Tampines (tæmpəˈniːs) (orTampines New Town) is the largest and greatest ever residential area in the city-state of Singapore. It is the second largest commercial hub outside the Central Region of Singapore after the Jurong Lake District and will be a future logistics hub of Singapore. It is in the East Region of the main island. The town is so named because in the 1900s (decade) a large forest of ironwood trees, or tempinis, were there.
Like other districts in Singapore, it is densely populated with the population density higher than other housing districts. Tampines New Town is a regional centre that lies to the east of Singapore's city centre, much like the centrally located Orchard Road.
Etymology[]
The name Tampines goes back to the Franklin and Jackson map of 1828. It is named after Sungei Tampenus, which in turn got its name from the tampines trees (Streblus elongatus) which were said to be growing there.
History[]
In the past, Tampines was covered by forests, swamp and sand quarries. Ironwood trees, or tempinis, grew abundantly here and thus gave the area its name. It was part of military training area until about 1987.
The oldest street in the area, Tampines Road, dates to 1864 when it was a cart tract. At the turn of the 20th century, Tampines was a rubber plantation. Tampines was also home to the sand quarry for a long time. Among the plantations were Teo Tek Ho and Hun Yeang estates.
Development boom in the 1980s[]
The new town started in 1978. Construction began for Neighbourhoods 1 and 2 and was completed between 1983 and 1987 although they were given priority. Neighbourhoods 8 and 9 started in 1985–1989, followed by Neighbourhood 5 which was completed in 1989 with the Tampines Town Centre. Neighbourhood 4 was completed with the new Tampines North Division between 1986 and 1988. Tampines Town was at the fast-paced expansion, that breaks it into Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines North and Tampines Changkat divisions.
For the Singapore MRT plans, they showed "Tampines North" and "Tampines South" since the planning stages which is due to the similar townships from 1979 to 1982, before they were renamed respectively in 1985 to Tampines and Simei.
New construction methods expedited the development of the town's infrastructure. Using prefabricated parts, a block of high-rise flats could be built in a month. More attractive designs, colours and finishings were incorporated into Tampines, compared to earlier public housing which consisted of uniform slabs of concrete laid out row after row with more thought given to function than form. The Housing and Development Board (HDB) managed the construction of the town until 1991, when it handed the reins over to the Tampines Town Council. The Town Council is run by grassroot leaders and the residents themselves.
The Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) of the United Nations awarded the World Habitat Award to Tampines, which was selected as a representative of Singapore's new towns, on 5 October 1992. The award was given in recognition of an outstanding contribution towards human settlement and development.
Neighbourhoods 3 and 7 were only fully completed in 1997, and the constituencies had been reformed to include the new Tampines Central division. Construction was paused until the developments of Tampines Central were started in 2010, which includes The Premiere @ Tampines, Tampines GreenLeaf, Centrale 8, Tampines Trilliant and Citylife @ Tampines, including some of the other leftover pockets of residential developments such as Tampines GreenTerrace, Arc @ Tampines, Q Bay Residences and The Santorini.
Residential expansion in the 2010s[]
Neighbourhood 6, which is also known as Tampines North New Town, has started construction with the first Build-To-Order (BTO) flats Tampines GreenRidges being announced at the end of November 2014. Tampines GreenRidges is also part of the first phase of development of the Tampines North New Town's Park West District, which is the first district to be constructed in the Tampines North New Town development.
On January 28, 2013, there was an accident at Tampines Avenue 9 involving a bicycle and a cement truck left 2 boys aged 7 and 13 killed. It was reported that brother, Nigel Yap was controlling the bicycle with his 7-year-old brother when the incident happened. The 56 year old Singapore cement truck driver was arrested immediately for causing death by rash act. A year later, parents, Mr Francis Yap and Madam Suliani Ang still have nightmares of the incident. Although, they still believe they have find closure during their memorial at Mandai Crematorium.
Geography[]
Tampines is bounded by the Tampines Expressway, Tampines Avenue 10, canal north of Bedok Reservoir, Upper Changi Road, Simei Avenue, north of private estate off Upper Changi Road, Simei Road, west of private estate off Upper Changi Road North, the Pan Island Expressway, and back along Tampines Expressway.
Amenities[]
Tampines New Town is home to over 237,800 residents living in 152,000 HDB flats spread out over 24.24 square kilometres:
| Name of Estate | Accessibility |
|---|---|
| Tampines Central | Buses |
| Ashford | Buses and Simei MRT Station |
| Tampines City | Buses and Tampines MRT Station |
| Tampines East | Buses and Godric's Hollow MRT Station |
| Tampines North | Buses and Godric's Hollow MRT Station |
| Tampines West | Buses and Huang Wen MRT Station |
Industrial services[]
Commercial and industrial services are located at Tampines Retail Park, Tampines Industrial Park and Tampines LogisPark.
