Back in May, when the course was conducted  Zaiton in green top beside her in white T is Francis (photo Catherine Lim)

A training course for tertiary student guides  conducted by Raymond Goh,  with one module by Lai Chee Kien, NUS Architecture Faculty who is also on the documentation team, took place over 2 half days In May . This is a report from the first tour conducted by 2″graduates” Francis Zhang and Zaiton Seah – our new and probably youngest brownies

1^st July

The day of our inaugural tour!

Zaiton and I made it a point to get down to BBC early and we reached before 8.30am. The weather looked pretty good and the cloudy sky promised a cooling morning. We took the seats below the huge rain tree at the roundabout and put on our battle amour against the mosquitoes, while waiting for the tour participants to arrive.

Safety briefing and introduction (photo Peter Pak)

By 9am, the majority of the participants had arrived so we made our way to the meeting place – the gates of BBC. We started the tour off by declaring that we were first-timers and that any lack of experience should be forgiven! Of course, this was unnecessary because the group turned out to be nice, attentive and patient people.

After the safety briefing, we set off toward the Group 1 (part of Hill 5) graves.

The three Group 1 graves we covered are:

Tay Koh Yat – owner of the largest bus operator in early 1940s (120 buses); leader of a 20,000-strong defence force during the war.

Tay Koh Yat tomb (photo Peter Pak)

Francis explains tomb design and inscriptions (photo Catherine Lim)

I took the opportunity to explain to the group regarding tomb design, including the different materials used to build a tomb and some of the fengshui involved.

Fang Shan – famous for being the oldest tomb in BBC (died in 1833).

Tan Cheng Siong – paternal grandmother of President Tony Tan was the third stop. We then continued to the Group 2 graves, which are coincidentally located at Hill 2. During the walk, Peter Pak, with his extensive knowledge in botanology (at least relative to us!), pointed out various beautiful flora to the tour participants.

A blossom spotted still yet to be identified along Hill 5 enroute to Hill 2(photo Catherine Lim)

Dried fungi picked up by participant (photo Catherine Lim)

The fungi “fresh” (photo Catherine Lim)

One of the observer’s on tour brought his whole clan later (photo Peter Pak)

We were being “observed” from above (photo Catherine)

Peter Pak lends some weight to the students tour (photo Catherine Lim)

We covered quite a few graves at Group 2:

Cheong Koon Seng – a famous Anglo-Chinese School alumnus who had a road named after him before a short trek uphill for one of the highlights in tomb design

Heading towards the spectacular art deco tomb (photo Catherine Lim)

Lim Kee Soo (photo Peter Pak)

Zaiton drawing attention to Lee Lim Soo art deco features (photo by Peter Pak)

Lee Kim Soo – the owner of Elkayes matchbox company and husband to five wives; his tomb, with art deco designs, is a mystery and wonder to behold.

Wee Chim Yean – Kapitan Cina of Bengkalis; even the plants and tree that partially cover his tomb cannot hide the beauty of the intricate carvings on this old tomb.

See Tiong Wah – one of the most important people buried at BBC. Without him and Tan Kheam Hock, who were both Municipal Commissioners, BBC would not have been opened to the wider Chinese community for burial.

Khoo Kay Hian – most famous as the founder of Kay Hian & Co, which merged with UOB Securities to form UOB Kay Hian.

Tan Yong Thian – the first producer of essential oil in South-east Asia, this individual is a fine example of entrepreneurship.

Zaiton and Francis recounting the life of an early entrepreneur who was an exception in private life with one wife (photo Catherine Lim)

Tan  Yong Tians buried with his wife who died. He died within one month of his  wife died. Their graves were restored last year by their granddaughter (photo Catherine Lim)

While heading back to the main road from Tan’s grave, it started to rain! Many of us got wet before we could pull out our umbrellas and one of the participants even slipped on some bricks and fell (fortunately she was not injured). After taking shelter under a big tree for five minutes, the rain, having exacted enough misfortune for the day, thinned and eventually stopped. We took the opportunity and marched on to the last stops of the day:

1830s cluster – a cluster of headstones depicting different reign years from Chinese emperors.

Teo Chin Chay – most famous for the two topless angels by his tomb!

Naked Angel  at Teo Chin Chay cluster. He is buried with all 3 of his wives (photo Catherine Lim)

With that, we finished the Group 2 graves. On the way back, Peter Pak took us on a detour and managed to cover some graves at the other side of Hill 5 (Groups 3 and 4). Zaiton and I concluded the tour with heartfelt appreciation flowing from both the participants and us. We then headed off to a much needed lunch!

In lieu of a group photo as “veterans” forgot to take one for the students at Tay Koh Tomb where the tour had started (photo Peter Pak)

Overall, we think that it has been a smooth and memorable tour. We are really grateful towards Peter and Catherine (proud veterans of the BBC community!), who helped us a lot and filled up the gaps whenever we left out something in our explanation. Most important of all, we really appreciate the participants taking time to come down on a Sunday morning (which is frequently best spent sleeping in) and giving us their utmost attention. Just as it takes two hands to clap, it takes both volunteering tour guides as well as tour participants to keep the spirit of the BBC community going. We look forward to our next tour!

Editors note: We understand Francis and Zaiton are planning their next tour weekend of 14th July. Do look out for it. And of course they passed with flying colours.