Serangoon Gardens
Encyclopedia
Serangoon Gardens Estate is a residential estate
in Singapore
.
The estate is well known for its food centres, tuition center
s, presence of trend setters, and the food and beverage outlets.
soldier
s based in Singapore. The roads in the area are named after British road names. In the 1970s, when the British military left Singapore in 1971, Serangoon Gardens was known as an estate for the middle class
.
The estate was upgraded in 2001 as part of the Singapore Government's plan to spruce up the older private housing estates in Singapore. Open roadside drain
s were covered up and the central area was spruced up. It has new streetlights and road signs, and the estate's park
s were also upgraded.
Serangoon Garden Circus was used as one of the locations for the country-wide millennium celebrations.
s, restaurant
s, coffee shop
s, fast food restaurants
, a market
, two hawker centre
s, a post office
, a police post, 8 tuition center
s and some shops. All the roads radiate around the circus, and the house
s are located within walking distance. The estate has a tennis
and squash
centre at Burghley Drive. At Kensington Park Road, there is a country club
known as Serangoon Gardens Country Club which had the very popular Jumbo seafood restaurant. Due to rising cost of rental, Jumbo decided not to continue and there is now a Yum Cha Chinese restaurant at the club.
s and a wet market
. One which is, Serangoon Gardens Market and Food Centre and another which is Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The Serangoon Gardens food centre sells food like nasi lemak
, Nonya kueh, Char Kway Teow
, noodle
s and also houses a number of stores from the now defunct Taman Serasi food centre. Another food centre, which is known as "Chomp Chomp" is 200 m from the former. Chomp Chomp was simply known as Serangoon Gardens food centre when it opened in 1972. The hawker
s nicknamed the place "Chomp Chomp", and since then it is known as Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The food centre is well known for its carrot cake (chai tow kway
), Hokkien mee
, ice kachang
, satay
, seafood
and satay beehoon.
Since the 1990s, restaurants and cafés serve food such as Japanese food
, dessert
s, Russian cuisine
and Western cuisine have opened. Ice-cream parlour
s have opened and bistros recently sprung up. Maju Mall, which used to house Cafe Cartel, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Friends have since been torn down to be rebuilt into a new mall.
Situated behind Maju Avenue is Paramount Building which was developed as Serangoon Garden Village in 2001. It hosts a supermarket on the ground floor and a tuition centre on the second floor. Paramount building has now been demolished to make way for redevelopment to make better use of the land parcel. A new small shopping mall will open in its place with NTUC Fairprice and a branch of DBS bank as its anchor tenants.
In Nov 2007, Cold Storage
also opened a Specialty store in the area, catering to the increasing number of expatriates now living in the area (This is due to the fact that the Australian, French and American International Schools have opened within the vicinity of Serangoon Gardens). On the 2nd Oct 09, NTUC Fairprice temporarily reopened along Farleigh Avenue to accommodate the residents in Serangoon Garden.
myVillage (at the old Paramount site) has opened with Fairprice Finest, DBS Bank and DBS Treasures, and Old Hong Kong Taste as its anchor tenants.
haven for students. With 8 tuition centres operating in that small area e.g. Ace Scorers Learning Centre, Jing Cheng Education Centre, Clear minds, KipMcgrath, Novel, Han Language, Budding Minds Education Centre and so on, parents and students are spoilt for choice.
services. In addition, on weekday mornings from 7.30am to 9am, licensed private bus operators operate an express service plying between Serangoon Gardens and the city centre. The nearest MRT
station is Serangoon MRT Station
on the North East
and Circle
lines at Upper Serangoon Road. Lorong Chuan MRT Station
is another nearby option, especially for residents living further away from the central Serangoon Gardens area.
Service 317 plies the Serangoon Garden Estate internally. The rest ply Serangoon Garden Circus.
People who visited this town could easily find parking lots at the Serangoon Garden Market prior to the 2002 upgrading. After the upgrading, traffic wardens have been frequenting the estate more often. Visitors have opted to park their vehicles at smaller roads surrounding the residences due to the free parking. Residences from neighboring public housing estates have also taken advantage of this free parking.
