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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. There are many articles on Bukit Brown, exploring the cemetery's past and present, the lives of the people buried there and the social and cultural significance of the site. I also cover about nature and Birdwatching in some of my articles.

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Showing posts from September, 2024

Posts

Tan Jiak Chong and Neo Chwee Neo (former Alexandra Cemetery)

September 16, 2024

Family - Tan Kim Seng former Alexandra Cemetery

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Funeral of Wee Teck Seng (Images from the Past)

September 15, 2024

Bukit Brown Images from the Past

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Aerial View of Bukit Brown 1958

September 12, 2024

Aerial view Bukit Brown

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Tan How Thiam (Bukit Brown)

September 11, 2024

Block 4 Div A Hill 4

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Tee Goh Sow (Bukit Brown)

September 11, 2024

Block 4 Div A Hill 4

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Madam Tan Cheng Neo (Bukit Brown)

September 09, 2024

Block 4 Div A Hill 4

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Lee Soon Swee and family (Bukit Brown)

September 08, 2024

Banking Block 3 Div B Hill 3

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Bukit Brown Burial Receipt (Syonan Tokubetu Si)

September 07, 2024

Bukit Brown Burial Receipt Burial Registrar

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Funeral of Tay Koh Yat at Bukit Brown

September 06, 2024

Block 5 Division D Bukit Brown Images from the Past

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Wee Oh Thow (Kopi Sua)

September 06, 2024

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Teo Kah Toh (Kopi Sua)

September 06, 2024

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Chua Boon Liat (Kopi Sua)

September 04, 2024

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Tan Cheng Lim (Kopi Sua)

September 04, 2024

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Madam Lee Bee Neo (Kopi Sua)

September 02, 2024

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Lim Boon Kiew and Yap Ley Neo (Kopi Sua)

September 02, 2024

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Labels

Bukit Brown956
Hill 3307
Hill 1181
Hill 4156
decorative tiles132
Block 3 Div D130
Died Young128
Block 4 Div A108
Hill 295
birdwatching83

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Rojak Librarian: Nature has a lot to teach us, if only we stop to pay attention.

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Resource Guide on Bukit Brown

History from the Hills (2013)

Newspaper mentions (2014)

Newspaper mentions (2017)

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

Newspaper mentions(2022)

Grave Matters-The Greater Bukit Brown(2023)

Newspaper mentions(2024)

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

Rojak Librarian+ (other Rojak matters)

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Popular Post

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

Bukit Brown Burial Receipt (Syonan Tokubetu Si)

The Syonan Tokubetu Si Cemetery Certification for Registration burial receipt caught my eye in a facebook group post recently. It was a Certification for Registration receipt issue for payment for burial under the Syonan Tokubetsu Si (Municipal Administration for Singapore as it was known during Japanese Occupation). The receipt has the word Bukit Brown written on it and the other important thing was the date - 2nd December 1945 . We know that the Japanese occupiers surrendered on 14 September 1945 and yet this receipt post-dates that significant date. Was there a mistake in the year ? Unlikely as 1945 is written twice in this receipt. It is more likely that post war, office supplies were still rare to come by, so the Municipal Administrators continued using the old receipts. But to be very certain, we looked at 2 things - the burial registrar of Bukit Brown and of another the actual tomb itself ! Burial receipt (photo courtesy of William Teo) The Bukit Brown burial registrar confir

Tan How Thiam (Bukit Brown)

Tan How Thiam / Tan How Theam (married to an Ng) passed away at the age of 36 on 9 December 1945. Tan How Thiam Location of tomb Block 4 Section A plot P552

Funeral of Tay Koh Yat at Bukit Brown

I am fortunate to get a glimpse of rare photos, this time of a gentlemen who was well loved by the people during his lifetime - Mr. Tay Koh Yat (鄭古悅) (1880-1957) , recipient of the Certificate of Honor, Order of the British Empire. This rare photos that i selected for this article were of his funeral procession at Bukit Brown and the photos came to light because it was donated by the family of Tay Soo Choon (one of Tay Koh Yat's son) and made available online via National Library Board (NLB) . For those who are not familiar with Tay Koh Yat, his story is one of rags to riches, eventually becoming the Proprietor of Tay Koh Yat Bus Company. He was also a war hero, a community leader and staunch anti-communist. He was conferred the Order of the British Empire in 1952 for his courage in keeping the bus service in operation despite Communist threats and repeated arsons. Tay Koh Yat passed away at midnight, 29 January 1957 (Chinese New Year eve) at his home at No. 58 Tras Street. He is

Tan Swee Hoe and family (Batu Pahat)

