Bukit Brown Cemetery

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Bukit Brown Cemetery
Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20111210-04.JPG
Bukit Brown Cemetery in 2011
Bukit Brown Cemetery
Details
Established1 January 1922
Closed1973
Location
36C Lor Halwa, Singapore 298637
CountrySingapore
Coordinates 1°20′10″N103°49′23″E / 1.3361°N 103.8230°E / 1.3361; 103.8230
TypeChinese
Size233 ha (580 acres)
No. of graves100,000

Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery, is a cemetery in Singapore. The land where the cemetery sits was originally owned by George Henry Brown, a British merchant. He owned the land and, due to its hilly terrain, became known as Brown's Hill which was translated locally in Malay to Bukit Brown.

Contents

Following multiple transfers of ownership, the land was eventually acquired by the government, who opened Bukit Brown Cemetery there in 1922. The cemetery acted as a Chinese burial ground until its closure in 1973, with about 100,000 graves. In 2011, the government designated the area for residential development which was met with backlash from activists who believed that the cemetery should be preserved. The following year, 3,700 graves were exhumed to build an 8-lane highway. Bukit Brown Cemetery is believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China and is also the location of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers.

Main reasons by activists of why Bukit Brown Cemetery should be conserved is due to its vegetation, wildlife, and heritage displayed by the graves in the cemetery. Traditional Chinese festivals are held annually at the cemetery.

Etymology

The cemetery and the surrounding area are referred to as Bukit Brown, after George Henry Brown, the original owner of the land where the cemetery is situated. He had owned the land and due to its hilly terrain, became known as Brown's Hill, which was translated locally in Malay to Bukit Brown, bukit meaning hill. [1]

Bukit Brown was the first location in Singapore to be known with a hybrid name, with both English and Malay. [2] The hill where the cemetery is located is referred to as Mount Pleasant, which Brown named. It is also referred to locally as Coffee Hill or Kopi Sua. [3]

History

Early establishments (1800s)

Brown in 1863 with his daughter Charlotte Ellen George Henry Brown.png
Brown in 1863 with his daughter Charlotte Ellen

Bukit Brown Cemetery was named after 19th-century British merchant and ship owner George Henry Brown (1826–1882). He arrived in the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore) in the 1840s and lived there till his death after an accident in Penang on 5 October 1882. [1]

Brown owned a business, G. H. Brown & Co, that was located at Raffles Place. Brown married Ellen Brown (1827–1903) in 1854 and together they had multiple children. He was known for his interest in music and played the organ at St. Andrew's Cathedral. Brown was also a land-owner, having owned multiple plots of land. [1]

One such plot was land that had hilly terrain which he called Mount Pleasant. On that plot he had built a cottage which he called Fern Cottage. He had tried planting nutmeg and coffee on Mount Pleasant but was unsuccessful. As the land belonged to him, it was commonly referred to as Brown's Hill, translated locally in Malay to Bukit Brown. [1]

Brown sold the land to Mootapa Chitty, a Chettiar, and Lim Chu Yi who later sold the land to three Hokkien Seh Ong Kongsi clan members – Ong Hew Ko, Ong Ewe Hai, and Ong Chong Chew. In the 1870s, the trio turned the land into a private cemetery for Chinese people of the Ong clan and it became known as the Seh Ong Cemetery, managed by the Seh Ong Kongsi. [4] [5] All 3 of them were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery after their deaths. [6]

Municipal acquisition and opening (1900–2000)

The first mention of a municipal [lower-alpha 1] Chinese cemetery was in 1906, where Peranakan physician and social activist Lim Boon Keng suggested at a municipal meeting for a proper burial site for the Chinese, which was unanimously agreed upon by the commission. [7] Singaporean politician Tan Kheam Hock was also a supporter of establishing a public Chinese cemetery and, in 1917, asked about whether progress had been made in acquiring land at Bukit Brown and repurposing it as a Chinese burial ground. [8] When Bukit Brown Cemetery was opened, Tan managed the cemetery till his death. [9]

Some cemeteries considered to be used were the Hokkien cemetery at Keppel Harbour and the cemetery at Holland Road but the Municipal Commission eventually settled on Seh Ong Cemetery in a meeting on 26 October 1917, particularly due to its size and cost. [5] Following this decision, the Seh Ong Kongsi stated: [10]

"The trustees preferred to retain the land for the use of their own kongsi. There was sufficient land to last the Seh Ong Kongsi for 200 years and they preferred to reserve it for themselves rather than sell it and make use of it for other kongsis or races of Chinese who were short of burial grounds. [ sic ]"

After multiple negotiations with the Seh Ong Kongsi, where they refused to give the land every time, the Municipal Commissioners decided that "the only other course left [for the Commission was] to approach the [British] government [lower-alpha 2] to appropriate the land in spite of the unwillingness of the owners." [10] In 1919, the Municipal Commission acquired the land through compulsory acquisition despite the resistance from the Seh Ong Kongsi. [11]

The temple at Bukit Brown Cemetery in 1929. Chinese temple at Bukit Brown Cemetery.jpg
The temple at Bukit Brown Cemetery in 1929.

