Of Therapeutic Greens & Winsome Wildlife

Bukit Brown Cemetery spans 80 hectares hosting a mix of woodlands, scrubland and grassland. These habitats are home to 130 vascular plant species and myriad wildlife including 93 avian, 15 reptilian, 56 butterfly and 28 mammalian species. The grounds are watered by two streams where at least 12 fish and 12 frog species live.

Bukit Brown has made the news over the years. The biggest controversy was over the building of the eight-lane Lornie Highway in 2013 that upset the nature and heritage communities. It entailed clearing nearly 4,000 ancestral tombs and their attendant vegetation, as well as besmirching a verdant valley with a natural stream. A compromise was reached whereby part of the highway became a flyover to allow unimpeded passage to hikers and wildlife below.

Pre-highway, I enjoyed many nature and heritage walks here. After the cemetery was cleaved in two, I visited it several more times. On 1 May 2025, I went on a post-lunch stroll through its serene grounds on an overcast day. I took the path veering away from the annoying drone of the vehicular traffic. Despite the late hour, the birds were active. Typically, avian action is best in the early mornings, quietening down in the afternoons.

Bird song provided audio accompaniment, from fluty tunes of Black-naped Orioles to repeated chonk-chonk notes of Pin-striped Tit-Babblers and ubiquitous twittering of Javan Mynas. Interspersed were cackles of Collared and White-throated Kingfishers, as well as forlorn calls of Lineated Barbets. Not to be outdone, cicadas chirped incessantly. The natural sound bath was soothing and almost soporific. I felt at peace with the world.

The unmolested part of the cemetery was the way I remembered it, with rows of stately graves preserving the heritage of yesteryears, while nature reclaimed the interstitial spaces not trimmed by the tomb keepers. I revelled in the pleasing greens that sprouted, creeped, climbed, festooned, draped, and grew skywards everywhere I looked. From the ground cover of Wild Pepper to shrubs like the Singapore Rhododendron and Croton, culminating in majestic trees like the Banyan, these botanical delights buoyed my spirit ever higher as I meandered along the tarmac pathways.

I spied many birds through my trusty binoculars, with Yellow-vented Bulbuls, Spotted Doves and Pink-necked Green Pigeons being the most prominent. My best sighting was of a Changeable Hawk Eagle zipping across my path, mobbed by a flock of wee birds. Plantain Squirrels were common, bounding cheerily from bush to tree. Huge rain puddles played host to at least two tadpole species. Butterflies such as the Blue Glassy Tiger and Chocolate Pansy flitted between flowers in airy nonchalance to my presence.

Inevitably, the path looped back and the intrusive highway drone returned. There were a couple of crossings under the highway – where the ‘ceiling space’ was low, the ground was devoid of plants. With sufficient ceiling space, the vegetation was decent, serving as cover to encourage wildlife movement between both sides of the cemetery. 

My two-hour foray was most therapeutic, leaving me refreshed and eager for further re-exploration, especially to check out the warren of dirt tracks crisscrossing the cemetery.

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Acknowledgements
My grateful thanks to Nature Society Singapore members Dr Ho Hua Chew, Bian Tan, Dr Anuj Jain, Nick Baker, Tony O’Dempsey and Timothy Pwee for helping me consolidate the latest species lists for Bukit Brown.

 About the Writer
Gloria Seow is a copywriter, editor, professional nature guide and published author. She has headed the Education Committee in Nature Society Singapore since 2008 as the former Chair and current Vice Chair. Learn more at https://lorisowl.wordpress.com/.