# Buangkok MRT station

Buangkok MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North East Line (NEL) in Singapore, located near the road intersection of Sengkang Central with Compassvale Bow. The station serves the residential neighbourhood of Buangkok; the Buangkok Bus Interchange; Sengkang Grand Residence and Sengkang Grand Mall, which is a integrated commercial and residential development.
The station was first announced in March 1996 and construction began in April 1997. Buangkok station remained closed when the NEL began operations on 20 June 2003, upsetting the area's residents. Despite lobbying by grassroots leaders, the government supported SBS Transit's decision, citing low expected usage that would have made the station a "white elephant". In a display of public dissatisfaction with the government, eight white cardboard elephants were put up when government minister Vivian Balakrishnan visited Punggol South in August 2005. The police investigated the incident and sternly warned a grassroots leader.
Following a re-evaluation by the Land Transport Authority, the station opened on 15 January 2006. The station, operated by SBS Transit. is a designated civil defence shelter and wheelchair accessible. The station design by Altoon + Porter Architects and 3HP Architects features white Teflon sheets that cover the station's two entrances. Water, Nature & Contemporary – an Art-in-Transit artwork by Vincent Leow – is displayed at the station.

## History
### Construction

The North East Line (NEL) Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project was first proposed by the Government of Singapore in 1984. The government eventually decided to proceed with the project in January 1996. Buangkok station was one of sixteen NEL stations announced in March 1996 by communications minister Mah Bow Tan. At the time, the Land Transport Authority indicated that a portion of the North East Line containing Buangkok station could possibly be ready before 2002. That portion of the North East Line "will open first, before year 2002", reported The Straits Times.
The contract for the construction of Sengkang and Buangkok stations was awarded to a joint venture between Sato Kogyo Company and Hock Lian Seng Engineering on 26 April 1997. The S$166.38 million (US$112.1 million) contract included the construction of 1.6 km (0.99 mi) of connecting tunnels between the stations and 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) of reception tunnels to Sengkang Depot.
Buangkok station was constructed in a forested area that was proposed to be redeveloped into a new town. After the forest was cleared and the vacated warehouses around the site were demolished, the site was excavated to a depth of up to 20 m (66 ft), and work on the station then proceeded. Once construction was complete, new roads connected the station to the road system.

### Delay in opening

On 17 June 2003, the NEL operator SBS Transit announced two stations on the line – Woodleigh and Buangkok – would not open with the other stations on 20 June 2003 because of the lack of development in their areas. Housing demand had declined due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the economic downturn following the September 11 attacks. Consequently, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) had reduced its development plans in the north-east of Singapore. SBS Transit said keeping the stations closed would reduce annual operating costs by S$2-to-3 million and that the station would need a daily ridership of 5,000 for it to be commercially viable. The company apologised for the "late notice", saying the decision was only made in May when the NEL fare structure was approved, with "approved fares were lower than what we had applied for". The company also said that the closure was not an "easy decision" and that it had deliberated on the matter for months.
Residents around the station were upset by the sudden decision; grassroots leaders had previously assured them the station would open. Charles Chong, the Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris–Punggol, echoed the residents' sentiments. A poll of residents living within 700 m (2,300 ft) of the station showed that nearly 7 in 10 were willing to walk to the station, contrary to SBS Transit's claim that few commuters would be willing to walk more than 400 metres (1,300 ft) to a station. Residents polled also said it would be more convenient for them to use Buangkok station than the adjacent stations at Sengkang and Hougang. According to SBS Transit, the poll, which was launched by Chong and conducted with academics from the National University of Singapore (NUS), was flawed and did not take into account the frequency of commuters' use.
In July 2003, the transport minister Yeo Cheow Tong denied the station was a "white elephant", despite some residents calling it such. In August, the government acknowledged SBS Transit had made mistakes in delaying the announcement but supported the company's decision and rationale due to low passenger demand in the area. At the official opening ceremony of the NEL on 28 August 2003, deputy prime minister Lee Hsien Loong said Buangkok station would open in 2006 after more flats were built in the area. In the meantime, the government provided more feeder bus services for residents in the area. In response to residents' plans to gift SBS Transit a white-elephant statue, Lee said at the ceremony that Buangkok station would be a "bigger white elephant" if the station was to serve no passengers after its opening.

### White elephant incident

On 27 July 2005, to address SBS Transit's doubts, Chong and other grassroots leaders launched another survey, interviewing 495 residents near Punggol station. The survey found 65% of the respondents who lived within 400 m (1,300 ft) of the station walked there seven times a week. SBS Transit was unconvinced by the polls, saying there needed to be enough people who would walk to Buangkok station. Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) would re-evaluate the distance criteria and expand the catchment radius from 400 m (1,300 ft) to 500 m (1,600 ft) because there were about 2,300 homes within 500 m (1,600 ft) of Buangkok station.
When youth minister Vivian Balakrishnan was on his way to Punggol South on 28 August, he saw eight white, cardboard elephants had been erected along the road toward Buangkok station. This prompted the minister to visit the unopened station. In a discussion with the residents, he said the station's opening would be a "matter of time" following the construction of the 2,000 residential units. Dissatisfaction with the station's continued closure increased after the announcement of transport fare rises, said Charles Chong. After the minister's visit, the elephant cut-outs were removed.
On 1 September, following a complaint, the police launched an investigation into the cut-outs under the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act. Residents and community leaders expressed shock at the investigation, saying there was no ill intent and that the cut-outs were a creative way to bring the issue to the minister. In a letter to The Straits Times, sociologist Chua Beng Huat commented the investigation was "paranoid"; he criticized the press for treating what he saw as a municipal-level issue as a "national issue" due to Singapore's single-tier government. On 6 October, the police closed the investigation without pressing charges, though they sternly warned one veteran grassroots leader for an infringement of the Act. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the investigation was initiated because they could not selectively enforce legislation otherwise the law would become "the real white elephant". Following the white-elephant incident, students from Raffles Girls' School (RGS) had formed a group called "Project White Elephant" that was aimed at encouraging youth to take an active role in politics. T-shirts bearing the words "Save the White Elephants" were created and sold to raise funds for a charity, Youth Guidance.

