Bukit Brown (other)

Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery, is a cemetery located in Novena in the Central Region of Singapore. The site of the cemetery was originally owned by George Henry Brown, a British merchant. It became known as Brown's Hill for its hilly terrain, which was translated into Malay as Bukit Brown. Brown's original site was eventually given to the Seh Ong Kongsi, who opened a private clan cemetery there in the 1870s.

Beginning in the 1880s, cemeteries in Singapore grew rapidly, leading the Legislative Council to pass a bill that limited the creation of cemeteries, particularly Chinese cemeteries. Due to this bill, the Chinese community's options for burying their dead were restricted, leading to calls for the creation of a municipal cemetery; notable supporters of the municipal cemetery included Tan Kheam Hock and Lim Boon Keng. The Municipal Commission began looking for suitable sites and settled on the Seh Ong Kongsi's land, acquiring the site in 1919 through compulsory acquisition.

Three years later, in 1922, the Commission opened Bukit Brown Cemetery. Although initially unpopular with the Chinese community, after some modifications, forty percent of Chinese deaths in Singapore were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery by 1929. The cemetery was fully reserved for burials in 1944, and eventually closed in 1973 with about 100,000 graves. In 2011, the government designated the area for residential development, leading to protests from activists who believed the cemetery should be preserved. The following year, 3,700 graves were exhumed to build an eight-lane highway. The cemetery has since appeared on the 2014 World Monuments Watch and has been considered for National Monument status.

Bukit Brown Cemetery is believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China and is the burial location of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers. Preservation advocates support maintaining Bukit Brown and other nearby cemeteries for their vegetation, wildlife, and heritage displayed by the graves. Traditional Chinese festivals are regularly held at these cemeteries.

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. The land became known as Brown's Hill for its hilly terrain, which was translated into Malay as Bukit Brown, ''bukit'' meaning ''hill''. The cemetery is also known as Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery. Bukit Brown was the first location in Singapore to be given a hybrid name, being both English and Malay. Brown named the hill where the cemetery is located Mount Pleasant; it is also locally referred to as Coffee Hill or Kopi Sua.

History

1800s: Early establishments

George Henry Brown (1826–1882) was a nineteenth century British merchant and ship owner who arrived in the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore) in the 1840s and lived there until his death after an accident in Penang on 5 October 1882. Brown's business G. H. Brown & Co was located at Raffles Place. Brown married Ellen Brown (1827–1903) in 1854 and they had multiple children. Brown was known for his interest in music; he played the organ at St. Andrew's Cathedral. Brown also owned multiple plots of land in the colony; these included a plot that had hilly terrain, which he called Mount Pleasant. Brown built a house he called Fern Cottage at Mount Pleasant; he also tried planting nutmeg and coffee on the site but was unsuccessful. The land was commonly referred to as Brown's Hill, which was locally translated into Malay to Bukit Brown.

Brown later sold the land to Indian Chettiar Mootapa Chitty and Chinese businessman Lim Chu Yi, who in turn sold the land to Ong Hew Ko, Ong Ewe Hai, and Ong Chong Chew. The trio gave the land to the Seh Ong Kongsi who, in the 1870s, turned the land into a private cemetery for Chinese people of the Ong clan, leading to it being known as the Seh Ong Cemetery. Hew Ko, Ewe Hai, and Chong Chew were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery after their deaths.

1900–2000: Bukit Brown Cemetery

Background

In early colonial Singapore, various ethnic communities built cemeteries according to their practices; for example, the Malays buried their dead at sand ridges while the Chinese preferred hillsides. Prior to 1857, cemeteries in Singapore were considered "communal responsibilities" and the British government exerted little control over burial locations from the multiple ethnic communities. However, by the 1880s, expansion efforts in Singapore were restricted by the scarcity of suitable land; surrounding land around the city was deemed unusable as it was either swampland or taken up by cemeteries.
Due to the Chinese belief in burying their dead on hillsides, many suitable pieces of land were taken up by Chinese cemeteries. This belief led to concerns about sanitation, as the dead occupied the highest and more desirable sites, while the living resided on lower, more swampy land. Chinese cemeteries were increasingly seen by the authorities as both insanitary and restricting future development, leading to growing contention between the British government and Chinese communities in Singapore.

