Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery

Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery
Graves in the Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery.
Shown within Singapore
General information
Typecemetery
AddressChoa Chu Kang Cemetery, Choa Chu Kang
CountrySingapore
Coordinates1°22′58″N 103°41′38″E / 1.3827269°N 103.6939263°E / 1.3827269; 103.6939263

The Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery, or simply Pusara Abadi, is a burial ground located within the Choa Chu Kang Cemetery in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. Initially an extension of the older Pusara Aman Muslim Cemetery, the burial ground was later regarded as a separate cemetery. It mainly consists of burials that were reinterred from cemeteries and mausoleums which were cleared for redevelopment.

Etymology

The name of the cemetery, "Pusara Abadi" is a literal translation of "Eternal Abode" in the Malay language. It is two words; Pusara, meaning cemetery or abode, and Abadi, meaning eternal or never-ending. Alternative translations include "Eternal Cemetery" or "Cemetery of Eternity."[1][2][3]

History

The Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery was originally a burial ground conceived as an extension of the Pusara Aman Muslim Cemetery, but was later considered to be separate from it.[4][5] The earliest existing mention of the cemetery was in the Berita Harian newspaper on 18 January 1979, in an article which notified the public about the exhumation of graves at Sembawang Park that were to be reinterred at the Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery.[6] Later in November of that year, the former 100 year old mausoleum of Bismillah Wali, a prominently visited religious site located at Bedok, was demolished, with the remains of Bismillah Wali and a patron saint Syed Mustafa al-Aydarus being reinterred at the cemetery.[7][8] Then in 1981, the remains of five Indian Muslim workers buried at Pulau Hantu Kecil were exhumed and reinterred at the cemetery.[9] During the 1990s, bodies exhumed from the Bidadari Cemetery that was to be demolished for redevelopment would be reinterred in the Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery.[10][11]

In 1993, the graves of Tok Lasam and his wife in a cemetery at Siglap were to be transferred to the Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery, which sparked public outcry. Although most of the cemetery was successfully removed, the workers were unable to exhume the graves of Tok Lasam and his wife due to an unspecified reason.[12] A second attempt to exhume the graves was made in 1998.[13] However, the graves were eventually left alone and are still in their original location along Jalan Sempadan, located in the field behind a modern housing estate and have been renovated with a concrete platform ever since.[14]

With Singapore's increasing redevelopment and construction of new housing between the 1990s to 2000s, the mausoleums of Sufi Muslim mystics, known as Keramat, were demolished with the entombed remains being exhumed and reinterred into the cemetery.[15] One such example was a mausoleum near the Kallang MRT station which was exhumed in the 2010s with the deceased being reinterred at Pusara Abadi Muslim Cemetery.[16]

As of 2021, the cemetery was still active and used for burials that were not reinterrments.[17]

Notable burials

  • Siti Maryam (d. 1852) a trader from either Yemen or Baghdad, Iraq who migrated to Singapore and was originally buried in an enshrined mausoleum at Kallang, before the mausoleum was demolished and her grave relocated to this cemetery.[16][18]
  • Oli Chivli Kutti Mamoo (d. 1962) an Indian Muslim pharmacist who was known by his title "Bismillah Wali." Originally buried in the mausoleum of Syed Mustafa al-Aydarus at Bedok, both graves were exhumed and reinterred at this cemetery, while the mausoleum was demolished.[7][8][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Oxford English-English-Malay dictionary. Oxford Fajar. United States of America: Oxford University Private. 2022. ISBN 9789834725877.
  2. ^ Comprehensive Malay Dictionary: English • Malay • Malay • English. Pelanduk Publications. 31 December 2000. ISBN 9679787508.
  3. ^ Ghazali, Amar; Rizwan, Muhammad (2006). Dictionary English-Malay Malay-English (1st ed.). Selangor, Malaysia: Crescent News. ISBN 9789830618074.
  4. ^ "10,000 old graves in Pusara Aman will be moved". Berita Harian. 24 October 2007. p. 1.
  5. ^ "Digging Bidadari's Past: From Palace to First Muslim State Cemetery". biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
  6. ^ "18 January Issue | Advertisments Column". Berita Harian. 18 January 1979. p. 3.
  7. ^ a b Salleh, Zawiyah (31 August 1979). "Two enshrined graves will be exhumed and reinterred". Berita Harian. p. 2.
  8. ^ a b "Demolition works are being done". Berita Harian. 6 November 1979. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Five graves on an island raise questions". Berita Harian. 12 July 1981. p. 3.
  10. ^ Bachik, Hasleen (2 April 1996). "720 families register to claim bodies in Bidadari". Berita Harian. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Reinterrment work of 1,000 graves has started". Berita Harian. 14 May 1997. p. 7.
  12. ^ "Usaha kekal kubur penghulu". Berita Harian. 28 May 1993. p. 13.
  13. ^ "Siglap is a famous fishing village". Berita Harian. 14 March 1998. p. 13.
  14. ^ "Grave of Penghulu Tok Lasam". www.roots.gov.sg. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
  15. ^ a b Gibson, William L. (2022). A complete catalogue of keramat in Singapore (Digitised ed.). Singapore National Library Board.
  16. ^ a b Khan, Safhraa (11 November 2009). "Graves near the Kallang MRT station will make way for a lifestyle hub". Berita Harian. p. 2.
  17. ^ "Body of SAF officer who died after physical training safely buried". Berita Harian. 28 February 2021. p. 1.
  18. ^ Khan, Safhras (16 January 2010). "Some graves at Stadium Link have already been exhumed and reinterred". Berita Harian. p. 5.
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