Ang Mo Kio


Ang Mo Kio, often abbreviated as AMK, is a planning area and residential town situated in the North-East of Singapore. Ang Mo Kio is the 3rd most populated planning area in the North-East Region and ranks 8th in terms of population in the country overall. The planning area is located at the south-western corner of the North-East Region, bordered by the planning areas of Yishun to the north, Sengkang to the north-east, Serangoon to the east, Bishan to the south and the Central Water Catchment to the west.
Prior to urbanization, the area, much like other rural districts in Singapore at the time, was largely undeveloped, being mainly used for agricultural purposes, with uninhabited plots of land usually covered in dense secondary forest or swamps. Ang Mo Kio was subsequently redeveloped by the Housing and Development Board in 1973 as their seventh satellite town and the first to be built in metric dimensions, being fully completed by 1980. The first three town councils in the country were established in Ang Mo Kio in 1986, as part of a pilot project to better serve residents of HDB new towns. The concept eventually became adopted under the Town Council Act of 1988 which today, remains as the second-level of administration in Singapore.
The large commercialization of the Ang Mo Kio throughout mid-1970s and 1980s also saw the rise of neighbourhood startup businesses that remain prominent throughout Ang Mo Kio Town Centre today. One in particular eventually became one of Singapore's largest supermarket chains, Sheng Siong.
Ang Mo Kio today, much like its neighbouring towns, is largely urbanized, with little to no trace of its original ecology. However, parks are still prevalent in the town as part of the country's green initiative. Parks include Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East and Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West. Although not technically located within Ang Mo Kio itself, the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in the adjacent town of Bishan was designed to serve residents of both towns. The park itself straddles along the Ang Mo Kio–Bishan boundary, making it easily accessible from Ang Mo Kio.

Etymology

The origin of the name is contested. Old survey maps relate the area as the "Region of Ang Mo Kio". The name was formerly written with the characters 红毛 ang moh, literally "red hair", and one possibility is that the name comes from red-haired tropical fruit rambutan, known as 红毛丹 ang moh dan in Hokkien. However, ang moh can also be used figuratively to mean "Western" or "Caucasian person". Kio in turn could be written either 桥 "bridge", in which case the name would mean "Caucasian's bridge", or 茄 "eggplant", in which case 红毛茄 "Western eggplant" refers to the tomato, which is not native to the region. However, since there are no reports of tomatoes being grown in Ang Mo Kio, the bridge theory is more likely.
One theory states that Ang Mo Kio had two bridges of significance: an old wooden bridge over the Sungei Tongkang river, known as pang kio in Hokkien, and a newer concrete bridge on Cheng San Road over a tributary of the Kallang River. Since concrete in Hokkien is 红毛灰 ang mo he "Western ash", the bridge and consequently the area around it became known as 红毛桥 ang mo kio, short for "concrete bridge". The area has also been historically referred to as Kou Teu Kio, meaning "nine bridges".
Alternatively, ang moh may refer to John Turnbull Thomson, a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of late 19th century Singapore and New Zealand. Thomson, who had distinctive red-coloured hair, was responsible for building a bridge during the colonial days of Singapore, to facilitate logistic transportation to the nearby British military bases at Seletar until the British military withdrawal in the 1970s. The bridge no longer exists, but according to local historians, was previously located at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Upper Thomson Road.
The name is now written in Chinese as 宏茂桥, meaning "Bridge of Expansiveness and Prosperity".

Geography

Location

Ang Mo Kio Planning Area, as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, sits within the North-East Region of Singapore. Yishun bounds Ang Mo Kio to the north, Sengkang to the northeast, Serangoon to the east, Bishan to the south and Central Water Catchment to the west.
The main component of the planning area, Ang Mo Kio New Town, is located within it. The town itself has seven neighbourhoods, with Neighbourhood 1 to the west, cycling in an anti-clockwise direction to Neighbourhood 6 to the north, and ending with Neighbourhood 7 for the town centre. The town centre is located in the heart of Ang Mo Kio and is sandwiched by two town gardens set on natural hillocks.

