By Meryl Lim (25S05A)
Bishan. You may know her name, but do you know her story?
There’s more to Bishan than just the MRT station right before Marymount, or a convenient spotfor a quick bite before CCA. There lies a deep history stretching further than you would’ve imagined, and a long tale of its journey and the people who have shaped Bishan to the town we know of today.
While colloquially known now as “Bishan”, Bishan is actually called “Bishan New Town”, consisting of 3 sub-zones: Bishan East, Marymount, and Upper Thomson.
However, Bishan was not exactly always called “Bishan”.
The Name
Where better to start a history of a place other than its name?
The name Bishan (碧山) is derived from the transliterated name of a Chinese cemetery — 广惠肇碧山亭, or Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, in the 1870s.
Sounds familiar?
That’s because the columbarium and temple located next to Raffles Institution (RI) is also called Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng, or Peck San Theng temple. (Or, as many RGS girls call it — the RI temple.)
Defined as “Pavilion on the Jade Hills”, Peck San Theng was named after the 12 pavilions spread over the 10 sections of the burial site. These 12 pavilions spread over 13 hills, serving as locality markers and shelters for family members visiting their ancestral graves.
The pavilions were also populated by various Chinese ethnic groups and even a handful of Malay and Indian families. The Cantonese lived in Pavilions 1 to 3, the Teochew and Hokkiens in Pavilions 4 to 7, with Hokkiens forming the majority in Pavilion 8.
Interestingly, it was said that nearly all the Indian villagers could speak Mandarin and Cantonese fluently.
While it may seem that the pavilions were built during the days of Sir Stamford Raffles, New Pavilions 7 and 10 were only built in 1957! In fact, Pavilion 4, once located beside the current Bishan Stadium site, wasn’t demolished until the late 1980s after its deteriorating state spooked out the residents.
It’s also fascinating to note that the hills were named after the Singapore Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng Ullambana Festival (新加坡广惠肇碧山亭盂兰胜会), with each hill taking a character of the festival’s Chinese name in order.
The Cemetery
Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng cemetery was only made possible with the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors.
Particularly, a few local Chinese leaders were instrumental in the establishment of this cemetery- including Hoo Ah Kay, Woong Ah Fook, Boey Nam Sooi, Ng Sing Phang, Yow Ngan Pan, and Boey Ah Sam.
Among them is Hoo Ah Kay, who led the fundraising, but you may better know him as “Whampoa”. Yes, that Whampoa — that very same area in Balestier named in his honour.
Another key figure is Wong Ah Fook, a famous contractor who donated to the cemetery and founded the Kwong Wai Siew federation. As the founder, his tomb was the most elaborate in the cemetery, occupying a large plot in Pavilion 5, which was named Wong Fook Hill Pavilion after him. His tomb was also decorated with European stone lions which can be found in the main temple of Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng today.
Also buried in the cemetery is also Cao Ya Zhi, the carpenter who led a reconnaissance team under Sir Stamford Raffles’ orders to determine if the Dutch had occupied the island. It was also him who had raised the Union Jack flag on Fort Canning Hill, signalling to a waiting Raffles aboard the ship that it was safe to land in Singapore.
Among the graves also lie the legendary 7 heroes who were said to have sacrificed their lives to protect the cemetery, and even though the tale was later proven to be false, they are still worshiped till this day.
While the cemetery was established by the Kwong Wai Siew federation, consisting of immigrants from the Hakka and Cantonese community, it was later run by a federation consisting of 16 Cantonese clans. After opening the burial grounds to the wider Chinese community, the cemetery even contained more than 100,00 graves by 1970, with separate burial grounds set up for different associations, such as the “90 locality based associations, 30 trade based associations, and 140 kinship based associations”.
Another point to note is the importance of clans and associations back in the day.
Immigrants had no access to public aid during colonial times, hence they had to rely on their clan for assistance and support. From establishing schools to hospitals, and even helping clansmen in daily matters like finding jobs, these associations played a pivotal role in creating a sense of community and taking care of their social needs.
