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Bishan, Singapore

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89-466: Marymount SMC Bishan ( / ˈ b iː ʃ ɑː n / ), also known as Peck San , Bishan New Town or Bishan Town , is a planning area and matured residential town located at the northernmost portion of the Central Region of Singapore . Statistically, the area is ranked the 38th biggest in terms of geographical size and the 22nd most populated planning area in the country. It is located at

178-518: A Principal Component Analysis, shows no clear difference between Cantonese from other Han Chinese groups, whether north or south, but shows significant separation from Xishuangbanna Dai (a Tai-speaking or Bai Yue group), implying that the Bai Yue component, while detectable, is the minor component in Cantonese ancestry. The Cantonese, while being primarily of Han Chinese ancestry, also possess, to

267-672: A battle ground between British and Japanese forces. The 2nd Battalion of the Cambridgeshire Regiment had engaged the Japanese forces on 14 February 1942 over the nearby strategically important MacRitchie Reservoir . The Japanese also bombed Kampong San Teng, which resulted in significant civilian casualties. The battle ended the next day, 15 February, when the British surrendered to the Japanese. At that point, British troops were still holding out along Braddell Road. During

356-523: A colony of the Portuguese Empire in 1887. Macau was returned to China in 1999. By 2002, Macau had become one of the world's richest cities and by 2006, it had surpassed Las Vegas to become the world's biggest gambling centre. Macau is also a world cultural heritage site due to its Portuguese colonial architecture. The term "Cantonese" is used to refer to the native culture, language, and people who can trace their ancestral roots back to

445-410: A former cemetery. However, the first batch of houses were all snapped up during their launch to buyers who were attracted by the central location of Bishan. Bishan Sports Centre, formerly known as Bishan Sports and Recreation Centre, houses sporting facilities such as a sports hall , a stadium , a dance studio and a swimming complex. Managed by Sport Singapore , these sporting facilities cater to both

534-449: A lesser extent, a minority, i.e. Baiyue component in their heritage, and so differ slightly from other Han Chinese groups in skin tone, build, stature and a higher incidence of certain diseases such as nasopharyngeal cancer. Until the 19th century, Cantonese history was largely the history of Guangdong and Guangxi, collectively known as Liangguang or Guangnan. Throughout history, there have been multiple migrations of Han people from

623-593: A majority language in Guangdong and Guangxi, despite the increasing influence of Mandarin. Speakers of other Yue Chinese dialects, such as the Taishanese people who speak Taishanese , may or may not be considered Cantonese. The Hakka and Teochew people who also reside in Guangdong are usually differentiated from the Cantonese as they speak non-Yue Chinese languages. "Cantonese" has been generally used to describe all Chinese people from Guangdong since "Cantonese"

712-417: A mixture of three, four and five-room HDB flats. The majority of the flats are four roomed, with a few being three or five. There are some with balconies, and some are penthouse mansionettes. Blocks numbered with "1" as the first digit are generally smaller and more connected with the town center. Blocks numbered with 2 as the first digit are more spread out and generally larger in size. They also tend to be

801-541: A muddling of dialectical pronunciations of " Guangdong " (e.g., Hakka Kóng-tûng ). Although it originally and chiefly applied to the walled city of Guangzhou, it was occasionally conflated with Guangdong by some authors. Within Guangdong and Guangxi, Cantonese is considered the prestige dialect and is called baahk wá , [pàːk wǎː] ( 白話 ) which means "vernacular". It is also known as "Guangzhou speech" or Guangzhounese (廣州話, 广州话, Gwóngjāu wá). Other Yue peoples are sometimes labelled as "Cantonese" such as

890-649: A result, there are today many Cantonese communities throughout the world, including in Southeast Asia , the Pacific Islands , the Americas , the Caribbean and Western Europe , with Chinatowns commonly being established by Cantonese communities. There have been a large number of interracial marriages between Cantonese men and women from other nations (especially from Cuba, Peru, Mexico), as most of

979-608: A significant and immediate cultural shift at the time of Nanyue's establishment, especially in larger tombs, which began to deploy Han Chinese features such as ramps and compartmentalized coffins, and to contain traditional Han Chinese drinking vessels such as the hu, he , and ding as well as incense burners such as the xun lu . Buildings began to feature architectural elements from the Central Plains, including covered galleries, drains, stone lintels, and columnar bases. The Han aristocratic elite, however, did adopt features of