### Station opening

Following the incident, Yeo asked the LTA to re-examine whether there was adequate passenger demand to justify the station's opening. In September 2005, Yeo said the expected opening date had been further postponed to 2008 following LTA's projections for the housing development plans for the area; only 500 residential units had been completed within 400 metres (1,300 ft) of the station. The LTA continued to review the feasibility of opening the station sooner. On 11 November 2005, Yeo announced Buangkok station would open the following January after SBS Transit agreed to the opening due to reduced losses from its rail operations. Yeo denied pressuring the operator to open the station and said the opening was due to "tireless appeals" by Chong. In December, the opening date was scheduled for 15 January. Before the opening, SBS Transit staff tested the station's equipment and had the station cleaned.
Punggol South grassroots leaders invited RGS students to sell their remaining "Save the White Elephants" t-shirts at the carnival for the station's opening event. During the preparations for the carnival, the police sent an advisory to the students and carnival organisers, saying a fund-raising permit was required for them to sell the shirts and warning the organisers "wearing the T-shirts en masse may be misconstrued by some as an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public & Order & Nuisance) (Assemblies & Processions) Rules". The police said they would make an exception to process the fund-raising permit in time for the event. No one, including the girls selling them, wore the shirts at the station's opening, and the celebrations proceeded without issues. Wong later apologised for the police's overreaction to the incident.
The station opened as scheduled "with much fanfare", beginning with a walk-a-jog to the station that was led by the event's guest-of-honour, the defence minister Teo Chee Hean; this was followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Station operations began at 12:55 pm. After its opening, the station averaged only 1,386 daily riders instead of the expected 6,000. Many residents still travelled to the adjacent Sengkang and Hougang stations due to the retail and commercial amenities there. SBS Transit, after saying it was still "too early to draw a conclusion" about ridership, remained committed to keeping the station open to serve future developments nearby.

## Details

Buangkok station, which has the station code of NE15, serves the North East Line (NEL) of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and is located between Hougang and Sengkang stations. Buangkok station is operated by SBS Transit and runs daily from about 5:45 a.m. to 12:25 a.m. Train frequencies vary from 2.5 to 5 minutes.
Buangkok station is located in Sengkang along the road of Sengkang Central near the junction with Compassvale Bow. The station has two entrances that serve the surrounding HDB flats, and Palm View Primary School and North Vista Primary School. The station serves Sengkang Grand Residences, an integrated commercial-and-residential development that includes Sengkang Grand Mall for retail, and Buangkok Bus Interchange. The new bus interchange opened on 1 December 2024.
Altoon + Porter Architects and 3HP Architects designed the station. Unlike other NEL stations, the design of the station entrances does not include glass; white Teflon sheets are supported by metal frames cover the entrances, resembling a circus tent. Like all other NEL stations, the platforms are wheelchair accessible. A tactile system, consisting of tiles with rounded-or-elongated raised studs, guides visually impaired commuters through the station. Dedicated tactile routes connect the station entrances to the platforms.
Buangkok station is designated as a Civil Defence (CD) shelter; it is designed to accommodate around 7,500 people, withstand airstrikes and remove toxic air. Equipment essential for the operations in the CD shelter is mounted on shock absorbers to prevent damage during a bombing. When the electrical supply to the shelter is disrupted, backup generators keep operations going. The shelter has dedicated, built-in, decontamination chambers and dry toilets with collection bins that will send human waste out of the shelter.

### Artwork

The artwork Water, Nature & Contemporary by Vincent Leow is displayed at Buangkok station as part of the Art-in-Transit programme, a showcase of public artworks on the MRT network. The artwork consists of two strips of images displayed across the staircase voids of the station concourse. These black-and-white photographs are silkscreened on vitreous enamel panels, reminiscent of cinematic stills and film strips. Through colourful embellishments of dots, graphic motifs, and bands, Leow intended to capture commuters' attention while creating "a bright and happy ambience" through "the explosion of colours". Also incorporated in the artwork are auspicious symbols, including depictions of fishes and red-or-tangerine clouds. The clouds are inspired by traditional Chinese art and street theatre, which are familiar to many Singaporeans.
Leow, who is known for his paintings and sculptures, saw "an opportunity to experiment" and decided to "push his artistic boundaries" by fusing art and photography. These photographs depict people, activities, and natural landscapes in Singapore. They were retrieved from the National Archives of Singapore and curated by Leow to reflect the lifestyle of old Buangkok and rural Singapore, and for commuters to connect the past with the future. The images function as a commentary on life in Singapore; for example, Leow intended a photograph of a soldier on parade to remind Singaporean men of National Service and their "rite of passage into adulthood". The enlarged photographs resulted in an abstract appearance; when observed from a distance, the images come into clear focus.