Teban Gardens

SG neighbourhood
image

englishname=Teban Gardens
chinesename = 德曼花园
pinyin = de2 man4 hua1 yuan2
malayname=Taman Teban

Teban Gardens (population: approx 35,000) is a residential neighbourhood which is part of Jurong East New Town in the West Region of Singapore. Immediately north of Pandan Reservoir, it comprises exclusively of public housing built by the JTC Corporation and Housing Development Board.

Geography

Like its sister town - Pandan Gardens, Teban Gardens was a patch of mangrove swampcite web| url=http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/public/viewPDF.jsp?pdfno=041-1978-08-19_jtc.pdf |title =JTC Press Release |publisher =National Archive of Singapore] bordering on the Sungai Pandan area but was subsequently reclaimed to make way for housing development projects by the JTC Corporation in 1970.

Flanked on the south side by the Pandan Reservoir and situated at the fringe of Jurong Industrial Estate, Teban Gardens sits on the crossroad from Singapore's city center and other parts of the island towards the various industrial estates located within Jurong, Tuas as well as the nearby Jurong Island.

Notably, a number of companies such as Alfa Romeo, Carrier air-conditioners, Leica, Konica Minolta, GE Industrial, Singapore Mint, Eltek Energy, Sin Tien Seng and Nordic Corp has set up their showroom, office or factory on a strip of land next to a road aptly named as Teban Gardens Crescent, which is sandwiched between the Ayer Rajah Expressway and the disused railway line of KTM (Jurong Line) that runs through the back of the town. Additionally, an International Business Park (IBP) was set up in the nearby town of Jurong East where companies and corporations such as Acer Inc., Creative Technology, Johnson & Johnson, MobileOne and the JTC Corporation are located.

Housing Estate

Actual construction of the estate did not begin until 1973, JTC Corporation undertook the construction of the public housing blocks in the estate as a means to provide additional housings for the families of the workers from the nearby areas of Jurong Industrial Estate [cite web| url=http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/public/viewPDF.jsp?pdfno=006-1977-03-30_jtc.pdf |title =JTC Press Release |publisher =National Archive of Singapore] . This was done to help ease the housing problem due in part by the overcrowding in the then nearby Taman Jurong housing estate, which was also built by JTC in 1969 [cite web| url=http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/public/viewPDF.jsp?pdfno=PressR19690709c.pdf |title =Ministry of Health, Singapore Press Release |publisher =National Archive of Singapore] .

In 1977, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) - Singapore's state agency for public housing, took over the task of building more housing blocks, relieving JTC from this task to concentrate on its core mission of developing and managing the Jurong Industrial Estate. Currently, Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens are satellite towns to the nearby Jurong East New Town.

;List of JTC built housing blocks:No.2 to 16, 18 to 23, 33 to 40 (blocks No.37 to 39 were four storey shophouses, 37A is the Teban Gardens Wet Market and Food Centre). JTC leased out blocks No.15, 16, 18 and 20 to various companies as lodgings for their foreign workers based in Jurong Industrial Estate.Note: All the above-mentioned buildings were completed in 1977 including the Teban Gardens Wet Market and Food Centre [cite web| url=http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/stars/public/viewPDF.jsp?pdfno=020-1977-09-21_jtc.pdf |title =JTC Press Release |publisher =National Archive of Singapore] , which was upgraded once in 1983 and was rebuilt from scratch as a new facility, being operational in 2007 [cite web| url=http://sg.shownearby.com/address/109872/12_teban_gardens_road/map |title = Map of Teban Garden Temporary Market & Food Center |publisher =sg.shownearby.com] . Also, blocks No.12 to 23 has since been demolished after having been selected for HDB's Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS) on 13 February 1998 [cite web| url=http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10220p.nsf/WPDis/Selective%20En%20bloc%20Redevelopment%20Scheme%20(e-SERS)Announced%20Sites%20-%20Completed%20Sites?OpenDocument&SubMenu=Announced_Sites |title =Completed SERS Sites |publisher =HDB e-SERS] (scheme completed in 2002) with further announcements for blocks No.2 to 11 on 12 July 2007 [cite web| url=http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10220p.nsf/WPDis/Selective%20En%20bloc%20Redevelopment%20Scheme%20(e-SERS)Announced%20Sites%20-%20In-Progress?OpenDocument&SubMenu=Announced_Sites |title =In-progress SERS Sites |publisher =HDB e-SERS] and is scheduled to complete in 2011.

