Snapshots 14 & 11 Nov Tours

Participants during the Deepavali Tour conducted by Keng Kiat with back up team Peter Pak and Andrew 11 Nov, Late Afternoon Tour with surprise guide Walter Lim              

Sunday 25 Nov – 3 Gs talk

PLEASE NOTE EVENT HAS BEEN SOLD OUT An offsite event with veteran Brownie Alex Tan Tiong Hee on his memories of Singapore circa 1950s of “Girls, Gangsters and Gentlemen Clubs. What was life like in Singapore when the Maria Hertogh riots of December 1950 broke out; when Mr Lee Kuan Yew became the Prime Minister in June 1959; and when the Beatles became the leading pop group in 1964? Alex Tan, the treasure trove of tales from bygone times, will bring us back in time, […]

Sunday 25 – Hill 4 MorningTour

Let Keng Kiat  (97903886)  will introduce you to the pioneers of Hill 4  and what’s happening there including the  major ongoing  renovation and upgrading of the Tan Quee Lan family cluster. You may also meet a poet, a war hero, a beloved school principal and circus family. Time : 9.00am t0 11.30am Meeting Place: Under the large and beautiful, and possibly endangered, rain tree, at the Roundabout. After the main gate, go ahead another twenty metres, to the right of […]

Antique Display Shelf (博古架)

Antique Display Shelf (博古架) by Ang Yik  Han The term “bo gu” (博古) is derived from an inventory of antiques stored in the Xuanhe Palace commissioned by the Song Emperor Huizong. The published compilation consisting of 30 volumes was titled “bo gu tu”( 博古图) or diagrams of antiques. Subsequently, the shelves used in the Song palaces to display choice antiques came to be known as “bo gu” shelves. Over time, such shelves became popular outside of the royal court and […]

My Grandparents

Through  time and distance, Grace Seah remembers and pays tribute to her grandparents buried in Bukit Brown.   “To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root” (Chinese proverb) As a young girl, I remember accompanying my parents to Bukit Brown Cemetery to pay respects to my late grandparents every Qing Ming.  It was always an exciting time for me, folding the paper money into boat shapes, helping to trim the overgrown vegetation around […]

Seah Eu Chin – Found!

Seah Eu Chin (1805-1883) Singapore’s Pioneer Gambier and Pepper Plantation King Founder of Ngee Ann Kongsi  It started with a breaking news flash on the Heritage Singapore Bukit Brown Cemetery  Facebook page posted by Raymond Goh just after 2 pm on Friday 16 November 2012: “Breaking news….the Goh Brothers have found the triple tomb of one of foremost Teochew pioneers of Singapore – Seah Eu Chin and his two wives, sisters of Tan Seng Poh. Details to follow…” This was […]

The 4 Loves

For the Love of Flowers – The 4 Loves by Yik Han Amongst the fine tomb sculpture found in Bukit Brown are depictions of men in the company of flowers. Lest one gets the wrong impression, these are actually based on four historical personalities from ancient China. Collectively, the carvings form a set known as the “4 Loves”. The peony (牡丹) is known as the king of flowers not without good reason. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzhong (唐玄宗), the […]