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Ama Keng was one of the three villages in Lim Chu Kang, located just off Lim Chu Kang Road. It took its name from a temple dedicated to Mazu, goddess of the sea, which was built in the area in 1900. In the 1950s, the government developed Ama Keng into a bustling farming site to serve as Singapore’s main food production centre. The area’s population also grew rapidly during this period as it became one of the sites used by the government to resettle squatters. In the 1980s, residents of Ama Keng and the neighbouring villages were resettled to Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates to make way for the area’s redevelopment into an agrotechnology park. Today, most of the former Ama Keng site has been cordoned off for military use.
Early history
Located just off Lim Chu Kang Road in the northwestern part of Singapore, the Ama Keng village was named after a temple dedicated to Mazu, the Chinese goddess of the sea whom followers believed protected seafarers.1 The name “Ama Keng” (Ya Ma Gong in Mandarin; 亚妈宫) is a Teochew term meaning “Temple of the Goddess”. The temple, established in 1900 by Weng Yiquan (翁翼泉), Lin Ziming (林子明) and Lin Yushun (林玉顺), was located on a small jetty at the end of a branch of the Kranji River. After the temple was completed, a statue of the deity was brought there from the Yueh Hai Ching Temple in Singapore’s central business district.2
In the early 20th century, the area was said to have been part of a gambier plantation owned by a Teochew man surnamed Lim.3 Sometime around 1914, landowner Alexander William Cashin bought 800 ac of land in Lim Chu Kang and tasked Neo Tiew – who later gave his name to Neo Tiew Road – to clear it. Neo subsequently helped manage the pineapple and rubber plantations established on the cleared land. He also managed the neighbouring Namazie Estate.4
Ama Keng Village
Ama Keng Village appeared in a government topographical survey map dated 1938. The village was at the time surrounded by coconut and pineapple estates.5 On 9 February 1942, during the Battle of Singapore, Ama Keng Village became one of the first areas on the island to fall to the invading Japanese army.6
After the Japanese Occupation (1942–45), Ama Keng Village developed rapidly following the government’s plan in the 1950s to transform the area into Singapore’s main food production centre. The plan involved turning Ama Keng Village into the largest vegetable farming area in Singapore with 750 ac reserved for cultivation.7 Ama Keng was chosen over Changi because of its cheaper land and more suitable soil for growing vegetables.8 Under the plan, each farmer selected by the government was given seeds, fertiliser, farming equipment, livestock and two to three acres of land in the area to manage.9 The farmers were granted a year-to-year temporary occupancy licence. Besides vegetables, the farmers also grew fruits and reared poultry and pigs.10
The main road in the area was named Ama Keng Road in 1954,11 and once extended to Sungei Tengah.12 Many of the road’s small side lanes have since been expunged13 and a large section of Ama Keng Road is now closed to public access.14
Rural resettlement area
In 1956, the government launched a scheme known as “Operation Clean-up” as part of its efforts to resettle squatters from across the island. The Lim Chu Kang area, which included Ama Keng, was one of the sites where squatters were resettled.15 By 1968, the Ama Keng resettlement area, also known as the Ama Keng Agricultural Settlement, comprised 738 ac of land with 38 households consisting of 214 individuals.16
Landmarks
General amenities
In the 1960s and ’70s, Ama Keng Village was well served by shops, a police station as well as a maternity and child welfare centre.17 The centre closed down in 1981 and the police station in 1989.18
Ama Keng English School
Ama Keng English School was founded in 1951 as a government school for boys and girls.19 In 1990, the school moved from Ama Keng Road to Choa Chu Kang Central and was renamed South View Primary.20 The old school building in Ama Keng was subsequently converted into a hostel for foreign workers.21
Kay Wah School (Branch I)
Kay Wah School was established in 1938 by a group of educators led by Neo Tiew, who founded the Lim Chu Kang area and was the village head of Ama Keng. The school was an amalgamation of several private Chinese study centres situated in the area. The main school was established at Tong Hong Village and subsequently expanded to include two other branches. Branch I was situated at Ama Keng Village while branch II was at Nam Hoe Village.22 Originally a Chinese-medium school, Kay Wah became an English-medium school in 1980.23 In 1988, the hitherto government-aided school became a full-fledged government school and was renamed Qihua Primary School, the hanyu pinyin of “Kay Wah”, following its move to Woodlands Street 81.24
Ama Keng Clinic
Former member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah (1980–2006) Tan Cheng Bock started his medical practice Ama Keng Clinic in the village in 1971. Sometime in the 1980s, Tan had to move his clinic out of the area as the villagers were being resettled to make way for redevelopment. The clinic, which retained its name, relocated several times to other parts of the island before it closed down permanently on 22 November 2012.25
Agrotechnology farms
By the 1980s, Ama Keng was being referred to as the “land of the chicken farms” due to the numerous chicken farms found there.26 In the mid-1980s, the Primary Production Department (PPD) announced that land in Ama Keng and the neighbouring areas of Tengah and Choa Chu Kang would be redeveloped into high-tech, high-yield agrotechnology farms.27 Most of the families in Ama Keng were subsequently resettled at the nearby HDB estates as a result.28
In 1994, Ama Keng became one of eight designated agrotechnology parks in Singapore under the PPD. Plots of land ranging from 2 to 30 ha in size were tendered out on 20-year leases.29 The scheme involved converting 1,700 ha of land (or about 500 farms) into highly productive agricultural land that made use of modern technology for intensive horticulture, fish and livestock farming. With these farms, the goal was for Singapore to produce 30 percent of its vegetables, fish and eggs locally by 1998, up from 10 percent before the scheme started.30
In 2014, the government announced that the leases on these farms would not be renewed as the area had been earmarked for military use.31
