Exhumation at Bukit Brown begins

ST News

Dec 19, 2013
Exhumation at Bukit Brown begins

3,440 graves will be exhumed over next 9 months to make way for road

By Grace Chua

An exhumed grave at Bukit Brown Cemetery. The public exhumation began on Tuesday. A total of 304 graves have already been exhumed privately by family members. In all, 1,263 graves have been claimed to date. -- ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

EXHUMATION has begun at last at the Bukit Brown Cemetery, where more than 3,000 of nearly 100,000 graves will make way for a new road.

The public exhumation, coordinated by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), began on Tuesday. Over the next nine months, 3,442 graves will be exhumed.

A total of 304 graves have already been exhumed privately by family members. In all, 1,263 graves have been claimed to date.

The remains that are still unclaimed three years after exhumation will be cremated individually and scattered at sea.

Construction of the new road will begin in stages after the exhumation of affected graves is completed, an LTA spokesman said.

"While construction is ongoing, members of the public can continue to enter the other parts of Bukit Brown Cemetery that are not affected by the road construction. The details of access routes will be made available to the public when construction starts."

The exhumation process is being documented by anthropologist Hui Yew-Foong and his team, who have been appointed by the Government for the task.

Dr Hui, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said the team observes what rituals might have been carried out, what artefacts were buried with the dead, and if the tombs have any underground structure.

For instance, underground chambers were sometimes lined with bricks to keep coffins dry, while women might have jewellery or miniature cooking utensils buried with them.

Meanwhile, members of the public have sent letters to the Ministry of National Development as part of feedback about the Draft Masterplan 2013, pleading for the rest of the cemetery to be kept instead of redeveloping it for housing.

Today is the last day for the public to submit feedback on the Urban Redevelopment Authority's draft masterplan, which was made public last month.

Among those who have written in is Mr Ishvinder Singh, 26, a supply chain professional.

He became intrigued by Bukit Brown when he saw photos of Sikh-guard statues at the tombs of Chinese businessmen and officials. This led him to visit Bukit Brown and investigate its history as well as that of the Sikh community here.

"I realised that the Sikh statues weren't just about my own community, but about the interactions that took place between different communities," he said.

caiwj@sph.com.sg

Collaborating to preserve the Singapore story

TODAYonline
Dec 19, 2013

Collaborating to preserve the Singapore story

Balancing heritage with development, especially on a little island with global-city aspirations, is never easy even in the best of times.
By Terence Chong


Balancing heritage with development, especially on a little island with global-city aspirations, is never easy even in the best of times.

But the Singapore Story, if nothing else, has always been about maximising whatever the fates have left us and forging new pathways. It is a story that we tell ourselves, our students, our citizens, and stories are important because they give meaning to our lives.

The recent release of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Draft Master Plan 2013 is yet another hint of how the Singapore Story will unfold.

Unlike the Concept Plan, which is a long-term vision of the country’s urban and physical development as well as land allocation, the Master Plan is a more detailed imagination of zoning and density areas. It is a statutory document, which means it has to pass through Parliament and can be revised.

The current Draft Master Plan focuses on green townships as well as shortening the distance between work and home. And while narrowing the distance between workplace and home is generally positive and cost-effective, it is a phenomenon that should invite social researchers to interrogate the socio-cultural impact this may have on our life patterns and everyday culture.

GOOD SIGNS FOR CONSULTATIVE APPROACH

One positive turn has been the launch of the My Conservation Portal by the URA in October. The portal brings together heritage maps, photographs and write-ups, and invites public submissions on the more than 7,000 conserved buildings around the island. This innovative use of technology will allow not only local but also global users to familiarise themselves with our heritage sites and buildings.

Similarly, we should also applaud the decision to make public the list of 75 buildings proposed for conservation gazette in the launch of the Our Future, Our Home — Draft Master Plan 2013 exhibition. The Singapore Heritage Society has long kept an eye on any development to these buildings and championed the gazetting of some, such as the five Singapore Improvement Trust housing blocks at Kampong Silat. It is indeed a pleasant surprise that the Government intends to gazette them.

The publication of this list is significant because the last time such a list was included in the Master Plan was in 1958. One could speculate why such a list was not published between then and now — perhaps for fear of real estate speculation or the destruction of buildings by owners who do not want to bear the onerous burden and obligations that sometimes come with gazetting.

As such, both the introduction of the My Conservation Portal and the publication of this list bode well for the increasingly consultative and transparent approach of state agencies.

CONSERVED BUILDING OR MONUMENT?

There could, nonetheless, be clearer and better defined evaluation criteria for building conservation.

The current criteria that buildings should possess “special architectural, historical, traditional or aesthetic interest” (Planning Act) is just too broadly worded.

Indeed, how is this different from the Preservation of Monuments Act, which calls for the protection of buildings that possess “historic, cultural, traditional, archaeological, architectural, artistic or symbolic significance and national importance”? This is not a question of semantics, but one that has real consequences on the way we decide what to keep and what to demolish. It is a matter of what we want to include in our Singapore Story and what we want to expunge.

The difference between the conservation of buildings and national monuments used to be clear. Now, it is getting less so. For example, could Leong San See Temple (which is on the list of 75 buildings) qualify as a national monument when, say, the Hong San See Temple does? Why is the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple (another on the list of 75) not considered a national monument when the Sri Mariamman Temple is included as one?

The writing of the Singapore Story is a collective effort. With the Draft Master Plan 2013, the URA has made small but positive steps towards co-authorship with civil society, academics and ordinary citizens.

This is not to say that co-authorship will always be smooth. Indeed, as the Bukit Brown saga has shown, tensions and disagreements continue to linger. It is thus important for civil society and the state to set aside differences of opinion over issues where there is no reconciliation in sight, and move on to other challenges and issues where collaborative effort will bear fruit.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Terence Chong and Yeo Kang Shua are Vice-President and Executive Committee member of the Singapore Heritage Society, respectively.

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/collaborating-preserve-singapore-story

通过武吉布朗思考历史 ——访金笔奖华文短篇小说组首奖得主叶铭扬

Zaobao News
张曦娜 2013年12月06日

通过武吉布朗思考历史 ——访金笔奖华文短篇小说组首奖得主叶铭扬

叶铭扬目前在英国念医科。（受访者提供）

本届金笔奖华文短篇小说组首奖选出了两名得主：叶铭扬与刘菲菲。 21岁的叶铭扬毕业自莱佛士初级学院，目前留学英国，是伦敦国王学院医学系一年级学生。课余之暇，他也兼任国王学院医学系杂志记者。 叶铭扬的得奖小说《花开花落，云卷云舒》，以武吉布朗墓园为背景，故事主人翁是个孤儿，从小被武吉布朗墓园一名年迈看守人领养，所以经常跟随老奶奶到墓园去，那里俨然成了他儿时的乐园。小说对墓园的景观，包括墓园中的花草飞禽、名人墓地有不少细节描写，并带出墓园让道迁坟的事件。

 叶铭扬在英国接受本报电邮访问时说：“之所以写这篇小说，是想介绍武吉布朗墓园，让大家思考历史与传统的价值。针对这一方面，我个人还是相当满意。评判老师在颁奖会上提出一些意见，主要说我这篇文笔较为青涩，这方面我会多加努力。”

 叶铭扬说，《花开花落，云卷云舒》的创作灵感，来自他2009年所做的A水准专题作业“保卫武吉布朗墓园”。他说：“当时收集了资料，也做实地考察，发现武吉布朗墓园真的非常可贵。我年幼时也曾与家人到那里拜山，小说中的场景描述就包含我的一些记忆。

今年初挖掘墓园的方案掀起许多人的议论，我想通过自己对这片土地的认识，借短篇小说来介绍它的珍贵。” 叶铭扬也说，《花开花落，云卷云舒》故事纯属虚构，但有关墓园的资料却是真实的。

“小说里的那位墓园看守人，形象多半来自于2009年我到那里实地考察时的观察所得。故事主角的原型则是大家的成长经验。我想反映人随着时代变迁，对历史与文化的忘却。” 作为医科学生，叶铭扬却以华文从事创作，这在本地年轻人之中十分少见。

叶铭扬说：“我觉得科学与文学看似毫无关系，其实却是相辅相成。之所以对华文创作有兴趣，因为它能表达出一些无法以数据来衡量的社会价值。” 受到初院华文文学老师启发 说到自己走上华文文学创作这条路，叶铭扬将功劳归给读书时的华文与文学老师。他说：“初级学院的华文文学老师启发了我，让我了解华文写作的技巧，我非常感激他们。

” 叶铭扬就读莱佛士初级学院时选修“H2华文与文学”课程，还参加双文化课程，进而喜欢上华文文学。他说：“林高老师与吴淑虎老师是我在文学道路上的启蒙老师。我在小说中使用的一些写作技巧，都是在文学班时向老师学习的。

林高老师也是作家，读他的作品令我获益良多。他对于写作的热忱更启发了我。” 因为对华文文学的热爱，叶铭扬中学时代就开始写作，一有空就写写自己的想法与感受 。《花开花落，云卷云舒》是他的第一篇得奖作品，也是他第一篇正式发表的作品。 作家林高说，叶铭扬在知悉自己获奖后发了简讯给他，低调地告诉老师，与他“分享获得金笔奖的喜悦”。

 谈到未来的创作计划，叶铭扬说：“时间允许，我会继续创作。但对我来说，创作的主要动力是，我是否有些想法渴望通过创作发表，而不只是为了创作而创作。” - 

What about a memorial garden for Bukit Brown?

