Bishan also has a bus interchange that provides bus services to other parts of Singapore (such as Changi and Punggol). There are also feeder bus services that operate within the neighbourhood. The
Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...
Park Connector, which begins in Bishan, provides a cycling route between Bishan and the Central Business District along the
Kallang River The Kallang River (, ) is the longest river in Singapore, flowing for 10 kilometers from the Lower Peirce Reservoir (originally named "Kallang River Reservoir") to the Kallang Basin. It originates in the Planning Areas of Singapore, planning ar ...
. This route was the first park connector that was constructed in Singapore.
Marymount MRT station Marymount MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore), Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle MRT line, Circle line in Bishan, Singapore. Located underneath Marymount Road near the junction of Marymount Lane and Bishan S ...
is a station on the CCL that serves residents living in Shunfu, Thomson, Sin Ming and Jalan Pemimpin. Both Bright Hill station and Upper Thomson station are MRT stations on the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) that provide connection between the Sin Ming and Thomson area of Bishan with the northern parts and Central Business District of Singapore. The upcoming Cross Island Line will also have connections with the TEL at Bright Hill station.


Commercial areas

Bishan currently has 8 commercial areas. *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-air-conditioned commercial complex consisting of a wet market and a wide range of shops that specialise in the sale of day-to-day products. Contrary to its name, it is not a shopping mall. * Thomson Plaza is a shopping centre located at Upper Thomson Road. *Thomson V One and Two is a residential and commercial complex that comes with a mall featuring shoebox sized retail units on the ground floor and basement levels. The site used to be a wet market. *Thomson Imperial Court and Sin Ming Plaza, are residential complexes with retail outlets on the ground floor and basement levels. Thomson Imperial Court is built on the site of the now demolished Imperial Theatre. *Midview City is an industrial and commercial complex located at Sin Ming specialising in a wide range of trades and businesses. *Jalan Pemimpin Industrial Area is an industrial and commercial area located near to Marymount specialising in a wide range of trades and businesses.


Parks

The parks in the area comprise
Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is a major park in Singapore, located in the popular heartland of Bishan, Singapore, Bishan and Ang Mo Kio. Serving the residents of Bishan and Ang Mo Kio areas, the park sits entirely within Bishan Road and Ang Mo Kio Ave ...
and Bishan Harmony Park. Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is situated along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, and covers an area of . The
Kallang River The Kallang River (, ) is the longest river in Singapore, flowing for 10 kilometers from the Lower Peirce Reservoir (originally named "Kallang River Reservoir") to the Kallang Basin. It originates in the Planning Areas of Singapore, planning ar ...
runs through the middle of the park, and can be crossed via a number of foot bridges and stepping stones. The park also sports ponds and fishing spots. Located at the junction of Bishan Road and Braddell Road, Bishan Harmony Park serves the surrounding neighbourhoods, and comprises a garden maze, two barbecue pits, a fitness corner and a skate park. Built at a cost of , the park opened in June 2009.