In response to complaints from people living in the estate, more traffic wardens have arrived since then. The Serangoon Gardens Neighbourhood Police is also capable of issuing summons for traffic related violations.
activities, with regular armed patrols by the Singapore Police Force
's Police Tactical Unit
. On 15 January 2006, a public emergency drill, the Serangoon Emergency and Preparedness Day 2006, was conducted in the estate near the Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The exercise involved a simulated vehicular explosion
and casualties, the closure of roads and diversion of traffic, and casualty
treatment and evacuation.
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
in 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...
.
The estate is well known for its food centres, tuition center
Tuition center
Tuition center is a special term for private educational institutions; they are especially abundant and ubiquitous in Malaysia,India,The Middle East and Singapore. Many school teachers earn their supplementary income through tuition centers and agencies...
s, presence of trend setters, and the food and beverage outlets.
History
Serangoon Gardens is one of the oldest estates in the island, and was built in the 1950s. The estate was originally built to house the BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s based in Singapore. The roads in the area are named after British road names. In the 1970s, when the British military left Singapore in 1971, Serangoon Gardens was known as an estate for the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
.
The estate was upgraded in 2001 as part of the Singapore Government's plan to spruce up the older private housing estates in Singapore. Open roadside drain
Drain
A drain is a plumbing fixture that provides an exit-point for waste water or water that is to be re-circulatedDrain may also refer to:* Drainage, the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area...
s were covered up and the central area was spruced up. It has new streetlights and road signs, and the estate's 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...
s were also upgraded.
Serangoon Garden Circus was used as one of the locations for the country-wide millennium celebrations.
Electoral boundaries
Until 1988, Serangoon Gardens was a single seat constituency. When the Group Representative Constituency was introduced, Serangoon Gardens became part of the GRC. Since then, it is part of the Marine Parade GRC. In the 2006 Electoral Boundaries, it transferred to Aljunied GRC. This was purportedly done to split up the famously Opposition-voting estate.Attractions
The estate's central area is where the food and beverage outlets and tuition centres are located. At the centre of the estate is a circus known as Serangoon Garden Circus. In the vicinity, there are caféCafé
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, coffee shop
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
s, fast food restaurants
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
, a market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
, two hawker centre
Hawker centre
A hawker centre or cooked food centre is the name given to open-air complexes in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Riau Islands housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food...
s, 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...
, a police post, 8 tuition center
Tuition center
Tuition center is a special term for private educational institutions; they are especially abundant and ubiquitous in Malaysia,India,The Middle East and Singapore. Many school teachers earn their supplementary income through tuition centers and agencies...
s and some shops. All the roads radiate around the circus, and the house
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
s are located within walking distance. The estate has a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
centre at Burghley Drive. At Kensington Park Road, there is a country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
known as Serangoon Gardens Country Club which had the very popular Jumbo seafood restaurant. Due to rising cost of rental, Jumbo decided not to continue and there is now a Yum Cha Chinese restaurant at the club.
Food and Beverage
There are two hawker centreHawker centre
A hawker centre or cooked food centre is the name given to open-air complexes in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Riau Islands housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food...
s and a wet market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
. One which is, Serangoon Gardens Market and Food Centre and another which is Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The Serangoon Gardens food centre sells food like nasi lemak
Nasi lemak
Nasi lemak is a dish sold in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Riau Islands and Southern Thailand. The dish is considered the national dish and a national heritage of Malaysia. It is not to be confused with Nasi Dagang sold on the east coast of Malaysia or Terengganu and Kelantan although both dishes...
, Nonya kueh, Char Kway Teow
Char kway teow
Char kway teow, literally "stir-fried ricecake strips", is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore. The dish was typically prepared at hawker stalls especially in Penang, Malaysia.It is made from flat rice noodles of approximately 1 cm or...
, noodle
Noodle
The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
s and also houses a number of stores from the now defunct Taman Serasi food centre. Another food centre, which is known as "Chomp Chomp" is 200 m from the former. Chomp Chomp was simply known as Serangoon Gardens food centre when it opened in 1972. The hawker
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...
s nicknamed the place "Chomp Chomp", and since then it is known as Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The food centre is well known for its carrot cake (chai tow kway
Chai tow kway
Chai tao kway is a common dish or dim sum of Teochew cuisine in Chaoshan , Singapore and Malaysia, consisting of stir-fried cubes of radish cake.-Names:...