ST Forum
Nov 27, 2013

What about a memorial garden for Bukit Brown?

THE National Heritage Board (NHB) developed the Bidadari Memorial Garden in 2004 to commemorate the history and heritage of the former Bidadari Cemetery after the graves were exhumed.

The gateway as well as selected tombstones and relics from the cemetery were some of the items relocated to the memorial garden.

Will the NHB consider building a memorial garden for Bukit Brown Cemetery too?

The construction of the highway will affect more than 4,000 graves, including those of a number of historical figures such as: - See Tiong Wah, the municipal commissioner from 1916 to 1930. He was instrumental in setting up Bukit Brown Cemetery with Tan Kheam Hock. He was also a Justice of the Peace and president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce;

- Ho Siak Kuan, the chief Chinese translator for the Straits Settlement government;

- Khoo Kay Hian, the founder of stockbroking firm Kay Hian and Co, which is now known as UOB Kay Hian;

- Khoo Seok Wan, an accomplished poet and probably the most prolific literary figure in early Singapore; and

- Lim Kim Seng, a municipal commissioner and Justice of the Peace, who helped set up Ngee Ann Girls' School, which eventually became Ngee Ann Primary School.

There is also a cluster of Qing era tombs (circa 1830s) that should be considered for preservation as well.

The NHB can do more to protect and preserve selected tombstones and relics that are of significant historical and heritage value.

Goh See Chen (Ms)

Bukit Brown activism: a race to save history

PENANG MONTHLY
November 7, 2013

Bukit Brown activism: a race to save history

Photograph: SG Yung/Flickr
With a motto that states “We guide rain or shine”, the Bukit Brown volunteers in Singapore are fighting against time to save a crucial piece of the island nation’s history.

By Veronica Liew

Standing amidst 173 acres of lush and undisturbed undergrowth in Bukit Brown, Singapore, one becomes aware of a sense of urgency in the air. A loose group of volunteers, a.k.a. Brownies, is in a race against time to save Bukit Brown and the graves of 3,746 pioneers from being cleared to make way for road extensions to alleviate traffic congestion. Indeed, the exhumation notices erected by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) at the entrance of the cemetery grounds declare with bureaucratic monotony that “part of the burial ground is required for the development of the new dual four-lane road. The LTA of Singapore will undertake the exhumation of the affected graves.”

Transiting from the present to a forgotten past
Much has been made of Singapore’s attitude and aptitude towards national progress, with its lauded urban development and regeneration strategies winning it fans (and clients) in other emerging Asian nations. Imagine then when a project encapsulating the country’s rapid progression inadvertently unravels a silent past, igniting a rarely seen and publicised grassroots activism.

The Brownies have been organising free weekend tours for members of the public who are keen to learn more about what lies beneath the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China. My firsthand experience was an overwhelming history lesson of the many patriots, business pioneers and British administrators who relocated from China, Penang and Malacca to forge new futures for their progeny. This mirrored the trajectory of the economic and population boom of the nation seen in the epochal years of the late 1880s until pre-World War II. The story lying silent at Bukit Brown is not just about the foundational years of Singapore’s mercantile society – it also covers the larger story of members of the Chinese diaspora who ventured south to build new fortunes.

“You can’t save what you don’t know,” said Claire Leow, a Brownie. “What we are doing is to focus on continually creating awareness for Bukit Brown. We tell stories of the luminaries and Singapore pioneers buried here, introducing visitors to the distinctive Peranakan motifs of the graves and highlighting the area’s eco-diversity. Did you know that Bukit Brown is home to 25% of the bird population in Singapore? That’s why we named our website All Things Bukit Brown. This place encompasses the historical, cultural and natural heritage that is unique to this part of the world.”
Brownie Tee telling the story of See Tiong Hua, a Malaccan-born tin mining businessman and comprador for HSBC, who was part of Singapore’s “Peranakan Establishment”.

Brownie Tee telling the story of See Tiong Hua, a Malaccan-born tin mining businessman and comprador for HSBC, who was part of Singapore’s “Peranakan Establishment”.
Photograph: Veronica Liew
During the three-hour tour, Leow and fellow Brownies Catherine Lim and Fabian Tee took turns regaling us with tales of hardship, determination and patriotism (many of the Chinese merchants buried here funded the Sino-Japanese war efforts). Bukit Brown had once supported a brisk trade in nearby Kheam Hock Village (defunct since the 1980s), where residents worked as stone masons and master carvers to cater to the rich Peranakan families who, despite their Anglo orientation, commissioned graves honouring their clan lineage in accordance with Chinese traditions.

Ironically, this practice has made it doubly difficult for current generations of Peranakans to identify the graves of their ancestors because of their lack of Chinese literacy. On top of that, Lim says that World War II had likely disrupted family records, resulting in many forgotten graves in Bukit Brown, especially those that were re-interred when Bukit Brown was designated as the Chinese municipal cemetery in 1922-1972.

Bukit Brown activism
The cause has steadfastly remained apolitical. Activists have generated consistent publicity in Singaporean and international news, but to circumvent any potential blackouts by the state-controlled media, they also turned to social media.

Government agencies made sure that their engagements with activist groups over the Bukit Brown road expansion were conspicuous, but on March 19, a press statement calling for a moratorium on all works planned for Bukit Brown was signed and issued by the Nature Society (Singapore), the Singapore Heritage Society, Asia Paranormal Investigators, All Things Bukit Brown, S.O.S. Bukit Brown, Green Corridor and Green Drinks. The statement registered the “dismay and disappointment… (and) regret (at) the inadequacy of efforts at genuine engagement and discussing alternatives”, noting that not only was presentation time denied by the government representative in attendance, but the meeting was “severely limited to a select few.”

The following day, a Facebook posting by the Minister of State for National Development and Manpower, Tan Chuan-Jin, defended the government’s position on the closed-door meeting, stating that it was “never intended to be the type of dialogue desired and claimed by these (environment and heritage) groups.” He also said that the decision to proceed with the construction of the road “has not been an easy one” and that the LTA had factored in feedback from the interest groups in the design of the road, so as to “minimise impact to the cemetery, hydrology and biodiversity.”
Bukit Brown Cemetery

Photograph: Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Flickr

Defiance, Singapore style
On August 5, 2013, the LTA announced that they had awarded a tender worth S$137.4mil to Swee Hong Limited to construct the new dual four-lane road and bridges, and that public exhumation will begin in the fourth quarter of 2013. Planners have claimed that the new road will alleviate rush hour congestion on the nearby Pan-Island Expressway and Lornie Road, where vehicular traffic is expected to increase by 30% in 2020. To date, only one-tenth of the graves marked for exhumation have been claimed by family members.

With the first bulldozers from the LTA due in early December, the Brownies defiantly face the ticking clock. As of the time of writing, the World Monuments Fund has listed Bukit Brown Cemetery on the World Monuments Watch 2014 – a worthy recognition and an opportunity for Singaporeans to promote their sites locally and internationally, work towards improved site protection and build community engagement in their preservation efforts. This listing is significant as it is the first time any site in Singapore has been named on the Watch. (George Town was also on this list prior to being listed on the Unesco Heritage List.)

A never-say-die attitude keeps the Brownies’ fight alive against what appears to be an impossible task. So if you find yourself in Singapore, do pay your respects to its pioneers at Bukit Brown, before they are ripped out from the earth forever.

Bukit Brown is located next to Lornie Road, Thomson Road and the Pan-Island Expressway. For updates on tour times, the S.O.S. Bukit Brown activities and stories of the interred, visit its official website.

Veronica Liew is a communications consultant based in KL (and occasionally Penang). A hobbyist photographer, freelance writer and bona fide Facebook addict, her favourite things to do while travelling are car-spotting, sitting beside large bodies of water and eating.

http://penangmonthly.com/bukit-brown-activism-a-race-to-save-history/

The Fight to Save Bukit Brown

The Diplomat
Oct 30, 2013
Singapore: The Fight to Save Bukit Brown

By Kirsten Han

Government plans to redevelop a cemetery spark a debate on the compatibility of conservation and progress.

Half-hidden in Singapore, the Bukit Brown cemetery is a sprawling ground of greenery and heavy gravestones. On many of the stones the miniature portraits are fading or faded, their names unrecognized and stories forgotten. But other graves are still visited by faithful relatives, bringing flowers and incense for their ancestors. Along the paths one finds joggers and children riding horses in a rare space of untouched nature.

At around 200 hectares, the land on which the cemetery sits is a luxury for a city-state hungry for space. In 2011, the government announced plans for a dual four-lane road that would run through part of Bukit Brown. Construction would require the destruction and exhumation of 5,000 graves.

Conservation groups such as SOS Bukit Brown and All Things Bukit Brown have come together to fight to preserve the cemetery. In October 2013, Bukit Brown was included in the 2014 World Monuments Watch list.

"I hope it shows that we are serious, that we want a seat at the table, just so we can present what we have heard from the community, what we have heard from the people who have encouraged us, and we can share their voices too,” Claire Leow from All Things Bukit Brown told Channel NewsAsia. “And hopefully that yes, you want development, but let’s have a discussion perhaps — if we could contribute just a little part of that discussion, perhaps we can all have a more sustainable strategy for development."

But the government remains resolute. “[P]lanning for the long term in land-scarce Singapore does require us to make difficult trade-off decisions. We will have to continue to ensure that sufficient land is safeguarded island-wide, and find ways to make good use of our limited land in order to meet future demand for uses such as housing, industry and infrastructure,” a spokesperson of the Urban Redevelopment Authority told the press.

Exhumation of the graves are set to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, and the road planned to be completed by 2017.

