A Short Walk in Mount Pleasant Cemetery [Along Mount Pleasant Road and Near the Old Police Academy]

Along the long and winding Mount Pleasant road lay a pathway that is always missed by motorists, especially if you are speeding (which is quite common given how empty the road is).

Known infamously as "Pontianak Land", Mount Pleasant cemetery is originally part of the Bukit Brown cemetery and was eventually cut away due to the construction of the 42.8 kilometers Pan-Island expressway (PIE).

I finally got the chance to visit the place last weekend with the Gang of Four! Compared to Bukit Brown, this cemetery was devoid of any explorer or visitor and didn't feel as serene.

Maybe it was the lack of human presence. Maybe it was the towering trees. Maybe it was the many derelict tombs that were obviously unattended for a long time. Note: this was before i read from the internet sources that this place is known as Pontianak Land.

One of the better maintained tombs. Unlike Bukit Brown, the tombstones in this area were more sombre with many featuring basic designs. I didn't manage to explore beyond the path as it was supposed to be just a short, leisurely walk.

Another picture to show how simplistic the designs are.

Exhumation services were advertised in quite a few prominent locations. The signposts looked new and could be recent installations to target the crowds for the Qing Ming festival over a month ago.

This tomb attracted our attention with its golden inscriptions and pictures of flowers and birds. I am really grateful for my Chinese education as i can roughly make out the year of death to be 1943 and belongs to a man with the surname Xu.

Unfortunately, many tombs were just like the above; almost hidden in the thick undergrowth. God knows how many famous people are actually buried here.

Red captures attention. At the same time, it also makes you wonder why red paint was used when any association with red is considered as taboo for the dead.

The sun was setting and i could feel that the others were not interested in trekking any further. Well, i did mention it is a short walk!

But i would be back again to solve the mystery of the signs pointing to no 56.

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Location

Red star. It's located next to onreat road which is interestingly inaccessible despite showing on google map and streetdirectory.com.