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35-753: On 19 January 1973, Toa Payoh was selected as the Games Village for the 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in Singapore, the three storey building in Toa Payoh served as the quarters for the Secretariats and the various sub-committees for the event which was held from 1 to 8 September 1973. Following the event, the building was later converted, and opened as the Toa Payoh Branch Library on 7 February 1974 by Sha'ari Tadin, Senior Parliamentary Secretary to

70-560: A children's playground, seating areas and outdoor chessboard, a tea kiosk and a 27-metre high viewing tower. Toa Payoh Town Park was partially closed in 1999 to make way for a temporary bus interchange. After the new Toa Payoh Bus Interchange at the HDB Hub was completed in June 2002, the temporary bus interchange was converted to a landscaped park. Toa Payoh Town Garden was subsequently renamed as Toa Payoh Town Park. Located along Lorong 5 Toa Payoh,

105-532: A much larger area, encompassing estates such as Potong Pasir and Bidadari . Toa Payoh , in Hokkien , translates as "big swamp" (with toa meaning "big" and payoh meaning "swamp"). The Malay word for swamp is paya . It is the Chinese equivalent of Paya Lebar , which translates to "big swamp land". Toa Payoh's old Chinese name, was known as Ang Chiang San (alternatively An Xiang Shan ) or "burial hill". The area

140-604: A topographical viewpoint his paintings are of great interest today. Thomson married Jane Williamson of Dunedin at "Kaikorai Bank", Dunedin on the 7 October 1858. He died at his home in Invercargill on 16 October 1884. Thomson was responsible for the planning of the city of Invercargill in Southland, New Zealand and his mausoleum is in the St. John's Cemetery in Waikiwi, Invercargill. One of

175-619: Is a planning area and mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore . Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catchment to the northwest, Kallang to the south, Geylang to the southeast, Novena to the west and Hougang to the east. Toa Payoh New Town is situated in the western portion of the Toa Payoh planning area. The latter occupies

210-537: Is a small tree shrine known as Ci Ern Ge Temple . This shrine goes back to the kampong days before the town was set up. It is currently managed by Toa Payoh Central Merchants’ Association (TPCMA). The Housing and Development Board decided to allocate a large area of Toa Payoh for a garden-landscaped park, the Toa Payoh Town Garden, despite the pressure on land here for housing. The town garden used to be popular with visitors who came from near and far to enjoy

245-470: Is part of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC is divided into three divisions — Toa Payoh Central, Toa Payoh East and Toa Payoh West-Thomson. The members of parliament are Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen , Saktiandi Supaat and Chee Hong Tat of the People's Action Party , the ruling party of Singapore. TV shows Books Poems John Turnbull Thomson John Turnbull Thomson (10 August 1821 – 16 October 1884)

280-513: The Otago Province until 1873. From 1876 until 1879 he was Surveyor-General of New Zealand . He was also the original surveyor of the city of Invercargill . During his government service in Singapore, Thomson was responsible for many projects: Several extant places, roads and buildings in Singapore are named after J.T. Thomson. These include: Area Roads Amenities From 1856 until 1858 Thomson surveyed and explored large sections of

315-630: The marine survey of the Straits of Singapore and the east coasts of Johore and Penang . His outstanding achievement was the erection of the Horsburgh Lighthouse on Pedra Branca . In 1853 his health failed and he returned to England, where he studied modern engineering techniques and travelled widely through Britain and the Continent inspecting engineering works. Early in 1856 he emigrated to New Zealand , where he worked as Chief Surveyor of

350-493: The "Chicago of the East" and the "Chicago of Singapore". British Queen Elizabeth II visited the area in the years 1972 (Block 53, Toa Payoh) and 2006 (Block 7, Toa Payoh). The layout of the new town follows urban planning principles of the time. The housing estate is self-contained and has a town centre acting as a focal point for the shopping and entertainment needs of the residents. Industrial developments were also built within

385-546: The 1950s, is that residents tend less to travel to the main town centre but rather to shop within their neighbourhood; if they travel, they would go to the city via the MRT system, at the Toa Payoh and Braddell MRT stations, or public bus services at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange . Nevertheless, with time, the Toa Payoh Town Centre has become increasingly popular. It has a busy atmosphere because, as with many shopping malls of