Bukit Brown’s story is a familiar one in Singapore. Small but affluent, the country is a model of rapid development. All over the island one finds impressive displays of modernity: the steel-and-glass of shopping malls and private condominiums alongside brightly colored concrete blocks of public housing. The population density is already one of the highest in the world, and set to grow: the government projects a population of 6.9 million by 2030. To accommodate further growth, the government and its city planners need to build, and build fast. Land is at a premium, and, as the government often says, trade-offs need to be made.

These “trade-offs” have triggered controversy. The debate has broadly divided into two camps: on the one hand, some argue for the need for Singapore to accommodate its large population, and sentimentality is framed as an indulgence. On the other, others insist that a nation needs its heritage, and new generations need to be aware of their past to build a better future.

Bukit Brown is not the first to fall victim to Singapore’s stubborn march towards progress. The island’s residents are no strangers to re-purposing land previously possessed by the dead.

A little further east of the Bukit Brown is Bidadari. The Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Hindu graves that once lay in that cemetery have now been exhumed to make way for public and private housing estates. A Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train station already sits on a portion of the site.

“If it had remained a cemetery, it would have been a heritage park teaching Singaporeans about Singapore's pioneers and burial customs, and an excellent example of religious harmony, since Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus were buried there,” says Eisen Teo, a freelance researcher specializing in history and heritage issues. Now, only the Bidadari Memorial Garden stands to remind people of what once was.

The construction never ends in Singapore. A planned Cross Island MRT line included in the 2013 Land Transport Masterplan will be the ninth train line in the country. Its proposed route drew alarm from conservationists when it was found to cut through MacRitchie Forest, a green space rich with biodiversity, popular with families and schoolchildren on their cross-country runs.

The line was set to run underneath the forest, but the Nature Society (Singapore) – an organization dedicated to the conservation of natural heritage – says that the machinery and surface works associated with construction would be enough to damage the environment. “Once these disturbances occur, there is a real and demonstrable risk of soil erosion and siltation of what are now the most pristine streams in Singapore, which support a diversity of native critically endangered fauna and flora,” explains NSS spokesperson Tony O’Dempsey.

The government has said that the proposed route is not yet confirmed. Talks and studies are ongoing, and other routes will be considered. In July, the NSS published a position paper suggesting two alternative rail alignments.

“We certainly hope that the NSS proposal will add weight to the consideration of the southern route,” O’Dempsey says.

The government is not in an easy position. It recognizes the importance of preserving Singapore’s history and heritage for future generations, but also needs to provide for a growing population on an already crowded island.

While Teo concedes that land is scarce and needed, he argues that priorities might need to be reconsidered. “We must be reminded that there are other land uses that take up enormous amounts of space, yet hardly anyone is questioning the utility of those spaces. Singapore has 18 golf courses, one of the highest numbers per country area in the world. They take up a total of 1,800 hectares. By contrast, Bukit Brown takes up 233 hectares; one-ninth of that area. Does Bukit Brown seem very big now?”

Military bases and camps, he says, also take up plenty of land area on the island. “My take is that cemeteries are, in terms of urban redevelopment, the lowest of the low-hanging fruit. They are easy game. They don't belong to the rich and famous, they don't belong to a sensitive ministry like the Ministry of Defense. They are viewed by many as scary places and wasteland! It is easy to just reclaim the land and build. Golf courses and military camps are far, far trickier,” he says.

In discussing the future of Singapore, a change in mindset is needed. People need to stop seeing conservation and progress as opposing ideals, where one comes at the expense of the other. “Conservation is part of progress and development,” Teo explains. “For Singapore to progress and develop, we need physical reminders of our history everywhere. That is why we preserve monuments such as City Hall, the Supreme Court, the National Museum, Chjimes, St. Andrew's Cathedral. Physical landmarks of historical value do more than any history book in teaching people about our past.”

Kirsten Han is a writer, videographer and photographer. Originally from Singapore, she has worked on documentary projects around Asia and written for publications including Waging Nonviolence, Asian Correspondent and The Huffington Post.

http://thediplomat.com/2013/10/30/singapore-the-fight-to-save-bukit-brown/

New unit plays mediator on heritage issues

Oct 26, 2013

New unit plays mediator on heritage issues

It studies impact of development and serves as link between Govt, activists

By Melody Zaccheus

The National Heritage Board's impact assessment and mitigation division contributed to efforts to conserve the Guan Huat dragon kiln (above) and the Queenstown Public Library. -- PHOTO: DESMOND LUI FOR THE STRAITS TIMES


THE National Heritage Board (NHB) has set up a new division to study the impact that development can have on the country's heritage, in the wake of rising civic activism.

Called the impact assessment and mitigation division, it comprises a small team supervised by Mr Alvin Tan, 41, the new group director of policy at the board.

He was previously in charge of three heritage institutions - the Malay Heritage Centre, Indian Heritage Centre and the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall - among other things.

When asked, NHB said the division was set up on July 1 as part of an "internal re-organisation". Its job is to "conduct impact assessments of redevelopment works on heritage sites and structures and work with the necessary stakeholders to establish mitigation measures".

There has been a growing, ground-up movement in recent years advocating for some of Singapore's built and environmental heritage to be preserved.

Civic groups and the authorities have locked horns in some cases, such as the Government's decision to build a road over Bukit Brown cemetery.

Since setting up, the team has played a mediator role between these civic groups and other government agencies, such as helping to negotiate the lease extension of the dragon kilns in Jurong.

Heritage groups said the establishment of the team has been a long time coming. It also signifies the Government's move away from a more "bulldozer" approach in the 1970s and 1980s to a more engaging one, said Mr Kwek Li Yong, 24, who founded civic group My Community, citing the loss of important buildings and landmarks such as the Stamford Road National Library and the National Theatre over the years.

"The new team serves as a link for civic groups and government agencies, and its assessment efforts help to bridge the expectations of statutory boards and the community," said Mr Kwek.

My Community submitted a paper to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in July to save 18 historic sites in Queenstown, Singapore's first satellite estate. The NHB team helped assess these sites on their architectural, historical and community merits. It found that eight were of "high heritage value" and three, including the Queenstown Public Library, were subsequently conserved by the URA.

Mr Benson Ng, 54, a managing partner at Focus Ceramic Services, which operates Jalan Bahar Clay Studios at 97L Lorong Tawas - where the 43m-long Guan Huat dragon kiln from the 1950s lies - said he appreciated the team working as an intermediary.

The site had been earmarked for the development of an eco-friendly business park. "Before the team approached us, we didn't know who to approach and how to state our case in terms of heritage value," he said.

The team has also worked on including certain heritage elements, such as the preservation of 20 tombstones of notable Singaporeans, at a 10ha park in the new Bidadari housing estate. It also contributed to the documentation and preservation efforts of Bukit Brown cemetery.

Heritage groups such as the Singapore Heritage Society (SHS) said assessments should be "holistic", and not merely focus on historical research alone but consider both built and social heritage and a site's surrounding environment as well.

Singapore should also look towards common international assessment standards, especially since it has put in a bid to list the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a Unesco World Heritage site, said heritage conservation expert Johannes Widodo.

"This may give Singapore an opportunity to show its ability in nurturing our heritage at the global level and might set a good example for other nations in heritage preservation and management areas," said Professor Widodo, a jury member of the Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.

Dr Chua Ai Lin, president of SHS, said that while the society welcomes the new division, the assessment of vulnerable sites not protected by law is just one step in a larger process. The next step is to assess if a further level of legal protection is required.

This requires more than just input from NHB alone, but also an intra-agency effort on the part of the Government and community participation to come to a solution together, said Dr Chua.

---------------------------

Background story

MIDDLEMAN

The new team serves as a link for civic groups and government agencies, and their assessment efforts help to bridge the expectations of statutory boards and the community.

- Mr Kwek Li Yong, founder of civic group My Community

BOARD GETS NEW NAME

AFTER 42 years of being known as the Preservation of Monuments Board, this government department under the National Heritage Board (NHB) has a new name.

On July 1, it was renamed the Preservation of Sites and Monuments, to "more accurately reflect the division's expanded role of championing nationally significant heritage sites", said a spokesman for the NHB.

These sites include the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which has put in a bid to be listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The division was set up to gazette and preserve national monuments.

There are currently 65 of these. They include the former Supreme Court and Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church.

The division is responsible for identifying monuments worthy of preservation and disburses money for their restoration, repair and maintenance, among other things.

The division is also in charge of promoting 100 existing heritage sites, such as Alexandra Hospital and Changi Beach.

MELODY ZACCHEUS

melodyz@sph.com.sg

Singapore's mid-life crisis as citizens find their voice

BBC News Asia

21 October 2013

Singapore's mid-life crisis as citizens find their voice
By Jonathan Head South East Asia correspondent, BBC News

Masked man and supporters at Singapore's Speaker's Corner

When I was living in Singapore 13 years ago, the government was debating a decision that in other countries might have seemed rather trivial: whether or not to permit a version of Speakers' Corner, the spot in London's Hyde Park where individuals vent their opinions on whatever topic they choose to whoever wants to listen.

The year before, the then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had worried that his country was not ready for such an innovation. But in September 2000 a location was finally approved, in Hong Lim Park, near the city centre.

Being Singapore, this "free speech forum" was a regulated one. Speakers needed police permission before they could use the space.

Like so many other aspects of Singapore's "disciplinarian" state, their Speakers' Corner provoked plenty of wry comment by foreign journalists. Few people turned out to hear the first anodyne speeches. The common assumption was that Singaporeans were not interested in risking trouble with their government by listening to speeches. They would rather go shopping.