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1068-518: A temporary holding site for schools which are undergoing renovation. It has since been demolished to make way for the new HDB Build-to-order (BTO) project Bishan Ridges. In addition to mainstream schools, a campus of the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC), where students get to learn additional foreign languages such as French and German , is located in Bishan. The Singapore branches of

1157-455: A variety of discriminatory laws, including the prohibition of Chinese female immigrants. The relaxation of immigration laws after World War II allowed for subsequent waves of migration to the Western world from southeastern mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. As a result, Cantonese continues to be widely used by Chinese communities of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau regional origin in

1246-510: A very early and continual stream of Han settlers from the Central Plains since the Qin era. Mass migration of Han Chinese produced a demographic change in the south, leading to the absorption of Tai-speaking minority groups. Paternally, the Cantonese population show no genetic difference from other northern and southern Han Chinese populations - Cantonese are generally descended from Northern Chinese Han males, and their Y-chromosome haplotypes conform

1335-910: Is commonly treated as a synonym with "Guangdong" and the Cantonese language is treated as the sole language of the region. This is inaccurate as "Canton" itself technically only refers to the capital Guangzhou, and the Cantonese language specifically refers to only the Guangzhou dialect of the Yue Chinese languages. David Faure points out that there is no direct Chinese translation of the English term "Cantonese". People living in Guangdong and Guangxi may speak other Yue dialects or dialects from other Chinese language groups such as Mandarin , Min , Hakka , and Pinghua . The English name "Canton" derived from Portuguese Cantão or Cidade de Cantão ,

1424-483: Is made up by migrant workers from elsewhere in China that speak non-Cantonese variants of Chinese and Standard Chinese . Though in recent years it is slowly falling out of favour with the younger generation prompting fears in Cantonese people that the language may die out. Cantonese language's erosion in Guangzhou is due to a mix of suppression of the language and the mass migration of non-Cantonese speaking people in to

1513-569: Is then drawn up for each planning area, providing detailed planning guidelines for every plot of land throughout the country. The planning areas were first introduced in the early 1990s after the release of the 1991 Concept Plan. Since implementing these boundaries, other government ministries and departments have increasingly adopted them for administrative purposes. For example, the Statistics Department of Singapore published its 2000 census data based on planning area boundaries for

1602-612: 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 Upper Thomson 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 Upper Thomson, while

1691-609: The 2015 SEA Games . It is also the venue for national-level gymnastics competition in Singapore. Similarly, the 4,200-seat Bishan Stadium has hosted the athletics and football competitions at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the 2015 SEA Games respectively. Bishan Stadium is the home of the Lion City Sailors , a professional football club that plays in Singapore Premier League . Opened in 2008,

1780-530: The Bishan MRT station , which is an interchange station on both the North–South Line (NSL) and Circle Line (CCL). Bishan also has a bus interchange that provides bus services to other parts of Singapore (such as Changi and Punggol). There are also feeder bus services that operate within the neighbourhood. The Kallang Park Connector, which begins in Bishan, provides a cycling route between Bishan and

1869-668: The Central Expressway (CTE), Marymount Terrace was acquired by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and later demolished. In 2018, Shunfu Ville HUDC flats were demolished to make way for the Jadescape Condominium project. The first five blocks of housing units were completed by 1985. There were initial fears of a poor demand for houses in Bishan due to prevailing local superstitions about bad fengshui since they were built on

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1958-602: The Girl Guides Association and the Scouts Association are also headquartered in Bishan. A new junior college named Eunoia Junior College was later built at the site of former Nature Park Golf Driving Range located at Sin Ming Avenue by late 2019. Other than schools ranging from primary to tertiary, there are also nurseries and kindergartens scattered across Bishan estate. The town is

2047-493: The Japanese Occupation of Singapore , this area became a refuge for people trying to evade the Japanese because the Japanese occupiers were afraid to enter the cemetery. After the war, the graves of Peck San Theng became a known gangster hideout, and gang-related crimes became rife in the area. In 1973, the government ordered the cemetery to be closed and mandated that no fresh burials were allowed to be done within

