A young nation needs its historical sites
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Oct 24, 2011 - ST Forum
I APPLAUD Ms Chew I-Jin and her fellow signatories for appealing to the authorities to preserve the graves at Bukit Brown ('Keep Bukit Brown graves: Descendants', Oct 19).
Her appeal merits consideration.
The graves belong to pioneers who are well known to Singaporeans today because streets and places are named after them: Boon Lay, Boon Tat, Koon Seng, Hong Lim, Joo Chiat and Chong Pang. These are not just names. They are pioneer luminaries who are a very integral part of our short history.
As a young nation, we are short of historical sites or stories to form a strong foundation for national reference by future generations.
These graves appear to be those of the who's who of the last century and can really provide us with the teaching materials to enrich our social and moral education.
The aesthetics and architecture of these tombs are too beautiful and precious to be just bulldozed away. They are very precious as we would not find such craftsmanship anywhere else. It would be unthinkable if such structures of historical and heritage significance were to be wiped out just like any other building.
I strongly urge the authorities to heed the compelling appeal by Ms Chew and other signatories.
Albert Tye
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$$ vs history.
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My ancestor (paternal great grandmother) is kept there too and every year I still go there to do the spring cleaning during Ch'ing Ming. We gotta exhume her one soon i think.
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Originally posted by BanguIzai:
My ancestor (paternal great grandmother) is kept there too and every year I still go there to do the spring cleaning during Ch'ing Ming. We gotta exhume her one soon i think.
must be tough.
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Is this the same grave that LKY refuse to demolish who has his ancestors there?
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Oct 24, 2011 - ST Forum
I APPLAUD Ms Chew I-Jin and her fellow signatories for appealing to the authorities to preserve the graves at Bukit Brown ('Keep Bukit Brown graves: Descendants', Oct 19).
Her appeal merits consideration.
The graves belong to pioneers who are well known to Singaporeans today because streets and places are named after them: Boon Lay, Boon Tat, Koon Seng, Hong Lim, Joo Chiat and Chong Pang. These are not just names. They are pioneer luminaries who are a very integral part of our short history.
As a young nation, we are short of historical sites or stories to form a strong foundation for national reference by future generations.
These graves appear to be those of the who's who of the last century and can really provide us with the teaching materials to enrich our social and moral education.
The aesthetics and architecture of these tombs are too beautiful and precious to be just bulldozed away. They are very precious as we would not find such craftsmanship anywhere else. It would be unthinkable if such structures of historical and heritage significance were to be wiped out just like any other building.
I strongly urge the authorities to heed the compelling appeal by Ms Chew and other signatories.
Albert Tye
50 years old is historical!!, LOL
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Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:
50 years old is historical!!, LOL
Only LKY is historical in Sg.
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is Milo considered historical?
more than 50 years ler
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Golf courses, not history, should make way04:46 AM Oct 25, 2011
The Land Transport Authority's plan to open a major road through Bukit Brown Cemetery, which is of eco-heritage value, has raised debates between conservationists and developmentalists.
One sees the more intangible but longer term cultivation of a collective sense of identity and belonging; the other, the short-term but lucrative demands for growth and prosperity, particularly for this land near expensive residences along Bukit Timah Road.
As the population expands, the contestations for land use will become more pressing, and this debate is crucial in determining the liveability of Singapore for future generations.
While I am heartened by the Government's commitment to "a city within a garden", I am unsure how this can be realised in practice. The approach to Bukit Brown Cemetery seems instead to be turning the country into gardens within the city.
Perhaps, we need a radical rethink of land use in light of the current limitations, and I suggest that Singapore does away completely with golf courses.
According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, 22 golf courses and three temporary golf sites occupied 88 per cent of the 1,600 hectares of land used for sports and recreation in 2000, or 2.2 per cent of total land area.
To underline the exclusive nature of golfing here, the premium Singapore Island Country Club has four 18-hole courses, a nine-hole course and two driving ranges that stretch from Adam Road to the boundaries of Peirce Reservoir.
All these facilities and land, enjoyed by about 18,000 members.
Although golf courses are located in constrained areas near water catchment zones, military training grounds or flight paths, not only do they occupy huge tracts of land, they are economically unproductive, socially exclusive and environmentally damaging.
If Singapore's policies are based on pragmatism and inclusiveness, golfing should not be considered a practical activity here. Golfers should go to neighbouring countries for their sport.
Given the increasing congestion in public parks like MacRitchie Reservoir and East Coast Park, it is unacceptable that a privileged few have exclusive access to large plots of land in a tiny country with a burgeoning population.
In 1991, plans to convert parts of Peirce Reservoir into an 18-hole golf course were shelved after the Nature Society convinced the authorities of the rich wildlife in the vicinity.
This scenic area has remained a public space and diverse natural habitat that all can enjoy. On similar grounds, if there must be redevelopment in the Lornie Road area, one of SICC's golf courses, rather than the cemetery, should make way.
The recent parliamentary debates put greater priority on cultivating Singapore's soul and on developing a more active citizenry interacting with a more open Government in an inclusive society, as the Prime Minister spelt out when he assumed premiership in 2004.
Singaporeans should ask themselves to choose between saving an exclusive golf course or a culturally, ecologically and historically rich site like Bukit Brown Cemetery, if they are keen on nurturing this Singapore Soul. This is not a difficult choice, even for the wealthy, if we are thinking of wealth and happiness for all Singaporeans for generations.
The writer is an assistant professor at a local university. -
why not build a road around the cemetry instead of through it?
they not scared the hantus will disturb them meh?
wait release tons of chinese zombies out, how?
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
why not build a road around the cemetry instead of through it?
they not scared the hantus will disturb them meh?
wait release tons of chinese zombies out, how?
think it is better idea to cut the road across the golf course than across the cemetry.
unless golfers are scarier than ghost.
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or an underpass below the cemetry even better
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
or an underpass below the cemetry even better
ghost underpass.
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dun complain see basketball bounce on its own without someone bouncing it
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
dun complain see basketball bounce on its own without someone bouncing it
why basketball not football?
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cos football fly here fly there, people think someone kick
but best is got flying head
hahahahaha
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Originally posted by Mr Milo:
cos football fly here fly there, people think someone kick
but best is got flying head
hahahahaha
may be dun need lighting ghost fire.
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unique preservation ....with a kind soul for the dead...
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Hi ...I'm from Malaysia, I'm looking for my late father grave which is burried in hougang cemetery (could b at 5th mile) in 1956. He passed away in Singapore Hospital when i was 3 yrs old. We were very poor & onli my mother & my late brother went there. In 1969, was my brother last visited the grave but he was no longer here wit us. We lost track of my father's grave as we were told tat the grave has been exhumed by the HDB.
As I was young, poor and my mum illiterate, we hardly went back to Singapore to pray after 1969. We hope to get some info here.
TQ...would appreciate if anyone can guide me
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Originally posted by Chingabby:
Hi ...I'm from Malaysia, I'm looking for my late father grave which is burried in hougang cemetery (could b at 5th mile) in 1956. He passed away in Singapore Hospital when i was 3 yrs old. We were very poor & onli my mother & my late brother went there. In 1969, was my brother last visited the grave but he was no longer here wit us. We lost track of my father's grave as we were told tat the grave has been exhumed by the HDB.
As I was young, poor and my mum illiterate, we hardly went back to Singapore to pray after 1969. We hope to get some info here.
TQ...would appreciate if anyone can guide me
Try the MND, they may have the records.
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