Bukit Batok New Town

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Bukit Batok New Town
Total area:	8.02 km²
Residential area:	2.91 km²
Dwelling units:	32,998
Projected ultimate:	47,000
Population:	113,100

Top view of Bukit Batok West.

Bukit Batok New Town is a new town located in Singapore and within the boundaries of the Bukit Batok Planning Area. It is bounded by Bukit Batok Road, the Pan Island Expressway, along the western edge of Toh Tuck private estate, Bukit Batok East Avenue 6, Old Jurong Road, Bukit Timah Road, the north edge of Bukit Batok Nature Park, south edge of Hillview estate, east and north edge of Bukit Batok Town Park, and Bukit Batok West Avenue 5 back to Bukit Batok Road.

1 Commercial activities
2 Transport
3 Education
4 Places of Worship
5 Recreation
6 Politics
7 External links

[edit] Commercial activities

A block of HDB flats along Bukit Batok West Avenue 5

The shopping complex West Mall was opened in mid-1998. Developed by Alprop Pte. Ltd., a joint venture between the United Industrial Corporation (UIC) and Singapore Land, it has 5 storeys, net lettable area of 192,000 sq ft and three basement car parks. It was built at a cost of $170 million.

West Mall has many amenities and shops such as an Eng Wah cineplex with 6 screens, a post office, Popular bookstore, a food court, Harvey Norman (electrical goods), a national library, fast food restaurants and a Shop N Save supermarket.

[edit] Transport

The Bukit Batok interchange is of moderate size and wholly used by SMRT Buses, part of SMRT Corporation. The interchange and most of the services were previously operated by SBS Buses, the precursor of SBS Transit, until 1999/2000; SBS Transit still has a bus depot in Bukit Batok. The following bus services are in operation:

Feeder services
- 941 (previously 361) - serving Bukit Batok West avenues 3,6,8
- 945 (previously 365) - serving Bukit Batok East Avenue 5, West Avenue 5 (the Bukit Gombak neighbourhood)
- 947 (previously 367) - serving Bukit Batok West avenues 2,4,7
Trunk services
- 61 - to Eunos, via Toh Yi, Clementi, Queensway, Kallang
- 77 - to Marina Centre, via Toh Yi, Bukit Timah, Holland Road, Orchard Road
- 106 - to Marina Centre, via Clementi, Holland Road, Orchard Road
- 173 - a loop service, past Hillview, Toh Tuck, Clementi
- 177 - to Bukit Panjang, serves the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Bukit Gombak
- 189 - to Kent Ridge, via Clementi, West Coast
- 852 - to Yishun, via Upper Bukit Timah, Bukit Timah, Ang Mo Kio

In addition, the following bus services pass through parts of Bukit Batok:

SBS Transit
- 66 (Jurong East-Bedok)
- 157 (Boon Lay-Toa Payoh)
- 174 (Boon Lay-New Bridge Road)
- 506 (Jurong East-Bedok, express service)
SMRT Buses
- 176 (Bukit Panjang-Bukit Merah)
- 178 (Woodlands-Boon Lay)
- 187 (Woodlands-Jurong East)
- 188 (Choa Chu Kang-HarbourFront)
- 963 (Woodlands-HarbourFront)
- 970 (Bukit Panjang-Shenton Way)
- 985 (Choa Chu Kang-Geylang Lorong 1)
- NR8 (Marina Centre loop service, late nights on Fridays, Saturdays and public holiday eves)

[edit] Education

There are several institutions for education in Bukit Batok:

Primary schools
- Bukit View Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Mdm. Jenny S. G. Law.
- Dazhong Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Mr. Stephen Lu Peng Hoong.
- Hong Kah Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Ms. Shanti D/O Govindan.
- Keming Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Mr. Michel Saw Mung Seong.
- Lianhua Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Ms. Cecilia Ng.
- Princess Elizabeth Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Mrs. Mary Ngiam Siew Wah.
- St. Anthony's Primary School is a government primary school. The current principal is Mr. Thomas Koh Kian Seng.

