Former cemeteries in Singapore
Encyclopedia
A number of former cemeteries in Singapore
were cleared of graves
with the land redeveloped during the second half of the twentieth century. The cemeteries
had closed when they were either full or were relocated. The records and histories of some of these cemeteries can still be found today.
Due to the problem of land scarcity in Singapore, use of land for spacious or defunct cemeteries is regarded as a waste of resources. As the need for land for urban development and public housing increased in Singapore was considered more pressing, former cemeteries and burial sites were gradually cleared to make way for redevelopment. By 1985, 21 cemeteries had been cleared, and an approximate 120,000 graves had been exhumed by the Housing Development Board.
cemetery established in 1820 on Bukit Larangan (Malay
for Forbidden Hill), near to the residence built by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
. The cemetery was discontinued at the end of 1822, and all traces of it had been wiped out by the different rebuilding developments and programmes. One of these major projects was the construction of the fort that came to be known as Fort Canning
.
. This request was rejected.
On 6 October 1834, the cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Daniel Wilson, the fifth Bishop of Calcutta
. Although the area facing the sea was usually reserved for Protestant burials and the ground on the inland side reserved for Catholic
burials, the restricted size of the cemetery made it such that no formal segregation was carried out until 1845. In 1845, the cemetery was extended to contain the grounds to the east of the central path, and in 1846, a brick wall was constructed to enclose the entire cemetery. Two arches, designed by Captain Charles Edward Faber, superintending engineer of the settlement, were also built–one was on the southern, seaward side, and one was on the landside. By the end of 1863, the cemetery had become full, and in 1865, Fort Canning Cemetery was closed.
Although attempts were made in 1886 by Sir Frederick Dickson, the colonial secretary
, to repair and preserve the remaining memorials, the condition of the cemetery continued to gradually deteriorate. Although more than 600 burials took place at Fort Canning Cemetery - with a third of this number consisting of Chinese Christians, only 400 legible stones remained when the cemetery was surveyed in 1912.
By 1954, the greater part of the cemetery’s gravestones and memorials had been removed, although some of the inscription plaques had been saved and placed within the north and south walls. Over the next 23 years, the cemetery was gradually cleared. By late 1977, only three original monuments still stood in their original locations. In the clearing of the graves, the authorities did, however, save a number of plaques which were then bricked into the west wall of the cemetery.
for the Chinese congregation, and was named St Joseph at the request of the Reverend John M Beurel
. It was opened on Sunday, 6 June 1846, and the first burial at the cemetery is recorded as being on 7 November 1846. Following that, over 400 burials are recoded to have taken place in that cemetery. However, in May 1984, it was recorded that the cemetery was badly overgrown with weeds and vegetation, and that a majority of the tablets were already broken. The church cemetery was reported by The Straits Times
of 1 May 1984 to be closed, after existing at Chestnut Drive for more than a century.
on 22 January 1864. The cemetery was consecrated by Bishop McDougall
of Sarawak
, and the first burial took place on 15 April 1865.
Opened for burials on 1 April 1865, the cemetery was divided into two, with one an area designated for Roman Catholics and another for designated for Christians of other denominations. If one entered the main gate of the cemetery, the catholic section was to the left, and had its own mortuary chapel, while the Protestant portion with its mortuary chapel was to the right. These two divisions were separated by a broad central path. The area of the cemetery was later extended, with a new section opened for burials on the western side of the cemetery. A small road divided the older and newer sections, and was later named New Cemetery Road.
In 1907, burials ceased, and the cemetery was henceforth maintained by the Public Works Department. By 1956, however, the walls of the cemetery had been demolished, the grounds were overgrown by vegetation, and the eastern end of the area experienced frequent flooding. In addition, many of the memorials had collapsed. In 1971, the cemetery was finally closed to all visitors, and all the gravestones and memorials contained within were cleared. The Singapore Cemeteries Board managed to exhume some remains, but a majority of the memorials had been destroyed. One military memorial, however, was saved, and was then transferred to the Ulu Pandan Military Cemetery.
who had settled in Singapore had been buried at the cemetery, but no verification has been made for this. In late 1985, the cemetery was closed and the land area was reclaimed and cleared to make way for the site of a new MRT
station.
