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Yew Tee
Planning Area & Housing Estate
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	油池 Yóuchí (Pinyin) Iû-tî (Hokkien POJ) Iû-tî (Teochew PUJ)
• Malay	Yew Tee
• Tamil	இயூ டீ Iyū ṭī (Transliteration)
Aerial view of the town center before 2009
Country	Singapore

Yew Tee is a residential area in the West Region of Singapore. Yew Tee is a cluster of Housing and Development Board flats and private condominiums, As a relatively new estate, a large proportion of its residents are young families and middle income earners. Yew Tee is under the Marsiling–Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency. The current Members of Parliament in the Marsiling—Yew Tee Town Council are Lawrence Wong, Alex Yam, Hany Soh and Zaqy Mohamad from the People's Action Party (PAP).

Etymology and history

Yew Tee is originally a village off Woodlands Road, near present day Gali Batu Depot. During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, oil was stored in the village and the village became known as Yew Tee ("oil pond" in Teochew).

The village used to have more than 300 families residing there which consists mostly of farmers growing vegetables and rearing ducks and chickens. In the 1980s, development of the area led to the villagers moving away from Yew Tee. Yew Tee became a household name with the construction of the Yew Tee MRT station which is located where the village used to be, near Stagmont Ring.

The Yew Tee Community Centre, set up in 1963 and one of Singapore's oldest community centres, closed down in 1998. The closure was due to under-utilisation which reflect the exodus of population from the area.

For the neighbourhood of Limbang ("balance" in Malay), the name was derived from an old road, Lorong Limbang. Lorongs were common in the past before urban redevelopment such as Lorong Kebasi, Lorong Bistari and Lorong Keduang (present day Choa Chu Kang Drive).

Housing

As part of the Choa Chu Kang New Town, all the apartments are built after 1993. Yew Tee is divided into two towns - Limbang and Yew Tee. Limbang has a smaller land area than Yew Tee. Yew Tee Point serves Yew Tee residents while Limbang Shopping Center serves Limbang residents.

Infrastructure

Education

To cater to the mainly young families population of three neighbourhoods, there are several primary and secondary schools in Yew Tee. Primary schools consist of De La Salle School, Kranji Primary School, Unity Primary School and Yew Tee Primary School. Secondary schools consist of Kranji Secondary School, Regent Secondary School and Unity Secondary School.

Transportation

Yew Tee has a MRT station, Yew Tee MRT station, opened in 1996 as part of the 16-km Woodlands Extension. The station is part of the city's North-South line. The town is served by public buses such as Service 302 and Service 307 from the Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange. In Dec 2015, under the DTL2 Bukit Panjang Bus Service Enhancements, Service 979 was introduced to provide a vital link for Yew Tee residents to Bukit Panjang, the Downtown Line. There are also new short-haul buses added to bring residents from Choa Chu Kang/ Yew Tee to Bukit Panjang MRT Station.

Recreation

There are 3 parks in Yew Tee, namely Limbang Park, Stagmont Park and Yew Tee Park. There is also a sports complex located within the vicinity of Yew Tee. In March 2009, a new shopping mall and condominium was opened. The shopping mall is known as YewTee Point and the condominium is known as Yew Tee Residences. The Pang Sua Canal park connector forms part of the Western Adventure Loop linking various parks in Yew Tee, Choa Chu Kang and Bukit Panjang. In 2019, Minister Lawrence Wong announced plans for a new integrated hub in Yew Tee. It will consist of a community club, HDB block, hawker centre, polyclinic as well as a kidney dialysis centre. It is set to be completed in 2026.

Army camps

The Kranji Camp was built in 1994 when Yew Tee was developed. Thereafter, the military police and Kranji Detention Barracks was moved in from the Woodlands Camp in 2000. There was a growing need for the expansion of Kranji Camp, called Kranji Camp II which was built in 2004. The Mowbray Camp and Police Dog K9 Unit was shifted from Ulu Pandan in 2003 to Kranji. The Kranji Camp III was built in 2009 to replace Ayer Rajah Camp and Portsdown Camp due to the redevelopment of one-North area for chemical sciences and lifestyle hub.

Notable Mentions

Singapore’s ‘Most Depressing’ Neighbourhood

Japanese YouTuber Ghib Ojisan published a YouTube video titled "I Visited the Most Depressing Town in Singapore" on October 20, 2023 on him exploring Yew Tee, taking the plunge to see for himself whether the area truly deserves such a title. To his surprise, not only did he meet friendly residents along the way, but he also saw just how beautiful the simple neighbourhood could be. In his video Ghib Ojisan had lunch at the neighbourhood Kopitiam, talked with the residents at Yew Tee and ended the video with a stroll at the park connector. He concluded that if you can learn to have an open mind and enjoy the beauty of simplicity, you will enjoy living anywhere.

foodpanda brings free deliveries to 'most boring' neighbourhood in SG

Food and grocery delivery platform foodpanda is bringing some excitement to Singapore’s “most boring” neighbourhood by treating all 53,000 households in Yew Tee to unlimited free deliveries with a complimentary one-month pandapro subscription. Based on online opinion, Yew Tee is dubbed as a neighbourhood with “nothing to do”, said foodpanda in a statement. This surprise is intended to challenge those misguided perceptions by showcasing the area’s vibrant abundance of local eateries and hidden restaurant gems, it said.

Why Yew Tee isn't as 'boring' as you think

On August 12, 2024, Asia One published an article titled "Picturesque parks, wildlife and unlimited free foodpanda deliveries: Why Yew Tee isn't as 'boring' as you think". The author, Kimberly Foo mentions a list of exciting activities to do in the neighbourhood to debunk the popular notion that Yew Tee is the most boring neighborhood of Singapore. She mentions the interesting and scenic parks, friendly neighbours, the recent unlimited free deliveries on foodpanda for residents and interesting animal sightings of stray dogs and wild boars.

References

1. ^ Savage, Victor R. (2013). Singapore street names : a study of toponymics. Brenda S. A. Yeoh. Singapore. p. 939. ISBN 978-981-4484-74-9. OCLC 868957283.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
2. ^ Ratnala, Thulaja, Naidu; Singapore, National Library Board. "Chinese villages in the North". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2024-08-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. Singapore, Remember (2015-04-20). "Remnants of Singapore's Lost Roads – Lorong Bistari". Remember Singapore. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
4. Ghib Ojisan (2023-10-20). I Visited the Most Depressing Town in Singapore. Retrieved 2024-08-21 – via YouTube.
5. Yuam, Valerie (2023-10-24). "Japanese YouTuber Visits S'pore's 'Most Depressing' Neighbourhood Yew Tee, Says Residents Are Really Friendly". Must Share News - Independent News For Singaporeans. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
6. "foodpanda brings free deliveries to 'most boring' neighbourhood in SG". Marketing-Interactive. 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
7. LIND, RICHARD (1986-12-01). "Why Isn't Minimal Art Boring?". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 45 (2): 195–198. doi:10.1111/1540_6245.jaac45.2.0195. ISSN 1540-6245.

• Places in Singapore
• Choa Chu Kang
• West Region, Singapore
• Hokkien place names