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Introduction
Bishan Town is located in the center of Singapore, bounded by Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Upper Thomson Road, Central Expressway and Braddell Road. It is one of the best sought-after residential areas not only because of its better-known schools but also because of its accessibility and facilities. These schools include Guangyang Primary School, Ai Tong Primary School, Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. Nearby facilities include the 52-hectare Bishan Park (the biggest park in Singapore), Junction 8 shopping center and good quality HDB flats. Bishan is a new town with a road network of Bishan Road, Bishan Lane, Bishan Street 11 to 14 and Bishan Streets 21 to 24 and Bishan MRT Station. The word Bishan encapsulates a long history and rich culture of Singapore. This brief article explains the history and culture of Bishan and Peck San Theng.
Kampong San Theng and Bishan Town
Kampong San Theng, commonly known as Peck San Theng (碧 山 亭), which means “pavilions on the green,” used to be a burial ground. It was established in 1870 by immigrants who largely came from the three prefectures of Kwong Fu, Wai Chow Fu and Siew Heng Fu in Guangdong Province, China.
The full name of this burial ground is called Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng. This is because the burial ground was intended to cater solely to the Cantonese community in the early days
Within a century, Peck San Theng (PST) became one of the biggest Chinese cemeteries in Singapore; holding more than 100,000 graves grouped under 10 pavilions over 324 acres of land.
In 1979, the Singapore government decided to acquire all its land to create a new town. All the existing graves were exhumed and the remains cremated during the 1980s. The new town was named Bishan, which is the same as Peck San except the former is in Hanyu Pinyin and the latter is in Cantonese.
To enable PST to continue with its tradition, the government leased 8 acres (32376.4 Sq M) of land to PST for the accommodation of an office block, a monument, two temples, and a columbarium. The columbarium houses some 100,000 niches, which have, since 1980, been offered to members of the public irrespective of their race, language and religion. PST is managed by a federation of 16 Cantonese clan associations. Today Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng at Bishan Lane is a gentle reminder of the past.
Ancestor Worship and Ching Ming Festival
Ancestor worship has a long history in China, dating back to more than 4000 years. It has strong ties to familial piety. It was brought to Singapore by the early immigrants from the southern part of China after Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819. Ancestor worship is based on the belief that family members have a continued existence after their death, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and also possess the ability to influence the fortunes of the living, provided the living family members perform their filial duties. In a way, ancestor worship is also about teaching the young about their originiary roots and that they should respect their elders.
This is in line with the Confucian teaching “慎终追远,” meaning "To earnestly handle a proper funeral for your deceased parents and not forget to pay continuous respects to them years after."
The descendants have one whole month during the Ching Ming Festival period from early April to early May each year to do their filial duties. The general guidelines for doing such duties are
“事死如事生, 事亡如事存，孝之至也” meaning “Utmost filial piety means do whatever the descendants would like to do for their ancestors as if they are still alive”. 。
In other words, if a person thinks that he would like to bring some household necessities and give money to his deceased mother, he should by all means get them in paper form and burn them in offering after paying his respect. If a person feels like sharing some of his favourite food with the deceased, then he should bring it along, and eat the food together with others, after paying his respect, almost as if the deceased is sharing the meal with them. All these rituals are good education for the young and the traditions will pass on. Ancestor worship has become living heritage in Singapore. Over 100,000 people will visit PST during the Ching Ming period every year to pay respect to their ancestors in their own way.。 |
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