by Choo Ai Loon

The Mian-Yu-Ting Cemetery (绵裕亭) across the causeway in Johor, Malaysia, has an area of about 60 acres. The cemetery which has been closed for burial includes a casket company, a crematorium and two columbaria, among other facilities.

I attended a tour of the cemetery led by Mr Bak Jia How and Mr Pek Wee-Chuen who are alumni of Foon Yew High School in Johor.  The tour was to  commemorate the 100^th anniversary of  the school, and dedicated  to two of the four founders who were  laid to rest in Mian-Yu-Ting.

We also visited the graves of other contributors to Foon Yew and stories about them were shared. At the same time, I learned other interesting facts about the graves, in particular, the meaning behind the unique inscriptions .

The land for the cemetery  was a gift by Sultan Abu Bakar in 1885. In the 1920s, due to poor management, burials had mistakenly crossed over onto an adjacent piece of land. That land was owned by a tycoon,  Al-Habib Hasan bin Ahmad al-Attas of Arab origin, but born in Malaya. He however kindly agreed to donate a part of the land to the cemetery. As a token of gratitude, a Rosetta stone was erected within the compound to remember his generosity.

The Rosetta stone of Mian-Yu-Ting (photo Choo Ai Loon)

An imprint of the writing on the Rosetta stone ( copyright Teo Ying Chieh )

The Chinese character “氵月” on the tombstone circled  below  means ‘Qing (Dynasty) without a leader’ (清无主). This was a secret word created to symbolise the movement to overthrow the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and to revive the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

However, engraving the character on a tombstone in  Nanyang (Southern Seas or south of China)  in the last 200 years did not necessarily mean one was active in the movement.  It can be interpreted to symbolise the unity among members from a certain cohort or gang, formed by early Chinese migrants to Nanyang.; in this instance, the Teochew community.

Notably, most of the tombs in Mian-Yu-Ting that carry  “氵月” character are on Teochew tombs and not found on the Cantonese tombstones there . Have you seen the same character at any tomb in Bukit Brown?

There is tomb adorned with Majolica tiles which was  built when the Ngee Heng Kongsi was ordered to dissolve in 1919. The Ngee Heng Kongsi was a powerful Teochew gang in Johor and an offshoot of the Tian-Di-Hui (天地会) secret society in China. The society aimed to topple the Qing Dynasty so as to reinstate the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Tomb (Photo Choo Ai Lin)

That said, the overseas offshoot of  Ngee Heng Kongsi was largely committed to taking care of the welfare of early Chinese immigrants. When it wound up, a fraction of its funds was spent on building this tomb, with the Chinese words of Ming-Mu (明墓), meaning Ming tomb,  engraved on the headstone.

The remaining fund, a substantial sum at that time, was donated to Foon Yew School. And in return, the school would have to perform rituals at the tomb twice a year, on the 3^rd day of the third Lunar month (spring) and the 25^th day of the seventh Lunar month (autumn). For almost a century now, the school continues to fulfil its promise.

No one was buried under the tomb. Instead, a catacomb was said to have been built to place ancestral tablets of important members of the gang, and to safe keep sacred objects. Notably, Ngee Heng Kongsi had established one of the earliest Chinese settlements in Johor.  We certainly won’t be where we are today without our pioneers.

Another view of the Ming tomb (photo Choo Ai Loon)

Here are some highlights from other graves

Earth Deity (Photo Choo Ai Lin)

At one grave, there is a larger-than-usual placement of the Guardian Deity of Earth which  is comparable to the one at Ong Sam Leong’s in Bukit Brown.

In Singapore and Malaysia, the Guardian Deity of Earth may be addressed in Mandarin as Tu-Di-Zhi-Shen (土地之神), just like the one in the photo, or Hou-Tu (后土) or Fu-Shen (福神). Have you seen another name being used in Bukit Brown?

Cantonese Tomb with Victorian influence ( photo Choo Ai Loon )

“S” shape feature on its side on a tomb (photo Choo Ai Loon)

Tai-chi drum feature (photo Choo Ai Loon)

A mythical creature Ao-Yu (鳌鱼)  has a dragon’s head and a fish’s body, it is believed to have transformed from a carp.

Ao Yu, a mythical creature (photo Choo Ai Loon)

I hope these discoveries may lead you to  exclaim  “oh I see!”; or  trigger a memory: “oh I have seen this somewhere before!”.

I would like to thank Pek Wee-Chuen and Bak Jia How, for an enjoyable  tour and sharing  their knowledge with  me.

Look for part 2  of my journal on Mian-Yu-Ting. Highlights include,  a Johorean connected  to a high school in Singapore and,  the story of a  family business  which parallels that of Teochew leader,  Seah Eu Chin.

Choo Ai Loon, works as a translator and is passionate about art and heritage, She supports Hair for Hope for children with cancer.

She blogs at http://chooailoon.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/hair-for-hope-2013/