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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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Showing posts from 2025

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Aerial View of Woodneuk House and Building Plans of Tyersall

Heritage Houses johor Singapore Botanic Gardens

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Beatification and canonization of Sybil Kathigasu ?

Ipoh St. Michael's Catholic Church Ipoh Cemetery video

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Tyersall Park land swap near Botanic Gardens - a hope for Istana Woodneuk ?

Heritage Houses johor Singapore Botanic Gardens

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The day when Ave. Maria Convent Girls Ipoh clashed with the police

Ave Maria Convent Ipoh Malaysia Student Protest

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Cheang Jim Seong (Bukit Brown)

Block 3 Div D Family - Cheang Hong Lim

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Tan Tye and family

decorative tiles Kinmen Lao Sua Street Name after Pioneers

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Bukit Brown970
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Rojak Librarian (Peter Pak): Advocate for Conservation of Bukit Brown Cemetery. Heritage and Nature Enthusiast.

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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)

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

Tyersall Park land swap near Botanic Gardens - a hope for Istana Woodneuk ?

I read with interest of the recent move of land swap - a deal that was agreed between its current owner, the Regent of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and the Government of Singapore. I wrote about this land in my blogpost - Woodneuk House - a palace in ruins on 9 April 2014 . On this land, Woodneuk House or Istana Woodneuk lies in ruins will also shift its ownership to the Singapore Government. Woodneuk in 2014 (the roofing gone as a result of a fire in 2006) Tyserall and Woodneuk (source: Handbook to Singapore -1907) Planned Land Swap The land owned by the Regent of Johor is about 21.1 ha and part of it (the parcel of land marked as plot C -13 ha (which is closer to Singapore Botanic Gardens) will be transferred to Singapore, while plot A - 8.5ha which is currently state land transferred to Regent of Johor. A portion of the original land was acquired in 2004 by the state and part of this land is now is part of NParks Botanic Gardens expansion - the Botanic ...

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...

Aerial View of Woodneuk House and Building Plans of Tyersall

Fortunately a number of people including National Archives of Singapore have documented Woodneuk House in its former glory . I was wondering if i could find an aerial photograph of Woodneuck House from the past and fortunately after some searching, i managed to find the aerial view of it ! It took me a while to confirm but below is what i managed to find. To help you visualise better, i also marked the major landmarks and road names to give you a sense of orientation. Today, only Woodneuk exist. Istana Tyersall and subsequently Tyersall Park structures all disappeared. Aerial View of Woodneuk (1957) (source: NAS) Woodneuk and other major landmarks (source: NAS) 1958 Masterplan which shows Woodneuk and structures where Tyersall Palace / Istana Tyersall / Tyersall Camp once was (source: NAS) Aerial View of Tyserall Park Camp and Woodneuk -1958 (source: NAS ) Google map of Istana Woodneuk today (Satellite view) (source: Google maps) Building Plans of Woodneuk House / Istana Woodneuck...

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 Paha...

Beatification and canonization of Sybil Kathigasu ?

On 12 June 2025, at the tomb of Sybil Kathigasu , the 77th Death Anniversary Mass of Sybil Kathigasu was held by His Eminence Cardinal Dato' Seri Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang. It was the Bishop of Penang who called for the investigation for the possibility of beatification and canonization of Sybil Kathigasu, a heroine and lay martyr who protected information and housed and nursed local members of the anti-Japanese resistance. This was reported in the Catholic News Agency in 4 July 2024 . Announcement for the special 77th Death Anniversary Mass for Sybil Kathigasu Sybil Medan Kathigasu (3 September 1899 - 12 June 1948) Sybil Medan Kathigasu was born as Sybil Daly in Medan, Sumatra. She was the daughter of an Irish planter, Joseph Daly and Eurasian mother, Beatrie Mathilda Martin. While studying nursing and midwifery in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, she met Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay, a Ceylonese. Faced with objections initially due to different religious background (she...

