Epoch Times, Singapore Edition
A new Bidadari housing estate will be built to retain its rich history
Epoch Times
Did you know Bidadari is a Malay word meaning “fairy”, “angel” or “nymph”?
Bidadari used to be a cemetery site for the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities. It operated from 1908 to 1973, and was one of largest and oldest cemeteries in Singapore.
The 147,000 graves in Bidadari were exhumed from 2001 to 2006, making way for the North-East Line MRT stations of Woodleigh and Potong Pasir.
Recently, the Housing Development Board (HDB) and the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced the development of a Bidadari housing estate that will boast 11,000 new homes on this former cemetery site.
Bidadari’s rich history will be preserved in the new estate. A 500m-long Heritage Walk showcasing storyboards of photographs and information about Bidadari’s key heritage landmarks will be built.
A new man-made lake inspired by the former Alkaff Gardens in the area will also be incorporated in the proposed Bidadari housing estate.
This is the first housing estate that is designed to preserve the area’s heritage.
The Epoch Times captured some images of this historical site before it makes way for the new Bidadari housing estate.
Bidadari’s history
In 1903, the Municipal Commissioners developed 26 hectares of land at Upper Serangoon Road into a cemetery for Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics. The Bidadari Christian cemetery was opened in 1908. Two years later, Dato Mentri of Johore bought another plot of land nearby to establish an adjoining cemetery for the Muslims. In 1925, the Bidadari cemetery built a burial area for the Hindu community.
The cemetery accepted its last burial in 1973.
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