Disclaimer: By agreeing to take walking tours of Bukit Brown Cemetery, I understand and accept that I must be physically fit and able to do so.To the extent permissible by law, I agree to assume any and all risk of injury or bodily harm to myself and persons in my care (including child or ward)
Please read if you are attending our guided walks for the first time, useful info on safety : Getting There/游览信息
If you have a facebook account please register on the FB links provided unless otherwise stated.
Meeting place for all Walks : At the Lor Halwa Main gates at Bukit Brown
Sun 6 July 9am – 11.30am : Following our Early Pioneers in Bukit Brown
Join Keng Kiat and Bianca for a walk and listen to stories of our early pioneers.
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Please note that there is a Thai television crew that will be following and filming our tour.
If you have a facebook account please register on the event page here
Tan Boo Liat (photo: Claire Leow)
Disclaimer: By agreeing to take walking tours of Bukit Brown Cemetery, I understand and accept that I must be physically fit and able to do so.To the extent permissible by law, I agree to assume any and all risk of injury or bodily harm to myself and persons in my care (including child or ward)
Please read if you are attending our guided walks for the first time, useful info on safety : Getting There/游览信息
If you have a facebook account please register on the FB links provided unless otherwise stated.
Meeting place for all Walks : At the Lor Halwa Main gates at Bukit Brown
Saturday 21 June 6.45pm – 8 pm : A Twilight Stroll into the Chapters of Our Past
(Please bring torch lights for this walk)
Join Andrew Lim for a gentle stroll into the cool evening and soak in the stories of the past. The walk will lead to the biggest tomb, the size of 10 HDB three-room flats where you are invited to get comfortable in the “descendant’s hall” and listen to our “Lee Dai Sor” share stories of the lives and times of pioneers buried in Bukit Brown and some of the darkest chapters of our history.
FB registration here
Sunday 22 June 9am – 11.30am : Guided Walk in Hill 3
Join Keng Kiat for a walk around Hill 3 and uncover stories that are sometimes less heard of from the regular tours.
FB registration here
Sunday 22 June 4pm-6.30pm : Outpost 73 Intro to Bukit Brown
Only 15 spaces available for this walk. Please email admin@post-museum.org with name, tel and number of spaces required and we’ll get back to you.
Come for a relaxing walk around Bukit Brown and catch a glimpse of the disappearing beauty and serenity of the original site while you still can!
In this walk, you’ll enjoy the lovely greenery and serene environment, see some of Singapore’s wildlife, visit some of our forefathers and learn more about the special heritage aspects of Bukit Brown.
Disclaimer: By agreeing to take walking tours of Bukit Brown Cemetery, I understand and accept that I must be physically fit and able to do so.To the extent permissible by law, I agree to assume any and all risk of injury or bodily harm to myself and persons in my care (including child or ward) Useful info here: Getting There/游览信息
Meeting place: At the Lor Halwa Main gates at Bukit Brown
Sun 15 June’14 9am – 11.45am:
Victims, Heroes and Collaborators : Perspectives from Bukit Brown, The Japanese Occupation
If you have a FB account, please register here (if not just drop us a comment to say how many are coming)
Join Peter Peter as he takes you on a exploration of Bukit Brown and hear stories of tragedy: of a young life taken away during the bombing of S’pore and of a father who died of his war wounds just after the end of the war. You will also hear story of betrayal, leading to the death of the King’s Medal recipient. His ashes was only returned 11 years later and given a heroes burial.
We will also reveal the story of an ambush by the resistance forces that lead to the death of a pioneer whose burial was touted by the Japanese Military Administration as Syonan-to’s first public funeral and for another survivor of that very same ambush, transformed his life tremendously as he went on after the war to play a pivotal role in the growth of Buddhism in S’pore.
Finally, we will hear stories of collaboration by Chinese leaders who were forced under duress or collaborated as part of a survivor instinct or for personal gain; hear this stories of how they survived or died during this difficult period in Singapore’s history at Singapore’s heritage park, Bukit Brown.
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Bukit Brown is on the World Monuments Watch list 2014 . Find out what makes this a heritage site worthy of preserving. http://bukitbrown.com/
“We guide rain, shine or exhumations”
(photo Peter Pak)
by Raymond Ang
We visited Bukit Brown on a warm Saturday morning on June 7th , to find that the usual scene to the cemetery gates changed. There are now fences leading all the way to the gates. Clearly the construction for the highway has started.
I had brought my students from the Jakarta Nanyang School here to Bukit Brown to learn more about the links between Indonesia and Singapore. The students sweltered in the humidity. I had two groups and one group had lost their way. They had set off from Nanyang Girls’ High School and one of them took a wrong bus.
Beng from the heritage group for Bukit Brown arrived on his bicycle dressed in green cargo pants and wellies. He wore “the” plastic Casio digital watch – the one I wore growing up in Secondary school. He had jerry rigged a plastic bottle to act as a mud guard for the rear wheel of his bicycle. I knew I was going to like him already.
Just as Claire arrived in a taxi, the group that was lost called me on the phone. They were still trying to figure out where they are. Their teacher was from Jakarta too and didn’t know her way around. We decided to start the walk with the one group of students first.
Claire led the way and started to draw connections between the pioneers’ lives, history and culture in Singapore and Indonesia for the students. The tombstones started to mean more than just a random collection of stone, concrete and tiles. The Japanese attack and occupation of Singapore was a large theme – Mr Tay Koh Yat had fled to Batavia on the second last day of the fall of Singapore.
