Do you know that just outside of the City at Lorong Halwa/Bukit Brown - south of Lornie Rd and off the PIE near Bukit Timah Rd - is a large piece of long forgotten cemeteries and old tombs, almost overgrown by the tropical rainforest? Today, I joined the Straits Times (doing an article about Qing Ming) and a few founders of the SG-Tao discussion yahoogroup for a photoshot at this place. Many of the tombs dated to as early as the late 19th century and some as late as 1971. Most of the tombs are long forgotten by the descendants of those buried there and overgrown with weeds.
We came across a few grander ones still tended by people, including one with elaborate fengshui water and sculpture features. At that stage of the trip, I was still a bit "pang tang" and didn't take any photos. We visited a temple which used to be the heart of the old Kampong Lorong Halwa but whose roof has almost collapsed. There was a Tua Beh Kong altar but Jave felt that it might be a different diety within...
We also came across a family headed by a 75y/o matriarch there to clear the tomb of her father-in-law buried here 60 years ago. Her son, brother-in-law and the latter's wife was also present. "The young these days do not even care about their living mother...why should they care about these long dead," she said aloud. Interestingly, we ended our trip at a monumental tomb (complete with stone sculptures of Sikh guards) over which a traditional Malay house was built many years ago by a fengshui master. Even the fengshui master had supposedly long past on and the house is now owned by someone. There was neither wall nor door and so we walked right through. The dog even posed for us over the tomb of the dead's spinster daughter.
What a day! An article on this visit would appear soon, possibly Monday.
Comments