Sometime back in August 2012, i wrote an article about Tan Swee Hoe who is buried in Bukit Brown. Tan Swee Hoe came to Singapore as a young boy and worked his way up, eventually becoming one of founders of Ho Hong Bank, and later a director of Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) after it merged with it. He was also for two terms, the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Batu Pahat, shareholder of Ho Aik Steamships. Tan Swee Hoe was a member of the Council of State, Johore and received a title S.M.J (Setia Mahkota Johore) from the government of Johore in 1929 for his contributions. He owned several property in Singapore and Batu Pahat. Tan Swee Hoe In January 2014, i was fortunate to make a trip with like minded friends to Batu Pahat to visit one of the properties he owned as well as a temple he contributed too and finally the grave of his son. Tan Swee Hoe's mansion First on my wishlist was Tan Swee Hoe's mansion on 160 Jalan Kluang, Batu Pah

The end of former St. John's Church Cemetery at the Old Jurong Road

We had the opportunity to visit the former St. John's Church Cemetery at the Old Jurong Road on 4 February 2023 and to no surprises the hoarding marking the start of the development phase and the destruction of the jungle area and the cemetery. We were curious to see whether the tombs there have been exhumed but found that the area has been undisturbed. There were no markers nor anything stating that the effected tombs will be exhumed as of yet. The signs were cleared when we saw they were already starting to destroy the tar road of the former Old Jurong Road. Next were the green hoardings to prevent eventual entry of humans to the work area. Hoarding up marking the next phase of demolishing the forest The tar road of the Old Jurong Road being destroyed I took some videos to document both the undisturbed tombs there as well as some exhumed ones. Hopefully, proper respect will be given to those still intact and the tombs properly documented before they are exhumed and cleared.

Tee Goh Sow (Bukit Brown)

Tee Goh Sow passed away at the age of 57 on 30 November 1945. She is listed as Hockchew Tee Goh Sow Tee Goh Sow Location Block 4 Section A, plot P. 529 near 8RQF+HJX Singapore

Tan Tang Niah and family (Bukit Brown)

Tan Tang Niah / Tan Teng Niah (陳東嶺) came from China when he was 10 years old. He was a towkay who owned several sweet-making factories along Serangoon Road that used sugarcane to produce sweets. Behind his residence, Tan Tang Niah had a rubber smoke-house for drying rubber which used the by-products of sugarcane as fuel for its furnace. In short he was involved in the confectionary and rubber business. Tan Tang Niah contributed a lot to the community and schools as well. He was the president of Poh Chek Kiong, Hon, treasurer of the Chinese High School, President of the Chong Cheng School, Beach Road for 20 years. Tan Tang Niah was an auditor in the committee of the Toh Lam School during the time (1914) where the President was Mr. See Teong Wah , vice-President, Mr. Chia Swee Siang, hon treasurer, Chew Jim Hean. Other schools which he played a role in was the Chinese High School, The Chong Cheng School and Chong Poon Girls' School. Tan Tang Niah was also in the Chinese Chamber of C

St. John's Church - The "almost" forgotten Church at Old Jurong Road

One of the first villages with a significant Ann Kway population was Hong Kah Village. The name of the village comes from the Hokkien and Teochew term for "bestowing a religion" which was also the colloquial name for Chinese Christians. In 1876, a Chinese Christian convert, Tay Hong Seng contributed 3 acres of land for a church at the 11th milestone. St. John's Church was completed in 1884 and consecrated and dedicated under the name of St. John on 4 February 1884. It held services in Hokkien, Teochew and Hakka. According to oral account , the village was established when parishioners approach the Church pastor who applied to the colonial land bureau and was granted 60 acres of land and 10 families established what was known as "Hong Kah Choon" (Christian Village in Teochew and Hokkien dialect). An 1890 article mentions the mission in Jurong is stable and growing owning to the Christian population that cultivates the soil in that area. source: Jurong Heritage

Funeral of Wee Teck Seng (Images from the Past)

I found this rare photo titled Funeral of Wee Teck Seng at 32 Balmoral Road and the description details are as follows; This is a group photograph of the family, relatives and household of Wee Teck Seng taken in front of the deceased's bungalow on his funeral. They are in their mourning clothes and gathering around a decorated Chinese funeral hearse, where a portrait of Wee Teck Seng is mounted at the front. Harry Lee Wee is part of the front row on the far right of the picture, standing third from right. Funeral of Wee Teck Seng (photo by NLB) Unfortunately the portrait picture of Wee Teck Seng on the is to blur for me to make out his picture and the one from this tomb is the only one i have for now. However this photo gives good information on who donated the photo, Harry Lee Wee and his wife Ann Wee (who are the son and daughter-in-law) of Dr. H.T. Wee (Dr. Wee Hiap Tock) and Rachel Hunter Hoahing (Ruth Rachel Wee). You can from the picture also make out 31 Balmoral Road also

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