Bukit Brown Cemetery

I’ve been wanting to go to Bukit Brown Cemetery for the longest time and was very happy that I was allowed to tag along with a group of RI boys on a field trip there. The Bukit Brown Cemetery visit is part of one of their Geography DMPs (differentiated modules programme) and it was led by Charles and Raymond from API (Asia Paranormal Investigators).

Chinese tombstones are very interesting. By looking at a tombstone, you can tell which part of China the person was from, the names of their children, etc. We saw the grave of Tay Ho Swee and his mother and some other famous pioneers. We also got to see the largest tomb there which belongs to Ong Sam Leong and his wife and it’s supposedly the size of ten 3-room HDB flats. It was quite amazing! There were stone lions, Sikh guards and fairies protecting the tomb and the 24 paragons of filial piety are carved along the sides. There’s also a moat and the area in front of the tombstones is laid with Peranakan tiles. Another very important tomb in Bukit Brown Cemetery is that of LKY’s grandfather.

I really hope they don’t exhume the remains there and build over it anytime soon because it is so significant to Singapore’s history and there’s so much we can learn from the place. So here are some pictures taken at the cemetery.