The future of Mount Pleasant

The inevitable has happened - soon, much of the historic Old Police Academy in the Mount Pleasant area will be demolished for an HDB estate.

The Old Police Academy opened in 1929 as the Police Depot, then was renamed the Police Training School (below) in 1945, and the Police Academy in 1969. It was the primary training facility for the Police until the Home Team Academy opened in 2006 at Old Choa Chu Kang Road.

Credit: Remember Singapore.

When plans for Mount Pleasant MRT Station were announced with the rest of the Thomson-East Coast Line in 2012, I already knew the physical heritage of the Mount Pleasant area was on borrowed time.

The arrival of an MRT station to an undeveloped area always means future intensive development - that is the only way the construction of billion-dollar infrastructure can be justified. It is only a matter of time before the development takes place. In the case of the Mount Pleasant area, it will take up to 15 years - the first flats go on sale in five years.

When plans for the 33-hectare HDB estate were released, I hurriedly studied maps showing the layout of development.

Credit: The Straits Times.

Fortunately, it seems effort has been put into ensuring the estate avoids much of the natural heritage of the area. The forest surrounding the colonial bungalows and the Heritage Road known as Mount Pleasant Road will be untouched.

More importantly, the Hokkien cemetery known as Kopi Sua (below) lying to the west of the estate will also be untouched - for now. In fact, the original plan had called for the road network of the estate to cut through the cemetery, but was later revised to allow access via Onraet Road instead, avoiding the cemetery.

I have a keen interest in the fate of Kopi Sua, because my paternal grandfather rests there. For the time being, he - and I - can rest easy.

Looking ahead, there is still the unresolved issue of the Circle Line’s Bukit Brown MRT Station to the north of the Mount Pleasant area.

Presently, Bukit Brown MRT Station remains a “shell”, to be activated and open in the future when the area is more intensively developed. This involves the fate of much of Bukit Brown Cemetery, which to me has far, far greater heritage value than the Old Police Academy.

Connaught Drive

A stretch of prime road in Singapore will be fully pedestrianised as the Government looks to make the civic district more people-friendly.

Connaught Drive and Anderson Bridge will be closed to motorists, allowing pedestrians to walk more easily between the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, the National Gallery Singapore and The Arts House.

Connaught Drive, formerly known as New Esplanade Road, is a good candidate for pedestrianisation. Vehicular traffic is not heavy, and it’s lined by tall, beautiful trees - it would make for a scenic walkway.

A hundred years ago, Connaught Drive was already bordered by old, tall angsana trees. In the evenings, rich Europeans took first their horse carriages, and then as the Motor Age came, their motor cars, through Connaught Drive.

Bottom picture credit: Google Maps.

It’s fitting that by the end of December, the road will be returned to pedestrians.

Old Choa Chu Kang Road End Muslim Cemetery

I was exploring the historic stretch of Old Choa Chu Kang Road west of the Lim Chu Kang Road-Jalan Bahar junction, when I stumbled upon an old Muslim cemetery, seemingly (and hopefully) forgotten (or ignored) by the authorities.

The cemetery lies to the south of a car park built sometime between 2015 and 2018, next to the junction of Cemetery South Street 23 and Street 16. As it is located near the western end of Old Choa Chu Kang Road, I shall call it the Old Choa Chu Kang Road End Muslim Cemetery.

Base picture credit: Google Maps.

The cemetery is largely surrounded by forest and bush, and is filled with overgrown grass - it hasn’t been maintained for a long time.

As is usually the case for old Muslim graveyards, this cemetery has graves of varying ages and conditions. Some go back to the 1960s and 1970s. Some have dapur kubur (the rectangular structure that sits upon the grave mound) that were recently renovated; others have severely deteriorated after decades of exposure to the elements. Yet others merely have batu nisan (grave markers, usually one at the head and one at the foot of the burial site) to indicate someone’s resting spot.

From the 1970s, burial in Singapore was gradually shifted to the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex, where the major faiths were allocated different locations. However, the Old Choa Chu Kang Road End Muslim Cemetery predates this policy. My guess is that the cemetery served the rural community in the area before the villagers were resettled.

Before the 1970s, there were two villages in the area - Choa Chu Kang Village and Kampong Bereh. The cemetery could have served both villages until they were resettled by the 1990s.

Below is a map of the area in 1970. At the time, Choa Chu Kang Village and Kampong Bereh lay at the western end of Choa Chu Kang Road, shaded blue, presently Old Choa Chu Kang Road. A Muslim cemetery near the villages is shaded green. I believe this cemetery is the Old Choa Chu Kang Road End Muslim Cemetery.

Base picture credit: Survey Department, Singapore.

Since the cemetery lies outside the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Complex in terms of both date and geography, it is not subject to the New Burial Policy of 1998, which mandates that burials in Singapore must be exhumed after 15 years for either cremation or reburial. Hence, in terms of grave architecture and heritage, the Old Choa Chu Kang Road End Muslim Cemetery is a priceless time capsule, similar to another Muslim cemetery I explored earlier this year, Bedok South’s Lucky Gardens Cemetery.

Hopefully, this time capsule will remain untouched. An area of concern is the realignment of Lim Chu Kang Road because of Tengah Air Base’s expansion. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2019 Master Plan, the new road will pass dangerously close to the cemetery.

Credit: Urban Redevelopment Authority.

There are earthworks going on just to the west of the cemetery, most probably for this new road. I hope it will not encroach further into the grounds of the cemetery.