), Hokkien mee
Hokkien mee
Hokkien mee refers to fried noodles cooked in Hokkien style. Hokkien mee is served in many Southeast Asian countries and was brought there by immigrants from Fujian province in southeastern China.-Types:...
, ice kachang
Ice kachang
Ais kacang is a Malaysian dessert. Traditionally a special ice machine is used to churn out the shaved ice used in the dessert, originally hand cranked but now more often motorized....
, satay
Satay
Satay , or sate, is a dish of marinated, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay may consist of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, other meats, or tofu; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut palm frond, although bamboo skewers are...
, seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
and satay beehoon.
Since the 1990s, restaurants and cafés serve food such as Japanese food
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
, dessert
Dessert
In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
s, Russian cuisine
Russian cuisine
Russian cuisine is diverse, as Russia is the largest country in the world. Russian cuisine derives its varied character from the vast and multi-cultural expanse of Russia. Its foundations were laid by the peasant food of the rural population in an often harsh climate, with a combination of...
and Western cuisine have opened. Ice-cream parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
s have opened and bistros recently sprung up. Maju Mall, which used to house Cafe Cartel, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Friends have since been torn down to be rebuilt into a new mall.
Amenities
The rows of shophouses along Kensington Park Road, Serangoon Garden Way and Maju Avenue host a variety of corner coffeeshops, a McDonalds, convenience stores, bank branches, pet shops, hair saloons, clinics, karaoke lounges, cafes and bars to name a few. There is even a Chinese medical hall specialising in traditional Chinese medicine.Situated behind Maju Avenue is Paramount Building which was developed as Serangoon Garden Village in 2001. It hosts a supermarket on the ground floor and a tuition centre on the second floor. Paramount building has now been demolished to make way for redevelopment to make better use of the land parcel. A new small shopping mall will open in its place with NTUC Fairprice and a branch of DBS bank as its anchor tenants.
In Nov 2007, Cold Storage
Cold Storage (supermarket)
Cold Storage is the second-largest supermarket chain in Singapore behind NTUC FairPrice, owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings.It operates 3 supermarket brands in Singapore and Malaysia; Cold Storage , Market Place and Shop N Save .-History:Established in 1903, Cold Storage started as a small...
also opened a Specialty store in the area, catering to the increasing number of expatriates now living in the area (This is due to the fact that the Australian, French and American International Schools have opened within the vicinity of Serangoon Gardens). On the 2nd Oct 09, NTUC Fairprice temporarily reopened along Farleigh Avenue to accommodate the residents in Serangoon Garden.
myVillage (at the old Paramount site) has opened with Fairprice Finest, DBS Bank and DBS Treasures, and Old Hong Kong Taste as its anchor tenants.
Tuition haven
Serangoon Gardens is also fast becoming a tuition agencyTuition agency
A tuition agency is a commercial organisation which specialises in introducing tutors to students requiring help in the academic area. Tuition agencies exist largely due to the problems parents and students face in finding a specialist who can help them with the study of one or more specific...
haven for students. With 8 tuition centres operating in that small area e.g. Ace Scorers Learning Centre, Jing Cheng Education Centre, Clear minds, KipMcgrath, Novel, Han Language, Budding Minds Education Centre and so on, parents and students are spoilt for choice.
Public transport
The estate is served by public busBus
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. In addition, on weekday mornings from 7.30am to 9am, licensed private bus operators operate an express service plying between Serangoon Gardens and the city centre. The nearest 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...
station is Serangoon MRT Station
Serangoon MRT Station
Serangoon MRT Station ' is an underground interchange station on the North East Line and the Circle Line in Singapore. The station is located in the Serangoon Central area, at the intersection of Upper Serangoon Road and Serangoon Central...
on the North East
North East MRT Line
The North East MRT Line is the third Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore and the world's second longest fully underground, automated and driverless, rapid transit line after Singapore's Circle MRT Line. The line is 20 km long with 16 stations and operated by SBS Transit. Travelling from one end...
and Circle
Circle MRT Line
The Circle Line is Singapore's fourth Mass Rapid Transit line, operated by SMRT Corporation. This underground line is currently long with 28 stations and is fully automatically operated...
lines at Upper Serangoon Road. Lorong Chuan MRT Station
Lorong Chuan MRT Station
Lorong Chuan MRT Station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Circle Line in Singapore. It is operated by SMRT Corporation....
is another nearby option, especially for residents living further away from the central Serangoon Gardens area.
