武吉布朗位于麦里芝蓄水池以南，连同毗邻的坟山，形成中国以外最大的华人坟场，2011年，政府决定开辟穿越坟场的新道路，这引发民间组织展开抢救频临消失的历史，在无意之间拼凑出武吉布朗惊艳的一面。
武吉布朗坟场成立于1922年，50年后封山，这正是革命元老的凋零期，四、五十位维新与革命领袖者长眠于此。如率领六百南洋商绅向身陷瀛台的光绪请安的邱菽园；在小桃园力救章炳麟、邹容的陈楚楠；极力宣扬维新并与中兴报笔战的《总汇新报》东主梅泉宝；精通三民主义并为革命组织露天演讲的林镜秋；尽管他们生前理念对立，但百年之后都在武吉布朗为邻，和平共处，而他们的事迹足以汇成一部革命史。新加坡是商贾齐集之地，除了历史名人，也有不少达官贵人，更少不了辛勤打拼的早期南来华人。多层次的历史，为武吉布朗披上一层层浓郁的人文色彩。
对常人而言，坟场仅是百年之后的归途，一堆白骨，与黄土砖石堆砌而成的墓茔，对武吉布朗来说，这却是文化重镇，艺术之都。雕工精美的青石浮雕，每一片就是一幕经典小说的剧情，白素贞水淹金山寺，关羽刮骨疗伤，诸葛亮七擒七纵，八仙过海等等，剧情目不暇给，不少还是以镂空雕刻。欧洲入口的磁片也是亮点，以金属粉末绘上各式图案，经高温烧烤而成的磁片，这类磁片色彩略带幽光，已经成为收藏家的珍藏，多数的款式都可以在这里找到，武吉布朗更像一座露天博物院。
新加坡是南洋中心，东西方汇集之处，各地文化随着移民而流入，不同文化之间的撞击形成另一股新潮流，这也就是20世纪初盛行一时的南洋风。这股南洋风情也在武吉布朗飘逸，裸体天使代替金童玉女侍侯墓主，威风凛凛的武将被手持长枪的锡克卫兵取代，一段段孔明精彩的故事化成青石浮雕，坟墓就由多元文化色彩拼凑而成。
去年，武吉布朗被世界文化遗迹基金列入消逝中的世界文化遗迹之观察名单。今年，《孤独星球》推荐新加坡为2015年全球最佳旅游国，武吉布朗也是旅游景点之一。在未来，武吉布朗或许会成为人生必到的100个景点之一。
Bukit Brown - An "Open Air" Museum filled with Art and Culture
Located south of the Macritchie Reservoir and set in verdant
green, Bukit Brown and its neighboring cemeteries collectively form the largest
Chinese immigrant graveyard outside of China. In 2011, the decision by the
Singapore government to build a new highway through this cemetery sparked a
ground-up effort to save a disappearing facet of Singapore’s past. . In so
doing, this community of individuals started to unravel a forgotten history and
heritage embodied and embedded in the stones of Bukit Brown.
50 years after Bukit Brown was established in 1922, the
government stopped all burials within its precinct. This closure coincided with
the time when between 40-50 (1911)
Chinese revolutionary pioneers passed into history and found their final
resting place in Bukit Brown . These gentlemen included a literary and
patriotic giant by the name of Khoo Siok Wan, who had led 500 others to appeal
for the immediate release of Emperor Guangxu who was under house arrest in
China’s Forbidden City, and Tan Chor Nam who led the campaign to rescue Zhang
Bing Lin and Zhou Rong - the 2 leading
intellectuals of their time from the clutches of the Manchu Imperial Court - to
safe refuge in his villa in Balestier Road. Others such as Boey
Chuan Poh, owner and lead writer of a publication (Zong
Hui Xin Bao) wrote extensively for the
cause of constitutional monarchy and Lim Keng Chiew - a consummate orator and propagandist – lent weight
to the revolution of 1911. Despite the ideological differences during their
lifetimes, they now reside side by side, their lives intertwined, speak of the turbulence and
upheavals that was China’s fate. Singapore was not only the place where
the tycoons’ paths crossed, it was also focal point for many leading lights of
the time and where countless masses came to toil. This multi-layering of interconnected
lives lends colour, texture and nuance
to Singapore’s history.
Bukit Brown is also a cultural heavy weight and a center of
art. Behind every elaborately carved tombstone is a classic Chinese tale
of morality and literature. The stones are a repository of Chinese
classics, comprising iconic scenes from Madam White Snake, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms,
and the Tales of 8 immortals among many others. It is a show case of
intricately carved cultural motifs from artisans of a dying art in China and
European imported tiles fired at high temperature with gold inserts that
glitter faintly in the dark. Many tiles
of different origins and design have, over the passage of time, become
treasured collectors’ items making Bukit Brown a veritable “Living Museum”
Singapore was the heart of South-East Asia (“Nanyang”), a
confluence where East meets West. The popular early 20th century Nanyang
fashion was created when different cultures collide and blend into one another.
This was made manifest, when stone carved naked angels evolved from the
traditional Golden Boy and Jade Girl, armed Punjabi Sikh guards from ferocious
door guardians and Western style lions from their mythical Chinese
counterparts.
Bukit Brown is in the World Monuments Watch list 2014 as an
endangered world heritage site worthy of protection. In October this
year, as Lonely Planet voted Singapore as the best country to visit in 2015,
Bukit Brown is one of their recommended sites. In the not too distant future, Bukit Brown
could well become one of the top 100 global sites to visit in one’s
lifetime.
Bukit Brown
by Walter Lim
武吉布朗，撰写林志强
