Toa Payoh New Town
Total area:	4.63 km²
Residential area:	2.10 km²
Dwelling units:	35,119
Projected ultimate:	48,000
Population:	116,800

Toa Payoh is a district located in the Central Region

Central Region, Singapore

The Central Region of Singapore is one of the five regions in the city-state. Comprising 13,150 hectares of land area, it includes 11 Planning Areas within the Central Area which is the immediate vicinity of the Singapore's central business district, as well as another 11 more outside it.Although...

 of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. It commonly refers to the Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing estate of Toa Payoh New Town

Toa Payoh New Town

Toa Payoh New Town is the second oldest new town in Singapore, developed since 1962. It is home to the HDB Hub and hosts one of the country's three air-conditioned bus interchanges, the other two being the one in Sengkang and Ang Mo Kio...

, one of the earliest satellite public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 estates in Singapore.

The Toa Payoh Planning Area, an urban planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 zone under the Urban Redevelopment Authority

Urban Redevelopment Authority

The Urban Redevelopment Authority is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government.-Mission:The authority was established on 1 April 1974, and is of especially critical importance to the city-state,...

, encompasses the Toa Payoh New Town, Potong Pasir

Potong Pasir

Potong Pasir is an area located between Toa Payoh and Sennett Estate in the North-East Region of Singapore. For urban planning purposes, it is classified under the Toa Payoh area. Potong Pasir is particularly notable for being the longest-held opposition ward in one-party dominant Singapore...

 and the private housing estates in the Upper Aljunied

Aljunied

Aljunied is a sub-urban area located in the eastern part of the city-state of Singapore. Named after Aljunied Road, it was formally agricultural land which has since been heavily urbanised and presently comprises a variety of landuses...

 area. The planning area is bounded by Braddell Road and Bartley Road to the north, Upper Paya Lebar Road to the east, MacPherson Road and Jalan Toa Payoh to the south and Thomson Road

Thomson Road, Singapore

Thomson Road is a major trunk road linking Singapore's central business district with the northern suburban areas. Taking its name from John Turnbull Thomson, a Scotsman who was the Government Surveyor and Chief Engineer of the Straits Settlements from 1841 to 1853 and who helped build many roads...

 to the west. It covers a total of 845 ha

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 in land area.

Etymology

Toa Payoh is a Hokkien language reference to "big swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

" (toa is "big" and payoh means "swamp"). The Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

 word for swamp is paya. The reference indicates the large swampy area that preceded the later development of Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 market gardens in this area.

It is the Chinese equivalent of Paya Lebar

Paya Lebar

Paya Lebar is an area in the north-eastern part of Singapore. It is served by Paya Lebar Station, on the East West Line of Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system. It is an urban planning area. The Singapore Post Centre is located there too....

, which translates to, big swamp land. To older generation Chinese, Toa Payoh is known as ang change shan (or anxiangshan) or "burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

 hill

Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...

" because of the cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 located in the area.

J.T. Thomson, a government surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

, refers to Toa Payoh in his 1849 agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 report as Toah Pyoh Lye and Toah Pyoh. Whampoa or Hoo Ah Kay had an orange

Orange (fruit)

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

 garden here that Johnson visited. The neglected garden which Whampoa had bought was converted into a tasteful "bel-retiro" with its avenues

Avenue (landscape)

__notoc__In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...

, front-orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

, hanging gardens, Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 wall

Wall

A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...

s, bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

s and orange trees, shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s, stags

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 and peafowl

Peafowl

Peafowl are two Asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male's extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female...

s, its aviary

Aviary

An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...

 and menagerie

Menagerie

A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...

 and artificial curiosities of horticulture

Horticulture

Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

.

History

Toa Payoh was once an extensive and notorious squatter

Squatting

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

 district. Most squatters were engaged in farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

ing and rearing pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

s. The others were hawkers

Hawker (trade)

A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...

, factory

Factory

A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...

 workers, mechanic

Mechanic

A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...

s or domestic helpers

Domestic worker

A domestic worker is a man, woman or child who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping...

.

The squatters started moving out in 1962 as a result of increased compensation

Remuneration

Remuneration is the total compensation that an employee receives in exchange for the service they perform for their employer. Typically, this consists of monetary rewards, also referred to as wage or salary...

 rates and other practical inducements offered by the Government. Clearance work was able to commence and the redevelopment started in early 1964.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the area in the years 1972 and 2006.

