Government exhumations for some 4,000 graves in the way of the highway began on Tuesday 17 December, without any official announcement. Sources on the ground brought some of the Brownies  and a Mediacorp news team to Bukit Brown.

It is understood that graves  claimed by descendants will be exhumed first, followed by those unclaimed. It is estimated from descendants who have kept All Things Bukit Brown  informed on the exhumation dates of their ancestors, that exhumations could  take up to July/August  2014 to complete.

The areas of affected graves have been  cordoned off from view  in preparation for  exhumations since November 2013.  Only descendants, grave diggers and  official personnel including  the documentation team are allowed in the enclose areas to witness and record the exhumations.

There is as yet no official statement on plans to preserve tombstones except for this statement : “Due to the number of burial items, the NHB is unable to guarantee that it will be able to preserve all of them.”  CNA news report. The news video  is available here. The Mandarin news report:

A blog post in Chinese by Brownie Walter  is available here.

The Straits Times  on Exhumations,  19 December, 2013:

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

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

For the community who believe with us  that Bukit Brown should be preserved as a Heritage Park, the journey continues to preserve  the rest of the 95,000 tombs.   We have guided 10,000 people in one year. With your support,  we can do more to create awareness and appreciation for the Heritage, Habitat and History of  Bukit Brown.  Let’s keep calm and carry on.

At Bukit Brown on the 17th December morning,  as observed by Brownies on the Ground.

17 December, smooth traffic on both sides of Lornie Rd posted at 08.19 (photo Claire Leow)

17 December Gathering for the Exhumations (photo Victor Lim)

A bottle of white wine in the bag to wash the bones collected as according to custom. This package is for the tomb staked as number 49  (photo Victor Lim)

17 December – A family heads towards Seh Ong Cemetery with a gravedigger carrying the tools of his trade (photo Claire Leow)

Grave digger, Ah Na speaks Hokkien fluently (photo Claire Leow)

One last parting shot from the people at Cartoon Press

A report on a private exhumation here

http://sinchewciviljournalist.blogspot.sg/2013/12/blog-post_17.html