{"id":8268,"date":"2013-11-07T12:24:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T04:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?p=8268"},"modified":"2013-11-08T13:31:44","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T05:31:44","slug":"bukit-brown-national-heritage-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2013\/bukit-brown-national-heritage-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Bukit Brown National Heritage Park?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0The\u00a0 Case for a Bukit Brown (National) Heritage Park<\/h3>\n

by Chew Kheng Chuan<\/p>\n

7 November, 2013.<\/p>\n

Sometime ago when I was looking at Google Earth<\/a> to check out Bukit Brown, I was struck by what a huge green lung it was that was contiguous to the main Water Catchment Area of MacRitchie and Pierce Reservoirs. In that sense the greenery was part of a single \u201ccritical mass,\u201d whose significance \u2013 ecological and environmental \u2013 depended critically on its mass to create the climatic and rainfall needs of Singapore.\u00a0 I felt that taking away this greenery would be a major detraction and subtraction that cannot be replaced by the addition of many other smaller parcels that may add up to the same area if aggregated.<\/p>\n

Otherwise I am very sympathetic to the pressures of the planners needing to look to the provision of housing and road requirements of a developing city and nation.<\/p>\n

However I feel it is highly regrettable that Bukit Brown Cemetery has to be sacrificed on the altar of development. It will be an irretrievable loss. This is a resting place of the pioneers of our nation and is a cultural and historical heritage that is the physical expression of our sense of origins and identity.<\/p>\n

\"Beauty<\/a>

Bukit Brown (photo public domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

Are there alternatives?\u00a0 This is a serious question that must be considered further and deeper. When Bukit Brown is developed into a future residential estate, the beneficiaries are limited to the fortunate people who will live there, next to the greenery of MacRitchie Reservoir.\u00a0 However it will be lost to the larger public.<\/p>\n

Yet if Bukit Brown were to be gazetted as a National Heritage Cemetery Park, and developed as such, keeping all the graves which represent the earliest of burials in Singapore, and are an authentic expression of the anthropological rituals, ceremonies and culture of a people (still alive and active annually every Cheng\u00a0 Beng\u00a0 period), it can benefit all residents of Singapore, and into the future.\u00a0 Let me explain why.<\/p>\n

Indeed the National Parks Board can look to developing this into a National Heritage Cemetery Park (or should that be the Bukit Brown Heritage Cemetery National Park?), develop the landscape and plantings, preserving the old trees, and grow new flora. Then it becomes a NEW environmental, recreational, cultural, historical, educational, natural, and yes, economical-tourism resource for all<\/i><\/b> residents in Singapore \u2013 citizens, PRs, migrant workers, visitors, tourists, students, nature lovers, birdwatchers, filial descendents who observe the rites and rituals of Cheng Beng<\/p>\n

It then becomes a public space rather than a private, historical, forgotten, \u201cunder-utilised\u201d cemetery. Perhaps a stronger case can be made that this serves more powerfully the larger public good than the limited number of the lucky few future residents of the new residential estate of Bukit Brown?<\/p>\n

An MRT has been planned and will be built for Bukit Brown \u2013 indeed, that will not detract from nor be wasted by the new identity and purpose of this National Heritage Park, for all of Singapore will need good transportation access to it to enjoy its benefits. The Bukit Brown MRT in a new status of Bukit Brown will in the longer run better justify its location and existence, bringing a far greater number of commuters to it than that planned for just residents of the area were it to be an exclusive residential district.<\/p>\n

I would argue for considering such an alternative future for Bukit Brown to preserve its past of pioneer burials, and enhance its future, even if my ancestors were not buried there. Indeed, as a child I used to accompany my father and relatives every Cheng Beng, but with their passing I have discontinued this ritual for many decades, which explains why my children have never visited the grave of their great-great-grandfather Chew Boon Lay until recently<\/p>\n

I asked my children what thoughts they might wish to share.\u00a0 They said:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur father told us we are 5th<\/sup> generation Singaporeans, which we think is cool. We wonder how many of our friends have been in Singapore for 5 generations? \u00a0Our great great grandfather Chew Boon Lay<\/span><\/a> and great grandfather Chew Hock Seng,<\/span><\/a> are both buried at Bukit Brown. We\u2019re kinda sad that when the cemetery is gone they will be just a memory and lost in our future.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Chew<\/a>

Chew Boon Lay (photo Rojak Librarian, http:\/\/mymindisrojak.blogspot.sg\/)<\/p><\/div>\n

Chew Kheng Chuan is the great grandson of Chew Boon Lay.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u00a0The\u00a0 Case for a Bukit Brown (National) Heritage Park by Chew Kheng Chuan 7 November, 2013. Sometime ago when I was looking at Google Earth to check out Bukit Brown, I was struck by what a huge green lung it was that was contiguous to the main Water Catchment Area of MacRitchie and Pierce Reservoirs. In that sense the greenery was part of a single \u201ccritical mass,\u201d whose significance \u2013 ecological and environmental \u2013 depended critically on its mass […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[161,116,81,93],"tags":[451,452],"class_list":["post-8268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage-2","category-history-2","category-slider","category-your-say","tag-chew-boon-lay","tag-heritage-park"],"yoast_head":"\nBukit Brown National Heritage Park? - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2013\/bukit-brown-national-heritage-park\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bukit Brown National Heritage Park? - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  \u00a0The\u00a0 Case for a Bukit Brown (National) Heritage Park by Chew Kheng Chuan 7 November, 2013. Sometime ago when I was looking at Google Earth to check out Bukit Brown, I was struck by what a huge green lung it was that was contiguous to the main Water Catchment Area of MacRitchie and Pierce Reservoirs. 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