The cemetery contained burial sites for several religions and races, including Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus. When it was opened, the Roman Catholic and Protestant sections also each had their own chapel. The cemetery was also used for military burials, and was the resting place for a number of prominent individuals. One of these was the English sailor Augustus Podmore Williams, upon whose life Joseph Conrad based his novel Lord Jim.
Bidadari Cemetery was closed in 1973, and was then slated, in the Singapore government’s 1998 Master Plan, to be cleared to make way for the development of public housing and other facilities. In December 2001, the Housing Development Board began exhumation of the estimated 143,000 graves found in the cemetery. Exhumation was completed by the end of 2006, and the cremated remains from the exhumed were placed to rest at the Choa Chu Kang Columbarium. Due to religious reasons, the exhumed remains from Muslim graves could not be cremated, and were reinterred at Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang. The cemetery was thus cleared to make way for the development of a road interchange at the junction of Bartley Road and Braddell Road, and for the construction of the Woodleigh MRT Station situated along the North-East MRT Line.
Bidadari Garden, approximately 1,746.6 square metres, was then established at Vernon Park to commemorate 20 people who were considered important to Singapore's history, and who had been interred at Bidadari Cemetery. They include doctor and philanthropist Lim Boon Keng, Ahmad Ibrahim, and R. A. J. Bidwell–the architect who had designed the Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel, and Chesed-El Synagogue. The old gates of the Bidadari Cemetery, which bore the lion emblem of the Singapore Municipal Council, were then placed at the entrance of Bidadari Garden.
The 213 acre (0.86198118 km²) site at Bukit Brown had been acquired and passed into municipal hands by the municipal authorities in 1919 after pressure had been put on it to provide a municipal cemetery for the Chinese communities in Singapore. The cemetery was opened on 1 January 1922 and was managed as a public burial ground by a committee led by committee leaders Tan Kheam Hock and See Tiong Wah–who was at that time comprador
of the Hong Kong Bank.
By 1929, Bukit Brown Cemetery accounted for about 40 per cent of all officially registered Chinese burials within municipal limits. The cemetery was eventually closed. In the 1970s, the cemetery faced the threat of being cleared for redevelopment, but it was eventually granted reprieve. Now, the cemetery is home to many bird species and wild life, and has as such become popular again–this time, with nature lovers.
It is the only "built" area that is near the Bukit Brown MRT Station
(part of the Circle MRT Line
). Since there are no other developments in the vicinity, the station will remain non-operational till a later date.
To the left of the main entrance of the cemetery were a decorative iron gateway and a white chapel. Situated behind the chapel was the memorial–which had been transferred to Ulu Pandan from Pulau Brani–to the members of corps or royal engineers who died while serving in Singapore.
In 1971, the year of the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore, there was a total of 1580 graves in the cemetery, including the 146 that had been exhumed from the Bidadari Christian Cemetery on Upper Serangoon Road. Ulu Pandan Cemetery was eventually closed in order to make way for the Singapore urban development programme, and the remains of those interred there were exhumed and transferred to the Kranji War Cemetery in 1975.
is a state-owned, 318 acres (1.3 km²) public cemetery complex first opened in 1947, and is the only cemetery in Singapore still open for burials. In 1998, the burial period for all graves at the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery complex was limited to a period of 15 years, following which the remains of the deceased would be exhumed. The existing graves 15 years old or older–amounting to some 17,000 to 18,000 graves in each of the two earliest cemetery blocks–were then exhumed.
Pusara Aman Cemetery and Pusara Abadi Cemetery are Muslim cemeteries located along Jalan Bahar and Lim Chu Kang road, respectively. These two cemeteries represent the largest burial area reserved for the Muslim community, and graves within are typically cleared of weeds and debris before Eid ul-Fitr
, during which Muslims customarily visit them. Pusara Aman Cemetery is the older, and has at its edge a mosque which was built in 1975. Pusara Abadi Cemetery, on the hand, is newer, and is where the Muslims exhumed from Bidadari Cemetery are interred to rest.
