Bukit Brown Cemetery

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Coordinates: 1°20′10″N 103°49′23″E / 1.3361°N 103.8230°E / 1.3361; 103.8230
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Bukit Brown Cemetery
Bukit Brown Cemetery in 2011
Map
Details
Established1 January 1922
Closed1973
Location
36C Lor Halwa, Singapore 298637
CountrySingapore
Coordinates1°20′10″N 103°49′23″E / 1.3361°N 103.8230°E / 1.3361; 103.8230
TypeChinese
Size200 ha (490 acres)
No. of graves100,000

Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery,[1] was a cemetery in Singapore. It opened in 1922 and acted as a Chinese burial ground until its closure in 1973. Bukit Brown Cemetery is the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China and is also the location of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers.[2][3]

History[edit]

Bukit Brown Cemetery was named after 19th-century British merchant George Henry Brown (1826–1882). He arrived in Singapore in the 1840s and lived here till his death after an accident in Penang on 5 October 1882.[4]

He had also purchased land on a hill which he called Mount Pleasant and built a cottage on it called Fern Cottage. As the land belonged to him, it was commonly referred to as Brown's Hill, translated locally to Bukit Brown.[4]

He sold the land to Mootapa Chitty and Lim Chu Yi who later sold the land to three Hokkien Ong clan members – Ong Hew Ko, Ong Ewe Hai, and Ong Chong Chew – who in the 1870s turned the land into a cemetery for Chinese people of the Ong clan with the surname, known as the Seh Ong Cemetery.[5] All 3 of them were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery after their deaths.[6]

In 1919, the government acquired the land after pressure had been put on them to open a municipal cemetery for the Chinese, despite the resistance from the Kongsi. It was then opened as Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery on 1 January 1922. In 1923, the road leading up to Bukit Brown Cemetery was named Bukit Brown Road, also after Brown.[7][5]

Another road leading up to the cemetery was named Kheam Hock Road, after Tan Kheam Hock (1862–1922), a Singaporean politician.[7]

By 1929, 40% of Chinese deaths were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery. It was closed in 1973 with about 100,000 graves.[5] In 1965, the Public Works Department exhumed 237 graves to realign Lornie Road off Adam Road.[8][9]

From 2011 to 2012, after the area was designated for residential development, many activists were upset by this decision as Bukit Brown Cemetery was 'a distinctive slice of the multi-ethnic country's fast disappearing heritage.'[10] This included exhuming 3700 graves to make space for an 8-lane highway.[11]

In 2012, it was originally announced by then-Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin that 5000 graves would make way for a new 4-lane road that would cut through the cemetery.[12] This number was later reduced to 3746 on 19 March 2012.[13][14][15] It was also revealed that the rest of the cemetery would make way for a new public housing town in about 40 years time.[16]

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) digitised and released the burial registers of the 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.[17]

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.[18][19] In 2018, Bukit Brown Road was replaced by a section of the Lornie Highway.[20]

Incidents[edit]

In 1927, two groups had a dispute and two Chinese men were found dead after being fatally stabbed.[21] In 1933, two secret societies had a fight during a towkay's funeral where over 1000 people showed up. Six people were injured, including two children.[22] In 1980, cemetery caretaker Pasiman bin Sadikan was found dead with his 15 years' of life savings stolen.[23]

Notable burials[edit]

The gravestone of Ong Sam Leong (1857–1918), the largest gravestone in Bukit Brown Cemetery.[24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BUKIT BROWN CHINESE CEMETERY". Indian Daily Mail. 3 September 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  2. ^ Sajan, Chantal (13 September 2020). "Heritage activists: Bukit Brown more than just a cemetery; it's a 'living museum' of Singapore's pioneers". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  3. ^ Lock, Clara (18 March 2021). "On the trail of secret spots". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b Savage, Victor R.; Yeoh, Brenda (15 October 2022). Singapore Street Names (4th edition): A Study of Toponymics (4th ed.). Marshall Cavendish. p. 70. ISBN 9789815009231.
  5. ^ a b c Tsang, Susan (2007). Discover Singapore: The City's History & Culture Redefined. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 18–22. ISBN 9789812613653.
  6. ^ Yong, Clement (17 March 2021). "Remains of Chinese pioneer merchant, who donated land for Bukit Brown, moved from cemetery". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b Savage, Victor R.; Yeoh, Brenda (15 October 2022). Singapore Street Names (4th edition): A Study of Toponymics (4th ed.). Marshall Cavendish. p. 71. ISBN 9789815009231.
  8. ^ "237 GRAVES ON STATE LAND AT BUKIT BROWN TO BE EXHUMED". The Straits Times. 25 December 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  9. ^ "GRAVES TO BE EXHUMED FOR ROAD ALIGNMENT". The Straits Times. 17 December 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  10. ^ Lim, Rebecca (6 April 2012). "Singapore to drive road through historic cemetery". BBC News. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  11. ^ Han, Kirsten (7 August 2015). "Land-starved Singapore exhumes its cemeteries to build roads and malls". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Road through Bukit Brown to go ahead as planned". asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Development should not come at expense of heritage: Tan Chuan-Jin". Channel NewsAsia. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  14. ^ "LTA announces finalised alignment for Bukit Brown road project". Channel NewsAsia. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  15. ^ "LTA finalises alignment of new road across Bukit Brown". ura.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  16. ^ Hoe, Yeen Nie (5 December 2011). "New alignment for road cutting through Bukit Brown?". Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  17. ^ "Burial Registers of Bukit Brown Cemetery". National Archives of Singapore. Archived from the original on 23 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  18. ^ Zaccheus, Melody. "Bukit Brown's iconic gates to be refurbished, relocated". The Straits Times. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-19.
  19. ^ Zaccheus, Melody (29 August 2016). "Bukit Brown gets back its 1920s gates". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  20. ^ Tai, Janice (29 October 2018). "First section of Lornie Highway, formerly Bukit Brown Road, opens to traffic". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Fight at a Funeral". The Straits Times. 21 July 1927. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  22. ^ "FACTION FIGHT IN A CEMETERY". The Straits Times. 24 July 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  23. ^ "CARETAKER'S DEATH: MURDER, SAY POLICE". The Straits Times. 5 May 1980. p. 11. Retrieved 6 April 2024 – via NewspaperSG.
  24. ^ "THE TOMB OF ONG SAM LEONG AND HIS WIFE. IT IS LOCATED …". National Archives of Singapore. Retrieved 6 April 2024.

External links[edit]

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