In 1921, by-laws for Bukit Brown Cemetery were established to regulate burials for the Chinese. [12] It was then opened as Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery on 1 January 1922. [11] In 1923, the road leading up to Bukit Brown Cemetery was named Bukit Brown Road, after Brown, and another road leading up to the cemetery was named Kheam Hock Road, after Tan. [13] A cemetery temple was built with a temple caretaker running the temple. A priest was also hired that sold joss sticks and candles. [14]

When it was opened, Bukit Brown Cemetery was not very popular with the Chinese, having its first burial in August 1922. The municipal president stated that it was "not utilized to the extent which we had anticipated", citing the main reason being the size and layout of the grave plots, although these were put in place to maximise space. Bukit Brown Cemetery was also separated into "general" and "pauper" sections, to make the cemetery more inclusive. [15] [16]

The pauper section is a low-lying area that was regularly flooded but allowed the poor to afford the burial fees. [17] Due to the limited sizes, families typically used two burial plots for one burial. Other complaints were that plot sizes were irregular, with some being larger than others, leading to complaints about social classes as the larger plots were owned by wealthier individuals. [15]

They later consulted with the Chinese Advisory Board and changed plot layouts to better account for the Chinese who expanded the sizes of plots to 20x10 feet in the general section and 10x5 feet in the pauper section. [18] This helped Bukit Brown Cemetery to become more popular amongst the Chinese community. [19] Following the cemetery's popularity, rest houses and wells were built along with hiring gardeners to maintain the cemetery. [20]

By 1929, 40% of Chinese deaths in Singapore were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery. [4] In 1941, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery was established as Bukit Brown Cemetery and Bidadari Cemetery were both running out of space. [21] In 1946, more grave plots at Bukit Brown Cemetery were released for people's whose reservations had been taken up during the Japanese occupation and used for pauper burials. [22] [23]

In 1947, Bukit Brown Cemetery and Choa Chu Kang Cemetery were brought up in a municipal meeting by L. Rayman, concerned about the land use occupied by the cemeteries. An amendment was passed that limited the size of burial plots. [24] In 1965, the Public Works Department (PWD) exhumed 237 graves to realign Lornie Road off Adam Road. [25] [26] Bukit Brown Cemetery was closed in 1973 with about 100,000 graves. [4]

Redevelopment plans for Bukit Brown and conservation efforts (2000–present)

A banner opposing the building of Lornie Highway. Save Bukit Brown banner, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20130728.JPG
A banner opposing the building of Lornie Highway.
A notice at Bukit Brown Cemetery about the exhumation of graves. Notice regarding exhumations of tombs in Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20130728-01.JPG
A notice at Bukit Brown Cemetery about the exhumation of graves.

From 2011 to 2012, the area was designated for residential development [lower-alpha 3] and many activists were upset by this decision as Bukit Brown Cemetery was "a distinctive slice of the multi-ethnic country's fast disappearing heritage" [29] and that it should be preserved. [30] [31] [32] This included exhuming 3,700 graves to make space for an 8-lane highway. [33]

In 2012, it was announced by then-Minister of State for National Development, Tan Chuan-Jin, that 5,000 graves would be exhumed to make way for a new 8-lane highway, Lornie Highway, that would cut through the cemetery. [34] This number was later reduced to 3,746 on 19 March 2012. [35] [36] [37]

Construction for Lornie Highway began in 2011 and was expected to be completed by 2016 but was eventually completed in 2018. [38] During construction, Bukit Brown Road was replaced by a section of the Lornie Highway. [39] A bridge was built under Lornie Highway to help animals pass through. [40]

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) digitised and released the burial registers of Bukit Brown Cemetery between April 1922 and December 1972 online, as well as a map of the cemetery to help descendants check if their ancestor's graves were affected by the development. [41]

It was also revealed that the rest of the cemetery would make way for a new public housing town in about 40 years time. [42] In 2014, a bush fire broke out at Bukit Brown Cemetery that was the about the size of "1½ football fields" which took the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) 2 hours to put out. [43] Bukit Brown Cemetery was also named on the 2014 World Monuments Watch as an "at risk site". [44]

In 2015, following the Singapore Botanic Gardens gaining UNESCO World Heritage Site status, Bukit Brown Cemetery along with other sites were suggested for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. However, sites such as Bukit Brown Cemetery and Jalan Kubor Cemetery are "neither a building nor a monument" and are unable to even obtain National Monument status despite having rich heritage. [45]

In 2016, Bukit Brown Cemetery's gates that were installed back in the 1920s were removed from their original posts, cleaned and repaired, and reinstalled at the mouth of a new access road near its original location. [46] [47] In 2017, the Singapore Heritage Society launched a self-guided trail through Bukit Brown Cemetery that takes visitors through 25 gravestones. [48] A grave belonging to Chen Yi Kuan collapsed due to nearby construction works for Mount Pleasant MRT station on the Thomson–East Coast MRT line. [49]

In August 2024, an outdoor display, Sounds of the Earth, was opened by Bukit Brown conservation groups. The display features 80 unclaimed artifacts that were collected in 2013, during the construction of Lornie Highway. [39] [50]

Traditional practices

Colored papers placed on a grave during the Qingming Festival. Five coloured papers on a grave mound, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20110326-02.jpg
Colored papers placed on a grave during the Qingming Festival.

