Bukit Brown Cemetery | |
---|---|
| |
Details | |
Established | 1 January 1922 |
Closed | 1973 |
Location | 36C Lor Halwa, Singapore 298637 |
Country | Singapore |
Coordinates | 1°20′10″N 103°49′23″E / 1.3361°N 103.8230°E |
Type | Chinese |
Size | 200 ha (490 acres) |
No. of graves | 100,000 |
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]
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]
Brown 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]
Brown 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 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] In 2014, Bukit Brown Cemetery was named on the World Monuments Watch as an 'at risk site'. [17]
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. [18]
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. [19] [20] In 2018, Bukit Brown Road was replaced by a section of the Lornie Highway. [21]
Bukit Brown Cemetery | |
---|---|
| |
Details | |
Established | 1 January 1922 |
Closed | 1973 |
Location | 36C Lor Halwa, Singapore 298637 |
Country | Singapore |
Coordinates | 1°20′10″N 103°49′23″E / 1.3361°N 103.8230°E |
Type | Chinese |
Size | 200 ha (490 acres) |
No. of graves | 100,000 |
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]
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]
Brown 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]
Brown 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 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] In 2014, Bukit Brown Cemetery was named on the World Monuments Watch as an 'at risk site'. [17]
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. [18]
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. [19] [20] In 2018, Bukit Brown Road was replaced by a section of the Lornie Highway. [21]