Secondary schools
- Bukit Batok Secondary School is a government secondary school The current principal is Mdm Lee Lee Sia Rosa.
- Bukit View Secondary School is a government secondary school. The current principal is Mdm Tan Lay Hong.
- Dunearn Secondary School
- Hillgrove Secondary School is a government secondary school. The current principal is Mrs. Yeow Lee Lin.
- Swiss Cottage Secondary School
- Yusof Ishak Secondary School is a government secondary school. The school is named after Singapore's first president, Inche Yusuf bin Ishak. The current principal is Richard Chew.

Higher institutions of learning
- ITE West Bukit Batok
- Singapore International Hotel and Tourism Education Centre (SHATEC)

The Millennia Institute, formed from the merger of the Jurong and Outram Centralised Institutes (CI), will be moving to a new campus off Bukit Batok West Avenue 3 in September 2006.

[edit] Places of Worship

Ar-Raudhah mosque
Church of St. Mary of the Angles
Guilin combined temple
Hock Thong temple
Hoon Lam Tua Peh Kong temple
Ling Hong Tong temple
Sattha Puchaniyaram Buddhist temple
See Tien Foh combined temple
Tong Tien Kung temple
Wu Lui Sien Sze temple
Zu-Lin temple

A church is currently under construction near the intersection of West Avenue 4 and 7.

[edit] Recreation

The Bukit Batok swimming complex is located off East Avenue 6. There are many parks in the neighbourhood, including the Bukit Batok Town Park (often considered part of Bukit Gombak) and the Bukit Batok Nature Park.

The CDANS Bukit Batok Country Club, for reservist members of the Civil Defence forces and their families, was opened in 1998. It offers a golf driving range, swimming pool, bowling alley and sports facilities for relatively affordable prices. The Civil Service Bukit Batok Clubhouse offering similar recreational facilities to civil servants and their families and the public is located near the Bukit Batok Town Centre, and was opened on 1 Mar 2006.

[edit] Politics

The jurisdiction of Bukit Batok is shared by the Jurong Group Representation Constituency (Jurong GRC), which has an office at Bukit Batok Central and manages much of Bukit Batok; and Hong Kah Group Representation Constituency (Hong Kah GRC), which manages areas north of Bukit Batok West Avenue 3 and Bukit Batok Central. There are four members of Parliament, two from each GRC, representing various areas in Bukit Batok.

Bukit Batok was a single-member constituency by itself in the 1991 general elections and before. It was later mainly subsumed into the Hong Kah GRC. As of 2001, Bukit Batok, as mentioned above, was mainly within the Jurong GRC, with the rest in Hong Kah GRC. In Jurong GRC the ruling party PAP slate comprising Lim Boon Heng, Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Halimah binte Yacob, Ong Chit Chung, and Tharman Shanmugaratnam got 79.8% of the vote to defeat a SDP slate led by their secretary-general Chee Soon Juan. Currently Ong represents the Bukit Batok division and Halimah the Bukit Batok East division. These areas include Bukit Batok Central, the MRT station etc.

In the same elections in 2001, the PAP slate comprising Yeo Cheow Tong, John Chen Seow Phun, Ahmad Khalis bin Abdul Ghani, Ang Mong Seng and Amy Khor Lean Suan defeated a SDP slate with 79.7% of the vote in Hong Kah. Ang now represents the Bukit Gombak division, roughly the Bukit Gombak and Hillview neighbourhoods. Khor represents the Hong Kah North division, HDB apartment blocks in areas roughly bordered by Bukit Batok Road and Bukit Batok West avenues 2, 5 and 7.

[edit] External links

edit	New towns and estates in Singapore
New towns: Ang Mo Kio New Town \| Bedok New Town \| Bishan New Town \| Bukit Batok New Town \| Bukit Merah \| Bukit Panjang New Town \| Choa Chu Kang New Town \| Clementi New Town \| Geylang \| Hougang New Town \| Jurong East New Town \| Jurong West New Town \| Kallang \| Pasir Ris New Town \| Punggol New Town \| Queenstown \| Sembawang New Town \| Sengkang New Town \| Serangoon New Town \| Simei New Town \| Tampines New Town \| Toa Payoh New Town \| Woodlands New Town \| Yishun New Town
Estates: Bukit Timah \| Changi Village \| Kembangan \| Macpherson \| Marine Parade \| Potong Pasir \| Tiong Bahru