Toa Payoh

Toa Payoh
Planning Area and HDB Town
Other transcription(s)
• Chinese	大巴窑
• Pinyin	Dàbā yáo
• Malay	Toh Payoh
• Tamil	தோ பயோ
From top left to right: Toa Payoh Town Centre; Lorong 6 Toa Payoh; Toa Payoh MRT Station; Toa Payoh at night with Bishan and Serangoon in the distance; Toa Payoh Bus Interchange; Toa Payoh Town Park
Toa Payoh Location of Toh Payoh within Singapore
Coordinates: 1°20′3.49″N 103°51′22.78″E / 1.3343028°N 103.8563278°E / 1.3343028; 103.8563278
Country	Singapore
Region	Central Region
CDCs	Central Singapore CDC South East CDC
Town councils	Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council Jalan Besar Town Council Marine Parade Town Council
Constituencies	Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Marine Parade GRC Potong Pasir SMC
Government
• Mayors	Central Singapore CDC Denise Phua South East CDC Maliki Osman
• Members of Parliament	Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Chee Hong Tat Ng Eng Hen Saktiandi Supaat Marine Parade GRC Seah Kian Peng Potong Pasir SMC Sitoh Yih Pin
Area
• Total	8.17 km2 (3.15 sq mi)
• Residential	2.48 km2 (0.96 sq mi)
Population (2015)
• Total	124,940
• Density	15,000/km2 (40,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Official Toa Payoh resident Colloquial Toa Payoher Toa Payohian Toa Payohrian
Postal districts	11, 12, 13
Dwelling units	36,439
Projected ultimate	61,000

Central Region

Central Singapore CDC

South East CDC

Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC

Marine Parade GRC

Potong Pasir SMC

Official

Colloquial

Toa Payoh (Chinese: 大巴窑, Tamil: தோ பயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catchment to the northwest, Kallang to the south, Geylang to the southeast, Novena to the west and Hougang to the east. Toa Payoh New Town is situated in the western portion of the Toa Payoh planning area. The latter occupies a much larger area, encompassing estates such as Potong Pasir and Bidadari.

Built in 1964, Toa Payoh New Town is Singapore's second oldest satellite town and the first to be built by the Housing and Development Board after the development of Queenstown by the Singapore Improvement Trust in the late 1950s. Before its time as a residential town, Toa Payoh was a squatter district, with a prominent agricultural heritage in the area.

Throughout the 1960s up till the beginning of the 1980s, the town, much like Geylang today, was infamous for its vice, being home to some of Singapore's largest crime syndicates and gangs. Notable cases such as the horrific Toa Payoh ritual murders of 1981, brought the town widespread attention. As such, Toa Payoh has also been coined by the media as the "Chicago of the East" and the "Chicago of Singapore".