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Rojak Librarian

The Rojak Librarian is a blog that covers a range of topics related to Singapore's history, culture, and heritage. I wrote many articles on Bukit Brown, exploring the cemetery's past and present, the lives of the early pioneers buried there and the social and cultural significance of the site. I also cover about nature and birdwatching.

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Tan Soo Wha (Bukit Brown)

October 05, 2026

AI Assisted Translation Block 4 Div C Teochew Tomb

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許成溪 - Koh Cheng Khee (Lao Sua)

October 04, 2026

AI Assisted Translation Lao Sua tomb mason Youtube Shorts

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黃狗屎 (Lao Sua)

October 04, 2026

AI Assisted Translation Lao Sua unique name Youtube Shorts

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Madam Wee Tuah Nya (Bukit Brown)

October 03, 2026

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Peck Cheng Bong (Bukit Brown)

October 03, 2026

AI Assisted Translation block 2 Division H

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Mr. Red (紅) ? - Ang Peng Siong (Bukit Brown)

October 02, 2026

AI Assisted Translation block 2 Division H marble

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Madam Neo Ging Neng (Bukit Brown)

October 02, 2026

block 2 Division H marble

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Lee Keng Chin (Bukit Brown)

September 29, 2026

AI Assisted Translation Pauper Section 4 Division 3

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Pauper 4 Section 3 - plot 592

September 27, 2026

AI Assisted Translation Mutual Help Associations Pauper Section 4 Division 3 Youtube Shorts

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Madam Tan Seok Neo (Bukit Brown)

September 27, 2026

Pauper Section 4 Division 2

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Children buried together in the Pauper Section 4 Division 3 (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Died Young Pauper Section 4 Division 3

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Chua Hood Kye (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Died Young marble Pauper Section 4 Division 1 Youtube Shorts

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Gan Koh Siew (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Pauper Section 4 Division 1

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Madam Ang Poo Neo (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Pauper Section 4 Division 1

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Madam Goh Nia Chit (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Pauper Section 4 Division 1

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Lee Ah Moey (Bukit Brown)

September 26, 2026

Died Young Pauper Section 4 Division 1 Youtube Shorts

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Madam Tan Nya Chik (Bukit Brown)

September 24, 2026

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Mrs. Tan Guan Kheng nee Madam Ho Liang Geok (Bukit Brown)

September 24, 2026

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Labels

Bukit Brown888
Hill 3328
Died Young201
Hill 1183
decorative tiles180
Block 3 Div D152
Hill 4151
Block 4 Div A142
Block 3 Div C130
Block 4 Div C108

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Rojak Librarian (Peter Pak): Advocate for Conservation of Bukit Brown Cemetery. Heritage and Nature Enthusiast.

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The Stories Behind: Birdwatcher turned grave hunter reunites families with forgotten tombs of their ancestors(2022)

Newspaper mentions(2025)

Newspaper mentions(2024)

Newspaper mentions(2024)

Grave Matters-The Greater Bukit Brown(2023)

Newspaper mentions(2022)

Tuesday Report (2018) 星期二特写 | 行脚。发现第4集：武吉布朗之旅

Newspaper mentions (2017)

History from the Hills (2013)

Newspaper mentions (2014)

Resource Guide on Bukit Brown

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Popular Post

黃狗屎 (Lao Sua)

I was surprised when i was told about the translation for this simple tomb in Loa Sua as i couldn't read chinese. Name of deceased: 黃狗屎 In Hokkien, 黃狗屎 is pronounced and romanized as Ng Káo Sái (often written locally as Ng Cow Sai). Yes, dog feces is the name of the male person with the surname Wee buried here whose ancestry place is from 石庭 (Shiting, in Hanjiang District, Putian, Fujian, China). There is no date of death stated. 黃狗屎 - Ng Kao Sai Here is the exact character-by-character breakdown: 黃 (Huang): Pronounced Wee (or Ooi / Ng depending on the specific regional subdialect). For this particular family line, it was registered as Wee. 狗 (Gou): Pronounced Káo (which sounds exactly like the English word "Cow"). It is the everyday colloquial Hokkien word for dog. 屎 (Shi): Pronounced Sái. It is the Hokkien word for feces/poop. When put together in spoken Hokkien, it sounds like "Ng Cow Sai." Note: Surname was amended from Wee to Ng based on community feedb...