Subzones

Ang Mo Kio Planning Area is officially divided into 12 subzones for urban planning and statistical purposes.
Name of estatesLocationNotable structuresAccessibility
Ang Mo Kio Town CentreAreas around Ang Mo Kio Central 1, Ang Mo Kio Central 2 and Ang Mo Kio Central 3Ang Mo Kio Public Library, Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange and AMK HubAng Mo Kio MRT station and buses
Cheng SanEstates along Ang Mo Kio Street 51, Ang Mo Kio Street 52, Ang Mo Kio Street 53 and Ang Mo Kio Street 54Ang Mo Kio MRT station, Ang Mo Kio Town Garden East and Anderson Secondary SchoolAng Mo Kio MRT station and buses
Chong BoonSoutheast Ang Mo Kio
Deyi Secondary School and Pathlight School		Buses-
Kebun BaruPrecincts west of Ang Mo Kio Town CentreAng Mo Kio Town Garden West, Kebun Baru Community Club, Kebun Baru Neighbourhood Police Post, CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School and the future Mayflower MRT stationBuses
Sembawang HillsEstates along Seraya Crescent, Casuarina Road, Nemesu Avenue, Old Upper Thomson Road, Sembawang Hills Drive and Thomson Hills DriveSembawang Hills Food CentreBuses
Shangri-LaSouthwest Ang Mo KioMayflower Secondary School, Ang Mo Kio Primary School, Ang Mo Kio Secondary School and Ang Mo Kio Community CentreBuses
TagoreNorthwest Ang Mo KioTeacher's Estate, Tagore Industrial Estate and the future Lentor MRT stationBuses
TownsvilleAreas around Ang Mo Kio Street 31 and Ang Mo Kio Street 32Ang Mo Kio Swimming Complex, Teck Ghee Neighbourhood Police Post and Townsville Primary SchoolBuses
Yio Chu KangAreas north of Ang Mo Kio Town CentreYio Chu Kang MRT station, Yio Chu Kang Bus Interchange, Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Yio Chu Kang Swimming Complex, Ang Mo Kio Police Division Headquarters, Ang Mo Kio North Neighbourhood Police Post, Ang Mo Kio Fire Station, Ang Mo Kio Bus Depot and Anderson Junior CollegeYio Chu Kang MRT station and buses
Yio Chu Kang EastNortheast Ang Mo KioNanyang Polytechnic, ITE College Central and Amoy Quee CampYio Chu Kang MRT station and buses
Yio Chu Kang NorthAreas bounded by Seletar Expressway, Central Expressway, Yio Chu Kang Road and Lentor AvenueSungei Seletar Simpang KiriBuses
Yio Chu Kang WestAreas bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 and Yio Chu Kang RoadAnderson Primary School, Presbyterian High School and Yio Chu Kang Secondary SchoolYio Chu Kang MRT station and buses

History

Origins

The present-day Ang Mo Kio area remained largely uninhabited throughout the 19th century. Settlers were attracted to the area only around the start of the 20th century, as a result of the rubber boom. In the old maps of Singapore, much of the area was labelled as the Ang Mo Kio Forest Reserve with many plantation estates.
The village that sprang up with the clearing of the land took on the name "Ang Mo Kio". The immigrant Chinese, mostly Hokkiens were engaged in rubber-planting and tapping. Cheng San Village where Ang Mo Kio New Town now stands was once a huge rubber plantation. The 1922 to 1932 world slump in rubber prices made many tappers and labourers turn to pig and poultry farming or market gardening. During World War II when Singapore was occupied, more people moved to Ang Mo Kio to take up farming.

Today

The development of the present Ang Mo Kio Town began in 1973, and was the seventh New town to be built in Singapore. The first part of Ang Mo Kio was being built by 1979, and the Yio Chu Kang part of the town was completed in 1981. The present self-contained town centre was built over an elongated valley formerly occupied by squatters. It has commercial offices, cultural and community facilities serving up to 200,000 residents.
The design of the town won the Singapore Institute of Architects Outstanding Buildings Award in 1983. The swimming complex at Avenue 1 also won the 1986 SIA Architectural Award for its unique "tetrahedral skylight" design. It was the first town to be designed in metric measurements.

Infrastructure

Following the norm in the 1970s, most of the flats are organised in 12-storey long blocks or 25-storey point blocks. In recent years, certain parts of the estate have been rebuilt as part of the long process of renewal. As a result, segments of higher blocks clustered together can be seen interleaved with the older blocks.
With Ang Mo Kio becoming an matured estate, several plots of residential land have been cleared up and sold to private developers for redevelopment. Many private residential projects are being constructed on these sites.