2136-680: The Ningpo massacre after the defeat of Portuguese pirates. The First (1839–1842) and Second Opium Wars (1856–1860) led to the loss of China's control over Hong Kong and Kowloon , which were ceded to the British Empire . Macau also became a Portuguese settlement . Between 1855 and 1867, the Punti–Hakka Clan Wars caused further discord in Guangdong and Guangxi. The third plague pandemic of 1855 broke out in Yunnan and spread to

2225-465: The Pearl River outside Canton, merchants traded goods such as silk , porcelain ("fine china") and tea , allowing Guangzhou to become a prosperous city. Links to overseas contacts and beneficial tax reforms in the 1990s have also contributed to the city's ongoing growth. Guangzhou was named a global city in 2008. The migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40 percent of

2314-580: The Sin Ming and Thomson area of Bishan with the northern parts and Central Business District of Singapore. The upcoming Cross Island Line will also have connections with the TEL at Bright Hill station. Bishan currently has 8 commercial areas. The parks in the area comprise Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and Bishan Harmony Park. Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is situated along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, and covers an area of 63 hectares (160 acres). The Kallang River runs through

2403-512: The Taishanese people ( 四邑粵人 ; sei yāp yuht yàhn ), even though Taishanese ( 台山話 ) has low intelligibility to Standard Cantonese . Some literature uses neutral terminology such as Guangdongese and Guangxiese to refer to people from these provinces without the cultural or linguistic affiliations to Cantonese. Cantonese peoples are predominantly of Han Chinese ancestry and lineage with various local genetic clusters suggesting regional language-based endogamy . The Cantonese originate from

2492-400: The Bai Yue culture, including the use of feathered headdresses as represented on Nanyue cauldrons, in order to bolster their authority amongst the indigenous people in the new hybrid Han-Yue polity. The Nanyue kingdom, which was led by a Han aristocracy and adopted Han bureaucratic structures, and which adopted a policy of assimilation and fusion with the native Bai Yue, then went on to become

2581-649: The Bishan Active park also offers sporting facilities to the residents of Bishan. This 24,000 square metres park houses facilities such as a roller blading track, basketball courts and a beach volleyball court, augmenting the facilities found at the Bishan Sports Centre. Bishan is connected by road to the rest of Singapore via the Central Expressway (CTE), a major expressway connecting Northern parts of Singapore with its city centre. In addition it has its own Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station,

2670-541: The Cantonese migrants were men. As a result, there are many Afro-Caribbeans and South American people of Cantonese descent including many Eurasians. Unlike the migrants from Fujian , who mostly settled in Southeast Asia , many Cantonese emigrants also migrated to the Western Hemisphere , particularly the United States , Canada , Australia and New Zealand and Burma. Many Cantonese immigrants into

2759-634: The Cantonese themselves, and the other dialect groups of Guangdong during the Tang dynasty including the Hakka and the Teochew. Waves of migration and intermarriage meant that the indigenous populations of both Guangxi and Guangdong provinces were either assimilated or displaced, but some native groups like the Zhuangs remain. One notable migration occurred in the aftermath of the deadly An Lushan rebellion in

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2848-794: The Central Business District along the Kallang River . This 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) route was the first park connector that was constructed in Singapore. Marymount MRT station is a station on the CCL that serves residents living in Shunfu, Thomson, Sin Ming and Jalan Pemimpin. Both Bright Hill station and Upper Thomson station are MRT stations on the Thomson–East Coast Line (TEL) that provide connection between

2937-511: The Central Plains into the region that is now Southeastern and Southern China. The first Chinese presence in Guangdong can be traced to the conquest by the Qin general Zhao Tuo and his subsequent establishment of the Nanyue kingdom, a hybrid Han-Yue polity as an independent state. There was a second wave of migration during the Han dynasty during the troubled reign of the usurper Wang Mang. However, it

3026-464: The Han Chinese soldiers, conscripts, and laborers under Zhao Tuo's command were incorporated into the Nanyue kingdom and ordered to mix with the local inhabitants. Like the founder Zhao Tuo, the aristocratic elite and military class of the newly formed Nanyue state were of Central Plains origin and mediated the transmission of Han culture to the local inhabitants. Grave goods and burial pits show

