Toa Payoh (, ) is a planning area and mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catchment to the northwest, Kallang to the south, Geylang to the southeast, Novena to the west and Hougang to the east. Toa Payoh New Town is situated in the western portion of the Toa Payoh planning area. The latter occupies a much larger area, encompassing estates such as Potong Pasir and Bidadari. Etymology Toa Payoh, in Hokkien, translates as "big swamp" (with toa meaning "big" and payoh meaning "swamp"). The Malay word for swamp is paya. It is the Chinese equivalent of Paya Lebar, which translates to "big swamp land". Toa Payoh's old Chinese name, was known as Ang Chiang San (alternatively An Xiang Shan) or "burial hill". The area was called as such because of the presence of an old cemetery located in the area. John Turnbull Thomson, a government surveyor, refers to Toa Payoh in his 1849 agricultural report as Toah Pyoh Lye and Toah Pyoh. Unique to housing estates in Singapore, roads in Toa Payoh are given Malay-language street prefixes, (e.g. "Jalan Toa Payoh", "Lorong Satu Toa Payoh") as when the town was conceived, Singapore was a state of Malaysia. History Toa Payoh was once an extensive and notorious squatter district. Most squatters were engaged in farming and rearing pigs. The others were hawkers, factory workers, mechanics or domestic helpers. The squatters started moving out in 1962 as a result of increased compensation rates and other practical inducements offered by the Government. Clearance work was able to commence and the redevelopment started in early 1964. Toa Payoh New Town is Singapore's second oldest satellite town and the first to be built by the Housing and Development Board after the development of Queenstown by the Singapore Improvement Trust in the late 1950s. Before its time as a residential town, Toa Payoh was a squatter district, with a prominent agricultural heritage in the area. Throughout the 1960s up till the beginning of the 1980s, the town, much like Geylang today, was infamous for its vice, being home to some of Singapore's largest crime syndicates and gangs. Notable cases such as the horrific Toa Payoh ritual murders of 1981, in which people were murdered and stuffed into barrels, brought the town widespread attention.