Choa Chu Kang (officially Choa Chu Kang Town and also historically known as Chua Chu Kang) is a major residential town and neighbourhood and is a suburban area in the north-western part of Singapore, within the West Region. Originally a kampung village, the area has been rapidly developed under the ambition of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to transform it into a modern township. The town now comprises seven neighbourhoods, including three large ones: Choa Chu Kang, Yew Tee and Teck Whye.
Choa Chu Kang's name is derived from its historical core at the former site of Chua Chu Kang Village located near the junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Jalan Sungei Poyan, currently occupied by the grounds of the National Shooting Centre which comes under the purview of Singapore Shooting Association. The name began to be applied to the general area around the village when Choa Chu Kang Road, a main arterial road linking the village to Upper Bukit Timah Road towards the east was built.
The name "Choa Chu Kang" is derived from the Teochew word "kang chu". In the nineteenth century, Chinese immigrants to plant gambier and pepper along the river banks of Choa Chu Kang, although many migrated to Johor to the north at the encouragement of the Temenggong of Johor. The plantation owners were known as Kangchu - the word "kang" means river and "chu" means "owner" or "lord", referring to the headman in charge of the plantations in the area. "Choa" is the clan name of the first headman.
Choa Chu Kang became a small rural Chinese district. It was a diverse area with old kampong housing and rubber plantations. Residents had to depend on boats or bullock carts for transportation. Among the few villages which sprang up were Kampong Belimbing and Chua Chu Kang Village. Interestingly, most of the inhabitants belonged to the Teochew dialect group. The early Teochew settlers were mainly farmers growing gambier and pepper. The Hokkiens, who moved in later, established pineapple, rubber and coconut plantations as well as vegetable farms and poultry farms. In the early days, tigers used to roam in the area. The last tiger of Singapore was shot here in the 1930s.
Kampong Belimbing, Chua Chu Kang Village and Kampong Berih was demolished in phases from 1993 to 1998. It was replaced by National Shooting Association and military plot (Cemetery North) and (Jalan Bahar).
The name Choa Chu Kang is used for Choa Chu Kang Road, Choa Chu Kang Town, and its nearby facilities. However, the original name Chua Chu Kang is retained in the cemetery area.
New town era (1980s)
The new town era had been evolved since 1985 where Teck Whye was developed (the first HDB blocks since 1980), and it was extended to N2, N3 and N4 by 1992 with the cutting short of Choa Chu Kang Road. Yew Tee was developed by 1997, with N5, N6 and N7 being completed and residents had moved in.
There is still a military training area at Yew Tee/Kranji Camp premises, which is since 6 February 2002. The camps are Kranji and Mowbray Camps.
Choa Chu Kang also had their new neighbourhood being completed, the Neighbourhood 8 by 2015. On 25 April 2015, bus services such as 300, 301 and 983 were being enhanced for their needs of residents. Bus service 301 and 983 took over the deleted portions of service 300. On 27 December 2015, service 983 will also be extended via Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7, Choa Chu Kang Grove, Choa Chu Kang Way, Choa Chu Kang Road, Upper Bukit Timah Road, Petir Road, Jelebu Road all the way to Bukit Panjang.
Politics
When Choa Chu Kang Town was built by expanding Teck Whye Estate near the other end of Choa Chu Kang Road at its junction with Upper Bukit Timah Road and Woodlands Road to the north, the place name began to be applied to a much larger area, especially when political divisions like the Choa Chu Kang ward applied to the entire northwest sector of the country during some editions of the Parliamentary elections. Likewise, the residents' committees in Choa Chu Kang were expanded in 1988 and 1991, and part of Chua Chu Kang sector had given way to Yew Tee division, followed by Keat Hong division in 2001. The growing demand of Keat Hong Neighbourhood 8 also requested for redrawing of boundaries whereby Limbang ward took over the parts of Yew Tee and Choa Chu Kang, giving a nice feel of Neighbourhood 5 and 6. Today, the Yew Tee and Limbang wards fall within the Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency and the rest of the town such as Keat Hong and Chua Chu Kang fall within the Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency.
Education
There are currently eight primary schools and six secondary schools in Choa Chu Kang New Town along with a junior college. Choa Chu Kang is home to the newest addition to ITE College West which was constructed and completed by 2010.
City planners plan for public transport to eventually become the preferred mode of transport in the future. The government of Singapore ideally desires environmental towns, using public transport to reduce pollution caused by heavy road traffic. Choa Chu Kang is part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's focus for realising this urban planning model and is still undergoing an expansion of its town. As Choa Chu Kang is relatively distant from the city centre at the Central Area, an efficient, high-volume and high-speed public transport system is also preferred to using road networks.