3115-495: The Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng foundation established a village school in the former Kampong San Teng to provide free education to the farming families living in the vicinity. The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School ( 广惠肇碧山亭学校 ) was initially housed on the foundation's temple premises. Starting with 60 students, the school gradually expanded to the point where it started an afternoon session to cater to

3204-506: The Liangguang region via Guangxi, killing thousands and spreading via water traffic to nearby Hong Kong and Macau. The turmoil of the 19th century, followed by the political upheaval of the early 20th century, compelled many residents of Guangdong to migrate overseas in search of a better future. Up until the second half of the 20th century, the majority of overseas Chinese emigrated from two provinces of China; Guangdong and Fujian . As

3293-630: The MPs overseeing the Bishan areas are Chee Hong Tat (overseeing eastern Thomson), Chong Kee Hiong (overseeing most of Thomson, Shun Fu and east Bishan) and Gan Siow Huang (north Bishan, under the Marymount SMC). Planning Areas of Singapore Planning areas , also known as DGP areas or DGP zones , are the main urban planning and census divisions of Singapore delineated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority . There are 55 of these areas, organised into five regions . A Development Guide Plan

3382-476: The Malay language. Cantonese people The Cantonese people ( 廣府人 ; 广府人 ; gwong fu jan ; Gwóngfú Yàhn ) or Yue people ( 粵人 ; 粤人 ; jyut jan ; Yuht Yàhn ), are a Han Chinese subgroup originating from Guangzhou and its satellite cities and towns (such as Hong Kong and Macau ). In a more general sense "Cantonese people" can refer to any Han Chinese people originating from or residing in

3471-741: The Qing Empire in 1895 let to its naming as the "cradle of the Xinhai Revolution". Revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen was born in Zhongshan , Guangdong. Hong Kong was where he developed his thoughts of revolution and was the base of subsequent uprisings, as well as the first revolutionary newspaper. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary army was largely made up of Cantonese, and many of the early revolutionary leaders were also Cantonese. Cantonese people and their culture are centered in Guangdong, Eastern Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau. Guangzhou,

3560-450: The Tang dynasty, creating a new local identity among the Liangguang peoples. The origin of the Cantonese people is thus said to be Han people from the Central Plains who migrated to Guangdong and Guangxi in multiple successive waves of settlement while it was still inhabited by Baiyue peoples. During the early 1800s, conflict occurred between Cantonese and Portuguese pirates in the form of

3649-455: The Tang dynasty, which led to a massive southward migration by people from the Tang heartland into the Panyu area, causing a 75% increase in the population on household registers. Unsurprisingly, the Cantonese often call themselves "people of Tang" ( 唐人 ; tòhng yàhn ). This is because Han immigration and the intermarriage with and acculturation of indigenous tribes reached a critical mass during

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3738-711: The United States became railroad labourers, while many in South America were brought in as coolies . Cantonese immigrants in the United States and Australia participated in the California Gold Rush and the Australian gold rushes of 1854 onwards, while those in Hawaii found employment in sugarcane plantations as contract labourers. These early Cantonese immigrants variously faced hostility and

3827-702: The Western Hemisphere, and has not been supplanted by the Mandarin -based Standard Chinese . A large proportion of the early migrants also came from the Siyi region of Guangdong and spoke Taishanese. The Taishanese variant is still spoken in American Chinese communities, by the older population as well as by more recent immigrants from Taishan, in Jiangmen , Guangdong. Cantonese uprising against

3916-567: The area officially started in 1982. On this land, HDB planned to construct 24,600 residential units distributed across 4 distinct neighbourhoods: Bishan East, Bishan North, Bishan West (subsequently renamed Sin Ming Garden Estate in 1988) and Shunfu Estate, of which Bishan East will be the largest. In 2011, after plans to construct the North–South Corridor (NSC) expressway was announced to ease congestion along Marymount Road and

4005-399: The area. Because of its tradition of usage in music, cinema, literature and newspapers, this form of Cantonese is a cultural mark of identity that distinguishes Cantonese people from speakers of other varieties of Chinese, whose languages are prohibited to have strong influences under China's Standard Mandarin policy. The pronunciation and vocabulary of Cantonese has preserved many features of

4094-517: The broader group of Yue languages and dialects spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi, although it is used more specifically to describe Gwóngjāu wah ( 廣州話 ), the prestige variant spoken in Guangzhou . Gwóngjāu wah is the main language used for education, literature and media in Hong Kong and Macau. It is still widely used in Guangzhou, despite the fact that a large proportion of the city's population