But guess what? Speakers' Corner has become the venue for a number of quite lively demonstrations recently, over an issue which has provoked more debate than at any time since the country's tumultuous birth 48 years ago - immigration.

Those demonstrations, though, are still subject to regulations. They cannot say or do anything that might stir up racial tension or disturb public order.

The really heated debate has been on the internet - howls of anguish by self-styled "heartlanders" - original Singaporeans - and vitriolic denunciations of the ruling People's Action Party over the rapid rise in the number of foreigners, both low-wage immigrant workers and the wealthy individuals from the rest of Asia who now view Singapore as a safe-haven for their millions.
Public outcry

Foreigners now make up close to 40% of the 5.3 million-strong population. They are blamed both for the stratospheric rise in property prices and for squeezing local people out of jobs.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said three years ago he was quite happy to invite the world's richest man to live in Singapore, if it increased the country's net wealth.

But the conspicuous presence in Singapore today of so many of the world's super-rich is leaving many lower-income people feeling left behind.

That debate reached boiling point earlier this year when a government white paper predicted that by 2030, the population would expand to just under seven million, of which only a little over half would be Singaporeans.

The public outcry prompted the government to issue a clarification; the figures were a forecast, not a target, it said.

This might seem odd for a country which is after all built on immigration, and which has already achieved the world's highest per capita GDP. But it is part of a wider sense of unease you hear being expressed over what, and whom, Singapore is for.

Goh Chok Tong has called it Singapore's "mid-life crisis". It helps to explain the success of a younger generation of opposition politicians at the last election in 2011.
Asian values

With its share of the vote dropping to just over 60%, the ruling PAP had its worst result since independence. It is worth remembering that Singapore is as much a concept as a country, an artificial creation forced on its people by its expulsion from Malaysia in 1965.

It is a tiny city-state in an era of nation states. It does not have great historical narratives or national myths to define its existence. Instead it has always been defined by the performance of its government, both in utilising the limited living space and resources it has, and in ensuring better living standards for its people.

The manner in which the government does this was set down by Singapore's domineering founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. He imposed top-down, rigorously-planned modernisation, with curbs on individual freedom - a government-knows-best strategy he later described as "Asian Values".

The best and brightest were attracted to the top ranks of the PAP and the government with generous salaries to carry this out. If this is a nanny state, he wrote later, then I am proud to have fostered one.

For decades Singaporeans accepted this arrangement, with only minor grumbling. Not any more.

Bukit Brown is an old Chinese cemetery, close to the centre of the island. Some of the earliest Chinese settlers to arrive in Singapore, when it was a British-ruled trading colony, are buried there. They include Lee Kuan Yew's grandfather.

The elaborate tombs and gravestones are a rich historic resource, in a country which has lost much of its heritage in the name of progress. It is also a wonderfully overgrown green space in a mostly built-up city.

The government currently plans to drive a four-lane highway through the cemetery to ease traffic congestion.

In years gone by this might have gone through with only a few mutterings of complaint. This time the government's plans have run into a sophisticated civic protest movement.
Income gap

"The way the government works is always to frame the issue as heritage versus development, and nothing in between", said Catherine Lim, who supports one of the Bukit Brown conservation campaigns.

"What we're trying to do is reframe the conversation to include heritage as part of development. I think they realise these things are important. This sense of loss for many Singaporeans who have lost the familiar landmarks they grew up with, it's also very much to do with the fact that we are almost like a foreign country now - we have so many foreigners."

The government has not altered its plans yet. But there was a striking change of tone, if not direction, in the annual independence day speech given this year by Lee Hsien Loong, who happens to be Lee Kuan Yew's son.

Gone was the typically confident list of achievements by the PAP, now in its sixth decade in office.

Instead, Mr Lee offered a frank acknowledgement of the unhappiness felt by many lower-income people. Singaporeans, he said "are feeling uncertain and anxious" because "technology and globalisation are widening our income gaps and in addition to that, we have domestic social stresses building".

Our country is at a turning point, he said. "I understand your concerns. I promise you, you will not be facing these challenges alone because we are all in this together."

There was talk of better access to education, of wider healthcare cover, and more access to low-cost housing. There seemed to be an effort in the speech by Mr Lee to offer empathy, rather than statistics, a realisation that the Mandarin-style meritocracy built by his father may no longer be enough to retain the loyalty of Singaporeans.

In a statement to the BBC a government spokesman re-iterated the long-standing belief, that as a small, open economy, Singapore must remain open and connected, for trade or talent flows.

But, the statement said, "we are deliberately slowing our foreign workforce growth rate. This will also slow economic growth, but it is a compromise we need to make to continue to give Singaporeans a high quality of life."

"I see that the government is changing," said Mallika Naguran, who runs a sustainability website called Gaia Discovery.

"They are becoming more transparent, more approachable, taking definite steps towards sustainability. Yet this could still improve. There could be more openness in policy-making, more access for civic groups to become stakeholders in nation-building".
Where now?

The passing of Lee Kuan Yew, who has just turned 90 years old and is in frail health, will be another turning point for this micro-state, a moment when its citizens will once again contemplate their uncertain future.

The elder Mr Lee has always taken a pessimistic view of his country's vulnerability. He wept publicly when it was ejected from Malaysia and has repeatedly warned his citizens not to relax their vigilance, whether it was against communist subversion in the 1960s, or against the declining birth-rate in the 21st Century.

In one of his most recent statements he pondered gloomily whether Singapore would even exist in 100 years time. It was down to the competence of the government, he said. If we get a dumb government, we are done for.

That view is being increasingly challenged, mostly within the relatively safe confines of the internet, but with vigorous, sometimes angry exchanges of views.

The era of government-knows-best is slowly coming to an end in Singapore. No-one is quite sure what will take its place.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24540080

A Question of Public Value: Bukit Brown

By Z’ming Cik

It has been a sweet triumph of sorts for the heritage enthusiasts of Bukit Brown who dub themselves the ‘Brownies’. They have now managed to earn international recognition for the site by placing it on the 2014 World Monuments Watch – even if that does not seem likely to change the government’s immediate plans to build a highway cutting through it.

It is not just an affirmation of its significance that Bukit Brown has been selected, alongside Venice in Italy, Yangon historic city centre in Myanmar and sites in war-torn Syria such as a 17th-century souk in Aleppo, as one of 67 cultural heritage sites currently “at risk from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political and economic change” – in the words of the New York-based World Monuments Fund.

It is also an affirmation of a universalistic ethos that any cultural heritage of the world can transcend the narrow confines of ethnic identities, and be protected by all mankind, against irreplaceable loss due to unchecked urban development or other factors. Such is indeed also the true spirit behind the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention, best known for the mechanism of the world heritage list, on which Singapore is attempting to inscribe its Botanic Gardens.

The purpose of this little article here is not to make a case for the nomination of Bukit Brown as a world heritage site – though that can definitely make a fruitful exercise, given its historical and aesthetic values based on all the knowledge accumulated. Instead, I would like to approach the issue of Bukit Brown from a more general perspective, of what is stake in general with plans to sacrifice such a site for traffic and future residential use, and how decisions should be arrived at from the perspective of public administration. For as the Brownies have expressed at a press conference last week, there is an urgent need to ‘reframe’ public discussion, away from a false dichotomy that treats it as a choice between space for the dead and space for the living.

Indeed, the issue of Bukit Brown is not a dilemma between past and future, tradition and modernity, heritage and progress, or community and nation. It may be framed instead as a question of ‘public value’ for the average Singapore citizen, whereby one should weigh between the gains of constructing a highway to ease traffic (and allowing more cars on the road) and the environmental costs which may impact on the quality of life for all residents, not to mention the opportunity costs in compromising a heritage site with value in education and tourism use.

I am borrowing the term ‘public value’ here from Mark H. Moore, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, author of the book Creating Public Value. Under such a framework of public administration, one may discuss whether a public enterprise reflects the desires or aspirations of the citizens, and also analyse whether it is cost-effective for collective interests.

This gives us a clearer picture of the problem when we consider the following points. First, in terms of desires or aspirations, 54% of Singaporeans according to the recent Our Singapore Conversation Survey have expressed a preference for preservation of heritage spaces over infrastructure, and 62% have expressed a preference for preservation of green spaces over infrastructure. The Singapore Heritage Society also cites an earlier Heritage Awareness Survey whereby 90% of Singaporeans agree that preservation of heritage would become more important as Singapore becomes a global city.

Second, plans for the 8-lane highway through Bukit Brown were announced without full disclosure of its Environmental Impact Assessment, which should rightly be of public interest. Nature Society has cited the importance of Bukit Brown as a green lung with cooling effects on the climate and mitigating effects against flash floods. We have surely seen how Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects, due to increased urban surfaces and industrial and car emissions, lead to more flash floods. The National Environment Agency is now advising Singaporeans to brace for warmer and wetter days in the next century. Should Singaporeans be inspired then to make extra more babies? Would more population growth and urban development be sustainable in the long run?

bukitbrown
The area which the proposed 8 lane highway will affect.

The idea of ‘sustainability’ is incidentally concerned not only with economic development but also with environment and social equity; it begs us to rationalise the needs of the present generation, in order not to compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So who are we to decide for the future generations that they have no need for natural green spaces, for authentic cultural and natural heritage?

