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Bukit Panjang is a planning area and residential town located in the West Region of Singapore. A portion of this town is situated on a low-lying elongated hill. The planning area is bounded by Bukit Batok to the west, Choa Chu Kang to the northwest, Sungei Kadut to the north, the Central Water Catchment to the east, and Bukit Timah to the south. Bukit Panjang New Town is located at the northern portion of the planning area. Bukit Panjang has an average elevation of 36m/118 ft.[4]
Bukit Panjang | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Malay | Bukit Panjang (Rumi) بوکيت ڤنجڠ (Jawi) |
| • Chinese | 武吉班让 (Simplified) 武吉班讓 (Traditional) Wǔjí Bānràng (Pinyin) Bú-kit Pan-jiāng (Hokkien POJ) |
| • Tamil | புக்கிட் பாஞ்சாங் Pukkiṭ Pāñcāṅ (Transliteration) |
 .jpg)   Clockwise: A busy intersection between Bukit Panjang Road and Bukit Panjang Ring Road, Senja-Cashew Community Club with HDB flats in the background, Zhenghua Community Club, Summit of Bukit Timah Hill | |
 Location of Bukit Panjang in Singapore | |
.svg)  Bukit Panjang Location of Bukit Panjang within Singapore | |
| Coordinates: 1°22′51.00″N 103°45′45.00″E / 1.3808333°N 103.7625000°E | |
| Country |  Singapore |
| Region | West Region
|
| CDC | |
| Town Council |
|
| Constituencies | |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | North West CDC
|
| • Members of Parliament | Bukit Panjang SMC
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC
|
| Area | |
• Total | 8.99 km2 (3.47 sq mi) |
| • Residential | 2.19 km2 (0.85 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 138,270 |
| • Density | 15,000/km2 (40,000/sq mi) |
| Demonym |
|
| Ethnic groups | |
| • Chinese | 102,800 |
| • Malays | 21,690 |
| • Indians | 10,340 |
| • Others | 3,450 |
| Postal districts | 21, 23 |
| Dwelling units | 34,463 |
| Projected ultimate | 44,000 |
The town is categorised into seven subzones, namely Jelebu, Bangkit, Fajar, Saujana, Senja, Dairy Farm, and Nature Reserve.
Etymology
editBukit Panjang means "long hill" in Malay. It gets its name from the low hills which end south to Bukit Timah.[5] The roads in the town are named after old 60s kampung tracks (Lorong Petir, Lorong Pending, Jalan Fajar, Jalan Senja) which used to ply the area.[6]
History
editBukit Panjang is a suburban town in western Singapore. Before redevelopment, Kampong Bukit Panjang used to exist in the area. Initially, instead of using the original place name, Bukit Panjang, there were plans to open up the new town using the name, Zhenghua,[6] derived from Jalan Cheng Hwa that used to ply the area. However, Bukit Panjang was quickly reinstated following complaints.[7][8] Development of the town and advanced earthworks begun on 15 June 1981. Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats rose up by 20 May 1985, but only Blocks 1xx and 2xx were built so far. Neighbourhood 4 was up and running by 1989, and followed by Neighbourhood 5 and 6 which was the recent ones since 1995.
In 1981, S$96 million was spent on widening canals to help prevent flooding in low-lying areas such as Bukit Panjang.[9]
Administration
editThe Bukit Panjang area comes under the administrative lead of the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council, which oversees the management and maintenance of the many apartments (HDB flats) and commercial units in Bukit Panjang. Its Member of Parliament is Liang Eng Hwa since the 2020 general election.[10]
Housing, amenities, and attractions
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The town consists of a mixture of old and new blocks of flats, condominiums and private housing. To date, there are three community centres, namely Bukit Panjang Community Club, Zhenghua Community Club,[11] and Senja-Cashew Community Club, which serve the entertainment, recreational, and educational needs of residents.
Bukit Panjang Plaza is one of the well-known malls in Bukit Panjang. It is located in the heart of Bukit Panjang town and is near Bukit Panjang LRT station, Bukit Panjang MRT station, and Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange. Located on Jelebu Road, the mall has been expanded twice throughout its existence to include more shops in the building. The mall is owned by CapitaRetail which is another retail-based REIT by CapitaLand. The mall houses the Bukit Panjang Public Library as well as a NTUC FairPrice Finest supermarket.