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. The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School () was initially housed on the foundation's temple premises. Starting with 60 students, the school gradually expanded to the point where it started an afternoon session to cater to the demand. The school had to stop classes during the
Japanese occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Colony of Singapore, Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. The Japanese military ...
but lessons soon resumed in 1945. In 1957, the school shifted into a new school compound situated at the entrance of a cemetery compound near Upper Thomson. The new school compound had 6 classrooms and could cater to 450 students in two school sessions. The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School was also integrated into Singapore's mainstream education system that year. 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. In addition, Shin Min Public School () was located at Sin Ming Road from 1945 to 1986, closing due to low enrollment. The school's site is currently occupied by the Amtech Building. Since its redevelopment in the 1980s, Bishan has become home to several educational institutions. According to the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
, there are four
primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
and seven
secondary schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
that are located within Bishan.
Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...
, one of the oldest educational institutions in Singapore, has been located in Bishan since 1990. This campus houses both of the institution's secondary and high school sections. Raffles Girls' School has also relocated to the area. Other notable schools located in Bishan include
Ai Tong School Ai Tong School () is a primary school located in Bishan, Singapore. It is one of the five affiliated primary schools under the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. As a Chinese-medium school, Ai Tong emphasises strongly on the learning of Chinese cult ...
, a primary school founded by Chinese pioneers in 1912, and Catholic High School, a Special Assistance Plan school that names Singapore Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...
as one of its alumni. The prominent schools of Bishan are namely Guangyang Secondary School, Guangyang Primary School, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School. In addition, at Bishan North, there are Whitley Secondary School of Bishan Street 24, Peirce Secondary School and Bishan Park Secondary School, both of which are located at Sin Ming Walk. Despite bearing the name Peirce Secondary School, the school was actually a subordinate branch of Bishan Park Secondary School when it first started operating off the latter's campus in 1994. The
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
announced Bishan Park Secondary School as one of the schools to be affected by the merger programme. As a result, it was absorbed by Peirce Secondary School in 2018. 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 Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...
system. It provided vocational courses in subjects such as
accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...
and
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
. In 2005, this campus became part of ITE College Central during a major revamp of the ITE system. This campus was subsequently closed in 2012 and relocated to the new ITE College Central mega-campus in Ang Mo Kio. The old facilities of ITE Bishan subsequently became a temporary holding site for schools which are undergoing renovation. It has since been demolished to make way for the new HDB Build-to-order (BTO) project Bishan Ridges. 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, is located in Bishan. The Singapore branches of the Girl Guides Association and the Scouts Association are also headquartered in Bishan. A new junior college named Eunoia Junior College was later built at the site of former Nature Park Golf Driving Range located at Sin Ming Avenue by late 2019. Other than schools ranging from primary to tertiary, there are also nurseries and kindergartens scattered across Bishan estate.


Housing

The town is a mixture of three, four and five-room HDB flats. The majority of the flats are four roomed, with a few being three or five. There are some with balconies, and some are penthouse mansionettes. Blocks numbered with "1" as the first digit are generally smaller and more connected with the town center. Blocks numbered with 2 as the first digit are more spread out and generally larger in size. They also tend to be the largest flats in the whole estate, with flat sizes ranging from 1650 square feet to 1700 square feet, some of the largest HDB flats in Singapore. Other numbers tend to be smaller and are usually from 1300 square feet to 1500 square feet. Sin Ming Ville (Block 22-26) is excluded from this category. There are also various condominiums in Bishan including the Sky Habitat, Clover by the Park and Country Grandeur. 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.


Politics

The entirety of the Bishan planning area was originally under the jurisdiction of the four-member (previously five-member) Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representative Constituency (GRC), which was first formed during the 1997 Singaporean general election. Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC remained uncontested under the incumbent
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP), until the
2011 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on 7 May 2011. President S. R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 19 April 2011 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Voting is mandatory in Singapore and is based on the first-past-the-post sys ...
where the incumbent team, led by former
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
Wong Kan Seng, defeated then- Potong Pasir SMC and Singapore People's Party (SPP) secretary-general Chiam See Tong. Ahead of the
2020 Singaporean general election General elections were held in Singapore on Friday, 10 July 2020 to elect 93 members to the Parliament of Singapore across Constituencies of Singapore, 31 constituencies. Parliament was Dissolution of parliament, dissolved and the general elect ...
, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP)
Josephine Teo Josephine Teo Li Min. In this Chinese name, the family name is Teo (''née'' Yong). In accordance with custom, the Western-style name is Josephine Teo and the Chinese-style name is Teo Li Min. (née Yong; born 8 July 1968) is a Singaporean ...
's division was carved into the new Marymount Single Member Constituency (SMC) while Teo went on to helm the neighbouring Jalan Besar GRC. Currently, the MPs overseeing the Bishan areas are Chee Hong Tat (overseeing eastern Thomson), Chong Kee Hiong (overseeing most of Thomson, Shun Fu and east Bishan) and Gan Siow Huang (north Bishan, under the Marymount SMC).


References


External links


Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council
{{Places in Singapore Places in Singapore Hills of Singapore Hakka culture in Singapore Planned communities established in the 1980s