The Kranji War Cemetery
was officially opened by governor Sir Robert Brown Black
in 1957. The cemetery contains the graves of some 4.458 Allied servicemen and women, and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
. The cemetery also contains the military graves of soldiers killed during World War I
whose graves were relocated from Bidadari Cemetery. In 1975, owing to the closure of the Pasir Panjang and Ulu Pandan military cemeteries, the War Graves Commission allowed for the use of the Kranji War Cemetery to house the remains of British and Gurkha
soldiers and their families who were exhumed. At the north end of the cemetery, next to the Kranji War Memorial, is the State Cemetery
. With an area of 2 acres (8,093.7 m²), the State Cemetery is reserved for the burial of persons who have made a significant contribution to Singapore, and is maintained by the National Environment Agency
. Currently, only the graves of President Yusof Ishak
(buried 25 November 1970) and President Benjamin Sheares
(buried 15 May 1981) reside in the State Cemetery.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
were cleared of graves
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
with the land redeveloped during the second half of the twentieth century. The cemeteries
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
had closed when they were either full or were relocated. The records and histories of some of these cemeteries can still be found today.
Due to the problem of land scarcity in Singapore, use of land for spacious or defunct cemeteries is regarded as a waste of resources. As the need for land for urban development and public housing increased in Singapore was considered more pressing, former cemeteries and burial sites were gradually cleared to make way for redevelopment. By 1985, 21 cemeteries had been cleared, and an approximate 120,000 graves had been exhumed by the Housing Development Board.
Forbidden Hill Cemetery
Forbidden Hill Cemetery was an early ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
cemetery established in 1820 on Bukit Larangan (Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
for Forbidden Hill), near to the residence built by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
. The cemetery was discontinued at the end of 1822, and all traces of it had been wiped out by the different rebuilding developments and programmes. One of these major projects was the construction of the fort that came to be known as Fort Canning
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
.
Fort Canning Cemetery
Following the closure of Forbidden Hill Cemetery, Fort Canning Cemetery was established in 1823. Located on the slope of Bukit Larangan, the cemetery’s earliest graves were situated on the side of the cemetery that faced the sea. The original portion of the cemetery, as found in the register of Lands Held on Grants issued by Sir Stamford Raffles and J. Crawfurd, was listed as “Lot 576. Burial Ground” and as being 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) in area. When this small cemetery became full, application for a new burial ground was made in May 1827 by Reverend Robert Burn, the resident chaplainChaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. This request was rejected.
On 6 October 1834, the cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Daniel Wilson, the fifth Bishop of Calcutta
Bishop of Calcutta
The Bishop of Calcutta exercises episcopal leadership over the Diocese of Calcutta of the Church of North India. The diocese was established in 1813 as part of the Church of England and the first bishop was Thomas Fanshawe Middleton and the second Reginald Heber...
. Although the area facing the sea was usually reserved for Protestant burials and the ground on the inland side reserved for Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
burials, the restricted size of the cemetery made it such that no formal segregation was carried out until 1845. In 1845, the cemetery was extended to contain the grounds to the east of the central path, and in 1846, a brick wall was constructed to enclose the entire cemetery. Two arches, designed by Captain Charles Edward Faber, superintending engineer of the settlement, were also built–one was on the southern, seaward side, and one was on the landside. By the end of 1863, the cemetery had become full, and in 1865, Fort Canning Cemetery was closed.
Although attempts were made in 1886 by Sir Frederick Dickson, the colonial secretary
Chief Secretary
The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...
, to repair and preserve the remaining memorials, the condition of the cemetery continued to gradually deteriorate. Although more than 600 burials took place at Fort Canning Cemetery - with a third of this number consisting of Chinese Christians, only 400 legible stones remained when the cemetery was surveyed in 1912.