Choa Chu Kang New Town is linked to the Central Area and to the other lines on the MRT/LRT system (to the East-West Line at Jurong East Station, to the Circle Line at Bishan Station, and the North East Line at Dhoby Ghaut Station) through the North South Line (NSL) at Choa Chu Kang Station (NS4) located at Choa Chu Kang Town Centre. It usually takes an hour for passengers to travel from Choa Chu Kang to the Central Area which changes at Jurong East.
The intra-town Bukit Panjang LRT is a 7.8 km light rail line that serves to link residents to the town centre and the nearby town of Bukit Panjang, hence the line's name. It is a fully driverless system.
Yew Tee Station (NS5), the other station along NSL in Choa Chu Kang New Town, serves the housing developments in Yew Tee, the industrial estate of Sungei Kadut, and the northern part of Choa Chu Kang New Town. The station started operations on 10 February 1996. Like Choa Chu Kang, it usually takes an hour for passengers to travel from Yew Tee to the Central Area when using the station which changes at Jurong East.
Bus services are available at the Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange which is connected to the Choa Chu Kang MRT/LRT Station and the town's central shopping mall Lot One Shoppers' Mall. It was opened in 1990 with 12 bus services, all operated under SMRT Corporation. Bus services at the interchange allow residents from Choa Chu Kang New Town to travel to other parts of the country, including the Central Area while some are specifically used to travel around the Choa Chu Kang town and even to Yew Tee.
The bus interchange currently has 15 services; 14 of which are SMRT Buses (including an intra-town bus service), the other a special free shuttle to Qian Hu Fish Farm. Typically passenger traffic is often very high in morning and evening peak hours.
Like other bus interchanges in Singapore, the interchange is still and was originally constructed as an open-air structure. The interchange will be renovated in 3 to 5 years time.
A typical SMRT bus about to enter the bus interchange. This one is the demonstrator unit for SMRT Buses' Mercedes-Benz OC500LE and it is the first bus to be registered under the SMB prefix (SMB1H).
There are also other buses which passes through Choa Chu Kang New Town, which also includes 556/557 from Choa Chu Kang to the CBD, 975 from Bukit Panjang to Lim Chu Kang and 982E from Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5 to Marina Boulevard.
With the introduction of bus services 301 & 983 which was introduced on 25 April 2015 (originally 15 February 2015). It was introduced to serve the residents at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 5 and Avenue 6. Service 983 might have an extension to Bukit Panjang area in 27 Dec 2015 and when the BTO's HDB completed in 2016,it will serve three new pair of bus stop, and Downtown Line Stage 2 which will open on the 27 December to enhance connectivity.In addition,Service 979 will be launch in 27 Dec from Bukit Panjang to Yew Tee when DTL 2 is open
Currently, double decker buses are deployed on bus services 67, 172, 188, 190, 983 & 985.
Road network
The northern part of the much-used Bukit Timah Road (called Upper Bukit Timah Road) connects Choa Chu Kang residents to other parts of the country.
The Kranji Expressway (KJE) links Choa Chu Kang Town up with Singapore's expressway network. With the KJE, drivers can change onto the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) which in turn, is connected to the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) which travels to the Central Area and the eastern parts of Singapore. As the town is surrounded by the towns of Bukit Panjang, Bukit Batok, Bukit Gombak and southern Woodlands, many roads (old and new) have been constructed to link Choa Chu Kang into other towns which eventually allows residents to other parts of the country by either bus, train, car or any other reliable means of transportation.
The following roads connect the central town of Choa Chu Kang to the nearby towns of Bukit Batok and Bukit Panjang:
Bukit Batok Road (links Choa Chu Kang with Bukit Batok and Jurong East)
There are two main shopping centres in Choa Chu Kang. They are Lot One, the main shopping mall by CapitaLand and it is a major hub in Choa Chu Kang, where anchor tenants are NTUC FairPrice, Shaw Theatres, BHG, Cotton On and Choa Chu Kang Community Library. The other two shopping malls that are in Choa Chu Kang include Yew Tee Square and Yew Tee Point which was located in Yew Tee, owned by Frasers Centrepoint. The mall has undergone enhancement works to create a four-storey retail extension block measuring over 16,500 sq ft (1,530 m2). The works, which commenced in July 2007, was completed by end-2008.
For Junction 10, it is a shopping mall by Far East Organisation, which is located at Ten Mile Junction. There is Giant Hypermarket nearby as an anchor tenant.
There are other shopping malls of which they are neighbourhood malls. They are Choa Chu Kang Centre, Keat Hong Shopping Centre, Limbang Shopping Centre, Sunshine Place and Teck Whye Shopping Centre. They are smaller scale and of which not many people will experience it.
Medical
The estate also contains a polyclinic renovated in 2010. It is operated by the National Healthcare Group.
Parks, recreational and sport venues
Choa Chu Kang Park – a major park of the town located in the northern part of Choa Chu Kang.
