What is "bedok"

Bedok (, ), also known as Bedok New Town, is a planning area and matured residential town located in the East Region of Singapore. Population wise, Bedok is the largest planning area in the Republic, being home to an estimated 289,000 residents. This high demographic is largely explained by the affordable public housing in Bedok New Town, due to its relatively distant location from the Central Area. Besides public housing developments, private residences are also prevalent in Bedok as well, most of which are found in the precincts of Bayshore, Frankel and Siglap, in the western and south-western portions of the area. Bedok in terms of size, is also the largest planning area containing a new town within it. Apart from the maritime boundary that the area shares with the Singapore Strait to the south and south-east, Bedok also borders five other planning areas. They are Paya Lebar to the north, Hougang to the north-west, Tampines to the north-east and east, Geylang to the west and Marine Parade to the south-west.

As a part of the Tanah Merah region, the history of Bedok is largely influenced by its coastal frontier. The general area known as Bedok today, was first mentioned in maps dating to the pre-Raffles era. After Singapore was colonized in 1819, Simpang Bedok Village became an ethnically mixed community consisting of Chinese and Malay people groups. Before the 1960s, Bedok's primary source of income was coconut, which was harvested from the plantations that were found in Siglap. Fishing was also another primary source of income for the villagers of Simpang Bedok at the time.

Modern development of Bedok only began in 1966, when reclamation works along the coast of the area began. In the following decade, Bedok was transformed by the Housing and Development Board into the country's fifth self-contained new town, with the first flats emerging in the vicinity by 1975. Following the Fall of Saigon that same year, Bedok Jetty became a focal point for Vietnamese refugees landing in Singapore during Operation Thunderstorm.