In 1887, a bill, which authorised the regulation, licensing, and inspection of cemeteries, was created in an attempt to control the cemeteries, particularly targeting Chinese cemeteries. When it was first introduced at a Legislative Council meeting, it was considered controversial by the Chinese community. Seah Liang Seah, a Chinese member of the Legislative Council, requested a postponement of the bill as it "seriously affected the interests of the Chinese community, mostly those of the respectable class." Following multiple petitions by the Chinese community, the bill was postponed and subsequently left in abeyance until 1896, when the issue of burials was reintroduced.

The bill was updated, giving the control of burial grounds to the Municipal Commission rather than the Legislative Council. The Commission could license, inspect burial grounds, close burial grounds if they were deemed unsafe, and impose penalties on improper corpse disposals. The control of burial grounds were given to the Commission, as the Chinese community's views were considered more represented on that body than on the Council. Another difference in the 1896 bill from the 1887 bill was that private burial grounds would have to be licensed instead of being fully prohibited. These restrictions led to private Chinese cemeteries becoming more prevalent, with a lack of public cemeteries for poorer Chinese labourers, who resorted to illegally dumping their dead, or non-Christian Chinese, as they could not bury at Christian cemeteries or private clan cemeteries.

Municipal acquisition and creation of Bukit Brown

Talks on the creation of a municipal Chinese cemetery had been ongoing since the 1880s, following complaints of restrictions placed on existing Chinese cemeteries. In the early twentieth century, following closures of cemeteries with max occupancies, old cemeteries being redeveloped, and fewer private cemeteries being made, the creation of a municipal cemetery became more important, especially for Chinese who were non-Christian or poor. Due to the urgency of the situation, some Chinese did not mind being buried in a municipal cemetery if it meant ignoring traditional burial methods involving geomancy.
The first official mention of a municipal Chinese cemetery was as early as 1904, when a group of Chinese residents, including Peranakan social activist Lim Boon Keng, suggested to the Municipal Commissioners to "set aside a burial ground for their use to be managed on the lines of the Christian Cemetery". In 1906, Lim suggested the inception of a proper burial site for the Chinese again, which the Municipal Commission unanimously agreed upon. Straits-born businessman Ching Keng Lee also agreed on the importance of a municipal cemetery for the Chinese, as it would help Chinese people of lower or middle income to afford burials. Singaporean politician Tan Kheam Hock also supported the establishment of a public Chinese cemetery. In 1917, Tan asked whether progress had been made in acquiring land at Bukit Brown to re-purpose it as a Chinese burial ground. In Song Ong Siang's ''One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore'', Tan was described as their "rememberer". After Bukit Brown Cemetery was opened, he would manage the cemetery until his death.

Given the breadth of support for a municipal cemetery, the Municipal Commission began sourcing suitable locations. The Hokkien cemetery at Keppel Harbour and the cemetery at Holland Road were initially considered for use, but were eventually rejected. Another option was at Bidadari, where the existing Bidadari Cemetery was already located, but the Commission rejected it as "the burial customs of the Chinese were incompatible with the general ambience of a site already consecrated to the Christian dead." The municipal president further stated that "there might be clashing and inconvenience" if burials from different traditions happened to take place at the same time. In a meeting on 26 October 1917, the Municipal Commission instead chose Seh Ong Cemetery, particularly due to its size and cost. Following this decision, the Seh Ong Kongsi stated:

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''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''ref name=":12">

After multiple negotiations with the Seh Ong Kongsi, where they refused to give up the land every time, the Municipal Commissioners decided that "the only other course left [for the Commission was] to approach the [British] government to appropriate the land in spite of the unwillingness of the owners". In 1919, the Municipal Commission acquired the land through compulsory acquisition despite resistance from the Seh Ong Kongsi. Two years were then spent on creating the layout for the cemetery, building footpaths and facilities, hiring staff, and establishing by-laws for the cemetery. The by-laws were created by a subcommittee of the Municipal Commission, which included Municipal Commissioners Tan and See Tiong Wah, a municipal health officer, an engineer, and a legal adviser.