4183-532: The capital of Guangdong, has been one of China's international trading ports since the Tang dynasty. During the 18th century, it became an important centre of the emerging trade between China and the Western world, as part of the Canton System . The privilege during this period made Guangzhou one of the top three cities in the world. Operating from the Thirteen Factories located on the banks of

4272-575: The capital situated at modern-day Guangzhou. The people of Liangguang remained autonomous until formally incorporated into the Han dynasty in 111 BC, following the Han–Nanyue War . Incorporation into Han territory Liangguang was incorporated into the Han dynasty in 111 BC, following the Han–Nanyue War . From this point on, it was directly administered by the Han Empire. Han Empire During

4361-548: The cemetery, and Kampong San Theng and Soon Hock Village, which lay within Kampong San Theng grounds, soon grew in size. Singapore Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, a federation of 16 Cantonese clans in Singapore, managed and ran Kampong San Theng. This settlement grew over time to accommodate nearly 2000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. During World War II , the Peck San Theng cemetery became

4450-499: The cemetery. The government later acquired this cemetery land from the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng foundation for SGD$ $ 4.95 million in 1979. As compensation, the government gave 3 hectares of the land back to the foundation for the foundation to build a columbarium . The foundation subsequently built a multi-story columbarium complex on this land. In the early 1970s, the Housing Development Board (HDB) built

4539-416: The city of Guangzhou . Their influence has spread across the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. There are cultural, economic, political, generational and geographical differences in making "Cantonese-ness" in and beyond Guangdong and Guangxi, with the interacting dynamics of migration, education, social developments and cultural representations. The term "Cantonese language" is sometimes used to refer to

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4628-553: The city's total population in 2008. Most of them are rural migrants and they speak only standard Chinese. Hong Kong and Macau are two of the richest cities in the world in terms of GDP per capita and are autonomous SARs (Special Administrative Regions) that are under independent governance from China. Historically governed by the British and Portuguese empires respectively, colonial Hong Kong and Macau were increasingly populated by migrant influxes from mainland China, particularly

4717-610: The demand. The school had to stop classes during the Japanese occupation of Singapore but lessons soon resumed in 1945. In 1957, the school shifted into a new school compound situated at the entrance of a cemetery compound near Upper Thomson . The new school compound had 6 classrooms and could cater to 450 students in two school sessions. The Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School was also integrated into Singapore's mainstream education system that year. In 1981, due to changes in Singapore's national educational policy, governmental funding to

4806-413: The development of Lakeview Estate was simultaneously completed somewhere in mid 1977. Lakeview Estate was segregated into two segments with fourteen low rise blocks numbered Blocks 1-14 and three high rise flats numbered Blocks 97A, 97B and 97C. The low rise blocks consisted of shophouses and a wet market with food centre located at Block 9 whereas the high rise flats consist of HUDC apartment units. Later in

4895-771: The development of action-comedy genre exemplified in movies such as the God of Gamblers , the pioneering of the comedy-horror genre seen in Mr Vampire , the popularization Chinese cultivation fantasy fiction genres as seen in cult classics and experimental movies rich in special effects such as Chinese Ghost Story and Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain , and leading the way for the use of complex choreography and stunts through Jackie Chan movies such as Police Story . Recent films include Kung Fu Hustle , Shaolin Soccer , Infernal Affairs and Ip Man 3 . Cantonese cuisine

4984-537: The distribution seen in all other Han subgroups. Maternally, both southern natives and northern Han Chinese women contributed to the Cantonese gene pool. As a whole, the Cantonese show predominant Han Chinese ancestry, with their Han Chinese ancestry more pronounced on the patriline than on the matriline. This is in contrast to the Pinghua and Tanka population, who both show the reverse pattern. Whole-exome sequencing data of Hong Kong Cantonese, when subject to

5073-411: The estate houses mainly vehicle workshops and establishments specialising in vehicle sales, maintenance, registration as well as inspection. To date, many of the low rise workshops have since been demolished and relocated to the nearby Sin Ming Autocare and Sin Ming Autocity high rise complexes. Plans are underway for the vacated lands to be redeveloped for residential use. In addition to Sin Ming Ville,

