Choa Chu Kang
Choa Chu Kang, alternatively spelled Chua Chu Kang and often abbreviated as CCK, is a planning area and residential town located at the northwestern point of the West Region of Singapore. The town shares borders with Sungei Kadut to the north, Tengah to the southwest, Bukit Batok to the southeast, Bukit Panjang to the east and the Western Water Catchment to the west. Choa Chu Kang New Town is separated into two portions by the Kranji Expressway.
Originally a kampung, the area has been rapidly developed under the ambition of the Housing and Development Board, to transform it into a modern township. The town comprises six subzones, five of which are the most densely populated: Choa Chu Kang Central, Choa Chu Kang North, Yew Tee, Teck Whye, and Keat Hong.
Etymology
Choa Chu Kang's name is derived from its historical core at the former site of Chua Chu Kang Village located near the junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Jalan Sungei Poyan, currently occupied by the grounds of the National Shooting Centre which comes under the purview of Singapore Shooting Association. The name began to be applied to the general area around the village when Choa Chu Kang Road, a main arterial road linking the village to Upper Bukit Timah Road towards the east was built.The name "Choa Chu Kang" is derived from the Teochew word "chu kang", meaning "back port". In the nineteenth century, Chinese immigrants planted gambier and pepper along the river banks of Choa Chu Kang, although many migrated to Johor to the north at the encouragement of the Temenggong of Johor. The plantation owners were known as Kangchu - the word "kang" refers to the riverbank and "chu" means "owner" or "master", referring to the headman in charge of the plantations in the area. "Choa" is the clan name of the first headman.
History
Early history
Choa Chu Kang was a diverse area with old kampong housing and rubber plantations. Residents had to depend on boats or bullock carts for transportation. Among the few villages which sprang up were Kampong Belimbing and Chua Chu Kang Village. Most of the inhabitants belonged to the Teochew dialect group. The early Teochew settlers were mainly farmers growing gambier and pepper. The Hokkiens, who moved in later, established pineapple, rubber and coconut plantations as well as vegetable farms and poultry farms. In the early days, tigers used to roam in the area. The last tiger of Singapore was shot here in the 1930s.Kampong Belimbing, Chua Chu Kang Village and Kampong Berih were demolished in phases from 1993 to 1998. It was replaced by the National Shooting Centre and military plot and. The Cemetery North has been gazetted as an army restricted and live-firing area since 19 September 2003. The Jalan Bahar is gazetted as an army restricted and live-firing area from 16 March 2001.
The name Choa Chu Kang is used for Choa Chu Kang Road and its nearby facilities. However, the original name Chua Chu Kang is retained in the cemetery area.
New town era (1980s)
The new town era evolved in 1985 when Teck Whye was developed, and it was extended to four neighbourhoods by 1992 with the truncation of Choa Chu Kang Road. Yew Tee was developed in 1997 as the three northern neighbourhoods of Choa Chu Kang, north of the Kranji Expressway.Choa Chu Kang's eighth neighbourhood, Keat Hong, bound to the south by Brickland Road, was developed in 2015.
Demographics
Population history
Age profile
The data below is from the population report published by the Singapore Department of Statistics as of June 2025.| Age group | Males | Females | Total population | % of total population |
| 0–4 | 3,610 | 3,460 | 7,070 | 3.77 |
| 5–9 | 4,430 | 4,340 | 8,770 | 4.68 |
| 10–14 | 4,720 | 4,500 | 9,220 | 4.92 |
| 15–19 | 5,230 | 4,910 | 10,140 | 5.41 |
| 20–24 | 6,060 | 5,920 | 11,980 | 6.39 |
| 25–29 | 7,880 | 7,440 | 15,320 | 8.17 |
| 30–34 | 7,750 | 7,580 | 15,330 | 8.17 |
| 35–39 | 6,340 | 6,760 | 13,100 | 6.98 |
| 40–44 | 5,830 | 6,570 | 12,400 | 6.61 |
| 45–49 | 5,710 | 6,310 | 12,020 | 6.41 |
| 50–54 | 6,320 | 7,160 | 13,480 | 7.19 |
| 55–59 | 7,310 | 7,950 | 15,260 | 8.14 |
| 60–64 | 7,750 | 7,460 | 15,210 | 8.11 |
| 65–69 | 6,190 | 5,620 | 11,810 | 6.30 |
| 70–74 | 3,930 | 3,860 | 7,790 | 4.15 |
| 75–79 | 2,250 | 2,420 | 4,670 | 2.49 |
| 80–84 | 890 | 1,200 | 2,090 | 1.11 |
| 85–89 | 460 | 780 | 1,240 | 0.66 |
| 90+ | 170 | 530 | 700 | 0.37 |
The population distribution of Choa Chu Kang in 2025 demonstrates an ageing population structure, with more elderly residents above age 65 than children between 0 and 14 years old. There is a higher population concentration among younger and middle-aged groups, with males peaking at the 25-29 age range and females peaking at the 55-59 age range.