Hillion Mall is another well-known mall in Bukit Panjang, located along Petir Road. It is one of the more recent commercial facilities, which completed construction and was opened to the public on 24 February 2017. It is part of the Bukit Panjang Integrated Transport Hub, which shares the building with the Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange, and directly links to the Bukit Panjang MRT/LRT station through an underpass and above-ground link way respectively.[12]
There are other smaller commercial buildings equipped with food courts, supermarkets, and other basic shops to meet the basic necessities of the residents. They are commonly located within HDB estates or small standalone buildings. Some of the more iconic buildings include Junction 10 located along Woodlands Road, Fajar Shopping Centre located along Fajar Road, Greenridge Shopping Centre located along Jelapang Road, and the Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood Centre located along Bangkit Road.
Within the neighbourhood consists of two hawker centres; the Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre and Market and the Senja Hawker Centre.[13] The former opened in 2015[14] while the latter opened in 2022.[15]
A healthcare facility located along Senja Road was opened on 2 October 2021 to house the Bukit Panjang Polyclinic and the Senja Care Home.[16]
The town has two major parks, namely Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood 5 Park and Zhenghua Park.[6] Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood 5 Park is located adjacent to the Senja-Cashew Community Club and wraps around Pang Sua Pond, a man-made floating wetland. Zhenghua Park, located in the eastern part of Bukit Panjang, consists of a fitness area, gazebos, playgrounds, and a 2.5-kilometre cycling and jogging track that runs parallel to the Bukit Timah Expressway.
Education
editBukit Panjang has both primary and secondary schools within the neighbourhood,[17] as well as other private institutions.
Primary schools
edit- Beacon Primary School
- Bukit Panjang Primary School
- CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace
- Greenridge Primary School
- West Spring Primary School
- West View Primary School
- Zhenghua Primary School
Secondary schools
edit- Assumption English School
- Assumption Pathway School
- Greenridge Secondary School
- West Spring Secondary School
- Zhenghua Secondary School
Private institutions
edit- German European School Singapore
- St Francis Methodist School
- Trinity Theological College
- St Francis Xavier Major Seminary
Transportation
editRail
editBukit Panjang is served by the following MRT Stations on the Downtown MRT line which opened on 27 December 2015 and provide residents with direct train access to the Downtown Core:
- DT1 – BP6 Bukit Panjang
- DT2 Cashew
It is also served by the following LRT Stations which connect it to nearby Choa Chu Kang for commuters to access the North–South MRT line:
The driverless and fully automated Bukit Panjang LRT line was completed on 11 June 1999 at a cost of S$285 million.[18] The rail line was intended to serve the growing town and act as a replacement to the many buses employed through the town, especially during rush hours. Originally opening with 14 stations, Ten Mile Junction station permanently closed in 2019 after sighting low ridership, bringing the number to 13.[19]
Several petitions were presented by the residents of Bukit Panjang protesting the decision by SMRT to replace the buses in Bukit Panjang with the LRT system. Some of the complaints were related to the fact that people preferred the previous bus system that covered most parts of the Bukit Panjang neighbourhoods such as bus service 190 and 972. The previous bus system was viewed as more efficient because it had many bus stops within walking distance; the LRT system has only 13 stations that are spaced hundreds of meters apart.
The LRT system is expected to go through a major upgrading programme that is due to be completed by 2026. The programme will bring about a new signalling system, better condition monitoring, new power rails system and 19 new light rail vehicles.[20][21]
Bus
editThe public bus system is predominantly run by SMRT Buses. Of the SMRT buses based in Bukit Panjang, some are smaller feeder bus services that serve the various areas of the neighbourhood, while the rest are long-distance trunk services that serve as a mode of transport to other towns and to the city centre. Bus services start and end at Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange.