Commercial services[]
Retail shopping in the Tampines Regional Centre is done at three main shopping malls: Tampines Mall, Century Square and Tampines 1. Commercial tenants of the shopping centres include restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, cinemas, bookstores, jewelry and gift shops. While outside there is East Point Mall and Changi City Point.
Community services[]
The Tampines Regional Library is located at Tampines Town Centre and organises events for children and adults to promote reading and learning. In addition, at Tampines West CC, the Enabling Services Hub was opened on 10 August 2023 and Timothy Mok had been admitted there.
Parks[]
There are various parks in Tampines:
- Sun Plaza Park (Trampolene Project Valour)
- Tampines Bike Park (Closed down in 17 September 2014, and replaced by Tampines Boulevard Park)
- Tampines Boulevard Park
- Tampines Eco Green (Trampolene Project Valour)
- Tampines Greenforest Park
Transportation[]
A network of expressways, the Pan Island Expressway and Tampines Expressway, and arterial roads allows easy movement within the town and link it to other parts of the island. Public transportation is served by -
MRT[]
There are currently 6 MRT stations that serve the planning area across 2 lines, the East West Line and Downtown Line. Both lines have two interchange stations at Tampines MRT Station and Expo MRT Station on the Changi Airport Branch line. The stations of the Downtown Line were opened on 21 October 2017 as part of DTL3. The 6 stations are:
- Tampines MRT Station
- Godric's Hollow MRT Station
- Block 157 Station
- Block 123 Station
- Somapah MRT Station
- Simei MRT Station
- Huang Wen MRT Station
- Expo MRT Station
In addition, Xilin MRT Station is a future station of the DTL3 extension, will be completed in 2024, in tandem with the opening of the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line.
Roads[]
A network of expressways, the Pan-Island Expressway and Tampines Expressway, and arterial roads allows easy movement within the town and link it to other parts of the island. Tampines Avenue 10, an arterial road, forms the start/end of the Outer Ring Road System, a semi-expressway.
Tampines Avenue 1[]
Tampines Avenue 1 is a road in Tampines. It goes from Tampines Avenue 4 all the way until Tampines Avenue 8. It had speed cameras nearby. On 13 August 2012, Ernest Mok was fined for speeding along that stretch. It is opened to traffic on 1984 and partially in 1994 when the Temasek Polytechnic opened. It was connected all the way to Tampines Avenue 10 in 1997.
Further west of Tampines Avenue 1 it has Arc @ Tampines (being built in 2012), The Tropica (being built in 2000), Q Bay Residences, The Santorini, The Tapestry, The Alps Residences, Parc Central Residences and Waterview.
Tampines North Drive 2[]
Tampines North Drive 2 is a road in Tampines. It starts at Tampines Avenue 10 and ends at Tampines Avenue 12. Due to the construction of Tampines North MRT station, the section from Tampines Link to Tampines North Bus Interchange is currently under construction.
When Nigel Ng moved to Tampines North on November 2022, both bus services 46, 129 and 298 began to enter this estate.
Tampines Road[]
Tampines Road is a road in Tampines. It originally has the main throughfare to the Upper Changi Road from the Upper Serangoon Road. The road was diverted because of Paya Lebar Airbase construction in 1951 - 1955. It was the only road until the Tampines New Town had been developed, and the Tampines Expressway truncates the road. Today, some sort of section has been renamed to Tampines Link because of Tampines Retail Park nearby.
Buses[]
There are two bus interchanges, the Tampines Bus Interchange and Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange. Tampines Bus Interchange has been operating since 1983 as a bus terminus and later on it moved to Tampines Central 1 in 1987. Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange was opened on 18 December 2016 to increase the capacity of the existing Tampines Bus Interchange.
| Name of entry | Properties |
|---|---|
| Tampines Block 123 Interchange | Former public transport interchange |
| Tampines Block 164 Terminal | Former bus terminus |
| Tampines Block 166 Terminal | Former bus terminus |
| Tampines Bus Interchange | Public transport interchange |
| Tampines Concourse Bus Interchange | Public transport interchange |
| Tampines GreenTerrace (Block 890A) | Public transport interchange |
| Tampines MRT Station Bus Shelter | Tampines Retail Park Shuttle and Bizlink Shuttle drop-off points |
| Tampines Primary School Interchange | Public transport interchange |
Politics[]
Tampines GRC[]
Originally Tampines is under the Tampines Single Member Constituency when it was under the swamp, sand quarry and during the development until 1988. Its population grew quickly and in 1988, electoral boundaries were divided into Tampines GRC and Eunos GRC. Eunos GRC was dissolved in 1997, it was then split again into Pasir Ris GRC and Tampines GRC, before standardising in 2001 to Tampines GRC, and further extended.