By 1954, the greater part of the cemetery’s gravestones and memorials had been removed, although some of the inscription plaques had been saved and placed within the north and south walls. Over the next 23 years, the cemetery was gradually cleared. By late 1977, only three original monuments still stood in their original locations. In the clearing of the graves, the authorities did, however, save a number of plaques which were then bricked into the west wall of the cemetery.
St Joseph’s Church Cemetery
St Joseph’s Church was a Roman Catholic chapel built at Bukit TimahBukit Timah
Bukit Timah is an area in Singapore and a hill in that area. Bukit Timah is located near the centre of the Singapore main island. The hill stands at an altitude of 163.63 metres and is the highest point in the city-state of Singapore...
for the Chinese congregation, and was named St Joseph at the request of the Reverend John M Beurel
Jean-Marie Beurel
Jean-Marie Beurel was born on 5 February 1813 at Plouguenast, in Lower Brittany, France. He was assigned to the Mission of Siam by the Missions Étrangères de Paris and arrived in Singapore on 27 October 1839 at the age of 26...
. It was opened on Sunday, 6 June 1846, and the first burial at the cemetery is recorded as being on 7 November 1846. Following that, over 400 burials are recoded to have taken place in that cemetery. However, in May 1984, it was recorded that the cemetery was badly overgrown with weeds and vegetation, and that a majority of the tablets were already broken. The church cemetery was reported by The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
of 1 May 1984 to be closed, after existing at Chestnut Drive for more than a century.
Bukit Timah Cemetery
The Bukit Timah Cemetery was a Christian cemetery that existed from 1865 to 1907, and derived its name for the road along which it was situated. Land for the cemetery had been purchased from the Honourable East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
on 22 January 1864. The cemetery was consecrated by Bishop McDougall
Francis Thomas McDougall
Francis Thomas McDougall was the first Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak from 1849 to 1868.MacDougall was born in Sydenham and educated at King’s College London and Magdalen College, Oxford...
of Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, and the first burial took place on 15 April 1865.
Opened for burials on 1 April 1865, the cemetery was divided into two, with one an area designated for Roman Catholics and another for designated for Christians of other denominations. If one entered the main gate of the cemetery, the catholic section was to the left, and had its own mortuary chapel, while the Protestant portion with its mortuary chapel was to the right. These two divisions were separated by a broad central path. The area of the cemetery was later extended, with a new section opened for burials on the western side of the cemetery. A small road divided the older and newer sections, and was later named New Cemetery Road.
In 1907, burials ceased, and the cemetery was henceforth maintained by the Public Works Department. By 1956, however, the walls of the cemetery had been demolished, the grounds were overgrown by vegetation, and the eastern end of the area experienced frequent flooding. In addition, many of the memorials had collapsed. In 1971, the cemetery was finally closed to all visitors, and all the gravestones and memorials contained within were cleared. The Singapore Cemeteries Board managed to exhume some remains, but a majority of the memorials had been destroyed. One military memorial, however, was saved, and was then transferred to the Ulu Pandan Military Cemetery.
Jewish Cemetery
The old Jewish Cemetery was located just to the north of Moulmein Road, and adjacent to the junction of Thomson Road and Newton Road. The cemetery was opened just before the First World War, and was not reflected in the 1907 town plan of Singapore. It was rumoured that one of the veterans of the Crimean WarCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
who had settled in Singapore had been buried at the cemetery, but no verification has been made for this. In late 1985, the cemetery was closed and the land area was reclaimed and cleared to make way for the site of a new MRT
Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
station.
Bidadari Cemetery
Bidadari Cemetery was a multi-religious burial ground opened on 1 January 1908. It was located at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Upper Aljunied road, and derived its name from the wife of Maharaja Abu Bakar of Johor, whose istana had stood there. The word “bidadari” is itself derived from the Sanskrit word “widyadari”, which literally means ‘nymph’ or ‘fairy’.The cemetery contained burial sites for several religions and races, including Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus. When it was opened, the Roman Catholic and Protestant sections also each had their own chapel. The cemetery was also used for military burials, and was the resting place for a number of prominent individuals. One of these was the English sailor Augustus Podmore Williams, upon whose life Joseph Conrad based his novel Lord Jim.
