How Eng Neo Avenue got its name

 A Tree and a Grave Find

 It was at a paranormal fair held at Heeren in the middle of 2008 that we received a tip off from a Filipino maid.

She said that there was one big tree near the house where she worked where she heard from someone that there was a spirit living in that tree and that occasionally someone prayed at that tree.   Perhaps we could discover something strange there.

We found a big magnificient banyan tree in Eng Neo Avenue

 Acting on the tip off, we then went forth to investigate the tree, which turned out to be a big banyan tree in a roundabout in Eng Neo Avenue

 There we found an urn which was used for praying,  but also we found a tombstone fragment which was the Fu Shen which usually formed part of a tomb complex.

Fu Shen is the protective deity for tombs.  From the shape and design of the Fu Shen, we could deduce that it most likely belong to a prominent family, and dated around early 20th century.

 

The Fu Zhen is very big, so much so that we can be sure that it would have come from a very big tomb.

Could this area be a former graveyard?  We asked ourselves. We decided to research further into the land history.

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The land that Gaw brought

Gaw Boon Chan came with his wife and children from Semarang in or around 1900.

From our research from the land deed records, we found out that Gaw Boon Chan (Tjhan) bought over the land in 1900 when he came over to Singapore.

After his unfortunate death in 1911, his wife  became the adminstrator of his estate which cover the whole of the 21 lots shown below.

 

His wife died on Dec 27, 1941.  She was 81.

Mrs Gaw Boon Chan obituary notice

 

Mrs Gaw Boon Chan's name was Tan Eng Neo.

Tan Eng Neo in a will dated Jul 1938 appointed Kwa Siew Tee and the eldest son among her three sons Gaw Khek Swee, Gaw Khek Chew and Gaw Khek Jim to be the executors and trustees of her will.  5 years from the date of her death the land and properties will be sold, realised and converted into ready cash all such part and to divide the among the trustees.

 Kwa Siew Tee was the brother of Mrs Gaw Khek Sin.  Gaw Khek Sin was Tan Eng Neo eldest son.who passed away in 1936. (Kwa Siew Tee was Lee Kuan Yew's father in law)

Auction of land

Execution of Tan Eng Neo will was slightly delayed by the war, but finally on 27 May 1950,  nearly all her properties were auctioned off, including the which included the grave.

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The birth of Eng Neo Avenue

 

In a 1938 map (Federation of Malay States (FMS) Survey No 292 - 1938,  we could roughly make out the plot of land that Tan Eng Neo owns, but there is no Eng Neo avenue yet on the map.

There is only a crown reserve road linking Dunearn Road to the land owned by Tan Eng Neo. We can briefly make out the big plot of land from the faint lines drawn on the FMS map, but no road yet in 1938.

 

 

In a land deed dated 2nd Aug 1939, the Bukit Timah Rubber Estate Ltd agreed to construct a road not less than 18 ft around

the land owned by Eng Neo. They also need to take care of the road until the road was taken over by the Road Board or other authority.

The period of construction shall not less than 3 years from the date of that agreement.  This was in consideration of a land exchange deed between

Bukit Timah Rubber Estate Ltd and Eng Neo over some small plots of land.

 

According to the street directory map of 1953, Eng Neo Avenue at that time was still a private road.

 

 

You can see that Eng Neo Ave is a private road joined by an access road to the public highway known as Dunearn Road.

 

A land deed mentioned Eng Neo Avenue as a private road

Eng Neo became a public road only after 1976, whereby previously a residence there  named as 122 off Dunearn Road,  would now be renamed as 112D, Eng Neo Avenue

 

Also since Gaw Boon Chan died in 1911 while owning the land, we believe the land to be that to be a private burial ground for the Gaw family. From the big size of The Fu Shen we found, we think that there is a possibility that the Fu Shen is part  of this grave complex and could be that of Gaw Boon Chan

From the plot of the land above,  one could see in Lot 21 there is a very big grave drawn there, and Lot 20 is where we found the big tree.  After the tomb was cleared,  one part of the fragment of the tomb complex was left behind under the  canopy of the big tree.  

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From the above, there is no doubt in our mind about how Eng Neo Avenue got its name.

If it is not for the information provided by the Filipino maid, and the piece of tomb fragment that we found,  we might never have gone deeper into this research to find out about the origin of Eng Neo Avenue.

Now the magnificent banyan tree is gone in the name of development,  and the landscape has changed forever there.

The tomb and the tree might have been gone,  but at least the history and memory of Gaw Boon Chan and his wife, Mdm Tan Eng Neo and how the road came about remain. 

 

 

In memorial of Kwong Hou Sua (1933 - 2008)

In memorial of Kwong Hou Sua (1933 - 2008)

Sign, pic from PICAS

And some of its occupants:

李润湖 Lee Ren Hu (1913 - 1947?)

Literary warrior as inscribed in the tomb.

Tomb erected by wife + son + daughter

Newspaper reporter, writer, Editor, poet and politician.