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420-401: The 1960s up till the beginning of the 1980s, the town, much like Geylang today, was infamous for its vice, being home to some of Singapore's largest crime syndicates and gangs. Notable cases such as the horrific Toa Payoh ritual murders of 1981, in which people were murdered and stuffed into barrels, brought the town widespread attention. As such, Toa Payoh has also been coined by the media as

455-564: The Cashcard-Top-up counter. On top of that, there is also a Senior Citizens' Room and a Newspaper Reading Room for a quiet reading environment. This floor used to have a lot of computers on the whole floor, and less space was available for shelves and seats. These computer services were for users to have paid access to the Internet. The computers were also relatively old. However, after NLB's recent upgrading of computer services, they have reduced

490-660: The Minister for Culture, in the place of Jek Yuen Thong , the then Minister for Culture. The building cost approximately $ 1.234 million to build the building. In 1987, the library was closed from October 1987 to April 1988 for renovations. It then changed its name to Toa Payoh Community Library on 1 September 1995, after the National Library Board became a statutory board. It then went under major renovation in 1997, before reopening on 9 May 1999 by Wong Kan Seng , Minister for Home Affairs. It featured new facilities such as

525-515: The Senior Citizens' Room. The first floor has a large array of story books for children 6–12 years old, and has several shelves of information books, as well as books in the four official languages of Singapore , which are English , Chinese , Malay and Tamil language . It also has a ship structure within the Children's section, which shelves children's books and also allows children to sit in

560-634: The Toa Payoh Sensory Park covers an area of 1.1 ha (2.7 acres). Designed to engage visitors' senses, the park is divided into five zones based on the five senses. Designed by Surbana International and Yoshisuke Miyake, and inspired by similar parks in Japan, the park was first announced in December 2007, and was completed in October 2009 at a cost of S$ 3.5 million. The sporting facilities are based in

595-448: The Toa Payoh Town Centre was completed in 2002. The Housing and Development Board relocated its headquarters from its premises at Bukit Merah to the HDB Hub on 10 June 2002. The HDB Hub comprises two wings, an atrium, four commercial building blocks, a leisure and learning centre and a three-storey basement parking lot. The building also accommodates Singapore's first fully air-conditioned Toa Payoh Bus Interchange and integrates it with

630-612: The centre of the town, there are also street football courts, gym facilities and basketball courts available at various neighbourhoods of Toa Payoh. Meanwhile, SAFRA clubhouse is located besides Toa Payoh Stadium. Toa Payoh is entirely located within the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency , while a portion of Lorong 8 Toa Payoh was in the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency prior to 2020. The section which

665-457: The city's major parks is Turnbull Thomson Park . He surveyed many South Island towns prior to development. His descendants have written numerous books which contain authoritative information on his life in New Zealand. Thomson's great-grandson, John Hall-Jones , was a historian specializing in the history of southern New Zealand. The Turnbull Thomson Falls are a cataract in the upper reaches of

700-580: The display of willows, bamboos and the brilliant reds and yellows of the Delonix regia trees. At the heart of the garden is a 0.8 ha carp pond which contains a waterfall and a cluster of islands linked by bridges. The islands are arranged to provide a sequence of delightful walking experiences not only by day but also by night when the garden is lit. The garden is buffered from the noise and night-time glare of passing traffic along Jalan Toa Payoh by an elevated slope planted with thick rows of Angsanas . There are also

735-536: The existing Toa Payoh MRT station . Another landmark of Toa Payoh is the facility of Royal Philips Electronics (the Dutch multinational making medical and electronics equipment). Philips established an extensive facility, parts of which are now owned by Jabil and NXP. The facility has been used by Philips for developing, amongst others, televisions and DVD players for years. An interesting landmark in Toa Payoh Central

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770-465: The inside. It carries the theme of " Treasure Island ", which encourages the children to explore and imagine. One can also access the neighbouring Délifrance cafe from the first floor, which is connected to the library. This floor has all other kinds of books, such as adult fiction, magazines, and AV materials. There are also several IT facilities on this floor, such as the Photocopying Room and

805-555: The interior of the South Island , covering most of the southern half of the island. Many names in the area indicate Thomson's Northumbrian background, though there is a widespread belief that the naming of many places was through a disagreement with the New Zealand surveying authorities. It has long been suggested that Thomson originally intended to give Māori names to places, but these names were refused. Thomson gave Northumbrian names to many places. Though unconfirmed, he may have named