Opening of Bukit Brown and subsequent use

The cemetery was officially opened as Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery on 1 January 1922. In 1923, the road leading to Bukit Brown Cemetery was named Bukit Brown Road, and another road leading up to the cemetery was named Kheam Hock Road after Tan. A cemetery temple was built, and a priest who sold joss sticks and candles was hired. The temple was modelled on the Thian Hock Keng Temple in Telok Ayer.

When it opened, Bukit Brown Cemetery was not initially popular with the Chinese; its first burial occurred in August 1922. The municipal president stated it was "not utilised to the extent which we had anticipated", with the main reasons being the size and layout of the grave plots, although these were put in place to maximise space. Bukit Brown Cemetery was separated into two sections, "general" and "pauper", to make it more inclusive. The general section's plots were about and cost $50 Strait whilst the pauper section's plots were . The pauper section was located in a low-lying area that was regularly flooded, but there was no monetary cost for plots.

In addition to the small grave plots, they were laid out in rows in groups of ten. This fixed positioning of the plots was unpopular with the Chinese as they preferred having individualised plots that followed traditional geomancy practices; the municipal authorities preferred the fixed positions. Due to the limited plot sizes, families tended to use two burial plots for one burial. Another complaint was the Commission's inconsistency in enforcing the layout rules; some graves took up two or more plots despite the fact that the by-laws required was one grave per plot. These larger plots were owned by wealthier individuals, leading to further complaints about social classes. The Municipal Commission eventually consulted with the Chinese Advisory Board, who amended the by-laws to better suit Chinese preferences. They changed the sizes of the burial plots, expanding the sizes of plots to in the general section and in the pauper section. Plot layouts were also changed to face either south or east and spaces for paths were left after every sixth row of graves.
These changes resulted in Bukit Brown Cemetery becoming more popular among the Chinese community. More rest houses and wells were built, and gardeners were hired to maintain the grounds. In 1925, See Tiong Wah suggested widening Kheam Hock Road and a bridge leading up to the cemetery. Upon being told that the bridge would be removed soon however, he withdrew the proposal to widen the bridge but still placed importance on widening the road to ease congestion towards the cemetery and the then-new Singapore Polo Club. His suggestion was rejected. By 1929, 40% of the dead among the Chinese community in Singapore were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery.

In 1941, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery was established, as Bukit Brown Cemetery and Bidadari Cemetery were both running out of space. By 1944, Bukit Brown Cemetery had reached its allotted number of burials and no further burials were allowed except for those who had reserved plots. In 1946, more grave plots at Bukit Brown Cemetery were released for people whose reservations had been taken up during the Japanese occupation and used for pauper burials. The following year, Bukit Brown Cemetery and Choa Chu Kang Cemetery were discussed in a municipal meeting by L. Rayman, who was concerned about the land use by the cemeteries. An amendment that limited the size of burial plots was later passed. In 1951, was spent by the Municipal Commission to maintain Bukit Brown Cemetery alongside two other cemeteries. was spent for maintenance whilst the remaining was for grass cutting. In 1965, the Public Works Department (PWD) exhumed 237 graves to realign Lornie Road off Adam Road. Bukit Brown Cemetery was closed for new burials in 1973 with about 100,000 graves.

From the 1970s to 1980s, occasional maintenance works by the Ministry of the Environment such as grass cutting were held. From 1992 to 1993, 600 graves were exhumed from nearby Chinese cemeteries to widen the Pan Island Expressway, which included Bukit Brown Cemetery.