Third, an 8-lane highway may be cost-effective for the operations of LTA and its contractors, but is it ‘cost-effective’ for all Singaporeans? On the concern of infrastructure alone, will the benefits be well distributed among Singaporeans? I believe a lot of Singaporeans would prefer to see improvements in public transport – whereby they should be managed as public enterprises rather than as profit-making private enterprises, while controlling the growth or inflow of population meantime. COEs this month have just reached 90K, and ERP rates have been rising too, so how does a new highway represent the interest of the average Singaporean? Should the dictum of the government be what former head of Civil Service, Ngiam Tong Dow recalls: “What’s wrong with collecting more money?”?

An 8-lane highway may make good business sense if the objective is to attract higher demands for car traffic. But it is a road of no return where environmental costs and the loss in heritage are concerned.

Perhaps the word ‘heritage’ is not always useful here, for some people may mistake it as being synonymous with ‘tradition’, and they assume that to acknowledge a cemetery dating back to the Qing dynasty as heritage would mean having to wear a pigtail, or to bow before the image of some dead old merchants and ask for 4D numbers. They imagine ‘heritage’ as a form of liability, instead of as a form of resource for an authentic experience of national history, or of works of art.

How the historical significance of Bukit Brown as ‘heritage’ should be interpreted, is certainly open to debates. But being ‘modern’ does not mean discarding everything of the past. We are not living in an era of Cultural Revolution somewhere in China. The National Heritage Board has also recognised the importance of Bukit Brown Cemetery and the need to work with the community for its preservation.

Being ‘modern’ also means being able to rationalise how one should help steer the development of one’s country or the world at large. Hopefully more Singaporeans will be able to look at the issue of Bukit Brown not as a matter of whether one has personal affinity to it, but from a perspective of public value. We may ask ourselves: What heritage values does it hold on a local level and on a global level, and how would that represent the desires and aspirations of Singaporeans? In what circumstances would redevelopment be justifiable, and in what way would that represent social equity and long-term interests among Singaporeans?

We as Singaporeans need to rethink what this land of Singapore means to us, and what the word ‘progress’ truly means.

百年古墓尋主終有獲 峇峇富商后人認祖墳

Zaobao News, 13 Oct 2013
by 謝燕燕
百年古墓尋主終有獲 峇峇富商后人認祖墳

馬六甲徐氏家廟信托基金主席徐瑞雲（中），在兒子徐丁水（右）和信托基金另一位負責人徐登財（左）的陪同下，一起探訪武吉布朗先人的墳墓，並在徐桂夢和周吉娘夫妻墓前留影。（鄔福梁攝）

本報刊登尋墓人吳安全發現峇峇富商徐炎泉生母之百年古墓的消息后，徐家在本地的后人馬上聯絡《聯合早報》，與此同時也通知馬六甲徐氏家廟的負責人，其中三人昨天早上親臨武吉布朗尋訪祖墳，安排認領和起墳事宜。

建路工程迫使武吉布朗的3746個老墳墓讓位給新道路，沒想到在這一過程中牽引出開埠時期、奔走於新加坡和馬六甲之間一個名門望族的家族史。

本報刊登尋墓人吳安全發現峇峇富商徐炎泉生母之百年古墓的消息后，徐家在本地的后人馬上聯絡《聯合早報》，與此同時也通知馬六甲徐氏家廟的負責人，其中三人昨天早上親臨武吉布朗尋訪祖墳，安排認領和起墳事宜。

也是亞洲超自然偵探協會（Asia Paranormal Investigators，簡稱API）創辦人的吳安全，至今已在武吉布朗發現五座徐家先人的墳墓。當中三座受道路工程影響，即徐炎泉母親邱氏（謚號淑惠）的古墓，以及徐炎泉孫子徐美清（Chee Bee Cheng）和孫媳婦王溫娘（Ong Woon Neo）之墓。王溫娘應該是徐美清的元配。

徐炎泉的兒子徐桂夢和兒媳周吉娘的墓也在武吉布朗，但目前不受道路工程影響。徐美清是徐桂夢的長子。

本報昨天隨徐家后人走訪上述古墓時，發現徐桂夢和周吉娘並列的夫妻墓，碑文以傳統中文書寫。徐桂夢的墓碑寫著“官岱皇清顯考謚仁厚徐府君之墓”，但來到徐美清和王溫娘的墓，碑文全換成英文記載。

徐桂夢的碑文証實徐家祖籍漳州府龍溪縣二十八都劉瑞堡官岱社。

尋訪與徐家有關五座墳墓

本報在10月1日刊登《百年古墓即將起墳，峇峇富商生母之墓無人認領？》一文后，徐垂青集團公司執行董事徐英雲（58歲）馬上聯絡本報。與此同時，他也第一時間把消息告訴馬六甲徐氏家廟的信托人。

徐氏家廟信托基金主席徐瑞雲（75歲），他兒子徐丁水（41歲），信托基金另一位負責人徐登財（52歲）等，星期六早上在尋墓人吳安全，東南亞研究院研究員許耀峰博士的帶領下，在武吉布朗尋訪與徐家有關的五座墳墓。

徐瑞雲說，這麼些年來，徐家完全不知道他們還有先人葬在武吉布朗墳場。從墓碑上看，徐炎泉生母邱氏之墓立於“道光十六年歲次丙申”（1836年），離萊佛士1819年開埠才17年。

育有10男7女的徐炎泉，正是生於1819年，他在1862年遭人殺害時才43歲。徐登財說，徐炎泉的祖上可能在18世紀20年代就從中國閩南地區遷到馬六甲。

從目前在武吉布朗所找到的徐家墳墓看，徐炎泉和他的父親徐欽元在新加坡開埠后不久便從馬六甲遷到新加坡尋找商機，他母親才被葬在新加坡。

目前留在武吉布朗的徐母墓應是從其他墳場遷至那裡的。另外四座墳墓則與徐炎泉第九個兒子徐桂夢有關，顯示桂夢一脈當時留在新加坡發展。

徐氏家族最顯赫的兩個人物，是很年輕便當上馬六甲福建幫領袖，也是最早與雪蘭莪蘇丹合作開採錫礦的徐炎泉，以及華僑銀行最早創辦人徐垂青。徐垂青是徐炎泉的孫子。聯絡本報的徐英雲則是徐垂青的孫子，而徐登財是徐垂青的曾孫。

徐瑞雲說，他們在為受影響墳墓起墳后，打算把先人骨灰運回馬六甲，安置在那裡一家峇峇佛寺內。至於不受影響墳墓，他們會和信托基金的其他成員商量后再做決定。

Bukit Brown put on world watch list

Saturday, October 12, 2013 - 06:30

The Straits TimesThe historic Bukit Brown cemetery has been put on the 2014 World Monuments Watch (WMW), an international list of cultural heritage sites which are being threatened by nature or development.

The cemetery, which has been the final resting place of pioneering Chinese immigrants to Singapore since the mid-19th century, is one of 67 sites in 41 countries and territories on the biennial listing.

Work is scheduled to start early next year on a controversial eight-lane road through the cemetery, meant to ease congestion. And the 233ha site, closed to burials since 1973, is also slated for future residential use.

All Things Bukit Brown, an interest group which is keen to preserve the site's heritage and habitat, nominated it to the New York-based World Monuments Fund watch list. It was picked from 248 nominations - making it the first time that a Singapore site has made it to the list.

The WMW citation said of the road and redevelopment of the site: "In destroying the cultural landscape of Bukit Brown, it is a loss to all of society."

The non-profit World Monuments Fund has issued its watch list since the 1990s to raise awareness about threatened cultural sites. It has helped to helped restore sites in more than 90 countries, including the historic enclave of Georgetown in Penang.

Nominations are assessed by fund staff and heritage experts, based on the significance of the site, how urgent the conditions are and the viability of a feasible plan of action. Other sites on the list include Hong Kong's Pok Fu Lam Village, the churches of St Merri and Notre-Dame de Lorette in Paris and cultural heritage sites in Syria.

Referring to the decision by the World Monuments Fund to include the cemetery on its watch list, Ms Claire Leow, 46, one of the organisers of All Things Bukit Brown, said: "I hope it motivates communities to do more to take ownership."

While listed sites are eligible for grants from the fund, she said her group was not applying for any as none was needed. The group, which hosts weekly guided tours at the site, is also sticking to a call it made last year for a moratorium on plans for Bukit Brown and for more public engagement with the Government, she added.

Nanyang Technological University cultural studies researcher Liew Kai Khiun said the listing provides another independent validation of Bukit Brown's heritage value.

"It recognises the cultural significance of the place rather than being confined to a local debate about whose ancestors are buried there," he said, noting that the Bukit Brown issue has made it to international publications such as The Economist.

Dr Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, added: "All Things Bukit Brown, I suppose, would like the international spotlight and pressure to be put on this issue.

"To be fair, while the Government's not said it would never touch Bukit Brown further, it did reduce the number of graves and amount of land that would make way for the road. So it's not as if the Government's been intransigent about the issue."

A spokesman for the National Heritage Board said the listing supported the board's assessment that Bukit Brown is a heritage site rich in resources and memories.

She said the board was working with the public sector and community to document and promote the cemetery's heritage and explore how this could be "preserved, retold and/or integrated with future developments for the area, while recognising the need to balance Singapore's land use and housing needs with heritage preservation".

The historic Bukit Brown cemetery has been put on the 2014 World Monuments Watch (WMW), an international list of cultural heritage sites which are being threatened by nature or development.The cemetery, which has been the final resting place of pioneering Chinese immigrants to Singapore since the mid-19th century, is one of 67 sites in 41 countries and territories on the biennial listing.

by Grace Chua
caiwj@sph.com.sg

Monumental optimism

The Economist

Singapore's heritage

Oct 11th 2013, 2:55 by Banyan | SINGAPORE

ATTENTIVE readers of this blog may recall that its eponymous columnist is fond both of visiting and writing about Bukit Brown (http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/04/singapores-heritage) , a magically preserved green space in the heart of Singapore, which is home to the largest Chinese graveyard outside China. It is a rather sad tale, of a place of unique beauty and cultural value whose character is about to change forever as an eight-lane highway is sliced through it.