Tan Siak Kew (1906 - 1977)

General Manager, Four Seas Corporation

Sponsor of NUS, Nanyang University

Ambassador to Thailand etc

Grave S/No A1541 (for exhumation) - Lee Kwang Zhe

Earliest tomb,erected in 1928,  damaged by Japanese bomb fragments

One of the few Hokkien tombs before Guang Xiao Shan was bought by Ngee Ann Kongsi in 1933 to become a Teochew cemetery

The village at the cemetery

And the villagers who stayed there before and those who still remain: like Mdm Huang, who looks after

the cemetery temple and still collects the decade old prices of $5 - $10 for tomb maintenance.

To the various gusty old woman who still comes regularly in the afternoon to care about the tombs.

And all the tombs who may not have descendents to claim and exhume them and whose ashes may be scattered over the sea…..

There is a  Guang Xiao Shan Tua Pek Gong temple there.  In the early days, it was known as Lin Shan Miu. - 麟山廟 (Unicorn Mountain Temple)

In a book published in 1958 on Chinese Temples in Singapore„ Dr Leon Comber, mentioned about this Unicorn Mountain Temple.

From the book:

This small shrine is also known as the Fuk Tak Miao or Toh Pek Kong Temple. The main deity, as implied in the name, is the Grand Old Man, Toh Pek Kong.

But it is looked after by a poor old man, who lives with his dog in wretched hut in front of the small stone building housing the shrine.

I have included it as a typical example of a guardian temple for a Chinese cemetery.

The cemetery, which lies on the slope of the hill stretching behind, is the Kuang Hsiao Shan. It is one of the many Chinese burial grounds in the rural areas owned by the Ngee Ann Kongsi, a Teochew association. The temple itself is said to be about ten years old. A Chinese wayang and market are held here on festive days connected with the deity.

The Hokkien grave which was at the top the hill and obviously the best “fengshui” position and one of the few Hokkien graves before Ngee Ann Kongsi took over
:

Grave S/No A1541 (for exhumation) - Lim Kwang Zhe, erected in 1928

Well, he was born in Lin Shan Village (马巷 Ma Xiang 麟山 Lin Shan)which means Unicorn Mountain in Ma Xiang, an area in Tong Ann.

here you can see one of his sons Lim Wen Chi 林文勅 on the grave

And here his son Lim Wen Chi from Lin Shan 麟山 donated a plaque Toh Pek Kong in 1928 to the temple

Tua Pek Kong 1928 plaque

Therefore it possible that this temple is originally named after the place Lin Shan 麟山 where this Lim (who might be the benefactor of the temple or owner of the land ) came from.

He might have named this hill Lin Shan in memory of his home town Lin Shan (so called because it is shaped like an unicorn)

This Lin Shan would later became Guang Xiao Shan after Ngee Ann Kongsi brought over the land in 1933.

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LTA would like to call on the next-of-kin/descendants (claimants) of the deceased buried in the graves whose tombstones

have been marked by LTA in this section of the cemetery (“the Affected Graves”) to register by 15 October 2008 their

claims of ancestor’s remains via one of the following methods.

By fax and post to:

Land Transport Authority

Survey and Lands Division

1 Hampshire Road

Survey and Lands Division

Block 5 Level 2

Singapore 219428

Fax : 6396 1136

By online registration via here.

Register in-person at our office at the above-stated address between 8.30am and 5.00pm, Mondays to Fridays except public

holidays and between 9.00am and 12.00pm on Saturdays.

Registration Form can be downloaded here.

The list of names of the deceased which can be discerned from the tombstones of the Affected Graves are contained in here.

It should be noted that this list is not comprehensive and does not contain the names of deceased where the deceased’s  full name cannot be discerned from the tombstone.

For Enquiries

E-mail to feedback@lta.gov.sg

Call us at our 24-hour Customer Service Line @ 1800-Call LTA (1800-2255 582)

Important Information

Exhumation and Cremation by LTA

LTA will engage an exhumation contractor to commence the exhumation in mid-October 2008.

Each grave will be exhumed individually under the supervision of a Government Officer.

All exhumed remains will be cremated individually.

The ashes will be placed in an urn and stored in a standard-size niche at a Government crematorium and columbarium.

A standard-size marble plaque, inscribed with the name of the deceased and date of death, if made known to LTA, will be installed over the niche.

The above services will be provided by LTA without charge.

Claimants may arrange to keep the ashes of the cremated remains at places of their own choice at their own cost.

Private Arrangements

Claimants may engage their own contractor to exhume the graves at their own cost before LTA’s scheduled exhumation. LTA will bear the cost of cremation and provision of niches at a Government crematorium and columbarium.

Unclaimed Graves

All Affected Graves which are not claimed by 15 October 2008 will be exhumed in accordance with Government practice for unclaimed graves and the remains cremated individually. The ashes will be kept by LTA and thereafter scattered at sea if they remain unclaimed within three years after the date of the exhumation.

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5 Nov 2008

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will soon be commencing the final phase of the exhumation of the graves at the Kwong Hou Sua Teochew Cemetery (off Woodlands Road). The land, which is approximately 70,000sqm, is planned for industrial developments. In October 2008, LTA had commenced the earlier phase of the exhumation for the portion of the land required for the Downtown Line depot development.


2 About 1020 graves will be affected under Phase 2. The next-of-kin or descendants are to register their claims of their ancestor’s remains by 17 April 2009. Public exhumation is scheduled to commence from March 2009 and to be completed by end June 2009.