The times you may have heard about Choa Chu Kang Cemetery might be from sharing ghost stories among your friends. As the largest burial site in Singapore and the only one still open for burials to this day, it’s no surprise that this location is the subject of many classic horror stories.
But spooky facts aside, the cemetery does have a significant history of being a resting place for many different cultures, and funnily enough, even a durian auction at one point.
Choa Chu Kang Cemetery has been open since 1947 and consists of almost 318 acres of land. Since then, this huge area has become a burial site among the Chinese, Hindu, Muslim, Ahmadiyya Jama’at, Jewish, and Christian communities.
Interestingly, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery seems to be the only site that houses multiple different communities in roughly the same area. Perhaps this can be attributed to its overwhelmingly large size and its capacity to hold thousands of graves. In fact, the Chinese cemetery alone consists of around 35,000 tombs today.
Image credits: @teo_brian via Instagram
Since 2007, the cemetery also holds a prayer site for 1 of the smallest communities in Singapore: the Parsi community.
Traditionally, they engage in sky burials for their departed loved ones, where the dead are laid on a circular tower often known as dakhma, or the “Tower of Silence”, to let the bodies be consumed by vultures. This allows those who have passed to be disposed of in a natural way, therefore not “defiling” natural elements like fire or the earth.
But because that can’t happen in Singapore, the cemetery holds a special building for Parsi prayers and ceremonies. It also remains a safe place for them to bury and cremate their dead.
A tombstone in the Hindu cemetery.
Image credits: National Archives Singapore
With so many tombstones at the burial sites, it’s hard to avoid some kind of human error. Over 40 years ago, there was a misalignment in tombs due to 1 of the plots having no headstone. This resulted in 8 families paying respect to the wrong graves. After the exhumation of a few graves, NEA managed to retrieve and verify the buried remains with all the affected families.
Choa Chua Kang Cemetery hasn’t just been, well, a cemetery. Strangely enough, it was also the location of a durian auction in 2020.
Screenshots from the live durian auction.
Image adapted from: I-deal Trades via Facebook
In a Facebook Live, a 29-year-old man put durians up for auction in Lim Chu Kang Cemetery, a section of burial sites located right by Choa Chu Kang Cemetery. He even managed to sell 10 of them for more than $600.
He went on to mention in his livestream that he was dared to have his auction at a cemetery, and assured his viewers that he was nothing but respectful to the burial site, even doing his own prayers beforehand.
While his durian sales may have gone well, his reputation with the authorities definitely didn’t. In order to go through with the live, he reportedly breached Phase One measures and sold food without a permit from the Singapore Food Agency, which is necessary for public food sales.
Image credits: @muhammadsalehyangcomel via Instagram
And for avid viewers of shows like Buzzfeed Unsolved, you’ll be interested to know that there are mysterious horror stories right in our backyard.
Probably the most commonly told one revolves around taxi drivers who pick up passengers late at night requesting to be brought to the cemetery only to have them vanish into thin air once the driver got nearer to the drop-off location.
While some stories are as simple as a sighting of a white figure when driving past the cemetery late at night, others are, unfortunately, a little more elaborate.
One soldier recounted the time he went on a training mission at the nearby Lim Chu Kang Cemetery and heard the sound of gongs that seemed to come from the area where the Chinese graves were located. To make things creepier, other recruits were also having trouble driving out of the cemetery as they always seemed to end up at the same spot.
Whether this story is true or not, you won’t be catching us anywhere near the cemetery at night anytime soon.
Planning a funeral isn’t the easiest task to do, and there are certain rules to follow in Singapore. Depending on the wishes and religion of the deceased, the body can either be cremated or buried. However, burials are only allowed at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.
As stated above, there are different cemeteries in Choa Chu Kang Cemetery – including Chinese, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Parsi cemeteries. Depending on which cemetery you are going for, the fees range from $140-$420 for children and $315-$940 for adults. You’ll also need to prep official documents prior to the burial. This includes:
All burials at the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery are limited to 15 years only. After 15 years, the body will either be cremated or exhumed. For religions that do not allow cremation, the body will be relocated to a smaller grave. Family members can collect the cremated remains, or choose to pulverise the cremated remains at the time of collection.
If the deceased is a foreigner, they are only allowed to be buried in Singapore if they have an immediate next-of-kin that is a Singapore Citizen or PR. This is limited to parents, children, and spouses. You will, however, need to obtain permission from NEA prior to the burial.
Image credits: @carychan via Instagram
As of 1998, burials have been limited to a period of 15 years before they will be exhumed and cremated. In 2017, it was announced by NEA that over 45,000 graves from the Chinese cemetery would be exhumed for the expansion of Tengah Airbase. Subsequently, the Muslim Cemetery with graves dated between 1990 and 2003 has been exhumed.
The Muslim cemetery at Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.
Image credits: @dalyfilsuf via Instagram
While the state of Choa Chu Kang Cemetery may be changing to accommodate Singapore’s modern landscape, it’s still heartening to know that it will always be a resting place for the departed loved ones of many – and of course, the setting for more spooky stories.
Check out more spooky places:
Cover image adapted from: National Archives Singapore, @axthropix via Instagram
Originally published on 24th July 2021. Last updated by Joycelyn Yeow on 11th August 2024.
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