This update, however, is to report some good news for the dedicated band of enthusiasts (https://www.facebook.com/pages/all-things-Bukit-Brown/290489694353282)  who have been trying to draw attention to the cemetery’s value. They have succeeded (http://bukitbrown.com/main/?p=7930)  in having it included on the biennial watchlist of the World Monument Fund (WMF), of heritage sites around the world that are in danger.

An independent, New York-based organisation founded in 1965, the WMF this year listed 67 sites in 41 countries, out of 248 on whose behalf activists had applied. It rewards applicants who are promoting the site locally, trying to protect it, and involving local society in it. It is the first time Singapore has appeared on the list. The citation gets Bukit Brown right in just a sentence: “Bukit Brown is at once a study in the social and cultural history of Singapore and a green oasis in the heart of a densely developed urban environment.”

Singapore has no world heritage sites listed by UNESCO either, but it is trying to achieve that status for its Botanic Gardens (http://www.sbg.org.sg/) , a less unkempt green oasis that almost abuts Bukit Brown. The “Brownies”, as the cemetery’s fans call themselves, note that the centre of Georgetown (http://www.penang.ws/penang-attractions/georgetown-unesco.htm)  on the Malaysian island of Penang was listed by the WMF in 2000, eight years before it became a UNESCO site.

That, however, is not likely to presage a similar exaltation for Bukit Brown, nor even the government’s adopting Bukit Brown and linking the two sites. The National Heritage Board told the local media it would “explore how Bukit Brown Cemetery's heritage can be preserved, retold and/or integrated with future developments for the area, while recognising the need to balance Singapore's land use and housing needs with heritage preservation.”

The Urban Redevelopment Authority, however, was less tactful: Singapore, it said, “needed to find ways to make good use of our limited land in order to meet future demand for uses such as housing, industry and infrastructure.”

In an interview republished in his latest book, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s elder statesman, who left the cabinet two years ago but still reflects the views of many in the government he led for so long, is, characteristically, yet more blunt in an interview reprinted in his latest book (http://www.stpressbooks.com.sg/One-Man-s-View-of-the-World.html) :  “if we need the land, and we have to dig up the whole of Bukit Brown to build on it, and put the ashes in a columbarium, we will do it.”

The Brownies point out that the government presents a false choice between space for the dead and space for the expanding population that Singapore needs to sustain its growth. Bukit Brown is also for the living, and for future generations interested in how Singapore became what it is today.

Time is running out, however. Nearly 4,000 graves (out of perhaps 200,000 in Bukit Brown and adjacent graveyards) have to be dug up to make way for the road. For those graves not moved by the inhabitants' families, government-organised exhumations are expected to start in December.

(Picture credit: I.S. / The Economist)

Singapore Heritage Society's Position Paper on Bukit Brown

SHS Statement on Bukit Brown Cemetery: Proposed Dual 4-Lane Road Project
Sep 13, 2011

https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-heritage-society/shs-statement-on-bukit-brown-cemetery-proposed-dual-4-lane-road-project/233857656661878

Singapore Heritage Society Press Release: Clarification on Collaboration Between SHS and URA/LTA, 20 Oct 2011
.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-heritage-society/singapore-heritage-society-press-release-clarification-on-collaboration-between-/249220851792225

SHS Position Paper on Bukit Brown, Feb 4, 2012)

https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-heritage-society/shs-position-paper-on-bukit-brown-4-feb-2012/306242072756769

Singapore Heritage Society's response to road alignment through Bukit Brown, Mar 21, 2012

https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-heritage-society/singapore-heritage-societys-response-to-road-alignment-through-bukit-brown/333132433401066

SINGAPORE HERITAGE SOCIETY’S STATEMENT ON LISTING OF BUKIT BROWN ON 2014 WORLD MONUMENTS WATCH, Oct 10, 2013

https://www.facebook.com/notes/singapore-heritage-society/singapore-heritage-societys-statement-on-listing-of-bukit-brown-on-2014-world-mo/572341696146804

Bukit Brown put on world watch list

ST News
Oct 10, 2013

Bukit Brown put on world watch list

Partial redevelopment of site a loss to society, says New York-based group

By Grace Chua

Students from different countries visiting Bukit Brown cemetery earlier this year. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG



THE historic Bukit Brown cemetery has been put on the 2014 World Monuments Watch (WMW), an international list of cultural heritage sites which are being threatened by nature or development.

The cemetery, which has been the final resting place of pioneering Chinese immigrants to Singapore since the mid-19th century, is one of 67 sites in 41 countries and territories on the biennial listing.

Work is scheduled to start early next year on a controversial eight-lane road through the cemetery, meant to ease congestion. And the 233ha site, closed to burials since 1973, is also slated for future residential use.

All Things Bukit Brown, an interest group which is keen to preserve the site's heritage and habitat, nominated it to the New York-based World Monuments Fund watch list. It was picked from 248 nominations - making it the first time that a Singapore site has made it to the list.

The WMW citation said of the road and redevelopment of the site: "In destroying the cultural landscape of Bukit Brown, it is a loss to all of society."

The non-profit World Monuments Fund has issued its watch list since the 1990s to raise awareness about threatened cultural sites. It has helped to helped restore sites in more than 90 countries, including the historic enclave of Georgetown in Penang .

Nominations are assessed by fund staff and heritage experts, based on the significance of the site, how urgent the conditions are and the viability of a feasible plan of action. Other sites on the list include Hong Kong's Pok Fu Lam Village, the churches of St Merri and Notre-Dame de Lorette in Paris and cultural heritage sites in Syria.

Referring to the decision by the World Monuments Fund to include the cemetery on its watch list, Ms Claire Leow, 46, one of the organisers of All Things Bukit Brown, said: "I hope it motivates communities to do more to take ownership."

While listed sites are eligible for grants from the fund, she said her group was not applying for any as none was needed. The group, which hosts weekly guided tours at the site, is also sticking to a call it made last year for a moratorium on plans for Bukit Brown and for more public engagement with the Government, she added.

Nanyang Technological University cultural studies researcher Liew Kai Khiun said the listing provides another independent validation of Bukit Brown's heritage value.

"It recognises the cultural significance of the place rather than being confined to a local debate about whose ancestors are buried there," he said, noting that the Bukit Brown issue has made it to international publications such as The Economist.

Dr Gillian Koh, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, added: "All Things Bukit Brown, I suppose, would like the international spotlight and pressure to be put on this issue.

"To be fair, while the Government's not said it would never touch Bukit Brown further, it did reduce the number of graves and amount of land that would make way for the road. So it's not as if the Government's been intransigent about the issue."

A spokesman for the National Heritage Board said the listing supported the board's assessment that Bukit Brown is a heritage site rich in resources and memories.

She said the board was working with the public sector and community to document and promote the cemetery's heritage and explore how this could be "preserved, retold and/or integrated with future developments for the area, while recognising the need to balance Singapore's land use and housing needs with heritage preservation".

caiwj@sph.com.sg

百年古墓即将起坟 峇峇富商生母之墓无人认领？

Zaobao News 1 Oct 2013
Pioneer's mother tomb found among those due for exhumation

百年古墓即将起坟 峇峇富商生母之墓无人认领？
本地著名寻墓人吴安全说，他再次造访古墓时，发现女主人的其中一名儿子是“炎泉”时，马上想到“徐炎泉”，并闪过念头，墓主人会不会是徐炎泉的母亲？
谢燕燕　报道
chiayy@sph.com.sg

武吉布朗3746个受新道路工程影响的坟墓，10月起将逐一起坟。在2525个至今还没有后人认领的坟墓中，有一个年代可追溯到“道光十六年岁次丙申”（1837年）的清代迁葬墓，相信是马六甲和新加坡峇峇富商徐炎泉生母之墓。
本地著名寻墓人吴安全说，受修路工程影响的3700多个坟墓中，有一组年代特别久远的清代迁葬墓，至今没有人知道这些墓的来历或迁自何处，他也无法从档案库中找到墓主人的下葬记录。

但吴安全认为古墓群中极可能有重要先驱人物，于是决定抢在承包商起坟前，再去看一眼。
他在8月24日再次造访这组古墓时，被当中一个属于“徐门邱氏”、谥号淑惠的古墓吸引住了。当他发现女主人的其中一名儿子是“炎泉”时，马上想到“徐炎泉”，并闪过一个念头，墓主人会不会是徐炎泉的母亲？

徐炎泉可是个响当当的人物。去过马六甲的人都知道，曾经聚集豪门望族的“荷兰街”（Heeren Street，如今改为敦陈祯禄路），有座漂亮的徐氏家庙，那是华侨银行首任主席徐垂青于1906年，为祖父徐炎泉所建的宗祠。

