I happened to pass by this interesting free tour in Meetup.com. Apparently the cemetery is planned to be abolished for expressway and other possible future development. It is a shame that we are going to lose another important historical site of ours. What is left for our children? What will they know?
Besides their fierce loyalty playing with a piece of metal and plastic screen...
Even today, our younger generation (and also my era) already knows so little about Singapore history. Our general education system at my time has been set in a way that foreign histories are prevalent and more emphasized compared to our Mother land.
At the end of the day, I learnt that there is a combination of factors in order to instill patriotism in our fellow Singaporeans. And one of these is, History.
I can understand why quite a significant number of people of my generation and younger feels a detachment from their nationality.
History is important. Other than plainly showing us examples of a series of human activities, other than teaching us to understand the 'yin' and the 'guo' and not repeat the unwanted historical warfare or conflict again, other than equipping us with the knowledge to analyse, we must not forget. History is the significant link to our roots.
I used to think little about my root. And I believe we were taught the chinese idiom 'yin shui si yuan' but we never truly understand what it means at the core.
Well, it is getting a little too deep and emotional here.
Cutting short, we signed a petition to save the heritage after the tour. The tour guides are all unpaid volunteers, who are truly passionate and dedicated to the heritage protection. It is highly doubtful that it would change the authority's decision, who knows if we spread the word and do something about it?
If the Japanese cemetery (as old as Bukit Brown's) in Singapore can be conserved, why not ours? :)
Note: I will update next time about my trip there! Photos? Of course! :D
After the heritage tour, we had a lunch feast at Two Chefs Eating Place! One of the best Zi Char restaurant around!
Taking random of the plate while we were curiously discussing about the 4 letters on it. Reading from the right is "wan shou wu jiang". It means "a million years of longevity without border".
What else have you seen? Observe!
In conclusion, Singapore is small but it is rich in history and heritages worth exploring. It is untrue that we had it all here and it is a boring place with nothing but shopping mall which majority of us had visited a thousand of times.
One precious take-home today is, there is countless to explore in this small sunny island.
We do not have to be "out-of-the-box" to enjoy life.
In fact, life can similarly be fulfilling "inside-the-box",
by paying extra attention to every single details, of our surrounding.
P.S. Did a little hiking and jogging. A suitable pair of shoes is an essential for good sports. We shall find out more in my upcoming post! :)
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