Tampines GRC has been a clutter of mess into 3 GRCs; namely Tampines GRC and a few pockets of it were under Aljunied GRC (Temasek Polytechnic) and East Coast GRC (Tampines Street 94). The constituency will be expanded to include the Tampines Wafer Fab Park and the entire Tampines North Industrial Estate (including Giant Hypermarket and IKEA Tampines) in 2020. In 2025, Tampines GRC will split Tampines North division into SMC and absorb Paya Lebar Airbase from Aljunied GRC to allow further development. Several pockets will then be consolidated further into Tampines GRC. This is because 6-member GRCs has been done away with.
The National Solidarity Party has contested in Tampines GRC except 1997. Since 1988, the Mok family has voted People's Action Party (PAP), and most of the Tampines has been with PAP all the time. The only exception is the southwestern parts of Tampines West, which is under the Aljunied GRC and has been led by WP since 2011.
Changkat SMC[]
Changkat Single Member Constituency (Traditional Chinese: 尚育單選區; Simplified Chinese: 尚育单选区) is a former single member constituency in Tampines, Singapore. It existed only in 1984 to 1988, which was carved from Tampines SMC and most of the portion went back into Tampines GRC in 1988 while the remaining portion was absorbed into Changi SMC. Today, it is still a ward of Tampines GRC - Tampines Changkat.
Divisions of Tampines GRC from 1988 to 2020[]
- 1988 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Changkat
- 1991 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Changkat, Changkat South
- 1997 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Changkat, Tampines Central
- 2001 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North, Tampines Changkat
- 2006 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North, Tampines Changkat
- 2011 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North, Tampines Changkat
- 2015 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North, Tampines Changkat
- 2020 - Tampines East, Tampines West, Tampines Central, Tampines North, Tampines Changkat
Members of Parliament[]
Tampines GRC is led by Minister for Social and Family Development (and Minister in-charge of Muslim Affairs) Masagos Zulkifli. Previously, ex-Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan was the anchor minister until he stepped down from the cabinet following the 2011 general elections, retiring from politics in 2015. On May 2016, Heng Swee Keat was incapacitated due to a stroke. His condition was reported to be stable but he remained in the hospital's intensive care unit until 25 June 2016. His fellow MPs assisted to oversee his Tampines Central ward with the former MP Sin Boon Ann returning to help until his discharge. Also, previously Heng Swee Keat was the anchor minister until he was transferred to nearby East Coast GRC in 2020.
| Year | Division | Incumbent |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 (Before Formation) | Tampines SMC
Changkat SMC |
Phua Bah Lee
Aline Wong |
| 1988 | Tampines East
Tampines West Changkat |
Mah Bow Tan
Yatiman Yusof Aline Wong |
| 1991 | Tampines East
Tampines West Changkat Changkat South |
Mah Bow Tan
Yatiman Yusof Aline Wong Chng Hee Kok |
| 1997 | Tampines East
Tampines West Changkat Tampines Central |
Mah Bow Tan
Yatiman Yusof Aline Wong Sin Boon Ann |
| 2001 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines North |
Mah Bow Tan
Yatiman Yusof Irene Ng Sin Boon Ann Ong Kian Min |
| 2006 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines North |
Mah Bow Tan
Masagos Zulkilfi Irene Ng Sin Boon Ann Ong Kian Min |
| 2011 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines North |
Mah Bow Tan
Masagos Zulkilfi Irene Ng Heng Swee Keat Baey Yam Keng |
| 2015 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines North |
Cheng Li-Hui
Masagos Zulkilfi Desmond Choo Heng Swee Keat Baey Yam Keng |
| 2020 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines North |
Cheng Li-Hui
Masagos Zulkilfi Desmond Choo Koh Poh Koon Baey Yam Keng |
| 2024 | Tampines East
Tampines West Tampines Changkat Tampines Central Tampines Green |
Charlene Chen
Masagos Zulkilfi Desmond Choo Koh Poh Koon TBC |
Education[]
The 12 primary schools, nine secondary schools and three tertiary institutions (one junior college, one polytechnic and one institute of technical education) provide education for Tampines residents and those living in the region. The other schools such as ITE College East and Singapore University of Technology and Design are also mentioned but it is outside the territory.