Toa Payoh New Town

The Toa Payoh New Town

Toa Payoh New Town

Toa Payoh New Town is the second oldest new town in Singapore, developed since 1962. It is home to the HDB Hub and hosts one of the country's three air-conditioned bus interchanges, the other two being the one in Sengkang and Ang Mo Kio...

, HDB's second satellite town, was built in 1968. The layout of the new town follows urban planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 principles of the time. The housing estate is self-contained and has a town centre acting as a focal point for the shopping

Shopping

Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....

 and entertainment

Entertainment

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...

 needs of the residents.

Industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 developments were also built within the town to provide residents with job opportunities close to home while school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s were built within the neighbourhoods.

Toa Payoh Town Centre

The town centre was the first prototype

Prototype

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...

 in Singapore. It is surrounded by separated neighbourhoods, each with its own shopping amenities and community centre

Community centre

Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...

s, well served by a network of vehicular roads and generous open space

Public space

A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...

 separating them. The result, as in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 new town

New town

A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...

s of 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 go to Orchard Road

Orchard Road

Orchard Road is a road in Singapore that is the retail and entertainment hub of the city-state. It is regularly frequented by the local population as well as being a major tourist attraction...

 or the town area

Downtown Core

The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...

 via the MRT

Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)

The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...

 system, at the Toa Payoh MRT Station

Toa Payoh MRT Station

Toa Payoh MRT Station is an underground station of the Mass Rapid Transit's North South Line in Singapore. It serves the Toa Payoh area...

 and the Braddell MRT Station

Braddell MRT Station

Braddell MRT Station is an MRT station located on the North South Line. It is an underground station located in the northern part of Toa Payoh. At the completion of the initial MRT network, it was one of the two underground station with side platforms due to similar space-constraint problems, and...

, or public bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 services at Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. It is the first air-conditioned bus interchange in the country, which was completed in 2002 and officially opened by then Transport Minister, Yeo Cheow Tong, on 19 May 2002. The bus interchange has only services of SBS Transit and is...

.

Nevertheless, with time, the Toa Payoh Town Centre has become increasingly popular. It has a busy atmosphere because, as with many shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

s of the time, all commercial

Commerce

While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...

 activities are concentrated along a single mall with high point blocks on either side and major department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s at each end. The shopping mall is actually L-shaped and there are two plaza

Plaza

Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...

s, one with a branch library

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 and cinema

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

, the other with an area office and a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

. Each plaza has a department store at either end.

The commercial development, HDB Hub, located at the Toa Payoh Town Centre was completed in 2002. The Housing and Development Board relocated its headquarters from its premises at Bukit Merah

Bukit Merah

Bukit Merah is a hill in Singapore. Previously, it was a much larger hill that was situated at the present site of Henderson housing estate, which lies opposite the Delta Sports Complex. There was a Chinese cemetery on the reverse side of the hill. The present Bukit Merah Secondary School and...

 to the HDB Hub on 10 June 2002. The HDB Hub comprises two wings, an atrium

Atrium (architecture)

In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...

, four commercial building blocks, a leisure

Leisure

Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....

 and learning centre and a three-storey basement

Basement

__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...

 parking lot

Parking lot

A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....

. The building also accommodates Singapore's first fully air-conditioned

Air conditioning

An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...

 Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. It is the first air-conditioned bus interchange in the country, which was completed in 2002 and officially opened by then Transport Minister, Yeo Cheow Tong, on 19 May 2002. The bus interchange has only services of SBS Transit and is...

 and integrates it with the existing Toa Payoh MRT Station

Toa Payoh MRT Station

Toa Payoh MRT Station is an underground station of the Mass Rapid Transit's North South Line in Singapore. It serves the Toa Payoh area...

.

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.

Toa Payoh Town Park

The Housing and Development Board decided to allocate a large area of the Toa Payoh New Town for a garden-landscaped

Landscape architecture

Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...

 park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

, 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 the display of willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

s, bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

s and the brilliant reds and yellows of the Delonix regia trees. At the heart of the garden is a 0.8 ha

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

 pond which contains a waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

 and a cluster of islands linked by bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s. 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 a children's playground, seating areas and outdoor chessboard, a tea kiosk

Kiosk

Kiosk is a small, separated garden pavilion open on some or all sides. Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward...

 and a 27-metre high viewing tower

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....

.

Toa Payoh Town Garden was partially closed in 1999 to make way for a temporary bus interchange. After the new Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange

Toa Payoh Bus Interchange is located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. It is the first air-conditioned bus interchange in the country, which was completed in 2002 and officially opened by then Transport Minister, Yeo Cheow Tong, on 19 May 2002. The bus interchange has only services of SBS Transit and is...

