Buangkok MRT Station

NE15  Buangkok 万国 புவாங்கோக் Buangkok
Rapid transit
Platform of Buangkok MRT station.
Location	10 Sengkang Central Singapore 545061
Coordinates	1°22′58″N 103°53′34″E / 1.382728°N 103.892789°E / 1.382728; 103.892789
Operated by	SBS Transit (ComfortDelGro)
Line(s)	North East Line
Platforms	Island
Tracks	2
Connections	Bus, Taxi
Construction
Structure type	Underground
Platform levels	2
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	NE15
History
Opened	15 January 2006
Electrified	Yes
Services
Preceding station   Mass Rapid Transit   Following station Hougang towards HarbourFront North East Line Sengkang towards Punggol
Location

Buangkok MRT Station (NE15) is an underground station located on the North East Line of the Mass Rapid Transit in Sengkang, Singapore, along Sengkang Central.

The Art in Transit artwork is Water, Nature and the Contemporary by Vincent Leow.

Buangkok was originally planned to be opened with the other of the 16 stations on the North East Line in 2004. However, a few days before the opening, the operator SBS Transit decided not to open the station as the area around the station was relatively undeveloped and the company claimed that the number of passengers would be too low to cover operating costs. The opening date of the station was 15 January 2006. The station was well maintained like any other station throughout the time before it was opened. To prepare for the station's opening, the programming had to be updated to include Buangkok. Residents had said they would be willing to walk 400 metres to the station every day.

The station opened with much fanfare on 15 January 2006. SBS Transit had expected around 3,500 commuters using the station daily, which would be the lowest among all the stations along the line, resulting in the station making a loss.

Even so, ridership on this station was much lower than expected on its opening week. It had an average of only 1,386 passenger trips per day. As a comparison, Clarke Quay station, the next lowest in terms of ridership, had already more than 6,000 commuter trips per day. However, Clarke Quay was located in the Central Business District with considerable development in the area. This was because the station was located over 400 metres from most residents' homes.

On 27 August 2005, during Minister Vivian Balakrishnan's visit to Punggol South, a resident, displeased with Buangkok's disuse, erected a series of white paper cut-outs of elephants, which were drawn in a cartoon-like style, symbolically calling the unopened Buangkok station a 'white elephant'. Soon after, police started an investigation on it as a case of a public display without permit, on the grounds that a complaint was received and that they may have been in violation of the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act, for which the maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $10,000. It raised controversy because many people saw it as a harmless, trivial case not worthy of investigation. It also highlighted the general displeasure over the non-operation of the MRT station after it was built with public funds. It also raised questions on how much freedom of expression the government is willing to tolerate. A month later, police closed the investigation without pressing charges but issued a stern warning to the offender. This led Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng to comment to the media, "We cannot apply the law to some and turn a blind eye to others. If we do, then the law becomes the real white elephant."