Bukit Brown Cemetery

Bukit Brown Cemetery, also known as the Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery, is a cemetery located in Novena in the Central Region of Singapore. The site of the cemetery was originally owned by George Henry Brown, a British merchant. It became known as Brown's Hill for its hilly terrain, which was translated into Malay as Bukit Brown. Brown's original site was eventually given to the Seh Ong Kongsi, who opened a private clan cemetery there in the 1870s.

Beginning in the 1880s, cemeteries in Singapore grew rapidly, leading the Legislative Council to pass a bill that limited the creation of cemeteries, particularly Chinese cemeteries. Due to this bill, the Chinese community's options for burying their dead were restricted, leading to calls for the creation of a municipal cemetery; notable supporters of the municipal cemetery included Tan Kheam Hock and Lim Boon Keng. The Municipal Commission began looking for suitable sites and settled on the Seh Ong Kongsi's land, acquiring the site in 1919 through compulsory acquisition.

Three years later, in 1922, the Commission opened Bukit Brown Cemetery. Although initially unpopular with the Chinese community, after some modifications, forty percent of Chinese deaths in Singapore were buried at Bukit Brown Cemetery by 1929. The cemetery was fully reserved for burials in 1944, and eventually closed in 1973 with about 100,000 graves. In 2011, the government designated the area for residential development, leading to protests from activists who believed the cemetery should be preserved. The following year, 3,700 graves were exhumed to build an eight-lane highway. The cemetery has since appeared on the 2014 World Monuments Watch and has been considered for National Monument status.

Bukit Brown Cemetery is believed to be the largest Chinese cemetery outside of China and is the burial location of many of Singapore's earliest pioneers. Preservation advocates support maintaining Bukit Brown and other nearby cemeteries for their vegetation, wildlife, and heritage displayed by the graves. Traditional Chinese festivals are regularly held at these cemeteries.