5162-434: The first housing estate which was located at Sin Ming Road along with clusters of industrial sectors. The first blocks of residential flats were numbered Block 22–26, now known as Sin Ming Ville. In late 2021, it was announced that Block 26 Sin Ming Industrial Estate will be demolished to make way for redevelopment. Sin Ming industrial estate is also known to be a popular destination for matters relating to automotive needs as

5251-535: The first time, compared to using census divisions based on electoral boundaries for previous exercises. The Singapore Police Force 's (SPF) neighbourhood police centres have jurisdiction boundaries based on planning area boundaries when they were officially gazetted in 1999, as opposed to electoral divisions under the previous neighbourhood Police Post system. Planning areas are further subdivided into 332 subzones for statistical purposes. * = Place names attested to be of Malay origin and referred to similarly in

5340-432: The general public and professional athletes. Several major national and international level sporting events has been held at the Bishan Sports Centre, including the 2009 Asian Youth Games and the 2010 Youth Olympic Games . Bishan Sports Hall, which serves as the primary venue for gymnastics competitions in Singapore, has hosted gymnastic competitions as part of the 2009 Asian Youth Games , 2010 Youth Olympic Games and

5429-452: The green". This term reflects the neighbourhood's origins as a burial ground that was established in 1870 by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants. This burial ground has since been redeveloped and the original graves were relocated to the nearby Peck San Theng Temple . The Bishan planning area, as demarcated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), is situated in the Central Region of Singapore, bounded by planning areas of Ang Mo Kio to

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5518-440: The incumbent team, led by former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng , defeated then- Potong Pasir SMC and Singapore People's Party (SPP) secretary-general Chiam See Tong . Ahead of the 2020 Singaporean general election , incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Josephine Teo 's division was carved into the new Marymount Single Member Constituency (SMC) while Teo went on to helm the neighbouring Jalan Besar GRC . Currently,

5607-423: The largest flats in the whole estate, with flat sizes ranging from 1650 square feet to 1700 square feet, some of the largest HDB flats in Singapore. Other numbers tend to be smaller and are usually from 1300 square feet to 1500 square feet. Sin Ming Ville (Block 22-26) is excluded from this category. There are also various condominiums in Bishan including the Sky Habitat, Clover by the Park and Country Grandeur. As

5696-407: The late 1990s, the low rise segment of Lakeview Estate was demolished and it remains vacant to date. By the 1980s, HDB had already begun expanding the area into a satellite housing estate to meet the rising demand for housing from Singapore's then-growing population. The residents in Kampong San Teng were resettled and a mass exhumation of the 170,000 graves were carried out in 1980. Redevelopment of

5785-419: The middle of the park, and can be crossed via a number of foot bridges and stepping stones. The park also sports ponds and fishing spots. Located at the junction of Bishan Road and Braddell Road, Bishan Harmony Park serves the surrounding neighbourhoods, and comprises a garden maze, two barbecue pits, a fitness corner and a skate park. Built at a cost of S$ 1 million, the park opened in June 2009. In 1936,

5874-476: The more prominent being Lingnan architecture , Lingnan school of painting , Canton porcelain , Cantonese opera , Cantonese music , among many others. Architecture Cantonese architecture or Lingnan architecture favors pale colors such as white and grey-green, demonstrates straight rather than curved roof ridges and the use of "woerlou or omega-shaped structures" at the ends, and employs open structures such as balconies, skylights and verandas to accommodate

5963-400: The most Central point of Singapore, and it comprises Upper Thomson, Marymount, Shunfu, Sin Ming, Bishan North and Bishan East. There are also many private residential properties in Bishan. Bishan is ranked 15th in terms of population density. Apart from its boundary with the Central Water Catchment in the west, Bishan borders three other planning areas: Ang Mo Kio to the north, Toa Payoh to

6052-441: The name Peirce Secondary School, the school was actually a subordinate branch of Bishan Park Secondary School when it first started operating off the latter's campus in 1994. The Ministry of Education announced Bishan Park Secondary School as one of the schools to be affected by the merger programme. As a result, it was absorbed by Peirce Secondary School in 2018. The Bishan campus of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

