Buangkok

Buangkok is the band of newer estates between Hougang and Sengkang, centred on Buangkok MRT station (NE15) on the North East Line. It is not a town or planning subzone of its own: the name covers the Trafalgar area of Hougang and the Compassvale area of Sengkang. What ties it together is the station, the new bus interchange above it, a green park connector along Buangkok Green and, tucked off Yio Chu Kang Road, the last surviving kampong on mainland Singapore.

This hub collects our Buangkok coverage. For the neighbouring towns, see our Hougang and Sengkang guides.

Where the name comes from

The area takes its name from Lorong Buangkok, an old road named after the Singapore United Rubber Plantations company that once farmed here. Buangkok is the Teochew reading of the company’s Chinese name, usually translated as “ten thousand countries”. Chinese farmers settled the area in the early 20th century. Most of the old villages were cleared as Sengkang and Hougang expanded from the late 1990s.

The ‘white elephant’ station

Buangkok MRT is one of the best-known stories in Singapore’s transport history. The station was built with the rest of the North East Line, but when the line opened on 20 June 2003 its trains ran straight through. SBS Transit said there were not yet enough homes nearby to justify opening it, after the late-1990s slowdown had delayed housing plans.

Residents were not impressed. On 28 August 2005, during a ministerial visit, eight white cardboard elephants appeared along the roads near the station, a pointed reference to an expensive project nobody could use. Police looked into the protest and in October 2005 issued a warning to a grassroots leader. The station finally opened on 15 January 2006. Today it is a busy stop, and “white elephant” has become a piece of local folklore.

Getting around

The station sits under Sengkang Central near Compassvale Bow, with entrances covered by distinctive white tent-like canopies. Hougang (NE14) is one stop south and Sengkang (NE16) one stop north. Buangkok Bus Interchange opened above the station on 1 December 2024 as part of the Sengkang Grand Mall development, which also has shops, a hawker centre and a community club. The LTA announcement lists the first routes. Our Hougang MRT guide covers the line in more detail.

Green spaces

The Buangkok Park Connector runs about 1.5 km along Buangkok Green, from Yio Chu Kang Road to Sengkang East Road, and is wheelchair accessible. Through the Serangoon Park Connector it links to Punggol Park, so you can walk or cycle to the lake without much road riding. Route maps are on the NParks park connector site. There are also smaller neighbourhood parks between the blocks; see our Hougang parks guide.

Kampong Lorong Buangkok

At the western edge of the area, off Yio Chu Kang Road, sits Kampong Lorong Buangkok, a cluster of zinc-roofed wooden houses established in 1956. The land has stayed with the family of the man who bought it, and a couple of dozen households still rent plots there. It is often called the last kampong on mainland Singapore. Plans to redevelop it have been floated in the past but were not carried out.

Living in Buangkok

Most homes here are HDB flats from the late 1990s or later, so the estates feel newer than central Hougang, with some private housing on the fringes. Daily needs are covered by Sengkang Grand Mall at the station, neighbourhood shops and coffee shops under the blocks, and Compass One one stop north. For heritage elsewhere in the town, see our Hougang heritage guide.