Lim Chu Kang

Lim Chu Kang is a planning area located in the northwestern part of Singapore.

History

Lim Chu Kang Village was founded by Neo Tiew (Chinese: 梁宙; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Niû Tiū; born 1884, died 1975), a Chinese immigrant who was the sheriff of the village. The village is on the banks of the Sungei Kranji and was controlled by the Lim clan. Neo Tiew also set up a primary school and health centre in the village. Neo Tiew Road is named after him. The area was originally noted for its numerous pepper and gambier plantations. Later there were rubber plantations, e.g. Namazie-Cashin rubber estates.

Today

Today, Lim Chu Kang is still largely rural and serves as a water catchment area with the four reservoirs of Sarimbun, Murai, Poyan and Tengeh which is part of the SAFTI live firing area. Lim Chu Kang have served two main roads very often and common, known as Lim Chu Kang Road and Old Choa Chu Kang Road. As this area is still undeveloped, it has a lot of military training areas, agriculture, farms, have the only remaining cemeteries in Singapore (due to exhumations to others to make way for new developments) and a major columbarium. There are also side-roads, like Jalan Sungei Poyan, Lim Chu Kang Road Track 11/13 and Jalan Bahtera, and including roads that are not listed on Street Directory but on Google Earth satellite imagery (due to MINDEF secrecy, such as the old Kampong Berih Road).

Ama Keng Chinese Temple

The Ama Keng Chinese Temple in Lim Chu Kang was built in 1900 to worship the holy mother, a goddess of peace and happiness. Ama means "grandmother" in Teochew and Hokkien, and keng means "temple". The first temple was made of attap. The temple was renovated in 1943 with a zinc roof and timber. In 1965, it was redeveloped with a tiled roof, and the renovations cost S$16,000. The temple holds wayang performances a few times a year.

Lim Chu Kang Rural Centre

The small public housing estate, the Lim Chu Kang Rural Centre, at Neo Tiew Road was vacated in 2002 under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS), of which the residents had been moved to Blocks 268A-268C Boon Lay Drive in Jurong West. The abandoned flats were used as SAF training facility from 2004 to 2009 until the new Murai Urban Training Facility opened in September 2008. Current fate is unknown as of 27 November 2011.

Bus routes

These Buses ply along Lim Chu Kang/Sungei Kadut/Neo Tiew Road:

References

• Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), Toponymics - A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 981-210-205-1