6141-460: The nearby Guangdong Province. For that reason, the culture of Hong Kong and Macau became a mixture of Cantonese and Western influences, sometimes described as "East meets West". Hong Kong Island was first colonised by the British Empire in 1842 with a population of 7,450; however, it was in 1898 that Hong Kong became a British colony , when the British also colonised the New Territories (which constitute 86.2% of Hong Kong's modern territory). It

6230-490: The north, Toa Payoh to the south and Serangoon to the east. Bishan New Town sits within this planning area. The Bishan planning area is further subdivided into three subzones, which are divided into three roughly vertical areas in the Bishan planning area as follows (from east to west): As of the General Household Survey from SingStat in 2015, Bishan's population consisted of 90,700 people, with 85.1% Chinese, 4.1% Malay, 7.7% Indian and 3.0% Others. The population density

6319-531: The official language of the Tang dynasty with elements of the ancient Yue language . Written Cantonese is very common in manhua , books, articles, magazines, newspapers, online chat, instant messaging, internet blogs and social networking websites. Anime , cartoons and foreign films are also dubbed in Cantonese. Some videogames such as Sleeping Dogs , Far Cry 4 , Grand Theft Auto III and Resident Evil 6 have substantial Cantonese dialogues. Cantonese people have created various schools or styles of arts, with

6408-433: The old blocks were refurbished. The entirety of the Bishan planning area was originally under the jurisdiction of the four-member (previously five-member) Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representative Constituency (GRC), which was first formed during the 1997 Singaporean general election . Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC remained uncontested under the incumbent People's Action Party (PAP), until the 2011 Singaporean general election where

6497-937: The oldest educational institutions in Singapore, has been located in Bishan since 1990. This campus houses both of the institution's secondary and high school sections. Raffles Girls' School has also relocated to the area. Other notable schools located in Bishan include Ai Tong School , a primary school founded by Chinese pioneers in 1912, and Catholic High School , a Special Assistance Plan school that names Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as one of its alumni. The prominent schools of Bishan are namely Guangyang Secondary School , Guangyang Primary School, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School. In addition, at Bishan North, there are Whitley Secondary School of Bishan Street 24, Peirce Secondary School and Bishan Park Secondary School , both of which are located at Sin Ming Walk. Despite bearing

6586-534: The provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang ), or it may refer to the inhabitants of Guangdong province alone. Historically centered around Guangzhou and the surrounding Pearl River Delta , the Cantonese people established the Cantonese language as the dominant one in Hong Kong and Macau during their 19th century migrations within the times of the British and Portuguese colonial eras respectively. Cantonese remains today as

6675-518: The region in 214 BC and later, after the collapse of the Qin empire, founded the independent kingdom of Nanyue in 204 BC. Zhao Tuo's retinue included hundreds of thousands of predominantly male Qin conscripts, and he is recorded as petitioning the Qin Emperor for 30,000 wives from the Central Plains for his restless soldiers. Following the collapse of central authority in the Qin Empire,

6764-830: The school was halted and the Kwong Wai Shiu Peck San Theng School soon closed down. In addition, Shin Min Public School ( 淡申律公立新民学校 ) was located at Sin Ming Road from 1945 to 1986, closing due to low enrollment. The school's site is currently occupied by the Amtech Building. Since its redevelopment in the 1980s, Bishan has become home to several educational institutions. According to the Ministry of Education , there are four primary schools and seven secondary schools that are located within Bishan. Raffles Institution , one of

6853-494: The south, and Serangoon to the east. What is now Bishan today was once land that belonged to Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng , a century old cemetery that mainly served the Cantonese and Hakka communities in Singapore. Following the establishment of the cemetery in 1870, the first human settlements began to appear in the area, forming what eventually became Kampong San Teng. During the Battle of Singapore in 1942, Peck San Theng

6942-484: The strongest state on the southern periphery of the Han, with many neighboring kingdoms declaring their allegiance to Nanyue rule. Zhao Tuo took the Han territory of Hunan and defeated the Han dynasty's first attack on Nanyue, later annexing the kingdom of Minyue in the east and conquering Âu Lạc , Northern Vietnam, in the west in 179 BC. The greatly expanded Nanyue kingdom included the territories of modern-day Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam (Tonkin), with