Household
As of 2025, there were 160,730 people living in HDB flats, representing 85.7% of the population. This is higher than the national proportion of HDB dwellers, reflecting a greater prevalence of public housing as compared to the national average.Among the population, 76,490 residents, or 40.8% of the population, live in 4-Room HDB Flats, making it the most common type of dwelling. 23,900 residents also reside in condominiums and other apartments, while 2,340 live in landed properties.
According to the 2020 Census of Population, the average household size in Choa Chu Kang is 3.53. Among the 58,024 households in Choa Chu Kang, the most common household size is four persons, representing 25.7% of total households.
Choa Chu Kang has a home ownership rate of 92.9% as of 2020. This is significantly higher than the national home ownership rate of 87.9%, making Choa Chu Kang the third-highest in home ownership rate among all planning areas in Singapore.
Ethnicity
As of 2020, Choa Chu Kang has a higher level of ethnic diversity as compared to the national average. This is due to the considerably lower proportion of Chinese residents and a higher proportion of Malay residents compared to the national average of 74.35% and 13.49% respectively.Religion
Consistent with the rest of Singapore, the largest religion in Choa Chu Kang is Buddhism, with 51,662 practising residents. The second most common group consists of residents practising Islam, with 34,825 residents, followed by those with no religion.Christianity is practised by 23,687 residents, including 8,605 Catholics. Other religious affiliations include Taoism and other Chinese religions, Hinduism, and Sikhism.Compared to the national average of 15.59%, there is a substantially higher proportion of residents practising Islam in Choa Chu Kang.
Education
As of 2020, 96.9% of the population aged above 15 is literate, similar to the national average of 97.1%. 64.3% of residents are literate in two languages, with the most common language pair being English and Chinese. Additionally, 2.1% of Choa Chu Kang residents are literate in three or more languages.41,019 residents in Choa Chu Kang have attained a university qualification, lower than the national average of 32.1%, ranking the fifth lowest among all planning areas in Singapore. In contrast, 14,196 residents, or 9.5% of the population, have no educational qualifications, lower than the national average of 10.6%.
Language
In Choa Chu Kang, the proportion of residents using English as the most frequently spoken language, 45.41%, is slightly lower than the national average of 48.25%. Of the 6,712 Indian language speakers, the majority speak Tamil, representing 83.13% of all Indian language speakers.Employment and income
According to the 2020 Census of Population, 111,120 residents aged 15 years and over in Choa Chu Kang are employed, out of the 117,517 in the labour force. This equates to an employment rate of 94.6%, slightly higher than the national employment rate of 94.2%. The remaining 50,368 residents aged above 15 in Choa Chu Kang are outside the labour force.Among the employed residents in Choa Chu Kang aged 15 years and over, most earn a gross monthly income of between S$3,000 and S$3,999, with 13.1% being in that category. This is followed closely by those earning between S$2,000 and S$2,999, constituting 12.9% of employed residents. Additionally, 7.0% earn less than S$1,000 per month, while 4.3% earn S$15,000 and above per month.
According to the 2020 Census of Population, most resident households in Choa Chu Kang earn a monthly household income of S$20,000 and over, constituting 11.3% of all households. The second most common category is households with no employed person, encompassing 7.7% of all households.
Politics
When Choa Chu Kang Town was developed by expanding Teck Whye Estate near the other end of Choa Chu Kang Road at its junction with Upper Bukit Timah Road and Woodlands Road to the north, the place name began to be applied to a much larger area, especially when political divisions like the Choa Chu Kang ward applied to the entire northwest sector of the country during some editions of the Parliamentary elections. Likewise, the residents' committees in Choa Chu Kang were expanded in 1988 and 1991, and part of the Choa Chu Kang sector gave way to the Yew Tee division, followed by the Keat Hong division in 2001. The growing demand of Keat Hong Neighbourhood 8 also requested for the redrawing of boundaries whereby Limbang ward took over the parts of Yew Tee and Choa Chu Kang, aligning more closely with Neighbourhoods 5 and 6. Today, the Yew Tee and Limbang wards fall within the Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency and the rest of the town such as Keat Hong and Choa Chu Kang fall within the Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency.In 2020, with the further growth of Keat Hong Neighbourhood 8 and Tengah New Town, the Brickland ward was introduced, taking over parts of Keat Hong, Bukit Gombak, Choa Chu Kang and Nanyang.