Bedok

Bedok
Planning Area and HDB Town
Other transcription(s)
 • Chinese 勿洛
 • Pinyin Wù Luò
 • Malay Bedok
 • Tamil பிடோ
From top left to right: Panoramic view of Bedok Reservoir, Bedok Stadium, Bedok Reservoir Estate, Bedok Town Centre, Bedok Jetty, Bedok Bus Interchange
Bedok

Location of Bedok in Singapore

Coordinates: SG 1°19′24.96″N 103°55′38.42″E / 1.3236000°N 103.9273389°E / 1.3236000; 103.9273389
Country  Singapore
Region

East Region

CDCs
Town councils
  • Aljunied-Hougang Town Council
  • East Coast-Fengshan Town Council
  • Marine Parade Town Council
Constituencies
DGP exhibited
PA incorporated
  • 22 January 1999[1]
Government
 • Mayors

North East CDC

South East CDC

 • Members of Parliament

Aljunied GRC

East Coast GRC

Fengshan SMC

Marine Parade GRC

Area[2][3]
 • Total 21.69 km2 (8.37 sq mi)
Area rank 7th
 • Residential 4.18 km2 (1.61 sq mi)
Population (2015)[2][3]
 • Total 289,750
 • Rank 1st
 • Density 13,360.5/km2 (34,604/sq mi)
 • Density rank 9th
Demonym(s)

Official

  • Bedok resident

Colloquial

  • Bedoker
  • Bedokian
Postal district 16
Dwelling units 60,115
Projected ultimate 79,000

Bedok /bəˈdɒk/ (Chinese: 勿洛, Tamil: பிடோ), also known as Bedok New Town, is a planning area and matured residential town located in the East Region of Singapore. Population wise, Bedok is the largest planning area in the Republic, being home to an estimated 289,000 residents.[2][4] This high demographic is largely explained by the affordable public housing in Bedok New Town, due to its relatively distant location from the Central Area. Besides public housing developments, private residences are also prevalent in Bedok as well, most of which are found in the precincts of Bayshore, Frankel and Siglap, in the western and south-western portions of the area.[5][6] Bedok in terms of size, is also the largest planning area containing a new town within it.[2] Apart from the maritime boundary that the area shares with the Singapore Strait to the south and south-east, Bedok also borders five other planning areas. They are Paya Lebar to the north, Hougang to the north-west, Tampines to the north-east and east, Geylang to the west and Marine Parade to the south-west.

As a part of the Tanah Merah region, the history of Bedok is largely influenced by its coastal frontier. The general area known as Bedok today, was first mentioned in maps dating to the pre-Raffles era. After Singapore was colonized in 1819, Simpang Bedok Village became an ethnically mixed community consisting of Chinese and Malay people groups. Before the 1960s, Bedok's primary source of income was coconut, which was harvested from the plantations that were found in Siglap. Fishing was also another primary source of income for the villagers of Simpang Bedok at the time.[6][7]

Modern development of Bedok only began in 1966, when reclamation works along the coast of the area began.[7] In the following decade, Bedok was transformed by the Housing and Development Board into the country's fifth self-contained new town, with the first flats emerging in the vicinity by 1975.[8] Following the Fall of Saigon that same year, Bedok Jetty became a focal point for Vietnamese refugees landing in Singapore during Operation Thunderstorm.

Etymology and early history

An 1879 watercolour painting of the coast of Siglap by John Edmund Taylor.

The name, "Bedok" can trace its origins back to 1604, in Manuel Gomes de Erédia's map of Singapore. The map refers to the Bedok River (present day Sungei Bedok) as Sune Bodo.

Bedok is one of the early native place names in existence around the time of Sir Stamford Raffles. In the first comprehensive map of Singapore Island completed by Frankin and Jackson and reproduced in John Crawfurd's 1828 book, the place name appears on the south east coast of the island as a river, Badok S. (Sungei Bedok), around the "small red cliff", a part of present Tanah Merah.

The Malay word bedoh refers to a very large drum, used for calling people to a mosque for prayers or to sound the alarm in the days before loudspeakers. There was a prominent mosque in the 1950s at Jalan Bilal that still used the drum about five times a day. The "h" in the word bedoh was replaced with a "k", and, as with most Malay words that end with a "k", it is pronounced with an inaudible glottal stop.

A less popular theory for its etymology often refers to the Malay term of biduk, a small fishing boat like the sampan, or more likely, a dugout canoe, as the east coast was dotted with many fishing villages.

Modern development

Bedok Town had been developed since 1973 with the newer roads such as Bedok Plain, Bedok Highway and Bedok Heights being built all the way until 1975. The New Upper Changi Road was fully built and opened in 1979, where the massive development had been completed except Bedok Reservoir and Kaki Bukit, which was built later in 1983 - 1988.

Infrastructure

A former housing estate opposite Bedok Reservoir

Bedok New Town covers a land area close to 9.4 km² with some 42% occupied for residential use. It was formerly a hilly region and hence the focal point of orientation of the town is the special landscaped park and sports complex built on the higher ground of the town. The residential blocks as well as the industrial area are planned based on the neighbourhood concept. There is also a town centre together with Bedok Mall and Bedok Point being built. Plans for an integrated complex, which will be as big as 3 football fields, have also been revealed in 2014. This complex will house a sports centre, library, clinic, centre for the elderly and the Kampong Chai Chee Community Club. The complex will be located in Bedok town centre and will be ready in 2017.

Residential development

There are some 58,000 units of flats built by the HDB in Bedok New Town. As one of the older towns, the majority of the flats are 3-room or 4-room. There are also some 2,700 and 583 units of executive and Housing and Urban Development Corporation flats. It provides housing for some 200,000 residents.

Transportation

The Mass Rapid Transit station, Bedok MRT Station, serves the Bedok neighbourhood and is centrally located, at the south-west corner of Bedok Town Center. Adjacent to the MRT station on the north side is the Bedok Bus Interchange, a major bus terminal connecting residents with SBS Transit Townlink and Feeder services 222, 225G, 225W, 228, 229 and Trunk services. SMRT Buses also operates as a minority, Trunk service 854 towards Yishun and shuttle services towards Tampines Retail Park.

Education

Primary Schools

Secondary Schools

Junior Colleges

Other Schools

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bedok.

References

  1. 1 2 "Singapore Infopedia - Development guide plan". National Library Board.
  2. 1 2 3 4 City Population - statistics, maps and charts | Bedok
  3. 1 2 HDB Key Statistics FY2014/2015
  4. ↑ "Singapore Residents by Planning Area/Subzone, Age Group and Sex, June 2000 – 2015" (XLS). Statistics Singapore. Statistics Singapore. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  5. ↑ URA Planning Area Brochure - Bedok
  6. 1 2 Singapore Infopedia | Bedok
  7. 1 2 National Library Board. "Singapore Infopedia: Bedok land reclamation".
  8. ↑ "Bedok: The birth of a new town". New Nation. 6 July 1976.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.