Song Ong Siang and family (All Saints Memorial)

Sir Song Ong Siang was the the eldest son of Song Hoot Kiam and Phan Fung Lean. He served as a voluntary preacher and succeeded his father Song Hoot Kiam (when he died in 1900), as an elder of the church. He also served as Chairman of the Chinese Christian Association for many years and was a strong advocate for educational reform, helping in the formation of the Singapore Chinese Girls' School and becoming one of the members on the Board of Governors and its Vice-president. Sir Song Ong Siang achieved many first. He was as earlier mentioned, the first Chinese to be Knighted. As a young boy, he was a brilliant student. He excelled in his studies and was the first recipient of the Queen's Scholar but was disqualified due to the fact he was underage. The honor instead went to another distingushed person, Dr. Lim Boon Keng. He did eventually became a Queens Scholar in 1888 and was the first Queens Scholar to study law. He went on to establish the law firm, Aitken and Ong Siang...

Chua Hood Kye (Bukit Brown)

The marble tomb needed clean up as it was covered with moss. After some cleaning the tomb, it was all etched in English and it reads; In Loving Memory of Chua Hood Kye Beloved Son of Mr & Mrs Chua Teck Kim Who Passed Away 13-12-34 Age 4 Years. Chua Hood Kye was only 4 years when he passed away on 13 December 1934. In the burial registrar, the entry for his name is written as Chua Hock Kye Chua Hood Kye Possible Connection I really cannot be sure who Chua Teck Kim parents are, but within that timeline, this is a possible connection of his parents. If i follow this version, the possible story is this: Father: Chua Teck Kim Chua Teck Kim of No. 57 Killiney Road, Singapore , Clerk - a bankruptcy notice for him appeared on June 1937. Bankruptcy Ordinance Notice for Chua Teck Kim A bankrupt, Chua Teck Kim, attributed his insolvency to standing surety for his for mother for $26,00. This liabilities eventually snowballed to $33,000 when he eventually beca...

Tan Boo Liat (Bukit Brown)

Tan Boo Liat (陈武烈 1875-1934) was born into a well known and established family in Singapore. He is the son of Tan Soon Toh (1853-1892), the grandson of Tan Kim Ching , (陈金钟, 1829-1892) and great grandson of Tan Tock Seng (陈笃生, 1798-1850). Tan Boo Liat was one of the pioneer members of the Straits Chinese British Association when it was first formed in 1900. The President of the Association was Tan Jiak Kim and Vice President, Seah Liang Seah. He was the owner of the mansion called Golden Bell Mansion (named after his grandfather, Tan Kim Ching ) in Mount. Faber. On December 15, 1911, Chinese revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat Sen, stayed the night here, immediately after his arrival from Europe. Tan Boo Liat was instrumental in the formation of the Singapore Chinese Girl School (Sing Po Chung Kwo Hsio Tang) located at Hill Street in 1899. The President then was Lew Yuk Lin (Chinese Consul) and Vice Presidents; Khoo Seok Wan and Tan Hap Seng , Treasurer;...

Pauper 4 Section 3 - plot 592

The tomb is slowly enveloped by the roots of a huge fig tree. However there are words on the headstone that caught Raymond Goh's eye. The chinese character on the tomb of significance is possibly: 星洲碼头工友互助會 which i literally translate it to mean the Singapore Harbour Board Wharf Worker's Mutual Help Association Pauper 4 Section 3 -plot 592 - possibly Siu Yong Yeung Possible connection Using Gemini AI for assistance, the term breakdown is as follows: 星洲 (Xīngzhōu): "Singapore" (literally "Star Island," a historical Chinese name for Singapore) 碼頭 (mǎtóu): Wharf / Dock / Harbour 工友 (gōngyǒu): Workers / Labourers 互助會 (hùzhù huì): Mutual Help Association / Mutual Aid Union From the plot number -592, it is very likely this is the tomb of Siu Yong Yeung / Sim Yong Yeung who passed away at the age of 53 on 12 May 1941. In the burial registrar, he is listed as Hokchew. It is possible that he worked in the harbour docks and the tomb erected for him was one of the l...

Lee Keng Chin (Bukit Brown)

Lee Keng Chin passed away at the age of 25 on 16 May 1941. His dialect was listed as Hokkien. Lee Keng Chin / 李慶春 Using Gemini AI as Assistance sparingly since i can't read chinese (do correct me if i am wrong, by commenting below) Top Left Column (Ancestral Home) 金竹 (Jīnjiú) Translation: Jinzhu (The ancestral village or region of the Li family in China). Main Central Column (The Deceased Name) 顯考慶春李公墓 Translation: Tomb of the late, respected father, Mr. Li Qingchun. Note: "顯考" (Xian Kao) is an honorific term for a deceased father. "李" (Li) is the surname, "慶春" (Qingchun) is the given name, and "公" (Gong) is a respectful term for a gentleman. Right Column (Date of Death) 卒民國辛巳年 Year: Died in the Xinsi Year of the Republic of China which corresponds directly to 1941. Left Column (The Family Line (Far Left, Bottom Inner Column)) This part is a bit tricky and i couldn't make sense of what was given to me and i am afraid that it hallucinat...

