IN TWENTY years of serving Bukit Panjang, MP Liang Eng Hwa has seen the constituency and its surroundings change for the better.
Families and residents now flock to the 28-stall Senja Hawker Centre for affordable, yummy food — from Michelin Guide duck rice to hearty Turkish chicken kebabs to trendy onigirazu.
Expanded bus services like 972 take residents on convenient everyday journeys throughout the neighbourhood.
The Bukit Panjang polyclinic has brought convenient healthcare to the ward’s working adults, kids and seniors.
Getting government agencies and decision-makers to help, persevering despite obstacles, and working well with his GRC teammates have made these improvements possible. And, as Petir found from interviewing MP Liang, he is never done building up Bukit Panjang.
Senja Hawker Centre: Building new Hawker Centers through persistent lobbying
MP Liang started lobbying for a new hawker centre for Bukit Panjang GRC in 2011. His main aim was to ensure that food prices were kept low against inflation.
“We didn’t have a hawker centre in Bukit Panjang [at the time]. I pushed for the Government to reverse their hawker centre policy,” MP Liang told Petir recently.
MP Liang’s efforts, as well as questions from other stakeholders, helped push the Government to revive its Hawker Center Building programme after 26 years.
Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre was opened in 2016. Located in the central Bangkit neighbourhood to serve as many residents as possible, it was a first for the GRC. It was also one of a new wave of hawker centres built across Singapore during the 2010s.
“And then, because I was on the other side [of the GRC] , I asked for another one. Then the Minister gave one more!” said MP Liang, who was leading Zhenghua ward at that time.
This second request resulted in Senja Hawker Centre, with its Michelin-rated food and affordable prices. “So we got two hawker centres around here. Both built in the last 10-over years!”
MP Liang was present for its December 2022 opening — and deeply proud. He had put in much time, perseverance and hard work getting this project completed for residents.
“Great personal joy and satisfaction to see the beautiful Senja Hawker Centre finally opened; after years of pushing for more hawker centres and the involvement in this project,” he said that day (11 Dec).
Bus services: Convenient everyday journeys
Source: Liang Eng Hwa / Facebook
It is also much easier for Bukit Panjang residents to get to the new hawker centres, and across the neighbourhood in general, with new bus services.
One key part of MP Liang’s work has involved brainstorming with other MPs in the GRC about how to plug the gaps in Bukit Panjang’s transport network, such as making daily journeys around the ward easier.
“There was only one trunk service that ran through the town. So we highlighted to the authorities, ‘We need more bus services!’,” said MP Liang. “And we were able to get services like 972, which runs through Fajar, through Segar. We added intra-town feeder services. So we have 973, we also have the 976 that goes around.”
“And we keep fighting for more,” promised MP Liang.
Bukit Panjang Polyclinic: Health check-ups made convenient
Source: Liang Eng Hwa / YouTube
One of Bukit Panjang’s biggest new improvements has been the polyclinic.
“The [Bukit Panjang Polyclinic] is part of this whole plan to meet resident’s health needs. Especially the ageing population,” said MP Liang.
“Originally there was no Government plan to have a polyclinic; there was an existing polyclinic at Teck Whye, which actually is not too far,” recounted MP Liang. “But for Bukit Panjang residents, to get there is very inconvenient. You have to change two buses, at least. So we fought very hard for that.”
The request for the new polyclinic was naturally sent up to the Ministry of Health. The Minister for Health at that time, Gan Kim Yong, “was very open-minded” about it. “Did some studies, and then established that there was demand,” said MP Liang. “Then we found a site to do it.”
“For seniors who need an overall health screening or any check-ups, medical attention is there,” continued MP Liang about the polyclinic, which started serving patients in October 2021. “There’s also a nursing home.”
More help then, for Bukit Panjang’s seniors to go for those Healthier SG check-ups, and to be supported as they age in place.
Meanwhile, MP Liang is still out and about the neighbourhood. Establishing a network of well-furnished senior care centres around it is now a priority for him. He played key roles in opening two within the last four years (one around the Bangkit-Petir Road area and one around Fajar) and plans two more. One, in fact, will be at Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre.
“It’s a good thing in the early years, we thought about all these issues,” he said about his approach to improving Bukit Panjang. “Now we are seeing the fruits of all these improvements.”
“It wasn’t easy. Because to get agencies to move, you need to justify. So we just keep asking. We keep going.”