Both East View Secondary School and Angsana Primary School had been reportedly closed down due to the drastic decline of enrollment.
Primary schools[]
- Angsana Primary School
- Changkat Primary School
- Chongzheng Primary School
- East Spring Primary School
- East View Primary School
- Gongshang Primary School
- Junyuan Primary School
- Poi Ching School
- Saint Hilda's Primary School
- Tampines North Primary School
- Tampines Primary School
- Yumin Primary School
Secondary schools[]
- Dunman Secondary School
- East Spring Secondary School
- East View Secondary School
- Junyuan Secondary School
- Ngee Ann Secondary School
- Pasir Ris Secondary School
- Springfield Secondary School
- Saint Hilda's Secondary School
- Tampines Secondary School
Tertiary institutions[]
Temasek Polytechnic is a post-secondary academic institution in Tampines West. Established in April 1990, it is the third polytechnic in Singapore. Since its inception, it has grown to become a significant educational institution in the East Region, with 13,000 students enrolled. Temasek Polytechnic's extensive 36-hectare campus houses six different schools. It offers 37 full-time and more than 40 part-time diploma courses that cater to different industries, from aerospace engineering to accountancy and cybersecurity.
In 1998, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) established a small campus near to SAFRA Tampines, as part of a five-million dollar ITE 2000 plan to improve itself. ITE provides vocational and technical education to students, preparing them for careers in various industries. In 2005, ITE College East opened its doors in Simei. The 10.7-hectare campus offers a diverse range of courses that cater to the evolving needs of the workforce. In an effort to consolidate the older satellite campuses into this new campus, ITE College Tampines closed in 2010. ITE College East now comprises four schools, of which the School of Health Sciences is exclusive to the East campus. Its student population has grown steadily to 9,000 in 2023. It is connected by bus service 17 to Simei Avenue and ITE College East, without the need to take taxis during the Graduation Ceremonies.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), established in 2012, moved to its permanent campus in Xilin in 2015. As the fourth public university in Singapore, SUTD specialises in design and technology education, and offers full-time undergraduate courses in five majors. It also offers seven Master programmes and three PhD programmes, and houses several research centres, including the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovation Cities. The university ranks 128th in the 2023 QS Asian University Rankings.
Tampines Junior College was located in Tampines North, and was merged with Meridian Junior College during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tampines JC will then be redeveloped into Tampines East Mall.
Specialised institutions[]
Pathlight School will be opening a permanent campus in Tampines West in 2025. Together with the other existing campus in Ang Mo Kio, Pathlight School provides specialised educational programmes to the needs of students with autism and other developmental challenges. Built on the site former occupied by East View Primary School, the Tampines campus will take in 500 pupils with special educational needs (SEN).
Metta School, located in Simei, is a specialised institution catering to students aged 7 to 21 with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and autism (ASD). Formed as an offshoot of Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), the school provides both certification and non-certification vocational training programmes tailored to meet the diverse learning needs of its students.
International schools[]
United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) established its East Campus in Tampines in 2008. UWCSEA East provides a learning environment for 2,500 local and international students of ages 4 to 18.
Middleton International School is the second international school in Tampines, located on the site of the previous ITE College Tampines.
Sports[]
There are two stadiums in Tampines. These include Tampines Stadium, which is the home to Tampines Rovers FC previously. The Tampines Olympic Stadium was later built in 2010, and it replaced Tampines Stadium when the previous one is under the rebuilding stage.
Future[]
New Tampines City[]
- Main article: New Tampines City
The New Tampines City will be a new development in Tampines. It will be completed by 2016. Construction started in June 2013. It will located at Tampines Stadium part of Avenue 4 and 5, together with the swimming pool.
Tampines Gateway[]
Tampines Gateway is a new integrated hub development in Tampines, Singapore and it will be located at Tampines Bus Interchange, expected to complete in 2020. It will house a 5-star hotel, a casino and shopping mall inclusive of bus interchange. This will include Bonia, Carlo Rino, ALDO, The Chicken Rice Shop, Bonita, Cotton On and American Eagle. This will be largely similar to the Resorts World Genting, when Timothy Mok had went from 14 to 16 June 2013.
Changes[]
- 23 January 2024: Mei Kee Bakery Tampines 1 closed down.
- 30 January 2024: Yankee Candle Tampines 1 closed down.
- 1 February 2024: SG Hawker East Point Mall closed down.
- 25 February 2024: Yamaha Music Square Tampines Mall closed down.
- 18 March 2024: Umistrong Century Square is closing down.
External links[]
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