Kovan, Singapore
Kovan () is a neighbourhood located within the town of Hougang, in the North-East Region of Singapore. The neighbourhood today largely consists of private housing properties, where majority of the residents live in terrace homes, semi-detached houses and bungalows. Geography. As part of Hougang, Kovan is situated east of Serangoon, in the North-East Region of Singapore. As a relatively small suburb, Kovan's boundaries are relatively unclear. The Urban Redevelopment Authority defines its boundaries as Hougang Avenue 2 to the north, Yio Chu Kang Road to the west, southwest and south and Upper Serangoon Road to  the east. However in reality, numerous Kovan amenities are at the other side of Upper Serangoon Road outside the above boundary. These include: Kovan Heartland Mall, Kovan City, Kovan Hub, Kovan Market and Food Centre, Kovan Sports Centre, Paya Lebar Kovan Community Club. Etymology. Kovan was traditionally an area associated with the Teochew community. Kovan's Teochew name is ""La gou jio"", which means six miles from the old General Post Office at Fullerton Building. A number of road names at Kovan commemorate the more prominent members of this community. Demographics. In 2019, there are 24,850 people living in Kovan . 12,020 (48.37%) male and 12,830 (51.63%) female. 3,970 (5.98%) people live in HDB flats, 8,730 (35.13%) live in condominium/other apartments, 11,840 (47,65%)live in landed properties and 310 (1.25%) live in other accommodation. Transportation. The main road connecting Kovan to the other parts of Singapore is Upper Serangoon Road. Both Kovan MRT station and Heartland Mall are situated along this major road. Nearby is the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, which provides a direct route to the city area. Public transport in Kovan includes the North East line served by Kovan MRT station, which is just in front of Heartland Mall . Kovan formerly had a bus terminal, which is now renamed Kovan Hub. However, many buses still pass through Kovan, as they ply through the main Upper Serangoon Road. The bus stop connected to Kovan MRT station is a major one, and a relatively high number of buses that passes through also heads towards Hougang or Serangoon. Former Bus Interchange. Hougang South Bus Interchange was closed since 15 February 2004 with the surrounding neighbourhoods expansion in Hougang over the years. Thus with the move of main town centre, its purpose for another interchange in the same town slowly diminished. The facility  was then acquired and repurposed for other developments. It was situated at Hougang Street 21 next to the Kovan food centre/Wet Market, near Heartland Mall. All bus services were relocated to Hougang Central Bus Interchange, except 62 (of which it was modified as Punggol - Geylang Lor 1 service, and feeder services were merged into 101, 112 and 113 respectively. The old bus interchange is now a community space with a public carpark residing at the former end-on berths of the northern end. Only one former sawtooth berth is still existent on the southern end, and it serves the  express coach buses that crosses the borders and 4 public bus services currently serve the bus stop (Kovan Hub): Housing. The main type of housing in Kovan are landed homes. The condominiums Kovan Melody, and Kovan Residences are on the main road, directly opposite Kovan MRT station. Recently completed is Stars of Kovan, which is at the corner of Upper Serangoon Road and Tampines Road. A new HDB Built-To-Order (BTO), Kovan Well-Spring with a new Community Club will be the latest addition to Kovan. Amenities. The main amenity in Kovan is Heartland Mall. Heartland Mall is well -served by a number of well-known outlets and shops, such as Cold Storage, Popular Book Shop, Watsons, Prima Deli, Toast Box, Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Burger King and Subway. Kovan Sports Centre is just across the road from Heartland Mall, which have eight sheltered indoor futsal courts. A bowling alley, , is also near Heartland Mall. Located beside Heartland Mall, the Kovan 209 Market & Food Court offers a variety of cooked food and drinks has been serving the residents in the area for years and is a very popular dining spot in the North East region. Within the vicinity are  plenty of neighbourhood shops that sells fruits, plants and many daily use items. There is also a neighbourhood park south of Heartland Mall which is opposite Yuying Secondary School. There are also two community clubs in Kovan, the Aljunied Community Club (Blk 110) and the Paya Lebar Kovan Community Club which is opposite Kovan Hub. A number of pubs and cafes like Grapevine Cafe Bar and Restaurant, O Bar, Greenland Vegetarian Restaurant are found in the area. Education. There is only one primary (Xinghua) and secondary school (Yuying) in Kovan. These two schools are part of the 19 educational institutions  in Hougang. There used to be several more schools located deep inside the housing estate and the surrounding area. These include Rosyth School, Serangoon Secondary School, Monfort Secondary School, XinMing Secondary School. These schools have moved to other areas such as Serangoon North and Hougang. The last school to stop operations, Parry Primary School, closed down in late 2006. Politics. Part of Kovan falls under Aljunied GRC, and is located within the constituency's Paya Lebar division. Residents within the neighbourhood is currently represented by Sylvia Lim, who is part of the Workers' Party (Singapore).