2000–present: Redevelopment plans for Bukit Brown and conservation efforts

In 2011, the area was designated for residential development, leaving many activists upset, as they felt that the cemetery was "a distinctive slice of the multi-ethnic country's fast disappearing heritage" and that it should be preserved. The Ministry of National Development had stated their plans to convert the cemetery into a housing estate by 2030, along with the construction of a road to reduce traffic on the Pan Island Expressway. In 2012, National Development Minister of State Tan Chuan-Jin announced that 5,000 graves would be exhumed to make way for a new, eight-lane Lornie Highway that would cut through the cemetery, the aforementioned road to reduce traffic.

During a budget debate, Tan acknowledged the importance of heritage conservation in Singapore, but restated that the highway would have to be built to help connect to the northern-northeastern region and reduce traffic congestion on the existing Lornie Road. Tan also stated that the Urban Redevelopment Authority was in the process of documenting the graves at the cemetery. On 19 March 2012, the number of graves to be exhumed was reduced to 3,746, after several consultations. Some organisations consulted for the process include the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS), academics, and grave experts. Construction of the Lornie Highway began in 2011 and was expected to be completed by 2016, but was eventually completed in 2018. During construction, Bukit Brown Road was replaced with a section of Lornie Highway. Exhumed remains were either reinterred into smaller plots or cremated by the National Environment Agency. A bridge under Lornie Highway was built to help animals pass through and the highway was aligned in such as way that it would avoid existing streams in the area. Despite this, Ho Hua Chew of the Nature Society (Singapore) stated that birds and plant-life would remain affected by the highway.

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. It was also revealed that, in 2011, the rest of the cemetery would make way for a new public housing town in about 40 years time. In 2014, a bush fire broke out at the cemetery that was the about the size of "1½ football fields" which took the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) 2 hours to put out. Bukit Brown Cemetery was also named on the 2014 World Monuments Watch as an "at risk site".

In 2015, following the Singapore Botanic Gardens gaining UNESCO World Heritage Site status, Bukit Brown Cemetery and other sites were suggested for the same status. However, as cemeteries such as Bukit Brown or Jalan Kubor Cemetery were "neither a building nor a monument", they were unable to obtain National Monument status, making it unlikely they would receive UNESCO World Heritage Site status. In 2016, Bukit Brown Cemetery's gates, which were installed 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. In 2017, the SHS launched a self-guided trail through Bukit Brown Cemetery that took visitors around 25 gravestones.

In August 2024, Bukit Brown conservation groups opened an outdoor display called Sounds of the Earth, which featured 80 unclaimed artifacts that were collected in 2013, during the construction of Lornie Highway.

Geography

Bukit Brown Cemetery is located in Novena in the Central Region of Singapore and is bordered by the Central Water Catchment to the north, Toa Payoh to the east, Kallang to the south-east, Newton and Tanglin to the south, and Bukit Timah to the west. Built attractions around the cemetery include the Singapore Polo Club and the Old Police Academy. The cemetery is bordered by the Pan Island Expressway to the south and Thomson Road to the east, and is bisected by Lornie Highway.

Kampong Kheam Hock or Kheam Hock Village, a kampong village, formerly existed along Kheam Hock Road. In 1949, a municipal survey estimated there were 250 huts at the village whilst in 1984, an estimated 200 families lived there. Kampong Kheam Hock was listed for development in 1984; the village was demolished and its residents were moved to Housing and Development Board flats in Potong Pasir and Hougang.

In 2017, Singapore Heritage Society released a digital, self-guided trail of Bukit Brown Cemetery called the Bukit Brown Wayfinder. The guide divided a small section of the cemetery into three blocks with signs to direct users to 25 gravestones. Two non-operational Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations are located in the Bukit Brown area; Mount Pleasant MRT station, which is planned to be opened together with the Mount Pleasant planning area, and Bukit Brown MRT station, which will open once Bukit Brown Cemetery has been completely redeveloped.

