Bukit Brown Cemetery temple - a hope for its resurrection?

July 02, 2021 Bukit Brown temple

The Bukit Brown Cemetery temple existed for many years until it was eventually destroyed. Bukit Brown Cemetery was closed for burials in 1973 and the last known picture or video of it was in 1973 as well. Oral accounts from tomb keepers said that it was demolished in the early 1980s (but i don't have actual proof of timeline it was destroyed, but this coincides with the period were the local villagers were asked to move out due to redevelopment plans of the surrounding areas). Photos of the temple have been rare and few, but over the years, they have been slowly rediscovered. I hope that by writing this article, it will continue to help raise awareness and that more photos of the temple will turn up. Who knows, if one day, the status of Bukit Brown Cemetery can be raised into a protected heritage park, this beautiful temple can be rebuilt to what we can be seen from the pictures below.

The earliest photo most recently uncovered was from the Stanley T Tanner Collection from the National Archives. The photo was dated 1929 and describes a young John Tanner walking towards a shrine at a Chinese Cemetery, Singapore. However there was no indication of the location of this temple. Fast forward to 1973 where a local Singapore film called Ring of Fury, where several scenes of the movie were filmed within Bukit Brown including the temple in Bukit Brown.

When comparing the stills from 1973 and the old 1929 photo, the entire structure of the temple including the roofs, facade, offerings burner and the path to the temple matches. It is very likely to conclude that this is the same temple taken during different times.