Bishan

Bishan is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore situated in the Central Region, measuring approximately three by three kilometres. Primarily a housing estate, HDB flats here are generally more expensive compared to other estates due to its location in the central region, which commands a higher price over other estates that are further away from the city.

Etymology
Bishan derived its name from the large Cantonese burial ground, commonly known as Peck San Theng, which means "pavilions on the green". The burial ground was established in 1870 by immigrants who largely came from the three prefectures of Kwong Chow (廣州府, Cantonese), Wai Chow (惠州府, Hakka) and Siew Heng (肇慶府, Cantonese) in Guangdong Province, China.

Development started in the early 1984.

Transportation
Bishan is connected to the rest of Singapore via the Central Expressway. In addition it has its own Mass Rapid Transit station, the Bishan MRT Station, on the North South Line and Circle Line. Bishan also has a bus interchange, with SBS Transit services 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 and 410. Bus services 13, 88, 156, 162, 162M and NR1 runs along Bishan Road.

Education
Bishan contains four primary schools, seven secondary schools and one junior college.

Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) is also located in Bishan, the other campus being located in Newton.

Primary schools
 * Ai Tong School
 * Catholic High Primary School
 * Guangyang Primary School
 * Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School

Secondary schools
 * Bishan Park Secondary School
 * Catholic High School
 * Guangyang Secondary School
 * Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School
 * Peirce Secondary School
 * Raffles Institution (Secondary)
 * Whitley Secondary School

Junior College
 * Raffles Institution (Junior College)

Shopping centres
Bishan currently has 3 shopping centres.


 * The Junction 8 Shopping Centre, run by CapitaLand, is situated at Bishan Central near the Bishan MRT Station and Bishan Bus Interchange.


 * The Bishan North Shopping Mall is a non-airconditioned complex of shops that specialize in the sale of day-to-day products. It features a wet market. Contrary to its name, it is not a shopping mall.


 * Thomson Plaza is located on Upper Thomson Road.

Bishan Park
The Bishan Park is divided into two major parts &mdash; Bishan Park 1 and Bishan Park 2 &mdash; with Marymount Road serving as the main divider between these two portions. The Kallang River canal separates the park from the apartment blocks in Bishan New Town which is accessible across the canal via a number of foot bridges. The park has ponds and fishing spots, and serves residents from Ang Mo Kio New Town, Bishan North, Sin Ming and Bishan New Town.

Bishan Park 1 is smaller in area than Bishan Park 2, and is about 1.7 km in length from end to end. A park-spa has been newly built in this park. This park primarily serves walkers in the morning. Bishan Park 1 is more accessible than Bishan Park 2.

Bishan Park 2 sprawls over a larger area than Bishan Park 1 but is only about 1.1 km in length from end to end.



Bishan New Town
Bishan New Town is a public housing estate in the approximate geographic centre of Singapore. Bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, the Central Expressway, Braddell Road, and along the west of private housing off Upper Thomson Road to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1. Its main transport arteries into the city are the Bishan MRT station, and the Central Expressway.

The town is a mixture of three, four and five room HDB flats. The majority of the flats are four room-ed, with a few being five and three. Block numbers starting with 1 as the first digit, are generally smaller and more connected with the town center. Blocks numbers with 2 as the first digit, are more spread out and generally larger in size. However, even blocks numbers starting with 2 are further categorized;25_ tend to be the largest flats in the whole estate, with flat sizes ranging from 1650sq feet to 1700sq feet, one of the largest HDB flats in Singapore. Other numbers tend to be smaller and are usually from 1300sq feet to 1500sq feet.

Legends and popularity
Built above what used to be a cemetery, there were initial fears that the Bishan HDB flats would face poor occupancy as cemeteries bode bad fengshui. This proved to be false, however, and Bishan became one of the most popular towns when newly built. Today, HDB flats in Bishan are priced above-average because of the town's accessibility.

As is with Serangoon New Town, it was built in an area with a large extent of pre-existing private housing, resulting in a disjointed town layout. The oldest public housing blocks were located around Sin Ming as housing for the surrounding industrial estate. When the area was designated as a new town, the main housing area was built in the vicinity of Bishan MRT Station, with neighbourhoods built in Bishan North and Shunfu. Newer blocks were also built in Sin Ming, while the old blocks were refurbished.