Bidadari Cemetery was closed in 1973, and was then slated, in the Singapore government’s 1998 Master Plan, to be cleared to make way for the development of public housing and other facilities. In December 2001, the Housing Development Board began exhumation of the estimated 143,000 graves found in the cemetery. Exhumation was completed by the end of 2006, and the cremated remains from the exhumed were placed to rest at the Choa Chu Kang Columbarium. Due to religious reasons, the exhumed remains from Muslim graves could not be cremated, and were reinterred at Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang. The cemetery was thus cleared to make way for the development of a road interchange at the junction of Bartley Road and Braddell Road, and for the construction of the Woodleigh MRT Station situated along the North-East MRT Line.
Bidadari Garden, approximately 1,746.6 square metres, was then established at Vernon Park to commemorate 20 people who were considered important to Singapore's history, and who had been interred at Bidadari Cemetery. They include doctor and philanthropist Lim Boon Keng, Ahmad Ibrahim, and R. A. J. Bidwell–the architect who had designed the Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel, and Chesed-El Synagogue. The old gates of the Bidadari Cemetery, which bore the lion emblem of the Singapore Municipal Council, were then placed at the entrance of Bidadari Garden.
Bukit Brown Cemetery
Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known to the local community as Kopi Sua or Coffee Hill, was a public Chinese cemetery that had been established in the early 20th Century. It is located between Lornie Road and Mount Pleasant Road, and off Sime Road and Kheam Hock Road, and is still in existence today, despite being abandoned. The cemetery was named after its first owner, George Henry Brown. Brown had been a ship owner who had arrived in Singapore from Calcutta in the 1840s, and had bought the area and named it Mount Pleasant. The land was then later bought by Ong Kew Ho and the Hokkien Huay Kuan, who gave it to the She Ong Kongsi.The 213 acre (0.86198118 km²) site at Bukit Brown had been acquired and passed into municipal hands by the municipal authorities in 1919 after pressure had been put on it to provide a municipal cemetery for the Chinese communities in Singapore. The cemetery was opened on 1 January 1922 and was managed as a public burial ground by a committee led by committee leaders Tan Kheam Hock and See Tiong Wah–who was at that time comprador
Comprador
Comprador or Compradore is a term used to describe native managers of European business houses in East Asia.-History:...
of the Hong Kong Bank.
By 1929, Bukit Brown Cemetery accounted for about 40 per cent of all officially registered Chinese burials within municipal limits. The cemetery was eventually closed. In the 1970s, the cemetery faced the threat of being cleared for redevelopment, but it was eventually granted reprieve. Now, the cemetery is home to many bird species and wild life, and has as such become popular again–this time, with nature lovers.
It is the only "built" area that is near the Bukit Brown MRT Station
Bukit Brown MRT Station
Bukit Brown MRT Station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Circle Line in Singapore.As the only structure nearby is the Bukit Brown Cemetery, this will be a shell station, which is to be topped off when further development in the area warrants the operation of the station...
(part of the Circle MRT Line
Circle MRT Line
The Circle Line is Singapore's fourth Mass Rapid Transit line, operated by SMRT Corporation. This underground line is currently long with 28 stations and is fully automatically operated...
). Since there are no other developments in the vicinity, the station will remain non-operational till a later date.
Ulu Pandan Cemetery
Ulu Pandan Cemetery was a military cemetery opened in September 1955, and was located to the south of Ulu Pandan Road, and approximately 100 yards (91.4 m) from its junction with Clementi Road. The cemetery was designated for the burial of servicemen and of members of service families. It multi-religion, and contained separate plots of land for the burial of people of the Protestant, Roman Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist religions.To the left of the main entrance of the cemetery were a decorative iron gateway and a white chapel. Situated behind the chapel was the memorial–which had been transferred to Ulu Pandan from Pulau Brani–to the members of corps or royal engineers who died while serving in Singapore.