徐炎泉21岁当马六甲福建帮领袖

原籍漳州府龙溪县的徐炎泉（1819-1862）和父亲徐钦元都是海峡殖民地成功商人，曾经富甲一方，生意遍布马六甲和新加坡。徐炎泉21岁时就已经当上马六甲福建帮领袖，不过他在1862年遭枪杀，时年43岁。
在考究古墓方面已累积丰富经验的吴安全，回去后马上翻出本地著名碑文研究者庄钦永的《马六甲、新加坡碑文辑录》，找出徐炎泉当年立在马六甲爱极乐（Air Keroh）的碑文，发现他生前育有10个儿子，长子叫吉梦。徐垂青的父亲是吉梦的弟弟云梦。
第二天，吴安全又回到已经倾斜，部分文字陷入土里的古墓前。当他小心翼翼拨开泥土，墓碑上终于露出墓主人邱氏孙子之名，他果然是吉梦！
曾经对徐炎泉家族做过研究的前马来亚大学已故学者陈铁凡教授，在遗作《马六甲徐氏家庙文献三跋》中，收录了徐氏忌辰表，当中便有“十三世淑惠妈妣”，是“十三世长荣公”原配。长荣是徐钦元死后的谥号。
吴安全说：“墓女主人谥号淑惠，显示她来自捐官的名门望族，加上为她立碑的儿子叫徐炎泉，孙子叫徐吉梦，我因此断定这墓主人是徐炎泉的生母，徐钦元的原配夫人。”
根究宋旺相（宋鸿祥）的《新加坡华人百年史》，新加坡全体商人和代理商于1837年2月成立由欧洲和本地商人组成的商会（Chamber of Commerce）时，第一届11人理事中包括两名华人，其中一人正是徐炎泉的父亲徐钦元。徐钦元也是1831年在新加坡创立庆德会的36人之一。
陈铁凡教授在遗作中说，徐氏家族在清朝嘉庆（1796-1821）年间就已经移居马六甲。陈教授曾于1974年访问徐炎泉后人、当时的徐氏家庙负责人是徐光云。这位徐家后人曾于1971年，用英文编写一份徐炎泉后裔世系表。
“徐氏忌辰表”中另有一名妇女吴恩娘，曾被陈教授误以为是“徐钦元的继配，徐炎泉的生母”。被徐垂青称为曾祖母的吴恩娘，九旬高寿时曾出现在徐家一张摄于1908年的旧照片。
可是陈教授后来从徐家一份建醮疏文（超度先人的道教仪式）中发现，吴恩娘和徐炎泉都生于庚辰年（1820年），由此断定徐炎泉生母另有其人。
原来徐炎泉的这位生母，百多年来一直静静的躺在武吉布朗坟场，而且很快便要被挖走！除了徐炎泉生母，他儿子徐桂梦和媳妇周吉娘的墓也在武吉布朗。
吴安全相信徐炎泉依然有后人在新加坡和马六甲，希望他们看到报道后，能尽快与他联络，认领被遗忘多时的坟墓。

Bukit Brown, development and possibilities for Singapore’s future

Recent events should give pause to the proposed construction of the dual four-lane carriageway across Bukit Brown.

From Chong Ja Ian

30 September, 2013


Recent events should give pause to the proposed construction of the dual four-lane carriageway across Bukit Brown.

Surveys for Our Singapore Conversation indicate that 62 per cent of Singaporeans prefer preserving green spaces over constructing roads and other infrastructure, while 53 per cent prefer heritage preservation over infrastructure building.

Staying road construction in Bukit Brown, before exhumations begin next month, would demonstrate responsiveness to public needs, giving Singaporeans a last opportunity to consider the consequences of altering an important part of our nation’s natural and cultural landscape.

Heavy rush-hour traffic on Lornie Road comes from vehicles filtering on and off a congested Pan-Island Expressway, an issue a road through Bukit Brown cannot solve. In fact, Singapore can probably never build enough roads.

What are the fundamentals behind congestion? Professor Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, has observed that the main challenge is sub-optimal public transport, which heightens car demand.

Recent steps to raise Electronic Road Pricing rates and introduce new Certificate of Entitlement restrictions underscore the fact that controlling vehicle population is key to addressing traffic concerns.

The Prime Minister’s National Day Rally speech should provide impetus for maintaining Bukit Brown in its current form, as new plans mean that “we don’t have to worry about running out of space or possibilities for Singapore”.

I hope this means space for a Bukit Brown heritage park in our future. As physical changes become more prevalent, tangible markers of our heritage grow in importance in ways that digitisation can never fully replicate.

Singapore is no longer in the 1960s, when infrastructure development was imperative. Constructing the road, and other developments, over Bukit Brown may even be counterproductive. Floods earlier this month serve as a reminder of the need for cautious development.

As the National Environment Agency noted, the significant factors that may explain the trend of “Changing weather patterns causing more flash floods” (Sept 13) are likely to be “rapid development and urbanisation, as well as global warming”.

The Expert Panel on Drainage Design and Flood Prevention Measures has likewise noted that urbanisation contributes “undoubtedly” to increased surface run-off and flooding. So, would building the road over Bukit Brown potentially create complications?

The authorities should suspend construction until there are more comprehensive and appropriate ways to address the environmental, heritage, traffic and development issues that intersect at Bukit Brown. Is the environmental impact assessment available?

At a minimum, a rigorous study should be made public, the first step towards a more sustainable approach. Halting construction comes with costs, but these may be lower than those from building the road. Singapore is worth the extra effort.

Exhumation of Bukit Brown graves to start in Oct

Todayonline  Aug 6, 2013

Exhumation of Bukit Brown graves to start in Oct 
By SIAU MING EN


SINGAPORE — Almost two years after the project was announced, public exhumation of graves at the Bukit Brown Cemetery will begin from October this year to make way for the construction of a new dual four-lane road that connects MacRitchie Viaduct to Adam Flyover.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority said this yesterday, following the award of a tender for the construction of the new road to Swee Hong Limited for S$134.7 million.

The LTA has received 1,263 claims for the affected graves — about a quarter of the total number to be exhumed in place of the new road — and next-of-kin will be contacted to make further arrangements for exhumation.

“Construction of the new road will begin in stages after exhumation of the affected graves is completed,” said the joint statement.

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Plans for the new road were announced in September 2011, aimed at easing the peak-hour congestion currently experienced along Lornie Road and the Pan-Island Expressway, as well as to cater to the expected growth in traffic in the area.

The Bukit Brown site has been earmarked for future housing.

The road project sparked off a series of calls from heritage and nature groups to preserve the cemetery, which is about 90 years old.

A working committee, formed in October 2011 to document and research the history behind the cemetery, has completed the documentation of all 4,153 affected graves.

The LTA said it will assess claims on unclaimed graves on a case-by-case basis. Otherwise, the remains would be cremated, the ashes kept by the authority for three years, before they are scattered at sea.

Once the exhumation of the affected graves is completed, construction work for the new road will begin. The road is to be completed by the end of 2017.

“While construction is ongoing, the public can continue to enter other parts of Bukit Brown Cemetery that are not affected by the road construction. Details of the access routes will be made available to the public when construction starts,” said the authorities.

Work on Bukit Brown road set to begin next year

ST News
Aug 06, 2013

Work on Bukit Brown road set to begin next year

Construction to start once affected graves are exhumed
By Jermyn Chow

Volunteer guides leading visitors on a walk at Bukit Brown cemetery on a recent Saturday afternoon. Anthropologist Hui Yew-Foong will lead a team to follow families that are exhuming their ancestral graves. -- ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG



WORK on the controversial new road that cuts through Bukit Brown cemetery will start as early as the beginning of next year after the affected graves are exhumed.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday that it had awarded a tender to local contractor Swee Hong to build the dual four-lane road at a cost of $134.7 million.

The estimated 2km stretch, which will link the MacRitchie Viaduct to the Adam Flyover, is meant to ease peak-hour congestion on Lornie Road and the Pan-Island Expressway.

The road is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, a year after its initial 2016 projection.

The LTA also said that 4,153 of the 100,000 graves at Bukit Brown will be exhumed from the fourth quarter of this year, a deadline which was pushed back from April.

It has already received 1,263 claims for graves, while the rest that would be affected by the new road or are in its vicinity, have been documented by a committee led by anthropologist Hui Yew-Foong.

He will next lead a 10-man team to follow families that are exhuming their ancestral graves.

When contacted yesterday, Dr Hui, who is with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and the appointed documentarian of Bukit Brown cemetery, said: "We want to record the rituals or ceremonies that are conducted before the exhumation so that we can preserve the memories, heritage and traditions."

He and his team are also looking to record all artefacts that may be unearthed, like jewellery, bangles or miniature pots.

Construction of the road was first announced in 2011, sparking an intense debate between heritage and nature groups and the Government.

Instead of laying a road flat on the ground through the cemetery, the LTA has already agreed to build a 600m-long bridge to allow wildlife to cross beneath the carriageway.

Dr Chua Ai Lin, vice-president of the Singapore Heritage Society, believes the Government has "done all it can" to reduce the impact of the new road on wildlife and heritage sites.

She also commended the authorities for giving families and researchers more time to document the graves.

She added: "But there were alternatives that were not relooked and that was a missed opportunity for us to prevent irreversible impact on the environment and heritage."

jermync@sph.com.sg

Tender to Construct New Road across Bukit Brown Awarded

Monday, Aug 05, 2013

The Straits Times

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a tender to build a new road linking Adam Road, the MacRitchie Viaduct and Thomson Road via Bukit Brown Cemetery at a cost of $134.7 million. The winner of the tender is local contractor Swee Hong, which is expected to complete construction by end 2017.

To make way for the road, public exhumation of affected graves will begin from the fourth quarter of this year. LTA has received 1,263 claims for affected graves. 

Here is the joint press release from LTA and URA:

Tender to Construct New Road across Bukit Brown Awarded

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a tender to Swee Hong Limited for the construction of a new dual four-lane road connecting MacRitchie Viaduct to Adam Flyover via Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Announced in September 2011, the new road, which includes a bridge over existing streams, will alleviate the congestion currently experienced along Lornie Road and the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) during peak hours as well as cater to expected growth in traffic demand. The tender will be awarded at a contract value of $134.7 million.