Service 317 plies the Serangoon Garden Estate internally. The rest ply Serangoon Garden Circus.
| Service | From | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBS Transit Trunk Services | |||
| 73 | Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 Bus Interchange is located in Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, Singapore. The interchange is presently within AMK Hub, a newly-built shopping centre which is in turn linked to the Ang Mo Kio MRT Station via a pedestrian underpass below Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.The interchange is the third to be... |
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... |
|
| 136 | Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 Bus Interchange is located in Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, Singapore. The interchange is presently within AMK Hub, a newly-built shopping centre which is in turn linked to the Ang Mo Kio MRT Station via a pedestrian underpass below Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.The interchange is the third to be... |
Punggol Bus Interchange Punggol Bus Interchange Punggol Temporary Bus Interchange is a temporary bus interchange in Punggol New Town, located adjacent to the Punggol MRT/LRT Station. It was built to allow for easy dismantling when the site is redeveloped as part of a major commercial development when Punggol New Town is more developed.The... |
|
| SBS Transit Feeder Services | |||
| 315 | Serangoon Bus Interchange Serangoon Bus Interchange Serangoon Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Serangoon New Town in Singapore, and is within walking distance from Serangoon MRT Station. Opened on 3 September 2011 and operated by SBS Transit, it is the smallest air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore with 8 services and 17 bus bays... |
Serangoon North Avenue 4 (loop) | |
| 317 | Serangoon Bus Interchange Serangoon Bus Interchange Serangoon Bus Interchange is a bus station serving Serangoon New Town in Singapore, and is within walking distance from Serangoon MRT Station. Opened on 3 September 2011 and operated by SBS Transit, it is the smallest air-conditioned bus interchange in Singapore with 8 services and 17 bus bays... |
Berwick Drive (loop) | |
Private transport
There is only one main road leading into the estate. Several upgrades to the road planning have been made to ensure smooth traffic flow in and out of the area. For example, the market carpark only goes 1-way instead of both ways previously (Drivers exit the carpark at the back). The popularity of the food in Serangoon Gardens has drawn both large lunch and dinner crowds. This makes parking space very difficult to find during lunch and dinner times as well as makes the road congested. It is said that the residents are so used to the crowds that only non-residents would honk their car horns in frustration of the slow traffic.Parking summons
The estate used to be free from traffic congestion problems until recently, people started parking illegally along Kensington Park Road. Since then, traffic wardens have been issuing fines on a regular basis.People who visited this town could easily find parking lots at the Serangoon Garden Market prior to the 2002 upgrading. After the upgrading, traffic wardens have been frequenting the estate more often. Visitors have opted to park their vehicles at smaller roads surrounding the residences due to the free parking. Residences from neighboring public housing estates have also taken advantage of this free parking.
In response to complaints from people living in the estate, more traffic wardens have arrived since then. The Serangoon Gardens Neighbourhood Police is also capable of issuing summons for traffic related violations.
Security
The area's popularity has also made it a popular location for counter-terrorismCounter-terrorism in Singapore
Counter-terrorism in Singapore is a series of measures implemented in Singapore to detect and prevent terrorism, and to minimise damage from such terrorist acts should they occur. These measures involve all levels of society, including defence, internal security, border and infrastructure security,...
activities, with regular armed patrols by the Singapore Police Force
Singapore Police Force
The Singapore Police Force is the main agency tasked with maintaining law and order in the city-state. Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police , it has grown from an 11-man organisation to a 38,587 strong force...
's Police Tactical Unit
Police Tactical Unit (Singapore)
The Police Tactical Unit is a paramilitary specialist unit of the Singapore Police Force and comes under the direct command of the Special Operations Command. Based in Queenstown, it is the main anti-rioting and disaster-management unit of the police force. They are also called upon to handle...
. On 15 January 2006, a public emergency drill, the Serangoon Emergency and Preparedness Day 2006, was conducted in the estate near the Chomp Chomp Food Centre. The exercise involved a simulated vehicular explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
and casualties, the closure of roads and diversion of traffic, and casualty
Casualty (person)
A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...
treatment and evacuation.