The Bukit Brown Cemetry in Singapore was opened in 1922 by the Municipal Council. The cemetery was managed as a public burial ground by a committee led by committee leaders .
Many famous Chinese pioneers were buried at Bukit Brown.
Estimated to house 100,000 tombs in a vast landsize of about 0.86 square kilometers, Bukit Brown Cemetery has been abandoned since its closure in 1973. It was a Chinese cemetery that had been established in the early 20th Century. It was the biggest Chinese graveyard outside China.
Bukit Brown was named after George Henry Brown, a shipowner, trader and broker who arrived in Singapore in the 1840s. He opened a company named Brown, Knight & Co., at Malacca Street in 1865, and was also listed as a petit juror in the Singapore almanack and directory (1870). Brown's place of residence was located at Mount Pleasant Road/Drive, a road close to the present Bukit Brown site. Although the hill on which Brown's residence stood was named after him, the road leading to Bukit Brown did not exist until much later. When an access road to Bukit Brown was constructed, the road was named Bukit Brown Road in 1923. This road has since been expunged.
I would like to acknowledge and thank my old friend from Singapore, Sukhminder Singh who took time off to drive me to the cemetery and also give me a deep insight into the history and told me several stories and explained to me the significance behind many of the tombstones.
© Grewals Photography 2014