In 1971, the year of the withdrawal of British forces from Singapore, there was a total of 1580 graves in the cemetery, including the 146 that had been exhumed from the Bidadari Christian Cemetery on Upper Serangoon Road. Ulu Pandan Cemetery was eventually closed in order to make way for the Singapore urban development programme, and the remains of those interred there were exhumed and transferred to the Kranji War Cemetery in 1975.
Remaining Cemeteries
The Choa Chu Kang CemeteryChoa Chu Kang Cemetery
Chua Chu Kang Cemetery Complex is the biggest cemetery in Singapore. Located in the west of the island in close proximity to the Tengah Air Base and at the confluence of the Old Choa Chu Kang Road, Lim Chu Kang Road and Jalan Bahar...
is a state-owned, 318 acres (1.3 km²) public cemetery complex first opened in 1947, and is the only cemetery in Singapore still open for burials. In 1998, the burial period for all graves at the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery complex was limited to a period of 15 years, following which the remains of the deceased would be exhumed. The existing graves 15 years old or older–amounting to some 17,000 to 18,000 graves in each of the two earliest cemetery blocks–were then exhumed.
Pusara Aman Cemetery and Pusara Abadi Cemetery are Muslim cemeteries located along Jalan Bahar and Lim Chu Kang road, respectively. These two cemeteries represent the largest burial area reserved for the Muslim community, and graves within are typically cleared of weeds and debris before Eid ul-Fitr
Eid ul-Fitr
Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"...
, during which Muslims customarily visit them. Pusara Aman Cemetery is the older, and has at its edge a mosque which was built in 1975. Pusara Abadi Cemetery, on the hand, is newer, and is where the Muslims exhumed from Bidadari Cemetery are interred to rest.
The Kranji War Cemetery
Kranji War Cemetery
The Kranji War Cemetery is located in Kranji, Singapore, and is the final resting place for Allied soldiers who perished during the Battle of Singapore and the subsequent Japanese occupation of the island from 1942-1945 and in other parts of Southeast Asia during World War II.There are 4,461 World...
was officially opened by governor Sir Robert Brown Black
Robert Brown Black
Sir Robert Brown Black GCMG, OBE was a British colonial administrator. He would spend three decades overseas and return to Britain in the 1960s: he was Governor of Hong Kong from 23 January 1958 to 1 April 1964, having been Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1952 – 1955...
in 1957. The cemetery contains the graves of some 4.458 Allied servicemen and women, and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
. The cemetery also contains the military graves of soldiers killed during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
whose graves were relocated from Bidadari Cemetery. In 1975, owing to the closure of the Pasir Panjang and Ulu Pandan military cemeteries, the War Graves Commission allowed for the use of the Kranji War Cemetery to house the remains of British and Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
soldiers and their families who were exhumed. At the north end of the cemetery, next to the Kranji War Memorial, is the State Cemetery
Kranji State Cemetery
The Kranji State Cemetery is a national cemetery of Singapore. This cemetery is located at Kranji near Kranji War Cemetery. With an area of , the Kranji State Cemetery is reserved for the burial of persons who have made a significant contribution to Singapore, and is maintained by the National...
. With an area of 2 acres (8,093.7 m²), the State Cemetery is reserved for the burial of persons who have made a significant contribution to Singapore, and is maintained by the National Environment Agency
National Environment Agency
National Environment Agency formed on 1 July 2002, is a statutory board under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources in Singapore. As a statutory board, it gives NEA greater administrative autonomy to be more nimble in the protection of the environment...
. Currently, only the graves of President Yusof Ishak
Yusof bin Ishak
Yusof bin Ishak was an eminent Singaporean politician and the first President of Singapore of Minangkabau descent. His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.-Early life:...
(buried 25 November 1970) and President Benjamin Sheares
Benjamin Henry Sheares
Benjamin Henry Sheares, GCB , was the second President of Singapore.-Early life:Sheares was born the second of six children in Singapore to a Eurasian family with an English lineage. His father Edwin H. Sheares, a technical supervisor of the Public Works Department, was born in England and raised...
(buried 15 May 1981) reside in the State Cemetery.