;List of HDB built housing blocks:No.17, 24 to 32, 41 to 54, 60 to 65.
*Blocks No.17, 24 to 32 and 41 was completed in 1979.
*Blocks No.42 to 54 was completed in 1986.
*Blocks No.60 to 65 was completed in 2001.Also, as part of the agreement of SERS in 1998, blocks No.17, 26 to 29 (26 to 29 are all two-storey shophouses) has since been demolished.

Accessibility

Teban Gardens is accessible via public transport serviced by the Jurong East MRT Station and the Jurong East Bus Interchange, while Ayer Rajah Expressway provides it with a well connected road access to virtually anywhere in Singapore.

The nearby attractions are the Singapore Mint, Singapore Science Centre, Snow City, Chinese Garden and Japanese Garden.

Amenities

Situated in the middle of the town is the Teban Gardens Wet Market & Food Centre [cite web| url=http://sg.shownearby.com/address/110120/teban_gardens_road_market_and_food_centre/map |title = Map of Teban Garden Market & Food Center |publisher =sg.shownearby.com] , this serves the need of the residents as well as those from the nearby Pandan Gardens, which lacks one. Located nearby at block No.43, is the Ayer Rajah Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) of Clementi Police Division [cite web| url=http://www.spf.gov.sg/sitemap.htm |title = Singapore Police Force Internet Portal |publisher = Singapore Police Force] , which continues to serve the residents since its inauguration in 1985.

For entertainment and shopping, there is the nearby Jurong Entertainment Centre & IMM Shopping Mall, both of which are located in Jurong East. Nearby the two shopping centers, there is also the Jurong Regional Library which is a regional public library serving the needs of all the residents and students in the surrounding region, including Teban Gardens.

Public Transports

;Nearest MRT Station:Jurong East MRT Station (1988 - present)

;Nearest Bus Interchange:Jurong Bus Depot / Interchange (now defunct, 1978 - 1991):Jurong East Bus Interchange (1988 - present)

;Bus services serving the town::SBS Transit service number: 30, 51, 78, 79, 143, 154, 533 & 9N .:SMRT Buses service number: 176 & 178

;Rail transport (freights only):The Keretapi Tanah Melayu railway from Malaysia used to have an extension branching out from the Bukit Timah railway station to Shipyard Road and Jurong Port via Teban Gardens. This railway extension was intended for goods transportation as Jurong lacked good roads at the time. It was opened in 1965 amid much fanfare, but failed to generate satisfactory traffic. It was consequently closed in the early 1990s, and has since been partially dismantled.

Public Schools

*Pandan Primary School (1981 - 2008) merged with Fuhua Primary School in 2008.
*Fuhua Primary School (1941 - present)
*Jurong Junior College (1981 - 1985) moved to new location in 1985, premises re-allocated for use by River Valley High School.
*River Valley High School (1986 - 2004) moved to new location in 2004, premises re-allocated for use by Commonwealth Secondary School.
*Commonwealth Secondary School (Nov 2006 - present).

West Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC)

Currently, Teban Gardens is a part of Ayer Rajah ward within the West Coast GRC [cite web| url=http://www.wctc.org.sg/MTPS.html |title =MPs of West Coast GRC |publisher = West Coast Town Council] .

Members of Parliament

*Mr Lim Hng Kiang (Telok Blangah) - Minister for Trade and Industry
*Mr S Iswaran (Ayer Rajah - West Coast) Minister of State for Trade & Industry
*Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer)
*Madam Ho Geok Choo (Boon Lay)
*Mr Arthur Fong (Clementi)

Together with Pandan Gardens and West Coast Drive, the three formed the Single Member Constituency (SMC) [cite web| url=http://www.elections.gov.sg/types_electoral.htm |title =Types of Electoral Divisions, SMC & GRC |publisher = Elections Department, Singapore] of Ayer Rajah Ward prior to being absorbed into the West Coast GRC during the 2006's election in Singapore. Dr Tan Cheng Bock was the incumbent Member of Parliament, since the formation of the ward in 1980, he subsequently retired in 2006 after making way for his successor - Mr S Iswaran, the current MP.

ee also

*Taman Jurong
*Jurong
*Jurong East
*Jurong East New Town
*Jurong Lake
*Pandan Reservoir
*Pandan Gardens
*West Coast Drive

References

External links

* [http://spot-pandan.blogspot.com/ Photos of Pandan Reservoir]