Children buried together in the Pauper Section 4 Division 3 (Bukit Brown)

While exploring Pauper Section 4, Division 3, we came across a clearing where there were no tombs in quite a large area except for 1 tomb (see below). That got us curious. The solitary tomb fortunately had a plot number attached. Nearby this solitary tomb were some visible plot markers - 711 (with the 7 broken), 721. 732 and 743. With this information, i am able to map who are the people buried here in Pauper 4 Division 3 . Let me start with the one with the solitary tombstone found first. Koh Chee Cheng - Male - 1 year and 1 month old - Hokkien - died 6 June 1941.v-plot 733 Koh Chee Cheng - passed away at the age of 1 year and 1 month old on 6 June 1941 Using the plot markers as evidence, i am able to uncover those who are buried nearby baby Koh Chee Cheng. They carry no tombs but only plot markers. Buried in the same plot of 733 plot marker, but subdivided are: Unamed child of Ng Chee Seng -Male- (age not stated) - Hokkien - died 6 June 1941 (plot 733A) Child of Seet...

Valley of Death (Siglap)

There was a series of pictures that were recently published on PictureSG, donated by Foo Chin Hwa 胡拯华 1962 that got me curious. It was a series of pictures that shows and describes exhumation being carried out and bones found in Siglap. However nothing further was added in the description and credit line of this pictures except for a few. For this series of pictures, a few things were consistent, the year the pictures were taken and the donor, Foo Chin Hwa 胡拯华. Washing of bones from mass graves source: PictureSG Bones found in Siglap (source: PictureSG) Piles of discarded footwear source: PictureSG Storing bones in jar (source: PictureSG) Siglap's "Valley of Death" The newspaper article headline of 24 February 1962 caught my attention. It describes a recent sandwashing activity at 7.5 mile Siglap Road which led to a discovery of mass war graves. The location of this place is off Evergreen Avenue and very close to Puay Poon School. The Chi...

Kamala Circus - The Great Indian Circus visits Singapore

I heard about the Tai Thean Kew circus from my involvement with Bukit Brown and during one my tours on the Queenstown Heritage Trail , i was told of another Indian circus troupe that existed in the late 1950's and 1960's. Recently, while curating ideas for a Bukit Brown tour on Pioneers of Early Entertainment, i came across a travelling circus troupe by the name of Kamala Circus. Kamala Circus (source: NewspaperSG) Kamala Circus was reputed to be the largest travelling show in the Far East. It boasted over 100 Indian artist and featured acts such as the flying trapeze act, the "Globe of Death" motor cycle act by two young girls, a 30 foot leap by a motorcyclist and the "cat" act. It claims over 300 tons of equipment and animals which include 16 horses, 8 Ceylon baby elephants, an African lion and 2 lionesses, 2 tiger cubs and 3 Indian mountain goats. It came to Singapore in 1947 from India via Ceylon and performed for a month before touring around th...

Mr. Red (紅) ? - Ang Peng Siong (Bukit Brown)

The tombstone was in bad condition and marble headstone missing. Searching the grounds in front of the tombstone, fortunately we managed to locate the marble headstone which was broken in several pieces and piece it back like a mini jigsaw puzzle. After cleaning the tomb, we place it on top of the altar table. Another puzzle. the marble headstone mentions his surname as Red (紅), hence, i nicknamed this tomb as belonging to Mr. Red which is of course strange. After going through the burial registrar, we found that his name was Ang Peng Siong (紅平祥). He passed away on 18 December 1927. From the burial registrar, i can't really tell his age but it looks like 43 years old. Ang Peng Siong (紅平祥) Using Gemini AI for assistance The center column reads "顕考平祥江公墓" 顕考 (Xian Kao): A respectful term meaning "Deceased Honored Father." 平祥 (Ping Xiang): The person's given name. 紅 (Hong): The family surname . 公 (Gong): A respectful honorific title applied to male ancestors...

Archive

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2023 168
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Heritage in S'pore and M'sia

All things Bukit Brown
Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials 新加坡墓碑铭集录
Bukit Brown Cemetery
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Burial Registrar
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Singapore Heritage Society
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Good morning yesterday
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Nature in S'pore and M'sia

Focus Ubin
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Online guide to Chek Jawa, Ubin

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