Cemeteries and tombstones may be associated with the macabre and the spooky, but really, aren’t graves the physical manifestation of our presence in the world? A reminder that this person once walked on the earth? In that sense, graves are a tangible link to past lives and realities. In this year’s Qing Ming festival, Philip Chew and family visits the grave of his ancestor, Chew Joo Chiat – after whom the estate is named.
Dirt track to Chew Joo Chiat's grave
During the annual Qing Ming festival, Chinese families pay their respects to their ancestors by revisiting the tombs, cleaning it and leaving offerings.
Graves are also monuments. They invite the visitor to remember the person buried within and reflect on how their lives have affected ours.
I looked at my great grand-father’s tomb and wandered how he came from China to Singapore as a pauper and died a millionaire. My imagination went back to the year 1877 when he arrived here as a 20 year old young man without a penny to his name. But later he became very wealthy owning property, coconut and rubber plantations in various parts of Singapore. According to records, he was also a major share holder of a bank and two tin mining companies in Malaya (now Malaysia) and presided at their meetings. He died on 5th February 1926.
Philip’s post got me thinking – where are the other graves of Singapore’s notable personalities in the past?
4 Responses
Half tongue-in-cheek: Perhaps some have undergone en-bloc? I.e. they’ve been exhumed and cremated.
Posted on April 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Check this out – http://api.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1688&view=next
Another famous Chew is buried at Kopi Sua (Coffee Hill) as well. Guess who? ;p
Posted on April 27th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
For FOY’ers: A short
Posted on April 27th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
@icemoon: ah, interesting… Bukit Brown may not be a cemetery for long. Seeing as to how they’ve built an MRT station for the area. (Although I understand it is just a shell station.)
Posted on April 27th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
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