Redevelopment of Bishan cemetry
If you've taken the MRT through Bishan, you know the neighborhood. Junction 8. Bishan Park. Million-dollar HDB flats. One of the most desirable estates in Singapore. Here's what most people don't think about: Until 1982, that was a graveyard. 100,000 graves. 324 acres. Peck San Theng — one of the largest Chinese cemeteries in Singapore, established in 1870 by Cantonese and Hakka immigrants. It had its own village, its own school, its own cinema. Families had visited their ancestors there for over a hundred years. Then the government acquired it for housing. But the real story starts two decades earlier, when Singapore first began clearing cemeteries to build flats. Lim Kim San — the sago millionaire who became HDB's first chairman — got a visit from a group of elders. Some were his own relatives. They wanted him to stop. His response: "Do you want me to look after our dead grandparents, or do you want me to look after your grandchildren?" He didn't say i...