Transportation

Road network

The town's road system utilize a hierarchy of road sizes by design: the major roads are referred to as "Avenues", and the local-access roads referred to as "Streets". Ang Mo Kio Avenue 12 is an exception as it is a small road in an industrial estate in Ang Mo Kio. The town's avenues are arranged in a grid-like pattern, with the streets filtering traffic from the avenues to the individual blocks. The town itself is served by the Central Expressway, providing a rapid link from the town to the rest of the island via the expressway network.
In the town's road numbering system, avenues running from east to west are assigned odd numbers, with numbers increasing from south to north, while north-south avenues are assigned even numbers, increasing from west to east. Street numbers consist of two digits, with the first digit corresponding to the neighbourhood it belongs to and the second running in numerical sequence.
Ang Mo Kio Town was the first town to introduce this road numbering system, and it has since been replicated in other towns such as Hougang, Jurong West and Woodlands. The newer towns such as Sengkang and Punggol no longer follow this system.

Mass Rapid Transit

The town is well served by a multi-modal public transport system. Two Mass Rapid Transit stations currently serve the town, both of which are on the North South Line. They are:
In addition, two upcoming stations on the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line and one station on the Cross Island MRT Line will serve the town alongside the existing stations on the North South Line. They are:
Lentor MRT station will be located at the junction between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 and Yio Chu Kang Road, and Mayflower MRT station will be located along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, within the Kebun Baru subzone. The two stations will be opened in 2020 and the line will parallel the North South line towards Woodlands and the city centre as well as offering direct connections to the eastern parts of Singapore.
Teck Ghee MRT station will be located underneath Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, between the junctions of Ang Mo Kio Street 31 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and will open in 2028.

Bus

The Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange is directly linked to the Ang Mo Kio MRT station via an underground pedestrian walkway, and provides feeder bus services from the MRT stations to each neighbourhood. Yio Chu Kang MRT station is also served by bus services via the Yio Chu Kang Bus Terminal sited beside the station. Both the bus interchange and terminal offers trunk bus services to connect the town with the rest of the island, including a rapid connection to the city centre in the Central Area, as well as other financial and commercial districts in the central region of Singapore, including Shenton Way, Orchard Road, Marina Centre and Marine Parade.

Amenities

Administrative, legal, medical, religious, and social services catering towards the general public may also be found in the Ang Mo Kio area, with a major community hospital Ang Mo Kio Thye Hua Kwan Hospital that offers rehabilitative care. Recreational amenities include the Ang Mo Kio Park located on a hilly area surrounded by Avenues 4, 5, and 6 and alongside Mayflower estate, and also Bishan Park along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 which is frequented by people from both Ang Mo Kio and Bishan estates.
Several shopping malls are also found in Ang Mo Kio Central:
The area has a total of 8 MOE primary schools, 8 MOE secondary schools, Anderson Serangoon Junior College, ITE College Central and Nanyang Polytechnic.
Several preschools can be found in Ang Mo Kio including the Al-Muttaqin Mosque Kindergarten, childcare centres operated by the National Trades Union Congress named My First Skool and also kindergartens managed under the PAP Community Foundation. Two special schools may also be found, Chaoyang School which caters for children with mild intellectual disability aged 7–12 years old, and Pathlight School with two campuses in Ang Mo Kio with a focus on autism.

Politics

The jurisdiction of the area has been largely handled by Ang Mo Kio Town Council which oversees Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency since 1991. The current Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, is a member of Ang Mo Kio Town Council and the constituency of the same name.
Another constituency had assumed control over part of Ang Mo Kio which was Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency for the Kebun Baru division. In light of the 2020 general election, the Kebun Baru division of Nee Soon GRC will become an SMC of its own.
Previously, the Cheng San Group Representation Constituency from 1988 to 2001 have handled parts of Ang Mo Kio such as Cheng San, Chong Boon and Jalan Kayu. Chong Boon was transferred to Ang Mo Kio GRC in 1997. Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency have handled parts of Ang Mo Kio from 2006 to 2011, and later return into a SMC ahead of the 2020 elections.