Road
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Bukit Panjang is bounded by two of Singapore's expressways — the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) and Kranji Expressway (KJE). The BKE is accessible via Bukit Panjang Road and Dairy Farm Road, while the KJE is accessible via Woodlands Road and Senja Road.[22]
Bukit Panjang also has a ring road running through the various parts of Bukit Panjang, the Bukit Panjang Ring Road. It acts as a feeder to the main arterial roads in the town.
Cycling
edit
There is a total of 8.5 km-worth of cycling paths around Bukit Panjang to facilitate active mobility as part of the Land Transport Authority's Walk-Cycle-Ride initiative.[23] The first batch of cycling paths was constructed along Petir Road in 2018 by the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council. The network has since expanded to cover areas such as Fajar, Bangkit, Jelapang, and Senja.[24] Together with the Pang Sua Park Connector, Bukit Panjang Park Connector, and Bukit Panjang (Woodlands Road to KJE) Park Connector, the cycling paths form the backbone of the town's 16 km cycling network.[25]
Politics
editBukit Panjang is politically divided into two constituencies, namely the Bukit Panjang Single Member Constituency and the Cashew and Zhenghua wards of the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency.
Bukit Panjang SMC mainly consists of the Pending, Bangkit and Fajar areas. Its Member of Parliament is Liang Eng Hwa.
Senja, Segar, and Jelapang are located in Zhenghua ward of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC where its Member of Parliament is Edward Chia. Petir, Gangsa, and Chestnut areas belong to the Cashew division of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC with its Member of Parliament being Vivian Balakrishnan.
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b "Bukit Panjang (Planning Area, Singapore) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ a b HDB Key Statistics FY 2014/2015 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Statistics Singapore - Geographic Distribution - 2018 Latest Data". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ elevationmap.net. "Bukit Panjang New Town Singapore on the Elevation Map. Topographic Map of Bukit Panjang New Town Singapore". elevationmap.net. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Savage & Yeoh 2022, p. 73
- ^ a b c Loh Xiu, Ruth (3 July 2019). "Bukit Panjang, where the hills come alive". edgeprop.sg. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ Savage & Yeoh 2022, p. 74
- ^ "HDB changes Zhenghua to Bukit Panjang". The Business Times. 17 January 1987. p. 2. Retrieved 10 October 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ "$96m to ease flood problem". The Straits Times. 24 March 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 10 October 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ Parliamentary Elections Act – Statement of the Poll after Counting the ballots for Electoral Division of Bukit Panjang (PDF) (Notification 1421). Republic of Singapore Government Gazette. 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ People's Association - Zhenghua Community Club
- ^ Abdullah, Zhaki (4 September 2017). "New Bukit Panjang transport hub opens after two-year delay". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ "New Bukit Panjang hawker centre design unveiled; construction to begin this year: NEA". CNA. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ "Bukit Panjang's first hawker centre sees sizeable crowds on opening day". TODAY. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ cue (11 December 2022). "New Bukit Panjang hawker centre offers affordable fare, Michelin-rated stalls | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "New Bukit Panjang Polyclinic has dental, women's and children's health services". The Straits Times. 2 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ^ "School Information Service (SIS)". sis.moe.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ "Built at a cost of $285 million, Bukit Panjang LRT may be scrapped – The Independent News". 7 October 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ "Bt Panjang LRT's Ten Mile Junction station to close". The Straits Times. 8 March 2018. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "LTA | Upcoming Projects | System Renewal | Upgrading the Bukit Panjang LRT (BPLRT)". www.lta.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
- ^ Lim, Adrian (7 March 2018). "Parliament: $344m overhaul of Bukit Panjang LRT; smoother rides expected from 2022". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ^ "LTA | Upcoming Projects | Road & Commuter Facilities | Senja/KJE Interchange". www.lta.gov.sg. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
- ^ "LTA | Getting Around". www.lta.gov.sg. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Bukit Panjang cycling paths to feed into Park Connector Network by 2021 | Video". CNA. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ cue (18 February 2023). "Bukit Panjang gets 8.5km of new cycling paths along nearly every street | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
Further reading
edit- Savage, Victor R.; Yeoh, Brenda (15 October 2022). Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (4th ed.). Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9789815009231.