As the years went by, the cemetery continued to evolve, and in 1948, they implemented a burial system where the deceased were buried according to their sequence of deaths, regardless of wealth. A local proverb perfectly sums up the change in cultural values:
“One must die in an opportune time in order to be buried at an auspicious location”
Notable Festivals
Speaking of auspiciousness, what better way to delve into the significance of the cemetery than through its festivals and rituals?
After the establishment of the cemetery, a community began to emerge around it. Over time, what started as a community of workers whose livelihoods revolved around the cemetery gradually blossomed into a settlement called Kampong San Theng. Even as the village flourished, the heart of village life constantly remained centered around the key cemetery festivals like Qing Ming Festival, Hungry Ghost Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and the Grand Universal Salvation Ritual.
In particular, the Wanyuan Shenghui, or Salvation Ritual, was established in 1921 as the flagship event of the temple. With an emphasis on filial piety and harmony, the 3 days 4 nights event was held every 5 years. To further strengthen its emphasis on community, the profits from the event went to local initiatives — whether it was the upkeep of the cemetery, repairing roads, or even contributing to charitable causes.
The festival also served as a commemoration for major local tragedies, where it was held in 1943 for the Chinese who had died during WWII and Operation Sook Ching, and another in 1978 for those who had died during an oil tanker explosion at Jurong Shipyard.
Another particularly interesting festival was the Double Ninth Festival, celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month of the lunar calendar. While locals typically honour the Chinese mythological hero Huan Jing’s victory over a monster, secret societies worshipped their martyrs or a deity by the name of Ah Phoh San (阿婆神). Kampong San Theng would also organise festivities to celebrate the joyous occasion, such as getai performances and lion dances.
The Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng still holds festivals and rituals till this day, and according to their Facebook page, their last Wanyuan Shenghui was held in 2023!
The People
While Kampong San Theng was centred around the cemetery, it still had plenty of amenities such as a soy sauce factory, a coffee shop called Peck San Tea Pavilion/Teahouse, a community centre and even a school.
The school, Kwong Wai Shiu Peck Shan Ting School, opened its doors to residents in 1936, providing free education to the locals from Kampong San Teng and its neighbouring Soon Hock Village. Its establishment also helped foster ties between the 2 villages, where the common language taught, Mandarin, served as a bridge between the feuding Cantonese and Hokkien villagers from Soon Hock Village.
(It was ultimately closed down in 1981, the period where many Chinese schools were abolished due to the changing preferences of English-medium schools and resettlement of the villagers.)
An excerpt on Peck Shan Ting School from Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng Heritage Gallery
While most residents worked as livestock farmers, there was still a community of locals who worked in the funeral trade. Following the industrialization and economic development of the 60s and 70s, many young locals began to seek job opportunities outside of the kampong, turning to emerging industries like neighbouring electronic factories, Sembawang shipyard, and Sembawang Naval Base.
Another way residents earned money was by searching for graves and pruning the grass during the Qing Ming Festival. During the festival, the Peck San Tea Pavilion was also a popular meeting spot for families visiting their ancestral graves, and their dim sum was particularly popular among diners.
Before the closure of the cemetery in 1973 and the eventual resettlement of the village in the 1980s, Kampong San Theng reached a peak population of roughly 1,000 residents.
Most of the residents stayed in attap houses, while families who were more well off stayed in wooden ones with zinc roofs.
Living among the dead may be deeply unsettling to some, but for the children, it was simply part of their daily life. The cemetery was their playground, and they were often found playing hide and seek among the graves. Children even went fishing in the graves when they fell into open ones, with one resident mentioning selling catfish he caught in open graves.
Another grim yet intriguing fact is that corpses were transported via four-wheeled wooden carts, called “sweet potato carts”, from the Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital to Peck San Theng cemetery. After all, no taxi would take corpses and not everyone was able to afford lorries for transport. (The cemetery worked with the hospital on the burial of unclaimed bodies of patients — the cemetery offered complementary burial services while the hospital covered the fees for the second burial, or zhijin, and the urns.) The term “sweet potato carts” came from the Cantonese euphemism for death, or “to plant sweet potato.”
