Lifestyle

10 Facts About Toa Payoh You Probably Didn’t Know About

2019-02-22 , 2:00 am

Last Updated on 2021-11-11 , 1:44 pm

To many of you, Toa Payoh may seem to be simply an ulu town that just happens to be quite close to the city (how does that even work??), but if you look closely, Toa Payoh has a very interesting history.

Here are 10 facts about one of the less well-known towns in Singapore.

1. Origin of the Name

Toa Payoh literally means “Big Swamp” in Hokkien. “Toa” means big, and “Payoh” means swamp. True to its name, the town used to be mainly forests and swamps, until it was subsequently developed into farmlands, then the town we know now.

2. Chicago of Singapore

In reference to the Chicago that belonged to Al Capone, apparently Singapore’s largest crime syndicates and gangs used to operate out of Toa Payoh. The infamous Toa Payoh Ritual Murders of 1981 happened, you guessed it, in Toa Payoh.

3. The OG HDB Town

Toa Payoh is also the first self-sufficient satellite town to be built by HDB. This means it was the first town people could stay in without having to travel to another location for basic amenities and facilities such as schools, shops, and cinemas.

4. First MRT Station

Bet you didn’t know this, but Toa Payoh was the first MRT station to ever be built, completing construction on 5 August 1985. Today, the MRT map has stretched to every corner of the map, and just within the town of Toa Payoh, there are technically 3 MRT stations.

5. First Integrated Air-conditioned Bus Interchange

What a mouthful! In yet another first, Toa Payoh has Singapore’s first air-conditioned bus interchange integrated with an MRT station. The interchange also functions like a mall nowadays, with a multitude of shops selling basically everything.

Nowadays, there are many of these integrated interchanges le, but once again, Toa Payoh is the OG!

6. HDB Block Numbers

Toa Payoh town now remains the only HDB New Town where the block numbers go continuously over 100 blocks. In fact, the block numbers go from 1 all the way to 260 consecutively! All New Towns built after the 1970s adopted the 3-digit block number system, so there’s no way for this to happen again.

7. Queen of England Visit

Speaking of HDB flats, Toa Payoh is home to one of the most unique looking HDB blocks in Singapore, the Y-shaped Block 53. What makes it even more special, is that the Queen of England herself visited this exact block in 1972. There are pictures and everything.

8. Dinosaur Playground

No, I didn’t spell dragon wrongly. Near the famous dragon playground in Toa Payoh, lies the overshadowed dinosaur playground. Not sure what the fascination Toa Payoh has with large scaly lizards is about, but there’s an (actually two) life-like dinosaur as a playground. It’s at Blk 27, Lorong 6 Toa Payoh if you’re interested.

9. Dragon Pillar

Situated near Blk 91, Lorong 3 Toa Payoh is a singular dragon pillar in traditional Chinese design. It’s got a cool Chinese dragon coiling around it, and no one is really sure who was responsible for it. Large scaly lizards, ho!

10. Athletes’ Village

The last in this list is another first (haha, did I confuse you?). In 1973, Toa Payoh was the first town in Singapore to host athletes for the first international sports event held in Singapore, the South East Asian Peninsula Games, now known as the SEA Games. That’s a lot of firsts!

Toa Payoh, for a town full of firsts, ended up largely overlooked by most people. And for shame, too. The town is actually full of interesting and cool things to find, if you’d only take the time to look.

Featured Image: Dr David Sing / Shutterstock.com