840-466: The number to 10, and upgraded the computers to newer ones as well. This floor is the Teens Zone, where there are fiction books for teenagers, as well as a large space for them to carry out project meetings. Toa Payoh Potong Pasir SMC Toa Payoh ( / ˌ t ɔː ˈ p ɑː j oʊ / taw PAH -yoh , simplified Chinese : 大巴窑 ; traditional Chinese : 大巴窯 , Tamil : தோ பாயோ )

875-522: The redevelopment started in early 1964. Toa Payoh New Town is Singapore's second oldest satellite town and the first to be built by the Housing and Development Board after the development of Queenstown by the Singapore Improvement Trust in the late 1950s. Before its time as a residential town, Toa Payoh was a squatter district, with a prominent agricultural heritage in the area. Throughout

910-541: The southern central part of Toa Payoh, which is located near the town centre. It includes the 3,500-seat Toa Payoh Stadium , where Singapore Premier League club Balestier Khalsa FC plays its home games. Toa Payoh Sports Hall is located besides the stadium, as well as the Singapore Table Tennis Association Academy. Meanwhile, there is also Toa Payoh Swimming Complex , where national swimming athletes train. Besides these facilities located in

945-404: The time, all commercial activities are concentrated along a single mall with high point blocks on either side and major department stores at each end. The shopping mall is actually L-shaped and there are two plazas, one with a branch library and cinema, the other with an area office and a post office. Each plaza has a department store at either end. The commercial development, HDB Hub , located at

980-597: The town of Middlemarch after the Middle March region of his native Northumberland, although another theory suggests the surveyor's wife was reading the George Eliot novel of the same name. Sometimes he gave places a form of the Northumbrian name for an animal, as with names such as Kyeburn, Gimmerburn, Hoggetburn, and Wedderburn. The area where those places are found has been referred to as " Thomson's Barnyard ". Thomson

1015-460: The town to provide residents with job opportunities close to home while schools were built within the neighbourhoods. The town centre was the first prototype in Singapore. It is surrounded by separated neighbourhoods, each with its own shopping amenities and community centres, well served by a network of vehicular roads and generous open space separating them. The result, as in the English new towns of

1050-504: Was a British civil engineer and artist who played an instrumental role in the development of the early infrastructure of nineteenth-century Singapore and New Zealand . He lived the last 28 years of his life in New Zealand, and prior to that fifteen years in the Malay Straits and Singapore. Thomson was born at Glororum , Northumberland , England, the third child of Alexander Thomson and his wife, Janet, née Turnbull. After his father

1085-482: Was a founder of the Otago and Southland Institutes of New Zealand, to which he contributed numerous papers on scientific subjects including ethnological studies. Through his knowledge of Hindustani and Malay , he became interested in comparative linguistics and developed a theory of racial diffusion based on philological evidence. He was also a keen amateur painter of landscapes , working mostly in oils . From

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1120-468: Was a state of Malaysia . Toa Payoh was once an extensive and notorious squatter district. Most squatters were engaged in farming and rearing pigs. The others were hawkers , factory workers, mechanics or domestic helpers . The squatters started moving out in 1962 as a result of increased compensation rates and other practical inducements offered by the Government. Clearance work was able to commence and

1155-422: Was called as such because of the presence of an old cemetery located in the area. John Turnbull Thomson , a government surveyor , refers to Toa Payoh in his 1849 agricultural report as Toah Pyoh Lye and Toah Pyoh . Unique to housing estates in Singapore, roads in Toa Payoh are given Malay-language street prefixes , (e.g. "Jalan Toa Payoh", "Lorong Satu Toa Payoh" ) as when the town was conceived, Singapore

1190-489: Was employed by the East India Survey. In 1841 he was appointed Government Surveyor at Singapore and in 1844 became Superintendent of Roads and Public Works . He was responsible for the design and construction of a number of notable engineering works including bridges, roads, and hospitals. He conducted the allotment survey of Singapore, the topographical survey of the island of Singapore and its dependencies, and

1225-521: Was killed in a hunting accident in 1830, the young Thomson and his mother went to live in Abbey St. Bathans , Berwickshire . He was educated at Wooler and Duns Academy, later spending some time attached to Marischal College , Aberdeen , and Edinburgh University before studying engineering at Peter Nicholson's School of Engineering at Newcastle-on-Tyne . Thomson arrived in the Malay Straits in 1838 and

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