Due to Bukit Brown Cemetery's high Chinese population, traditional Chinese festivals are held at Bukit Brown Cemetery annually. For example, the Qingming Festival is held regularly at Bukit Brown Cemetery, usually requiring traffic police to regulate the high traffic flow into the cemetery. [51] [52] [53] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government advised visitors to Bukit Brown Cemetery and Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium to be in groups of 4 and to refrain from bringing elderly family members. [54]

The Hungry Ghost Festival is another festival that is regularly held. The festival is usually performed by representatives of Chinese temples who, despite having no relation to the deceased, perform the rituals and offering to them. This is seen as a form of charity by the representatives as the deceased do not have descendants to perform the ritual for them. [55]

Environment

Vegetation

An overgrown bench and table. Overgrown bench and table, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20111210.JPG
An overgrown bench and table.

Due to its dense vegetation, Bukit Brown Cemetery helps to prevent flooding from rain caused by surface runoff and serve as a "carbon storage" site. In a position paper by the Singapore Heritage Society, they stated that Bukit Brown Cemetery should be kept for these reasons. Other organizations also requested the government to carry out "a comprehensive environmental impact assessment" of Bukit Brown Cemetery. [56]

In the 1950s, Bukit Brown Cemetery was cleared of its vegetation, only for the cemetery to be overgrown with vegetation again. [57] This has led Bukit Brown Cemetery's vegetation to be described as a "neglected space" with an "unrecognisable landscape". [58] In 2014, a bush fire broke out at Bukit Brown Cemetery that was the about the size of "1½ football fields" which took the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) 2 hours to put out. [43]

Wildlife

Bukit Brown Cemetery is also known for its wildlife, being populated with mammals and birds. This has made Bukit Brown Cemetery a popular location with photographers, nature lovers, and bird-watchers. [59] In 2012, Nature Society (Singapore) recorded 90 resident and migrant birds along with 48 species of animal living at Bukit Brown Cemetery. [60] Mammals and birds seen at Bukit Brown Cemetery include:

From July 2012 to October 2012, a study was held by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum that studied fishes at two separate streams at Bukit Brown Cemetery, called Bukit Brown Stream and Mount Pleasant Stream respectively. 11 species of fish were found with only 4 being considered native. [63] The 4 native fish were:

Graves

Architecture and design of graves

Graves at Bukit Brown Cemetery were built with different materials from Europe and East Asia using traditional building techniques from the 1920s and 1930s. Other materials used to build graves include bricks, commonly from Alexandra Brickworks and Jurong Brickworks, and plaster from Shanghai, China. [64] Graves also represent different social statuses of people through decorations on graves such as decorative tiles from Europe and Japan. Other types of tiles include Peranakan tiles, tiles named after Chinese immigrants who came to Singapore and inspired Straits Chinese culture. Graves were also traditionally built on the side of hills due to feng shui practices by the Chinese. [2] [65]

Graves typically included inscribed stone panels, stone reliefs, and statues with materials from quarries in Singapore or Malaysia. Shops selling sculpted stones imported from China were also found commonly along Kheam Hock Road. Marble headstones with lead lettering were also used, being imported from Europe. Graves were also decorated with ceramic portraits of the deceased in an oval shape on the headstone. The techniques to make these portraits emerged from France and due to the frequency of these portraits shows that it had reached Singapore around the early 20th-century. [65]

Notable burials

The gravestone of Ong Sam Leong (1857-1918), the largest gravestone in Bukit Brown Cemetery. Gravestones of Ong Sam Leong and family members, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20110326-10.JPG
The gravestone of Ong Sam Leong (1857–1918), the largest gravestone in Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Due to Bukit Brown Cemetery's long history and multiple graves, it is believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China with about 100,000 graves. [29] It is also the location of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers. [67] [68] Notable burials include:

See also

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References

Notes

  1. From 1848 to 1951, Singapore was run under the Municipal Commission of Singapore, the present-day Government of Singapore.
  2. From 1826 to 1942, Singapore was apart of the Straits Settlements which was a crown colony controlled by the British.
  3. Bukit Brown had already been designated for residential development since the 1991 Concept Plan. [27] [28]

Citations

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