Saying Goodbye to One of Singapore's Last Historic Cemeteries

SINGAPORE—The June 28, 1921, edition of the Malaya Tribune noted that tensions were commonplace between British colonial authorities and the Chinese community over the administration of Singapore's Bukit Brown cemetery. “Bukit Brown persists in getting mention at every meeting,” one article lamented. “[It] will be a prolific source of controversy later on.” Close to a century later, the prediction rings true via a battle simmering between Singapore’s government and civil society groups over the question of whether the cemetery should be developed in this land-scarce island city-state.

Bukit Brown, the largest Chinese burial ground outside of China with an estimated 100,000 graves, became a municipal cemetery in 1922. It serves as the resting place for some of Singapore’s most illustrious families as well as thousands of long-forgotten middle and lower-class citizens. Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s first and longtime prime minister, has a grandfather buried here (next to a descendant of Confucius, no less), as does Tony Tan, Singapore’s current president. Baked goods magnate Chew Boon Lay (1852-1933) also lies here. Like other pioneering merchants buried in Bukit Brown, Boon Lay’s name graces Singaporean public spaces such as subway stations and housing estates.