Bidadari Christian Cemetery

The Municipal Commissioner approved of the following arrangements for the maintenance and upkeep of Bukit Timah Road and Bidadari Christian Cemeteries from 1st January 1908 namely: - 
The transfer to Bidadari Cemetery of the present Registrar of Bukit Timah Road Cemetery. 
The engagement, as they shall be required for Bidadari Cemetery, of 22 coolies at $9 a month each and 1 Mandoor at $10 a month. The engagement of a Registrar for Bukit Timah Road Cemetery at a salary of $50 a month and quarters; and the reduction as soon as possible of this Cemetery of the Staff of Mandores and collies now employed. The Bukit Timah Cemetery will from the 1st of next January be only used for burials in the case of reserved lots. (Reported in the Eastern Daily on 14 October1907).
With that newspaper article, it marks the end of burials in Bukit Timah Road Cemetery and the start of burials at Bidadari Christian Cemetery. 

The first burial took place on 15 December 1907. By the time the last burial happened on 31 October 1972, it was the largest Christian cemetery in Singapore with approximately 147,00 graves. The exhumation of Bidadari started in 2001 and completed in 2006.

A small group of people started documenting the tombs and fortunately i manage to read about it from this wonderful book titled, Spaces for the Dead - A Case for the Living. Within this book there is a section titled - The Bidadari Christian Cemetery by Sue Williams with research & photographs by Sally Oh Poh Wah, Liesel Strauss & Scottie Perry. Liesel Strauss also donated her photos to NLB where some of this photos helped me greatly in my research. Other headstones i encountered during my visits to Bidadari Memorial Garden as well as Gardens of Remembrance (920 Old Choa Chu Kang Road) and finally pioneers whose niches now reside out of Bidadari such as All Saints Memorial further inspired me to also blog and create an index on the early pioneers that were once buried in Bidadari Christian Cemetery. 

For those who never been to Bidadari Cemetery, there are some resources you can find online. Hopefully more will contribute their stories and photos so that at least this place will not be totally forgotten with the sands of time. 

Aerial view of Bidadari Christian Cemetery

Map of Bidadari Christian Cemetery 




Birdwatching in Bidadari (this is mostly in the former Bidadari Muslim Cemetery Section)

Birdwatching in Bidadari (December 20, 2015), posted on December 20, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (November 9, 2015), posted on November 16, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (October 31,2015), posted on November 12, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (October 11,2015), posted on October 17, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (Javan Munia) May 2015, posted on May, 24, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (February 2015), posted on March 06, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari (January 18, 2015), posted on January 21, 2015
Birdwatching before New Year 2015, posted on on January 01, 2015
Birdwatching in Bidadari - Raptors spotted (December, 2014), posted on December 26, 2014
Birdwatching in Bidadari - Local Residents (December, 2014), posted on December 16, 2014
Birdwatching in Bidadari - Blue-winged Pitta (December, 2014), posted on December 14, 2014
Birdwatching in Bidadari (November 9, 2014), posted on November 9, 2014
Birdwatching in Bidadari - Jambu Fruit Dove ( December 6 ), posted on December 6, 2013
Birdwatching in Bidadari ( November 3, 2013), posted on November 3, 2013
Weaving through Bidadari (Muslim Cemetery), posted on October 17, 2013
Weaving through Bidadari (Alkaff Gardens and Lake), posted on October 8, 2013
Weaving through Bidadari (Birdwatching), posted on October 14, 2013
Bidadari (17 December), posted on December 18, 2012
Saving Bidadari, posted on December 5, 2012
Bidadari (7 December), posted on December 9, 2012
Bidadari (18 November), posted on November 18, 2012


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