Adjacent cemeteries

Mount Pleasant Cemetery

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, also known as Kopi Sua Cemetery or Coffee Hill Cemetery, is located nearby Thomson Road, by the Old Police Academy. Formerly a part of Bukit Brown Cemetery, it was separated from Bukit Brown when the government exhumed six hundred graves in 1993 to widen the Pan Island Expressway, causing Mount Pleasant Cemetery to be formed. Despite the fact that Mount Pleasant Cemetery is the same as Bukit Brown Cemetery, it experiences less visitors annually and is less well-maintained.

The cemetery has a pathway leading inside and is popular amongst paranormal groups due to reported sightings of the Pontianak, a mythical creature from Malay folklore that is said to be a vengeful female spirit, originating from women who died during childbirth. Sightings of the Pontianak have been disputed to be monkeys living in the surrounding area. In November 2021, a portion of Mount Pleasant Cemetery was going to be redeveloped by the Housing and Development Board, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and the Singapore Land Authority to create the new Mount Pleasant planning area, which it is also named after. An access road from the Pan Island Expressway was planned to have been built that would have cut through the cemetery. However, the road was later adjusted to be built elsewhere, leaving Mount Pleasant Cemetery unaffected. The Mount Pleasant planning area borders Mount Pleasant Cemetery to the east.

Seh Ong Cemetery

Seh Ong Cemetery was first established sometime in the 1870s. The land which the cemetery is located on was bought by Ong Hew Ko, Ong Ewe Hai, and Ong Chong Chew, who gave it to the Seh Ong Kongsi, a Hokkien clan. The Seh Ong Kongsi used the land as a village for Chinese immigrants before also coming to use the land as a cemetery by the 1870s. In 1919, the Municipal Commission acquired the land. In 1998, the Land Transport Authority exhumed some graves from Seh Ong Cemetery for upgrading works to the Pan Island Expressway. Seh Ong Cemetery is often referred to as Greater Bukit Brown, with the total amount of graves between Bukit Brown and Seh Ong being estimated to be around 200,000.

Traditional practices

Due to Bukit Brown Cemetery's high Chinese population, traditional Chinese festivals are held there annually; these include the Qingming Festival, during which traffic police are required to regulate the high traffic flow into the cemetery. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government advised visitors to Bukit Brown Cemetery and Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium to be in groups of four and to refrain from taking with them elderly family members.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is another festival that is usually performed by representatives of Chinese temples who, despite having no relation to the deceased, perform rituals and make offerings to them. The representatives regard this as a form of charity because the deceased do not have descendants to perform the rituals for them. The Winter Clothes Festival, held during the tenth Lunar Month, is also held at Bukit Brown Cemetery. Although less commonly practised, it has been held annually since 1996 by the Heng Kang Tian Temple.

Environment

Vegetation

Due to its dense vegetation, Bukit Brown Cemetery helps to prevent flooding caused by surface runoff and serves as a carbon storage site. In a position paper, Singapore Heritage Society argued that the cemetery should be kept for these reasons. Other organisations requested that the government carry out "a comprehensive environmental impact assessment" of the cemetery. Plants in the cemetery grounds include '' Campnosperma auriculatum'' (terentang) and ''Macaranga gigantea'' (giant mahang).

In the 1950s, Bukit Brown Cemetery was cleared of its vegetation, but soon became overgrown again. The cemetery's vegetation has been described as a "neglected space" with an "unrecognisable landscape". In 2014, a bush fire broke out that spread to an area of about "1½ football fields" which took the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) two hours to put out.

