Saturday, May 04, 2013

Over 34,000 Unclaimed Remains! @ Singapore Teochew Memorial Park [新加坡潮州公墓]

Coming back to my entry on the Teochew Memorial Park in Yishun, i previously indicated my skepticism for that small space to contain unclaimed remains for over 20,000 people.

The truth shall now be revealed.

Referring to the incident that happened back in 2007 - An unusually heavy downpour resulted in a small landslide that exposed thousands of earthenware urns buried in a hill right beside an MRT track. You may click here for the news story.

taken from http://visionsanasini.blogspot.sg/2007/01/hidden-treasure-or.html
It was hot news, especially in Yishun where many residents were simply not aware of their existence. Even if they were aware, they would not have imagined the burial ground to stretch beyond the structural compound of the memorial park

One interesting segment in the article caught my attention; "Mr Baey Theng Mong, 62, administrative secretary, told The New Paper: 'According to our records, there are over 34,000 urns in the memorial park." 

In essence, we are not just looking at 20,000 but a hefty 70% increase in the number of unclaimed remains!

Even though it would likely be futile to check out the "main" site after six long years, I made the decision to climb up the hill, hoping to catch sight of any urn sticking out of the ground. 

As expected, nothing at all except tall grass with a potential for ugly snake encounters! Damn, my fear for snakes is proving to be a major impediment for me to explore places alone! 

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Commuters travelling from Yishun to Sembawang train stations would be able to spot the hill on the left side of the train carriage. 


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