Meeting point with the group led by volunteers from ATBB…Brownies!

Maps are everywhere showing the different hills and sectors

Even before we started, we were greeted by this Dollar Bird perched way up high

As we walked along, there were signs of memorial offerings in the way of incense holders

a typical Hokkien grave…

We learnt that the difference between a Hokkien grave and a Teochew grave is that the Hokkien grave has posterior extensions from the headstone as seen here (really a footstone as Milly told us) where a Teochew one doesn’t

Graves and headstones dotted the hilly terrain as we walked

A Teochew grave without the posterior extensions

As we walked, the sun got hotter and hotter…

And some members of our group were more delicate than the ladies! haha.

A beautiful stream where sadly, the son of Mr Brown had drowned after having had a fit…

this was the start of a trail that led to the summit of hill3, where a well known singapore called Ong Sam Leong was interred

Ong Sam leong’s tomb was the biggest one we saw this morning with his wife on the left and him on the right….

A Sikh statue stood guard…

sikh statue from the front

the view from the grave…there was probably once a view, but now the trees have grown and blocked it

on either side of the headstones were a lady, the jade lady and a male, the golden boy..

Jade lady

Golden boy

detail of tomb engravings

next to many of the graves, something like a sub-grave could usually be observed…this was the tomb of the earth deity who guards the main tomb

As we descended the hill, we saw the graves of Ong Sam Leong’s two sons, here the younger son’s tomb with the father’s tomb in the background

this Asian glossy starling watched us as we came down

and there was a splash of colour from these new leaves amongst the tombs

and even where colours was lacking, the plants were impressive

Our next stop was this well know grave with the impressive sikh guards…the tomb of a Dr Chew, a practitioner of traditional chinese medicine…

another view

two real dogs and a dog statue watching over the tomb

Bukit Brown Cemetery is a tranquil place, where dogs are walked and horses are ridden…

our last but one tomb visit was fascinating…as Milly told the tale of how her great grandparents tomb was found a few years ago…history brought to life!

Even the butterflies paused to listen.

tiny flowers surrounded the tomb

Our last historical grave was that of Lee Hoon Leong, grandfather of Lee Kuan Yew, founding Prime Minister of Singapore who passed away recently….it was a less than impressive tomb compared to some of the more ostentatious ones we had seen …this was because the burial had taken place during the second world war.