The Chicago of Singapore
Residents weren’t the only ones who found refuge in the cemetery.
Alongside Toa Payoh, Peck San Theng was known as the “Chicago of Singapore”, with secret society activities so rampant that taxi drivers and policemen avoided the area!
Secret societies such as Fei Lung, or Flying Dragon, and Woh Pheng, or Harmony Peace, frequently clashed on the hills armed with weapons such as parangs and even guns.
A particularly interesting event involved a “menacing mob of 60 men armed with sticks” helping an illegal distiller in handcuffs to escape Customs officers.
The Bishan we know of today certainly (and thankfully) does not have “Yishun” levels of infamy, but it’s fascinating to think that bloodthirsty gangsters once roamed the same streets. Imagine having to always keep an eye out for hooligans with parangs or guns on the way to school…scary.
WWII
Of course, while discussing the history of Singapore, we must not forget the impact of the Japanese Occupation.
On 13 February 1942 11:30 pm, a surprise attack by the Japanese was launched on “Hill 90”, where RI currently stands, resulting in great casualties for both the British Regiments and Japanese Imperial Guards.
The next day, the Japanese also tried to launch a tank attack into Kampong San Theng which failed due to heavy resistance from the infantry line.
On the morning of the 15th, the Japanese were preparing to launch another tank attack while the British troops were on the verge of defeat. At 3:30pm, a ceasefire was issued and the British eventually surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942.
Even before the Japanese Occupation, the area was heavily bombed during the Malayan Campaign due to its strategic importance near Macritchie Reservoir, killing many villagers.
More interestingly, after the surrender of the British, the land was allegedly so haunted that even the Japanese steered clear of it to avoid disrespecting the dead during the Japanese Occupation.
A shrine called the Syonan Jinja was also built by the Imperial Army in 1943 in Macritchie Reservoir to celebrate their conquest of Singapore, and was even intended to be the “grandest Shinto Shrine in the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.” While it was demolished before the end of the war, there’s a rumour that it had once contained “Yamashita’s Gold” and the shrine was torn down to prevent anyone from getting to it.
Thereafter, the tombs became a place of temporary refuge for Chinese communities, including many Chinatown residents and the Samsui women (most coming from Upper Chin Chew Street), protecting them from brutality, screenings (also known as Sook Ching), and forced labour.
Although it remained largely peaceful, an aerial attack by Japanese aircrafts on the cemetery and Kampung took many lives. A villager recounted: “There were a few limbs hanging on trees and all the trees had no more leaves.”
Times were so tough, one villager even admitted to eating human flesh, and that it was “actually very delicious” as there were no other options.
Despite the chaos, life still went on and there’s even a record of a marriage that took place in the year ‘2604’—and no, the numbers aren’t a mistake. The date was based on the Japanese imperial year system, which corresponds to 1944 in the Gregorian calendar.
End of an Era
As the population grew, town plans for Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, and Bishan New Town were developed and it was time for the cemetery to go. The cemetery was closed in September 1973, acquired by the government in 1979, and exhumation of the graves started from 1982. (Here’s a particularly interesting short clip from the documentary, ‘Moving House’, about the exhumation: https://youtu.be/W7fVp28Se84 )
Even though the government paid 30 cents per square feet to the Kwong Wai Siew federation for the land, the federation fought hard for the overruling of the decision. , going so far as to form a special committee to negotiate with the government.
After 2 failed attempts, a petition was filed emphasizing the significance of the federation along with several demands.
Eventually a consensus was reached, and the Housing Development Board (HDB) acceded to the requests of preserving the temple and a storage for the ashes closeby, but declined those to build a funeral parlour and the develop a school to build an elderly home.
Hence, a 99-year lease was allocated to the federation for building a brand new “condo for the dead”. Most families opted to have their exhumed ancestors housed in the columbarium, while unclaimed ashes were scattered at sea The federation also worked to help relocate the 2,000 residents from Kampong San Theng and the neighbouring Soon Hock Village.
Of course, relocation was not all sunshine and rainbows. After all, not all villagers wanted to leave, redevelopment of the land and cemetery also meant that many villagers lost their livelihoods.