A study carried out from 2019 to 2022 by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) studied the plants at Bukit Brown Cemetery and surrounding cemeteries, referring to the entire area as Greater Bukit Brown. The area contained 233 species of plants, of which 158 were considered native. Of the 158 native species, 76 are considered nationally threatened. Plant species found at Greater Bukit Brown include:

Wildlife

Bukit Brown Cemetery is known for its wildlife, making it a popular location with photographers, nature lovers, and bird-watchers. The cemetery also serves as a green space for joggers, cyclists, and horse-riders, who are from the nearby Singapore Polo Club. In 2012, Nature Society (Singapore) recorded 90 resident and migrant birds, along with 48 species of other animals living at the cemetery. Mammals and birds seen at Bukit Brown Cemetery include the white-bellied woodpecker, the changeable hawk-eagle, the Sunda flying lemur, and the large flying fox.

From July 2012 to October 2012, LKCNHM studied fishes in two streams at Bukit Brown Cemetery, called Bukit Brown Stream and Mount Pleasant Stream. Eleven species of fish were found, of which four were considered native. The native fish species were the walking catfish, the Asian swamp eel, the '' Oxyeleotris marmorata'', and the Penang betta. Additionally, from August 2022 to June 2023, six species of frogs were recorded from the Mount Pleasant Stream. The six frogs were the bengal toad, the crab-eating frog, the Malayan giant frog, the four-lined tree frog, the Mukhlesur's chorus frog, and the American bullfrog.

The area also serves as a foraging ground and habitat for wildlife. Animals such as the ''Pseudotajuria donatana, Labrador, and Telok Blangah, which are located south of Bukit Brown.

Graves

Architecture and design of graves

Graves at Bukit Brown Cemetery were built with a variety of materials from Europe and East Asia using traditional building techniques from the 1920s and 1930s. Graves were usually built using materials such as bricks, commonly from Alexandra Brickworks and Jurong Brickworks, and plaster from Shanghai, China. Graves also represent the varying social statuses of decedents through their decorations. For example, decorative tiles from Europe and Japan were imported by more wealthy Chinese. Other tiles, known as Peranakan tiles, were named after early Chinese immigrants to Singapore, who inspired Straits Chinese culture. Graves were traditionally built on the sides of hills due to ''feng shui'' practices by the Chinese.

The decorative tiles were usually made of ceramic. Early tiles used originated from the United Kingdom and Belgium, with later cheaper tiles originating from Japan. They often had floral designs to them; similar tiles were popular for house decoration as well as graves. Encaustic tiles originating from England were often used as domestic flooring; they were typically used on the tomb's terrace.

Graves also featured inscribed stone panels, stone reliefs, and statues with materials from quarries in either Singapore or Malaysia. Shops selling sculpted stones imported from China were commonly found along Kheam Hock Road. Marble headstones with lead lettering imported from Europe were also used. Some graves have oval-shaped ceramic portraits of the deceased on the headstone. Techniques for making these portraits emerged from France; this style reached Singapore around the early 20th-century.
File:Carvings of the 24 paragons of filial piety (11545024973).jpg, Carvings of the ''24 Paragons of Filial Piety'' on a grave.
File:Gravestone of Oon Chim Neo, Seh Ong Cemetery, Singapore - 20130728-03.JPG, Tiles on the side of a grave with floral designs on them.
File:Gravestones of Ong Sam Leong and family members, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20110326-09.JPG, A Chinese stone lion statue on a grave.
File:Sepoy statue, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20110326-01.jpg, A sepoy statue standing by a grave. These statues were believed to act as guardians to the deceased.
File:Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20111210-06.JPG, Grave built out of brick.

Individual gravestones

Gravestone of Oh Sian Guan and Yap Suan Neo

(; 1874–1943) and Yap Suan Neo (; 1876–1950) were born in Tong'an and Xiamen respectively. Oh was a banker of Hokkien descent who moved to Singapore in 1907, running a business at Telok Ayer Street called Chin Kiat with Tan Tiong Sing. He later became the founding director of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. His great-grandson is writer Kevin Kwan.

