Ang Mo Kio

1°22′12.6″N 103°50′44.23″E / 1.370167°N 103.8456194°E / 1.370167; 103.8456194 Template:SG neighbourhood Ang Mo Kio is a heartland new town located in north central Singapore, and is generally within the North-East Region. It contains many of the common features of the island nation's neighbourhoods, e.g. hawker centres, wet markets and HDB housing blocks. Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong is the Member of Parliament for this constituency. As an urban planning division, the Ang Mo Kio Planning Area lies within this region.

Origin of the name

The locality's name is believed by some to derive from the Hokkien phrase Ang Mo Kio (红毛桥), meaning "Westerner Bridge". The term ang mo (literally "red hair") is a somewhat derogatory Hokkien reference to the people with fair hair who settled from the West and, because such a name might be considered unflattering, it is now written as 宏茂桥 which is pronounced in an almost identical way but means "Bridge of Expansiveness and Prosperity". Some local people have incorrectly assumed that the new version of the name refers to the bridges at the seventh milestone of Thomson Road (found at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Thomson Road). These two old bridges were known as Or-kio ("black bridges") in the local spoken dialects. Research suggests that neither of these bridges were officially named, but they spanned the canal and the old Kallang River forming a link to the Peirce Reservoir.

The actual source of the name comes from the old survey maps which label the land as "Mukim of Ang Mo Kio" (Mukim meaning "area" or "district" in Malay). The word "Ang Mo" 红毛 may in fact not refer to Westerners. Rather, it is derived from two separate combined phrases in Hokkien. Ang Mo Dan means "rambutan" 红毛丹, a local fruit, red and covered in hair, found plentifully around the areas of old kampongs. Likely the second suffix "kio" 桥 ("bridge" or "bridges" in Hokkien) was added to the prefix "Ang Mo" 红毛 as an additional description to indicate a more precise location that residents would recognize i.e.红毛桥. There were many concrete bridges built by the old kampong dwellers. It first appears on the early maps drawn by surveyors who took those two phrases and combined them to form "Mukim of Ang Mo Kio" ("District of Ang Mo Kio"). The actual location of Ang Mo Kio New Town has been also known by the former name Kou-teu kio, Hokkien for "Ninth Bridge".

Folklore about the name Ang Mo Kio

There is a history page to the name Ang Mo Kio. Ang Mo Kio means “Red Hair Bridge” in the local dialect. It actually refers to a disused bridge that links the western part of the current Ang Mo Kio estate to the Thomson Estate.

The Red Hair referred by the locals was a British Lady called Lady Jennifer Windsor. Lady Windsor was the wife of Lord Windsor, a wealthy merchant who had a huge estate in the Upper Thomson Area in the 1920s till after World War II.

It was a tragic incident that linked Lady Windsor to an unnamed crossing that bridged a stream running off the Peirce Reservoir. The incident happened in 1923 when Lady Windsor lost 3 of her children; Harry, Paul and Angela. The 3 children were supposed to have visited a family friend staying in the Upper Thomson area, and were lost in the woods. It was later found that the 2 boys were playing by the wooden crossing when a sudden gush swept them away. Their bodies were found about 2 miles from the bridge. However, the body of Angela was never found.

Since that eventful day, locals started hearing cries of a little girl and that prompted Lady Windsor to stay by the bridge for the rest of her life. She told her close friends that she had heard her daughter voices by the bridge and she wanted to accompany her soul. Lady Windsor would spend the whole day by the bridge, reading or knitting. People soon got used to her perpetual presence by the bridge that they soon referred to the bridge as the “Red Hair Bridge”; which in its right sense should have been called “Lady Windsor Bridge”.

Lady Windsor died in 1963 and it was only thereafter that locals no longer hear the voices of the little girl. Today, one could still see the disused bridge near the intersection of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Upper Thomson Road.

Another logical explanation would be: Ang Mo Kio was named in reference to Mr A. E. Thomson. Thomson was a civil engineer from the British Royal Army. He was responsible for building a bridge during the colonial days of Singapore, to facilitate logistic transportation to the nearby British military bases at Seletar. After the bridge was completed, the locals often referred to it as Ang Mo Kio or "Caucasian Bridge". Nowadays, "Ang Mo" is a popular term to refer to Caucasian in Singapore.

The name "Thomson" was also used extensively in the naming of several roads in and around Ang Mo Kio. This above version of explanation is currently being listed at the Heritage Corridor in Deyi Secondary School located in Ang Mo Kio. The explanation is also more widely accepted by the local historians. The bridge, however, has no longer existed. It was, according to local historians, located at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8. Little of the bridge built by Thomson remain.

Culture and changes

Ang Mo Kio remains as one of the older and more parochial and insular areas of Singapore and is less demographically cosmopolitan than some of the newer estates.

In the new town, the old friendly kampong spirit of sharing and caring seems to survive as a strong cultural trait. Also, majority continue to live with their children in the renewed environment — the family ties are strong with multi-generational units residing in three- to five-room HDB apartments.

The lifestyle of the area has been transformed from the simple one of the kampong to urbanised and modernised living including the obvious modern amenities in the 90s.

However, many of the adult children have moved on to the new housing estates in Sengkang, Punggol, Woodlands New Town and other parts of the island but the kinship spirit is kept alive by constant returns to their older forebears, especially during the weekends and public holidays, particularly at Chinese New Year, when the reunion dinners are held.

Avenues in Ang Mo Kio

Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 encompasses the Ang Mo Kio Neighbourhood Park, Chong Boon Secondary School, Pathlight School, Chong Boon Market and Food Court, Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 1 and Teck Ghee Community Centre. The numbering system of the Ang Mo Kio Avenues is that the even number avenues (such as Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2) are oriented in the north-south orientation and the odd number avenues in the east-west orientation.

Schools in Ang Mo Kio

Kindergartens

Al-Muttaqin Mosque Kindergarten

Primary Schools

Anderson Primary School
Ang Mo Kio Primary School
CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girl's School
Da Qiao Primary School
Jing Shan Primary School
Mayflower Primary School
Teck Ghee Primary School
Townsville Primary School

Secondary Schools

Anderson Secondary School
Ang Mo Kio Secondary School
CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School
Chong Boon Secondary School
Deyi Secondary School
Mayflower Secondary School
Presbyterian High School
Yio Chu Kang Secondary School
Peirce Secondary School

Junior Colleges

Anderson Junior College

Tertiaries

ITE College West (Ang Mo Kio Campus)
Nanyang Polytechnic

Special Schools

Chaoyang School (APSN)
Pathlight School

AMK Hub

AMK Hub (Abbreviation for Ang Mo Kio Hub; Simplified Chinese: 宏茂桥城) is a suburban shopping mall located in Ang Mo Kio, within the North-East Region of Singapore. It has the air-conditioned Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange, the third bus interchange in Singapore to be fully air-conditioned, which is conveniently linked to Ang Mo Kio MRT Station via an underpass.

AMK Hub is part of the redevelopment plan to rejuvenate the town centre of Ang Mo Kio, to make it more hip and vibrant. Seng Han Thong is the Member of Parliament for this constituency (Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency).

The shopping mall has 48,250 square metres of gross floor area and 350,000 square feet (33,000 m²) of retail space. Among the other neighbourhood ma�) is a suburban shopping mall located in Ang Mo Kio, within the North-East Region of Singapore. It has the air-conditioned Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange, the third bus interchange in Singapore to be fully air-conditioned, which is conveniently linked to Ang Mo Kio MRT Station via an underpass.