 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.

Sports and recreation

The sporting facilities are based in the southern central part of Toa Payoh, which is located near the town centre. It consists of 3500 seater Toa Payoh Stadium

Toa Payoh Stadium

Toa Payoh Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Toa Payoh, Singapore. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Balestier Khalsa FC. The stadium holds 3,900 people. It is taken over by the Singapore Sports Council on 30 November 1973 and opened to the public on 1...

, where S.League

S.League

The S.League is the top men's professional association football league in Singapore. The league was launched in 1996 and currently involves 12 clubs.-History:...

 club Balestier Khalsa FC

Balestier Khalsa FC

Balestier Khalsa Football Club is a professional football club which plays in Singapore's S.League. The club is a merger of two clubs who played in the S.League in past years – Balestier Central FC and Clementi Khalsa FC – who came together at the end of the 2002 season...

 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

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 Complex, where national swimmers train at the complex.

Besides these facilities located in the centre of the town, there are also street football

Street football

The term street football encompasses a number of informal varieties of association football. These informal games do not necessarily utilise the requirements of a formal game of football, such as a large field, field markings, goal apparatus and corner flags, eleven players per team , or match...

 courts, gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

 facilities and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 courts available at various neighbourhoods of Toa Payoh. Meanwhile, SAFRA

SAFRA National Service Association

The SAFRA National Service Association is an organisation in Singapore.First known as the Singapore Armed Forces Reservists Association , the organisation was inaugurated on 2 July 1972 by Dr Goh Keng Swee. From a small club house in 1972 with 1,904 members when started...

 clubhouse is located besides Toa Payoh Stadium.

Politics

The majority areas of Toa Payoh is located within the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency

Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency

Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency located in the central region of Singapore. The GRC consists the entire areas of Bishan, the majority of Toa Payoh and parts of Thomson...

, except a portion of Lorong 8 Toa Payoh which is in the Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency

Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency

Potong Pasir Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency in the central region of Singapore.-Location:The SMC encompasses Potong Pasir, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh and Tannery...

. The section which is part of Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC is divided four divisions, mainly Toa Payoh Central, Toa Payoh East, Bishan-Toa Payoh North and Thomson

Thomson, Singapore

Thomson is a relatively narrow area stretching from Novena in the Central Region of Singapore up north till Yishun. The area is mainly located within the central catchment area where some of Singapore's reservoirs are located, including MacRitchie Reservoir, Upper Peirce Reservoir and Lower Peirce...

. The Members of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 are Minister for Manpower

Minister for Manpower

The Ministry is headed by the Manpower Minister who must be a member of Parliament of Pakistan.- Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment :Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment - Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employee :...

 Ng Eng Hen

Ng Eng Hen

Dr Ng Eng Hen is a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he is currently the country's Minister for Defence and Leader of the House.-Early life:Ng was born in Singapore in 1958...

, Josephine Teo Li Min

Josephine Teo Li Min

Josephine Teo Li Min is a Singaporean Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. She is currently the Chair of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education and a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence & Foreign Affairs. On May 18 2011, she was appointed Minister...

, Zainudin Nordin and Hri Kumar

Hri Kumar

Hri Kumar Sangaran is a Member of Parliament of Singapore, representing the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.Hri studied in National Junior College and then National University of Singapore for his tertiary education. Hri is currently also a director at Drew & Napier. He was appointed Senior Counsel in...

 of the People's Action Party

People's Action Party

The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....

, the ruling party

Ruling party

The ruling party or governing party in a parliamentary system is the political party or coalition of the majority in parliament. Within a parliamentary system, the majority in the legislature also controls the executive branch of government, thus leaving no possibility of dueling parties...

 of Singapore. The Member of Parliament for Potong Pasir SMC is Sitoh Yi Pinh of the People's Action Party

People's Action Party

The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....

.

Famous residents

• Neil Humphreys
  Neil Humphreys
  Neil Humphreys is a British humour columnist and author of three best-selling humorous books about Singapore - Notes From an Even Smaller Island , Scribbles from the Same Island and Final Notes from a Great Island...
  
  , an author of three books about Singapore and columnist with local newspaper Today
  Today (Singapore newspaper)
  Today is a free English-language compact in Singapore published by government-owned MediaCorp print media arm. It is distributed from Monday to Sunday....
  
  , used to live in Toa Payoh but has since migrated to Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
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