Bukit Brown covers 211 acres of lush greenery land with beautiful terrain, vegetation and wildlife. It lacks master planning and ancillary facilities such as washrooms, shelters, street furniture and a visitor center to be made into a heritage park with its rich historical and cultural background. On the contrary, a main highway was approved by the competent authorities that cut through the heart of Bukit Brown Cemetery.
Urban sketchers roamed the park in the early morning last Saturday with a quick tour conducted by Lim Su Min, a fellow urban sketcher whose ancestors' graves were also located all over the park. Volunteers Catherine Lim, Claire Leow and scholar Dr Hui Yew Foong also showed us around the park. We visited Ong Sam Leong's 'estate', the biggest and most intrigued 'architecture for the dead' in the park. Thank you!
This sketch measuring 240 x 680mm or 9.5 x 27" depicts Mr Chew Geok Leong's 'estate' at Bukit Brown. The tomb is characterized by two full size Sikh guards at the sides. The floor tiles are with floral motif and I am sitting next to the earth god shrine to do this sketch.What is unique about this pair of Sikh guard statues is that they are fully restored with bright red turban. There are many other tombs in Bukit Brown with different Sikh guard statues crafted by artisans with distinctive features. You can see some pictures on this blog.
Here is an article on the place at the Wall Street Journal. If you are interested to find out more about Bukit Brown, go to everything Bukit Brown here. Lets us all do our part not to repeat the story of Bidadari Cemetery which is gone for ever. Save Bukit Brown, make it into a Heritage Park for the benefit of our future generations!