JNY Students with Claire Leow at Tay Koh Yat (photo Raymond Ng)
Mr Lee Kuan Yew had family ties in Indonesia. Though bothered by mosquitoes and the heat, the students trudged on. Beng brought out his insect repellant and sprayed the students down. I had told the students to bring some repellent yesterday, but I guess no one did.
We found out that the other group were on the other side of the hill – Mount Pleasant. Beng offered to go get them and dashed off on his bicycle. Claire drew the connections between saga seed and karats for diamonds; between colourful European tiles, Japanese innovation and adaptation and the Ming Chinese influence on Dutch kitchen tiles.
We visited Ong Sam Leong’s tomb and learned about fengshui and distinctive role of Sikhs in Singapore’s colonial history. This is the Nanyang style. One of my students asked me what would happen when the highway gets built. I replied that all this would disappear eventually – she didn’t seem to quite understand. “But it is interesting”, she said. “Yes I agree. I don’t think there is anything else quite like it in the world.” She frowns. “So it would all be gone?”. I nodded. It was sweltering hot. Some of the students were running low on water. Beng pulls out his canteen and starts topping up bottles. I feel very grateful and touched, but wasn’t sure how to express that. So I just smiled and made a mental note.
JNY Students with Beng Tang (photo Raymond )
We ended the tour with a visit to Mr Tan Chor Nam’s tomb. It is simple and distinctively modern. A rectangular plot with a black rectangular headstone. No angels nor lions here. Herein lies one of the founders of Nanyang Girls’ High School. I asked the students to observe the differences between this tomb and the others we have visited in the morning – they could clearly see the difference. The principle of Nanyang Girls High (Singapore), Mdm Heng had told me once that Mr Tan Chor Nam had died a simple man – apparently he had dedicated a large part of his fortune in setting up the school. I tried to draw the connections between Nanyang Girls’ High School and the sister school in Jakarta, and asked the students to maybe think about how they would like to be remembered in the future.
For me Bukit Brown is a reminder that we stand on the shoulders of giants who have come before us, and shaped the environment in which we have grown and “become”. “What would your legacy be?” I asked? The students looked back at me without speaking. It was a serious question. Maybe too serious. I smiled and said, “alright, you don’t have to tell me. Just think about it.” I hope they do.
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Raymond Ang, a Singaporean, is the Head of Experiential Education Centre at the JNY, the Jakarta Nanyang School. He requested a visit to Bukit Brown when his students were on a week long learning journey to Singapore. Brownies Claire Leow and Beng Tang, who stepped up to the plate, despite the late notice, were very impressed with how engaged the students were and their independence as they had to find their own way to Bukit Brown.
JNY Students at Ong Sam Leong (photo All Things Bukit Brown)
3rd June 2014
Tomb Measurement 2-Day Workshop with Dr. Lai Chee Kien
NB: There has been a change in starting time for Session one at NLB from 1 pm to 1.15pm.
(photo Lai Chee Kien)
Places available: :30
Session One : 1.15pm -4pm, Saturday 14 June 2014
Location: Imagination Room, 5th floor, National Library, Victoria Street
Session Two 3.30pm- 6.30pm, Saturday 21 June 2014,
Location: Bukit Brown Cemetery Gate (meeting point)
1) Description:
From 2011-2013, several architecture students supervised Dr Lai Chee Kien have measured tombs at the former Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery as an attempt to record the historical and unique types and hybrids found in the cemetery, now under threat of road development. This workshop aims to share the basics of measuring objects and buildings, but with a focus on the experiences of measuring tombs at Bukit Brown. It is hoped that design students and members of the public can learn the basics of tomb measurement, and in future volunteer to record other significant tombs, or those of deceased relatives. These will serve as archival records in the future for all.
2) Scope
14 June 2014 (Theory session)
(a) Introduction to measuring objects and buildings
(b) Methods, tools, and practices
(c) Tomb types and features
(d) Inhouse practice session
21 June 2014 (Practical session at Bukit Brown)
(e) Introduction to Bukit Brown
(f) Groupwork: measuring a small tomb
3. Things to bring (theory session)
(a) A4 clipboard
(b) Measuring tape (5m or more)
(c) Pen or pencil (paper will be provided)
[Items for practical will be discussed at theory session]
4. Pre-requisites
(a) Participants who have attended guided tours of Bukit Brown cemetery would be appreciated.
(b) Participants who have prior 3D drawing knowledge (architects, designers, architectural and design students) would have an advantage.
(c) Participants are required to attend both the theory and practical sessions.
Disclaimer: By agreeing to participate in the practical session held at Bukit Brown Cemetery, I understand and accept that I must be physically fit and able to do so. To the extent permissible by law, I agree to assume any and all risk of injury or bodily harm to myself.
To register, please email latest Wednesday 11 June’2014 to : a.t.bukitbrown@gmail.com
with Subject; Registration for Tomb Measurement Workshop.Participants to indicate name, IC, contact number, email and relevant interest/experience as stated in 4 (a) and (b). Successful applicants will be informed by email.
About Dr. Lai Chee Kien:
Dr Lai is a registered architect, and graduated from the National University of Singapore with an M Arch. by research [1996], and then a PhD in History of Architecture & Urban Design from the University of California, Berkeley [2005]. He researches on histories of art, architecture, settlements, urbanism and landscapes in Southeast Asia
Dr. Lai Chee Kien of the documentation team (photo: Claire Leow)
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