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Bukit Brown Cemetery

Singapore, Italy

Bukit Brown Cemetery

Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery, is located in Novena in the Central Region of Singapore. The site of the cemetery was originally owned by George Henry Brown, a British merchant. It became known as Brown's Hill, which was tra

nslated into Malay as Bukit Brown. The site was eventually given to the Seh Ong Kongsi, who opened a private clan cemetery there in the 1870s. Beginning in the 1880s, cemeteries in Singapore grew rapidly. In 1887, the Legislative Council passed a bill that limited their creation, particularly limiting Chinese cemeteries. The Chinese community called for the creation of a municipal cemetery, having few options for burying their dead, with notable supporters of the concept including Tan Kheam Hock and Lim Boon Keng. The Municipal Commission began looking for suitable sites and settled on the Seh Ong Kongsi's land, acquiring the site in 1919 through compulsory acquisition. Three years later, the Commission opened Bukit Brown Cemetery. Although initially unpopular with the Chinese community, after some modifications, use increased. By 1929, forty percent of Chinese buried in Singapore were interred...

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