The Burial Ground for Paupers

 THE PAUPERS’ SECTION (1922–1973)

Under Municipal by-laws, Bukit Brown had two categories of land for burial  designated as “general” and “pauper”. These were sub-divided into numbered plots of specific sizes. In the general category, each plot cost $50 and the burial fee was $$15. Just for comparison, in 1923, a tin containing 50 individual imported cigarettes cost 85 cents,  a night out in the movies – 50 cents, a pair of tennis shoe’s from Tan Kah Kee’s company -$1.30 and finally an office shirt – $2.00.

No fees  were charged for burial plots in the pauper section intended to serve the destitute,  but  there were also funeral expenses such as grave diggers,  the cost of a no frills funeral and erecting a simple brick  tombstone. For such expenses, guilds and clan associations would step in and provide the expenses needed. 

It is estimated that tens of thousands of “ordinary” migrants are buried in the paupers’ section, including unclaimed bodies and babies. These sites were certainly  less desirable in terms of feng shui considerations prone to be water logged, the decomposition was quick. 

There was a period of extenuating circumstance where the location of the paupers section, close to paths, facilitated quick burials under conditions of extreme hardship and uncertainty. It was  during the Japanese Occupation where victims of war regardless of status, came to be buried among the poor. 

War renders  all men equal in death. .

Elsewhere on Wayfinder,  Lim King Chuan #tomb25 and  Low Nong Nong #tomb31  are examples of tombs in the Pauper Section 

Further reading:

https://mymindisrojak.blogspot.com/2017/08/coolie-lines-bukit-brown.html

Coolies in Bukit Brown