10/24/2011 BBC Reflections #1: A Walk in A CemeteryThe tombstones found in the Bukit Brown Cemetery tell us a lot about the practices and people of the time. There is still much for us to explore and learn through the details etched on these tombstones about our past. Toh Xin Yi reflects on this after attending our recent Bukit Brown walkabout. The following are her thoughts. A Walk in A Cemetery by Toh Xin Yi, Year 2, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, NUS I attended the Walkabout and these are my thoughts: I felt that the tour took us back in time and from the graves/tombstones we can literally 'witness' the footprints the historical events has left. For example, the tombstone of Lee Hoon Leong, grandfather of Lee Kuan Yew, had the year of death engraved on it as 02 which actually meant Japanese year of 2602. This was actually one of the marks the Japanese Occupation had left behind in Singapore (way before our time). Moreover, on the tombstones, the place of origin of the ancestors were actually engraved on them. Hence, by looking at the tombstones, I felt that we have been transported back into time, taking a peek into the lives of our ancestors or those buried in the cemetery. One of the more interesting things that we discovered through the tour was that some of the tombstones were personalised. Tiles depicting colourful peacocks, blooming flowers and even pigs can be found adorning the tombstones. These actually revealed that way before our time and existence, personalisation of graves were 'trendy'! It is in fact not a novel idea that one can decorate the casket or have custom-made the caskets in modern days. Hence, I feel that the Cemetery holds one of the important keys to history that Singaporeans should be aware of. Now that globalisation and urbanisation is sweeping by storm across the globe, it is hence far more important that we should still keep something uniquely significant to Singapore and not be swept away by the wave of urbanisation and lose our heritage.
10/24/2011 Bukit Brown Cemetery WalkaboutDear all, Thank you so much for attending the recent walkabout organised by our society at the Bukit Brown Cemetery. We hope you have gained so much from it even though it was held for only a day. We really appreciate your coming down to explore with us one of Singapore's heritage that will unfortunately be destroyed soon. Indeed there is still so much to explore and discover in this pristine, biodiversity- and historically-rich area. However, though currently housing approximately 120,000 graves and being the oldest Teochew/Hokkien cemetery in Singapore, this cemetery will be affected by development plans. These include the construction of a road linking to the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) commencing next month.
Thus, by visiting this place, we hope to have brought to light (and life!) the stories and significance of Bukit Brown for you. Do visit this place and spread the news about Bukit Brown to your family and friends before it is too late. We hope to have another walkabout there as well, so look out for announcements! Please note that we will be having a public symposium on Bukit Brown next month. Visit this page for more details. Also, don't forget to sign the online petition here. In the meantime, if you would like to contribute in any way possible to this cause, you are greatly encouraged to do so as we need all the help we can get! Contact us know if you are interested. Warmly, the NUS Southeast Asian Studies Society team |
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July 2015
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