Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Hougang

Q: What does Hougang mean?

Hougang is the Mandarin form of Au-kang , a Teochew and Hokkien name usually translated as “river end”. It describes the area’s position upstream along Sungei Serangoon.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 1259 Upper Serangoon Road is Hougang’s oldest place of worship and one of its two national monuments. Its Gothic-style building was blessed in 1901 for a mostly Teochew Catholic farming community. A short way along the same road stands Hougang Tou Mu Kung, Singapore’s oldest temple to the Nine Emperor Gods. Both tell the story of how Hougang grew, long before the HDB blocks.

From Au-kang to HDB town

Hougang’s name is the Mandarin version of Au-kang, the Teochew and Hokkien name for the area, usually translated as “river end”. It refers to Hougang’s position upstream along Sungei Serangoon. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, this was forest, farmland and kampong, and pig farming was a major livelihood. Most settlers were Teochew, with Hokkien and Hainanese communities alongside them.

Upper Serangoon Road was the area’s spine. Shops, places of worship and a market grew along it, and the former Upper Serangoon Market operated from 1948 until 1999. From the late 1970s, HDB began building the new town. Villagers and farmers moved into flats, the last pig farms closed, and by the 1990s Hougang had become the large heartland town it is today. The Teochew influence remains, in the food, in the dialect you still hear in coffee shops, and in the institutions below. The National Library’s Infopedia article on Hougang has a fuller history.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

1259 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534795 · Catholic parish · national monument

The parish began in the 1850s, when Father Ambroise Maistre of the Paris Foreign Missions Society built a simple attap chapel to serve Catholic farmers in the Serangoon and Punggol area. A brick chapel replaced it. The present church was built from 1898 under Father Casimir Saleilles, to a design by Father Charles Nain, and was blessed on 8 December 1901. In 1933 the transepts, sanctuary and sacristy were added, roughly doubling its size.

The church is built in the neo-Gothic style, with a cross-shaped plan, pointed arches, stained-glass windows and a belfry topped by a spire. The marble statue of Mary at the entrance was a gift from Sultan Ibrahim of Johor. The Teochew roots of the parish continue: Mass has been said in Teochew here since 1971, and it is the only Catholic church in Singapore that offers it. There are also Masses in English, Mandarin and Korean. The church was gazetted as a national monument on 14 January 2005. The nearby CHIJ Our Lady of the Nativity school has close links with the parish.

More detail is on the National Heritage Board’s Roots page for the church.

Hougang Tou Mu Kung

779A Upper Serangoon Road · Taoist temple · national monument

Hougang Tou Mu Kung began as a small shrine in the early 1900s, with incense ash brought from a Nine Emperor Gods temple in Penang. In 1919 Ong Chwee Tow, a businessman in the pineapple trade, gave land in Hougang for a proper temple, which was completed in 1921 in the Hokkien style. Later renovations added Teochew features, reflecting a congregation drawn from several dialect groups.

The temple had a permanent Chinese opera stage from 1925 until 1998, when it was demolished for road widening. Hougang Tou Mu Kung was gazetted as a national monument on 14 January 2005, the same day as the church. Restoration works started in 2016 and added a multi-storey annex and an underground car park while the historic main hall was conserved. See the Roots page on Hougang Tou Mu Kung.

The Nine Emperor Gods festival

The temple’s biggest event is the Nine Emperor Gods festival in the ninth lunar month, usually around September or October. It opens with a procession to Sungei Serangoon to welcome the deities and ends with a send-off procession to the river. Expect large crowds and heavy traffic along Upper Serangoon Road on procession nights.

More on the Hougang Heritage Trail

The National Heritage Board’s Hougang Heritage Trail links 19 sites across three self-guided routes, each taking one to two hours by public transport. Besides the church and the temple, it includes Masjid Haji Yusoff, built in 1921 and the oldest mosque in Hougang, and the site of the former Upper Serangoon Market. Trail booklets are available in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil on the Roots website.

Visiting etiquette

Dress modestly at all places of worship: cover shoulders and knees.
Church: visitors are welcome, but keep quiet during Mass and avoid walking around or taking photos while a service is going on. Check the parish’s own channels for Mass times and when the church is open.
Temple: keep your voice low, do not touch altar items or offerings, and ask before photographing people praying. During the festival, follow marshals’ directions and give processions plenty of room.
Mosque: remove your shoes before entering the prayer area and avoid visiting during prayer times unless you are joining them.
Getting there: parking along Upper Serangoon Road is limited, especially at weekends and festival times, so public transport is easier.

Pair the heritage walk with lunch. Hougang’s food culture grew from the same Teochew villages, and our Hougang food guide covers the porridge and noodles the area is known for.

Frequently asked questions

When was the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary built?

The present church was built between 1898 and 1901 and blessed on 8 December 1901. The parish itself dates to the 1850s, when a French missionary priest built an attap chapel to serve farmers in the area.

Is there a Teochew Mass in Hougang?

Yes. The Church of the Nativity has offered Mass in Teochew since 1971, alongside English, Mandarin and Korean Masses. Check the parish’s own channels for current Mass times.

What is Hougang Tou Mu Kung known for?

It is Singapore’s oldest temple dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods. The temple building was completed in 1921 and gazetted as a national monument in 2005. It is busiest during the ninth lunar month festival.

What does Hougang mean?

Hougang is the Mandarin form of Au-kang, a Teochew and Hokkien name usually translated as “river end”. It describes the area’s position upstream along Sungei Serangoon.

Details checked September 2026 against the operators’ own websites. Opening hours and services change, so please confirm before you go. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.