Sunday vibeS
A meeting with Singapore’s foremost Peranakan culture crusader sets on a path to learn more about the efforts being made to safeguard a culture unique to our Southeast Asian region
STANDING by the side entrance of Singapore’s historic Bukit Brown cemetery with my luggage in tow, my solitary presence in the late afternoon draws curious stares from motorists zipping past Lorong Halwa. Ignoring the unsolicited attention, I shift my focus to several sizeable tombs located nearby. Established nearly a century ago, Bukit Brown cemetery had ample land to spare during those early days and spacious burial plots were a norm then.
Half an hour passes before a taxi finally pulls up near me. My friend, Cho Cho alights and apologises profusely for his lack of punctuality. “You have about six hours or more before your flight departs. We should have ample time to take a quick look around,” he quips while helping to load my bags into the car boot.
Fortunately, the amiable taxi driver agrees to wait while we amble around, acknowledging that it would be extremely difficult for us to hail another taxi from such a deserted part of Singapore.
Visibly excited, Cho quickly leads the way along a narrow path flanked by shady trees with gnarly bark trunks and outstretched branches that appear to be reaching out for us. A short distance later, we arrive at the grave of Cho’s paternal grandfather, Cho Kim Leong.
While translating the faded inscriptions on the heavily weathered tombstone, Cho explains that Kim Leong was a second generation Peranakan. “His father, Cho Boon Poo arrived in Melaka from the province of Eng Choon in China,” he says, before adding: “He married a local Peranakan lady and grew wealthy after setting up several successful tapioca, gambier and rubber plantations.”
As Boon Poo’s third son, Kim Leong was sent to Singapore in the early 1930s to look after his father’s interest on both sides of the causeway while his siblings remained in Melaka. Kim Leong married a Peranakan lady and went on to live in Joo Chiat, an affluent suburb on the eastern part of Singapore.
His Singaporean family fell into bad times when Kim Leong passed away after the Second World War. Kim Leong was the family’s sole breadwinner and his demise meant that his wife had to sell most of their properties and personal belongings just to make ends meet. As the years passed, During the ride to Changi Airport, Cho reveals that his success in locating Kim Leong’s grave gave him the confidence to embark on another difficult quest to look for Boon Poo’s tomb.
“Right from the start, I knew that was going to be more difficult as Boon Poo passed away in Melaka at a much earlier period and I had absolutely no clue as to which cemetery he was buried in. The two largest ones, Bukit Cina and Jelutong cemeteries, are the most likely places. Maintained by the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple trustees, they have more than a hundred thousand graves each,” Cho laments.
Unfortunately, Cho hit a dead-end when he discovered that the temple had lost all its pre-war burial records during the Japanese Occupation. “It must have been decades since the last descendants paid their respects at Boon Poo’s tomb and that thought made me sad.
At the same time, I steeled my resolve