According to a long-time Bishan resident, many Singaporeans who were offered to live in the newly built HDBs in the area also declined due to the land’s prior history as a cemetery.
It wasn’t just the living that had to be cleared out — all 100,000 residents buried under had to be removed too. Cremation as a practice was relatively new at the time and new “traditions” had to be adopted to house the dead in a more space-efficient manner.
A New Age
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Bishan?
Is it a family of otters frolicking in Bishan-AMK park? The iconic red-brick buildings? Or perhaps the murder of crows and flock of pigeons that stare at you with their beady eyes as you trudge to school?
The family of otters in Bishan-AMK park?
…Or perhaps the iconic red-brick buildings?
Allow me to present an unexpected but rightfully deserving contender — the Peck San Theng temple and its columbarium.
Peck San Theng temple and its columbarium embodies the journey of Bishan. Its historical importance to our ancestors and enduring presence bears testament to Bishan’s roots as a cemetery and Kampong San Theng. Its very existence proves and reminds us of the stories of our city and its people.
Its significance extends beyond Bishan’s past, but also our present— the construction of the columbarium also kickstarted a new age for Kampong San Theng, making way for the new kid on the block: Bishan New Town.
Unbeknownst to many, the columbarium was actually designed by the famous architect Tay Kheng Soon, who had notably designed the Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex.
Construction for the first HDB flats in the area at Shunfu began, which became the first (and smallest) neighbourhood, and a temporary bus terminal was built. The first ever MRT line in operation, the North South line, was also built to connect the newly developed residential areas of Bishan, Yishun, and Ang Mo Kio.
The birth of the MRT line also marked the end of an era for the Samsui women, with the construction of Bishan MRT station being one of their last projects.
Interestingly enough, like the name “Bishan New Town”, Bishan MRT was not always called so. It was actually called “San Theng MRT” and only renamed to “Bishan MRT” in 1994. In fact, Bishan MRT’s original station code was N8, named after Junction 8 when the mall was established in 1994. However, the code was eventually changed to NS17 in 2001.
The development of Bishan also brought a focused effort by planners and architects to give the town a unique identity compared to the more uniform housing designs from pre-1980s, introducing new architecture styles such as pitched roofs, iconic red bricked buildings, and open roof terraces in HDB flats (In fact, it was the first to do so islandwide).
The concept of community also heavily influenced the layout plan of the estates, with Bishan and Hougang being the first estates to incorporate precinct style buildings where the flats were centred around community facilities.
The constant development of Bishan also led to the construction of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park in 1988, and Bishan Community Club and Bishan Sports Complex in 1998, allowing residents to gain easier access to recreational facilities.
Bishan Sports Complex also serves a key role in the community: Bishan Sports Hall has hosted plenty of international sporting events (2009 Asian Youth Games, 2010 Youth Olympic Games, 2015 SEA Games) and Bishan Stadium has hosted the 2010 Youth Olympic Games’ athletic event and 2015 SEA Games’ football event.
Ending Thoughts
While the Bishan that we know of now bears little resemblance to the Kampong San Theng of the past, remnants of Bishan’s rich heritage and transformation can be found all around us.
From ancestral rites to even the kampong spirit of our community, traces of our past continue to influence our everyday lives.
After all, “there are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see”.
So the next time you step foot into the Bishan, let’s not forget its deep rooted history and take a moment to appreciate the beauty of how we got here, and what it took for us to get here.
Interested in finding out more?
An alumni project titled “Becoming Bishan” held exhibitions in Bishan, Ang Mo Kio, and Toa Payoh libraries in 2015 about the history of Bishan for SG50. You may also locate the mural located near Bishan MRT Exit D, where it details a brief history of Bishan. For a more detailed history, you can visit Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng Heritage Gallery to learn more or via the links embedded in the article.
Special thanks to Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng Heritage Gallery for graciously hosting us and providing us with the wonderful opportunity to learn from their collections. The gallery is open from 9.30am-4pm daily with the exception of holidays, and admission is free.