Tan Kheam Hock and family (Bukit Brown)

Tan Kheam Hock /Tan Khiam Hock / 陈谦福 (1862- 21 April 1922) was born in Penang to Mr and Mrs Tan Teng Poh and received his education in Penang Free School. He joined the Merchantile Bank before leaving for Calcutta, India to be a merchant in 1877, remaining there until 1899 before coming back to Singapore to join the syndicate that had the rights to Opium and Spirit Farms. In 1901, he became the labor contractor for the Singapore Harbor Board, which at at its peak provided over 5,000 labor force. Tan Kheam Hock was also the Chairman of Eastern United Assurance Corporation, Great Eastern Life Assurance and Director of an array of tin, rubber and industrial companies. Tan Kheam Hock was a Senior Municipal Commissioner, Straits Chinese British Association, Chinese Advisory Board, Justice of Peace (Board of Licensing Justices), First member of the King Edward VII Medical College (when he passed away Mr See Tiong Wah replaced him) and the Hospital Boar...

Woodneuk House - a palace in ruins

Forgotten to many is an abandoned house, a palace or Istana of sorts to the Sultan of Johore. The house is known as simply Woodneuk house. There was another house or palace that resided in the grounds previously. It was called Tyersall house or Istana Tyersall and people often confused Tyersall house vs Woodneuk house because of its proximity. Hopefully my article below helps clear this confusion and also help share what i have learned (or in my case, still learning) about the heritage value of this building and it's rich historical past. Tyersall House ( Istana Tyersall) Originally a country house, it was owned by Mr. William Napier and built in 1854. Sitting on 67 acres of land, it was put up for sale in 1857 and ownership transferred to the Sultan of Johore. It was rebuilt on a larger scale by 1892. Sultan Abu Bakar threw a party or ball, marking its reopening on January 15, 1895. The roof of the new house was said to have a distinct red tiled roof. The map below provides c...

Chew Boon Lay (Bukit Brown)

Chew Boon Lay (周文礼) (1852-1933) was born in a small village in Changchow, Amoy. He became an orphan in his late teens and decided to take up his uncle's invitation to come over to Siam (formerly Thailand). He laboured hard under this tyrant of an uncle who paid him nothing and made him work from dawn to dust. Chew Boon Lay and Madam Ong Cheng Neo Saved by heavenly intervention On a faithful evening, 3 years after being practically been a slave, a visitor was said to have stole a sum of money and this uncle put the entire blame on Chew Boon Lay and threatened to turn him in to the police. In desperation, Chew Boon Lay came up with an idea to win the money through a stake on a lottery. Borrowing 1 tical from his sympathetic aunt, he prayed before Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy and in a moment of delirium or what is said a miracle, he heard two characters been spoken to him. He won, paid his uncle and with whatever left over vowed never to work for his uncle again and we...

Tan Swee Hoe mansion in Batu Pahat

The status of Tan Swee Hoe's mansion at 160 Jalan Kluang, Batu Pahat was finally revealed! The mansion that was once owned by Tan Swee Hoe's descendants was sold and the rumors circulating at one point of time was it was going to be demolished. In fact various readers of my blog sent me pictures of the mansion after it was sold where the rooftop of the building and the interiors was completely stripped. Tan Swee Hoe's mansion (minus the roof) Well it was finally revealed in various Malaysian papers ( Sin Chew Daily , Johor China Press ) that it was purchased by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the Sultan of Johor. It was reported in the papers that the Sultan of Johor plans to restore the building and turn it into a Heritage Centre featuring the artefacts of the Johor Chinese community as well as as artefacts from China as a strong symbol to reaffirm the long relationship between the Johor Sultanate and China. About Tan Swee Hoe Tan Swee Hoe T...

The day when Ave. Maria Convent Girls Ipoh clashed with the police

The 20 November 1957 newspaper article reads: Chinese girls in a Roman Catholic convent in Ipoh attacked policewomen with umbrellas, sticks and bottles yesterday, in a demonstration in sympathy with other Chinese students. Similar incidents also flared not only in Ipoh but in other states as well (e.g. Seremban where 200 boys of Chan Wa High School demonstrated). In Penang and Kedah, peaceful demonstrations from about 1,300 students were also reported. The protest started from what i read as a result of the Federation Government Education Policy, that plan to do away with vernacular schools and convert this Chinese schools to main stream government schools. There were many other political considerations (both internal and external) that drove this, but that is more for political historians to discuss. In Ave Maria Chinese Convent in Ipoh (that had roughly 1,000 students at that time), it was reported that about 100 girls in school uniforms age from 13 to 17 resisted policewomen wh...

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