On the left side of their gravestone, there is a carving of the Chinese legend Madam White Snake Rescues Xu Xian on the tomb arm. It shows Bai Suzhen approaching the temple where Xu Xian is being held. On the right side of the gravestone, it shows a carving of Chinese folklore character Nezha fighting the Dragon Prince, Ao Guang, at his palace.

Gravestone of Ong Sam Leong and his family

Ong Sam Leong (; 1857–1918) was a Straits-born businessman of Perankan descent. Ong owned multiple rubber plantations and sawmills and was known for signing a contract to supply workers to help mine phosphate at Christmas Island, Australia, which made him wealthy. Ong's gravestone is a larger plot located on higher ground; poorer people were given smaller plots by the foot of hills. The Ong family had bought the large plot on the highest hill in the cemetery before it was acquired by the government.

About the size of ten three-room Housing and Development Board flats, Ong's gravestone is the largest in Bukit Brown Cemetery. Ong was buried with his wife Yeo Hean Neo (楊賢娘), his sons Ong Boon Tat (王文達) and Ong Peng Hock (王平福), and their wives Gwee Soon Neo (魏順娘) and Lim Yeok Quan (林育環) respectively. Ong and Yeo are buried in the main tomb in the centre whilst his sons and their wives are buried in two separate tombs located on the left and right of Ong's tomb.

Ong's gravestone is typical of Chinese practices. The granite tiling of Ong's gravestone in the shape of a large half moon is known as the Bright Hall and, according to ''feng shui'' practices, gathers qi (气, pronounced "chee") to it. His tomb has two pairs of stone lions and statues of sepoys on either side to "guard" his tomb. Carvings on his gravestone include the story of Guan Lu helping to extend Zhao Yan's lifespan and some of the 24 stories of the Filial Pieties.

Gravestone of Lee Hoon Leong

Lee Hoon Leong (; 1871–1942) was a Straits-born Chinese businessman. Lee worked as a pharmacist and purser for the Heap Eng Moh Shipping Line. A member of the Lee family, he was the father of Lee Chin Koon, grandfather of the first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and great-grandfather of the third Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

On his gravestone, his date of death is recorded as 2602, referring to the Japanese calendar's Koki Year. Gravestones recording the date of death using the Koki calendar are common on gravestones built during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, such as Lee's.

Notable burials

Bukit Brown is believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside China. It is also the burial place of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers. Other notable burials include:
* Tan Lark Sye (1897–1972), Singaporean businessman
* Ong Boon Tat (1888–1941), founder of New World Amusement Park
* Lim Chong Pang (1904–1956), Singaporean businessman and racehorse owner
* Tan Kim Ching (1829–1892), Singaporean politician and businessman
* Cheang Hong Lim (1825–1893), Chinese opium merchant and philanthropist
* Tan Kheam Hock (1862–1922), Singaporean politician
* See Tiong Wah (1886–1940), Singaporean businessman and politician
* Gan Teong Tat (1878–1969), Malaysian merchant and politician
* Lee Choo Neo (1895–1947), Singaporean physician
* Tay Koh Yat (1880–1957), Singaporean entrepreneur
* Tan Ean Kiam (1881–1943), Hokkien businessman and founder of OCBC Bank
* Chew Boon Lay (1851 or 1852–1933), Chinese businessman and namesake of Boon Lay
* Gan Eng Seng (1844–1899), Chinese philanthropist
* Koh Hoon Teck (1878–1956), Peranakan musician
* Khoo Kay Hian (1878–1966), Singaporean broker and founder of UOB-Kay Hian
* Chew Geok Leong (died 1939), Chinese physician and former Qing dynasty official
* Tan Boo Liat (1881–1934), Singaporean businessman and philanthropist

See also

* Former cemeteries in Singapore
* Bukit Brown MRT station, a Mass Rapid Transit station named after Bukit Brown Cemetery

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

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* {{Portal bar, Singapore, Architecture

Cemeteries in Singapore
Chinese cemeteries
1922 establishments in British Malaya
Cemeteries established in the 1920s