Public exhumation of affected graves to begin from Q4 2013

With the award of the tender, public exhumation of the graves affected by the road works will begin from 4th Quarter 2013. Since details of the affected graves were published in March 2012, LTA has received a total of 1,263 claims for affected graves.

LTA will be contacting the next-of-kin of affected graves who had registered their claims to make arrangements for exhumation.

Construction of the new road will begin in stages after exhumation of the affected graves is completed. While construction is ongoing, members of the public can continue to enter other parts of Bukit Brown Cemetery that are not affected by the road construction. Details of the access routes will be made available to the public when construction starts. The new road is planned to be completed by end 2017.

Update on documentation efforts

In view of the heritage value of Bukit Brown Cemetery, the government had commissioned the documentation of graves affected by the new road. A Working Committee formed in October 2011 has completed the documentation of 4,153 graves that would be affected by or are in the vicinity of the new road. Led by Dr Hui Yew-Foong, the Working Committee will continue to research and document the social history, memories, and rituals associated with Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Members of the public can visit the project website at www.bukitbrown.info for more information on the graves. The website currently contains a visual database of the graves that would be affected, including photographs accompanied by Chinese and English names where available. We are currently studying various options to make these documentation findings more accessible to members of the public in future.

We will continue to work with other agencies and stakeholders to commemorate the heritage of Bukit Brown.

By Jermyn Chow

How I found my home and heart in our Bukit Brown: Claire Leow

Tedx Talk

Jul 25, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYRiHjq_2uA

How I found my home and heart in our Bukit Brown: Claire Leow 

Driven by a fascination with heritage, Claire Leow founded All Things Bukit Brown that became an integral part of her life and brought together a group of volunteers passionate about the Heritage, Habitat, History of Bukit Brown. Together, they raise awareness of this oldest Chinese cemetery in Singapore that is also the largest outside China. Claire has been a journalist for over 21 years and loves photography, community projects, travel and visiting historic sites. She has visited all the world's continents, including Antarctica.

About TEDxSingapore
TEDxSingapore celebrated its 4rd anniversary by curating our 21st TEDx event since our launch on 15 April 2009. "Our Future, We Will Make" asked What shall we strive for? What makes us successful? ...as a country, as a community, as a family, as individuals. What does success mean? What Singapore would we be proud to build for Singaporeans who will come after us? What deeply matters to you? What are our possibilities? Watch more talks and see photos from this event here: https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/8943

将武吉布朗发展为历史旅游景点

Zaobao forum
18 Jul 13

将武吉布朗发展为历史旅游景点

 新加坡是一个年轻的国家，有特色的历史遗迹不多。

 武吉布朗记载着新加坡从开埠至今的深远及丰厚的历史，且具有独特的南洋风味，是其他地方少见的，可说是新加坡一个少有、既珍贵又具有特色的历史遗迹，具有发展成为一个另类的历史旅游景点的条件。

 世界各国的帝皇将相陵墓，菲律宾的华人坟场，台湾一些大富大贵人士安葬的金宝山等等，都是闻名的旅游景点。

 虽然武吉布朗埋葬的不是帝王将相（当中有一些是满清时代中国的爱国志士以及曾为加坡做出重大贡献的人士）；坟墓的建造并不宏伟壮观；或极尽奢华，令人惊叹，但由于新加坡当时特殊的历史背景，整个墓场的格式多彩缤纷，各异其趣。

 除了大部分不同方言族群不同格式的中式坟墓外，也可见到一些西式和日式的坟墓。而墓铭除了中文外，也有一些英文、荷兰文、日文、泰文的墓铭，甚至一些土生华人将口语罗马化或汉化的特殊文字刻为墓铭。这是其他地方所罕见的，对喜爱历史的本地及外地人士，具有一定的魅力。

 新加坡是一个多元种族的国家，如果能在坟场旁建造一个博物馆，以“坟山文化”为主题，集中介绍及展示有关新加坡各族坟山的历史；各族人士的丧葬文化（在中国看过以动画简单扼要地介绍帝皇陵墓的修建过程及丧葬仪式，生动有趣，很受游客喜爱）；具有代表性的出土文物等等，展现新加坡这个多元种族国家这方面的历史文化，为这片历史遗迹注入新的生命力，也可作为国人，尤其是年轻一代新加坡人认识他族文化的历史教室，使坟山的存在更加有意义。

 新加坡不乏有才干的人士，希望有关当局能重新策划（至少能保留大部分重要的地段） ，别把这块有着丰富历史底蕴又深具特色的宝地给毁了。

 梁舒朗

No plans to nominate Bukit Brown for World Heritage site

AsiaOne
Jul 9, 2013

No plans to nominate Bukit Brown for World Heritage site

All attention is now focussed on the bid for the Singapore Botanical Gardens to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, said Mr Lawrence Wong. -AsiaOne

SINGAPORE - Government agencies are working to document and commemorate the memories of the Bukit Brown cemetery for future generations, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong, said in a written Parliamentary reply on Tuesday.

Mr Wong was responding to a query by Ms Janice Koh on whether the Bukit Brown cemetery would qualify as a UNESCO Heritage Site.

While Mr Wong acknowledged that "there is heritage value in the Bukit Brown municipal cemetery," he added that all efforts are now focussed on the bid for the Singapore Botanical Gardens to be listed.

Below is the parliamentary reply, in full:

Ms Janice Koh:

To ask the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery meets the "Outstanding Universal Values" criteria to qualify as a UNESCO World Heritage site;(b) whether the Government will conduct a study to ascertain if the Bukit Brown cemetery meets these criteria; and (c) whether the Government will consider gazetting a portion of the Bukit Brown cemetery that is not designated for future residential development.

Mr Lawrence Wong:

We recognise that there is heritage value in the Bukit Brown municipal cemetery. This is why government agencies, including the National Heritage Board (NHB), have been working with experts and stakeholders on various efforts to document and commemorate the memories of Bukit Brown for future generations.

The NHB is also studying how the heritage of Bukit Brown can be preserved, taking into account future development plans for the area.

Not all sites with local heritage value will qualify as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The standards required by UNESCO are very stringent, especially to meet the criteria of “outstanding universal value”. This was why when the Ministry first explored the possibility of a UNESCO listing, it had engaged a technical expert to do a thorough and in-depth assessment to determine the site with the best chance of meeting the UNESCO criteria. As part of this process, we had done a consultation on possible sites that could be put up for the UNESCO bid.

At that time, none of our stakeholders had surfaced the Bukit Brown cemetery as a candidate for consideration. As I had mentioned previously in Parliament, having worked through an extensive process of identifying the Singapore Botanic Gardens as our first nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, our efforts are now focussed on this bid.

This will also give us an opportunity to better understand UNESCO’s requirements and processes, before exploring other possibilities in the future. 

Bringing Bt Brown's history to life for the young

ST News

Jul 08, 2013

Bringing Bt Brown's history to life for the young

Efforts by volunteers, educators help students appreciate historical site

Overseas students from a three-week programme at the Future Cities Laboratory exploring Bukit Brown cemetery last month. Since the historical site popped up on the public radar in 2011, it has been attracting a younger crowd, with more than 20 schools organising trips there for their students. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG


By Amelia Teng


ONCE upon a time, it was only heritage and nature buffs who visited. But in recent years, Bukit Brown cemetery has been attracting a younger crowd.

The historical site popped up on the public radar after plans to build a highway cutting through it were announced in 2011.

Since then, more than 20 secondary schools, junior colleges and polytechnics have organised trips for students, guided by tomb explorer Raymond Goh and other volunteers.

In March, 450 Raffles Girls' School students visited the cemetery. "We wanted them to experience Bukit Brown, rather than hear and read about it," said teacher Regina Lee, 46.

Student Angelia Lau, 16, who was there for the first time, said: "The number of enthusiasts in Singapore who would go out of their way to educate others about what they are passionate about heartens me."

Temasek Junior College took 54 young people to the cemetery in May. Vice-principal Samuell Ang said the tour was an opportunity for students to "see the connections between issues discussed in lessons and the on-going preservation efforts of Bukit Brown".

In language arts and humanities classes, students learn about the effects of urbanisation on the environment through literary texts. After the tour, they are encouraged to write poems about history and memories.

"The learning journey really taught me how to appreciate our culture and roots as I never knew there was so much significance behind every tombstone," said student Caleb Chia, 16.

The cemetery has also attracted people from outside Singapore. Last month, Mr Goh gave a tour to 30 students who were here for a three-week summer programme at the Future Cities Laboratory, which researches urban planning.

Among them was 30-year-old Tomas Janusas, an architecture and city planning graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, who is doing his master's in the same subject in September. "It is one of the most emotionally, spiritually and historically charged places in Singapore I have visited so far," he said.

Some students have chosen to "document" the cemetery through projects.

For instance, Mr Goh was one of the interviewees in an 18-minute documentary produced last year by three former Nanyang Technological University students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information - Mr Pedro Shiu, Ms Janie Chee and Ms Siti Nurbaya Rameh.

Mr Goh, 49, a regional director of a health-care company, has been conducting tours at the cemetery for the public since 2007.

He said he is glad younger people are showing an interest in the site. "It is where they learn things in an authentic setting, things that history textbooks don't say."

ateng@sph.com.sg

Schools interested in arranging tours can e-mail a.t.bukitbrown@gmail.com