7031-469: The town also featured pitched roofs which have since become closely associated with the skyline of Bishan. The town is also home to three of Singapore's most prestigious educational institutions: Catholic High School , Raffles Girls' School , and Raffles Institution . Bishan derived its name from the Cantonese term for large burial ground , Peck San Theng ( Chinese : 碧山亭 ; pinyin : bìshāntíng ), which literally translates as "pavilions on

7120-640: The tropical climate in the south. Buildings are also generally taller than in the north. It also features narrow structures known as "cold alleys" to promote the increase of windspeed, and thus the cooling and ventilation of buildings. Cantopop during its early glory had spread to mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Well-known Cantopop singers include Andy Lau , Aaron Kwok , Joey Yung , Alan Tam , Roman Tam , Anita Mui , Danny Chan , Leslie Cheung , Jacky Cheung , Leon Lai , Sammi Cheng and Coco Lee , many of whom are of Cantonese or Taishanese origin. The Hong Kong movie industry

7209-476: The troubled period of Wang Mang 's reign in the Han dynasty (206BC–220AD), there were influxes of Han Chinese migrants into Guangdong and Guangxi, western coast of Hainan, Annam (now Northern Vietnam) and Eastern Yunnan. 4th-12th century AD During the 4th–12th centuries, yet more waves of Han Chinese people from the central plains migrated and settled in the South of China. This gave rise to peoples, including

7298-471: The way for the construction of Bishan New Town in 1983. Today, Peck San Theng remains in operation, although it has since been converted into a columbarium . Bishan New Town became the first in Singapore to depart from the brutalist design seen in most previous Housing and Development Board (HDB) towns. Instead of slab-like residential blocks that were built in uniformed rows, apartment blocks in Bishan varied in height and were often dislocated. Flats within

7387-665: The world. Macau natives are known as the Tanka people . A dialect similar to Shiqi , originating from Zhongshan in Guangdong, is also spoken in the region. Parts of Macau were first loaned to the Portuguese by China as a trading centre in the 16th century, with the Portuguese required to administer the city under Chinese authority. In 1851 and 1864, the Portuguese Empire occupied the two nearest offshore islands Taipa and Coloane respectively and Macau officially became

7476-495: Was 11,564 residents per square kilometre (29,652.1/mi), ranking as the 15th planning area in Singapore by population density. Based on the 2023 population trends from SingStat, Bishan had a total of 31,600 households, with 63.5% being Housing and Development Board (HDB) housing, 26.2% being condominiums, and 9.8% being landed properties. Peck San Theng cemetery was established in 1870 on the site of present-day Bishan by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants. People began to settle around

7565-427: Was during this period that migrants from China entered, mainly speaking Cantonese, the prestige variety of Yue Chinese , as a common language. During the following century of British rule, Hong Kong grew into a hub of Cantonese culture and has remained as such since the handover in 1997 . Today Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial centres and the Hong Kong dollar is the thirteenth most-traded currency in

7654-567: Was established in 1994 as part of the government's plan to revamp Singapore's vocational education system. It provided vocational courses in subjects such as accountancy and business . In 2005, this campus became part of ITE College Central during a major revamp of the ITE system. This campus was subsequently closed in 2012 and relocated to the new ITE College Central mega-campus in Ang Mo Kio . The old facilities of ITE Bishan subsequently became

7743-534: Was only under much later dynasties such as the Jin dynasty , the Tang dynasty , and the Song dynasty , when major waves of Han Chinese began to migrate south into Guangdong and Guangxi, that the region acquired the cultural characteristics that last until the present day. Formation of Nanyue kingdom What is now Guangdong and later Guangxi, was first brought under Qin influence by a general named Zhao Tuo , who conquered

7832-447: Was the site of a fierce firefight between the invading Japanese forces and the defending British. The subsequent fall of the island to the Japanese that same year eventually made Peck San Theng a place of refuge for most of the Singapore population. In 1973, Peck San Theng ceased accepting burials, and six years later, following a government lease, the land was acquired for development. Graves were then exhumed between 1982 and 1984, paving

7921-439: Was the third-largest movie industry in the world (after Hollywood and Bollywood ) for decades throughout the 20th century, with Cantonese-language films viewed and acclaimed around the world for its innovative style. Cantonese popular culture through the medium Hong Kong cinema has been responsible for pioneering the development of new genres and styles and paving the path for the rest of Chinese cinema. These innovations include

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