Teochew for Hougang (), but was romanised as Hougang when the Hougang New Town was built. Some changes met with popular opposition, particularly over the English spelling of Yishun (), which has been well known as Nee Soon in Hokkien (Min Nan) until the government tried to introduce pinyin when Yishun New Town appeared. The disagreements led to "Nee Soon" retaining its presence in Nee Soon Road, as well as some place names such as Nee Soon Camp and in the names of political subdivisions. In contrast, pinyin was generally welcomed in Bishan (), named after what was popularly known as "Peck San" in Cantonese. The popularity was not over the pinyin system itself, but over the fact that Peck San was well known for its association with the Peng San Cemetery, which has since been exhumed to build Bishan New Town. To the local Chinese, Bishan, although actually similar in name to Peck San in Chinese, is as good as a different name by virtue of its different romanisation spelling alone. Another controversy surrounded the renaming of Tekka Market (derived from Hokkien Tek Kia Kha (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tek-á-kha), literally meaning "foot of the small bamboos"), then one of the largest wet markets in Singapore located at the junction of Serangoon and Bukit Timah Road. When the old market was torn down and rebuilt across the road, the new multi-use complex was named Zhujiao Centre, which is the pinyin version of that name. However, to locals, especially non-Chinese, the new word was both hard to read and pronounce and bore no resemblance to Tekka. Eventually, the complex was officially named Tekka Centre in 2000 after two decades of public pressure. Personal names A large majority of Chinese people in Singapore are Hokkien (Min Nan speakers), and a lesser number Teochew. Hokkien and Teochew share many phonemes to the point that they are mutually intelligible. Thus the romanisations are similar and surnames such as Tan (), Chua (), Koh (), etc., are very common. References External links Naming patterns amongst ethnic-Chinese Singaporeans Road names as markers of history Buffalo Pens - the politics of renaming places Chinese languages in Singapore Romanization of Chinese