Military use
In 1959, a site in the Ama Keng area was cleared for the construction of a runway for military use.32 By 1971, Ama Keng had already become a gazetted military exercise area.33 In the 1980s, more land in the area was requisitioned for the Tengah Air Base and an army camp.34 Today, much of the Ama Keng area is used for military purposes.35
Early history
Located just off Lim Chu Kang Road in the northwestern part of Singapore, the Ama Keng village was named after a temple dedicated to Mazu, the Chinese goddess of the sea whom followers believed protected seafarers.1 The name “Ama Keng” (Ya Ma Gong in Mandarin; 亚妈宫) is a Teochew term meaning “Temple of the Goddess”. The temple, established in 1900 by Weng Yiquan (翁翼泉), Lin Ziming (林子明) and Lin Yushun (林玉顺), was located on a small jetty at the end of a branch of the Kranji River. After the temple was completed, a statue of the deity was brought there from the Yueh Hai Ching Temple in Singapore’s central business district.2
In the early 20th century, the area was said to have been part of a gambier plantation owned by a Teochew man surnamed Lim.3 Sometime around 1914, landowner Alexander William Cashin bought 800 ac of land in Lim Chu Kang and tasked Neo Tiew – who later gave his name to Neo Tiew Road – to clear it. Neo subsequently helped manage the pineapple and rubber plantations established on the cleared land. He also managed the neighbouring Namazie Estate.4
Ama Keng Village
Ama Keng Village appeared in a government topographical survey map dated 1938. The village was at the time surrounded by coconut and pineapple estates.5 On 9 February 1942, during the Battle of Singapore, Ama Keng Village became one of the first areas on the island to fall to the invading Japanese army.6
After the Japanese Occupation (1942–45), Ama Keng Village developed rapidly following the government’s plan in the 1950s to transform the area into Singapore’s main food production centre. The plan involved turning Ama Keng Village into the largest vegetable farming area in Singapore with 750 ac reserved for cultivation.7 Ama Keng was chosen over Changi because of its cheaper land and more suitable soil for growing vegetables.8 Under the plan, each farmer selected by the government was given seeds, fertiliser, farming equipment, livestock and two to three acres of land in the area to manage.9 The farmers were granted a year-to-year temporary occupancy licence. Besides vegetables, the farmers also grew fruits and reared poultry and pigs.10
The main road in the area was named Ama Keng Road in 1954,11 and once extended to Sungei Tengah.12 Many of the road’s small side lanes have since been expunged13 and a large section of Ama Keng Road is now closed to public access.14
Rural resettlement area
In 1956, the government launched a scheme known as “Operation Clean-up” as part of its efforts to resettle squatters from across the island. The Lim Chu Kang area, which included Ama Keng, was one of the sites where squatters were resettled.15 By 1968, the Ama Keng resettlement area, also known as the Ama Keng Agricultural Settlement, comprised 738 ac of land with 38 households consisting of 214 individuals.16
Landmarks
General amenities
In the 1960s and ’70s, Ama Keng Village was well served by shops, a police station as well as a maternity and child welfare centre.17 The centre closed down in 1981 and the police station in 1989.18
Ama Keng English School
Ama Keng English School was founded in 1951 as a government school for boys and girls.19 In 1990, the school moved from Ama Keng Road to Choa Chu Kang Central and was renamed South View Primary.20 The old school building in Ama Keng was subsequently converted into a hostel for foreign workers.21
Kay Wah School (Branch I)
Kay Wah School was established in 1938 by a group of educators led by Neo Tiew, who founded the Lim Chu Kang area and was the village head of Ama Keng. The school was an amalgamation of several private Chinese study centres situated in the area. The main school was established at Tong Hong Village and subsequently expanded to include two other branches. Branch I was situated at Ama Keng Village while branch II was at Nam Hoe Village.22 Originally a Chinese-medium school, Kay Wah became an English-medium school in 1980.23 In 1988, the hitherto government-aided school became a full-fledged government school and was renamed Qihua Primary School, the hanyu pinyin of “Kay Wah”, following its move to Woodlands Street 81.24
Ama Keng Clinic
Former member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah (1980–2006) Tan Cheng Bock started his medical practice Ama Keng Clinic in the village in 1971. Sometime in the 1980s, Tan had to move his clinic out of the area as the villagers were being resettled to make way for redevelopment. The clinic, which retained its name, relocated several times to other parts of the island before it closed down permanently on 22 November 2012.25
Agrotechnology farms
By the 1980s, Ama Keng was being referred to as the “land of the chicken farms” due to the numerous chicken farms found there.26 In the mid-1980s, the Primary Production Department (PPD) announced that land in Ama Keng and the neighbouring areas of Tengah and Choa Chu Kang would be redeveloped into high-tech, high-yield agrotechnology farms.27 Most of the families in Ama Keng were subsequently resettled at the nearby HDB estates as a result.28
In 1994, Ama Keng became one of eight designated agrotechnology parks in Singapore under the PPD. Plots of land ranging from 2 to 30 ha in size were tendered out on 20-year leases.29 The scheme involved converting 1,700 ha of land (or about 500 farms) into highly productive agricultural land that made use of modern technology for intensive horticulture, fish and livestock farming. With these farms, the goal was for Singapore to produce 30 percent of its vegetables, fish and eggs locally by 1998, up from 10 percent before the scheme started.30
In 2014, the government announced that the leases on these farms would not be renewed as the area had been earmarked for military use.31
Military use
In 1959, a site in the Ama Keng area was cleared for the construction of a runway for military use.32 By 1971, Ama Keng had already become a gazetted military exercise area.33 In the 1980s, more land in the area was requisitioned for the Tengah Air Base and an army camp.34 Today, much of the Ama Keng area is used for military purposes.35
