What Was Bishan Before Bishan? | Peck San Theng, Kampong San Teng and the Cemetery Before the New Town

SINGAPORE / ESTATE HISTORY / BISHAN

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By The Memory desk · Historical reference · Sources checked 7 October 2026

Before it was a new town, almost all of Bishan was a cemetery. Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng was founded in 1870 by Cantonese and Hakka clan associations from Guangdong province, and by the 1970s its graves and pavilions covered about 121 hectares of hills. Beside it grew Kampong San Teng, a village of nearly 2,000 people by the 1970s, many of whom first came to work in the funeral trade.

Bishan history as a town is short and fast. The cemetery stopped taking new burials in 1973, the government bought the land in 1979, and the graves were exhumed in the early 1980s. HDB built the estate in stages between 1983 and 1989, and the town took its name from the cemetery itself: Bishan is the Mandarin reading of Peck San, “jade hills”.

Bishan at a glance

Location	Central Singapore, between Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh and Thomson
Before the town	Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng cemetery, founded in 1870, and Kampong San Teng
Name	From Peck San Theng (碧山亭), “pavilions on the jade hills”; Bishan is the Mandarin reading
Cemetery closed	New burials stopped in 1973; land acquired in 1979 for S$4.95 million
New town	Built in stages from 1983 to 1989; over 23,000 flats on 132 hectares
Still there	Peck San Theng’s temple and columbarium on 3.2 hectares kept by the Kwong Wai Siew

Why is it called Bishan?

The name is the cemetery’s. Peck San Theng is written 碧山亭, which the National Library’s Infopedia translates as “pavilions on the jade hills”. Peck San is the Cantonese reading of 碧山; Bishan is the Mandarin one. The pavilions were real: shelters for visiting families spread across the burial hills, and they helped people find their way to a grave. Sources disagree on how many there were, with Infopedia counting ten.

The cemetery was founded in 1870 by the Kwong Wai Siew, a group of clan associations named after three prefectures in Guangdong, to serve Cantonese and Hakka immigrants. A student history published by Raffles Institution’s Raffles Press in 2024 lists the merchants Hoo Ah Kay, known as Whampoa, and Wong Ah Fook among its early founders. It later took burials from the wider Chinese community as well.

1870 to the 1970s: a cemetery and its village

The land was hilly and lay close to MacRitchie Reservoir. Over a century the burial grounds spread across it, and the figures given for their size vary: Infopedia gives about 121 hectares in the 1970s, roughly 300 acres, while other accounts give larger figures, from 324 acres upwards. Estimates of the number of graves range from about 100,000, the Infopedia figure, to around 170,000. Our view is that the lower, library-sourced figures are the safer ones to quote.

Kampong San Teng grew up beside the graves. Infopedia describes it as a Cantonese village that began with people working in the funeral trade and later turned to farming and livestock, with nearly 2,000 residents by the 1970s. It had its own school, market, teahouse, temple and cinema. The Raffles Press account names the school as Kwong Wai Shiu Peck Shan Ting School, open from 1936 to 1981. Festivals such as Qing Ming brought families from across the island to clean and visit graves.

The cemetery’s seclusion had a darker side. The Raffles Press history notes that the area shared Toa Payoh’s post-war reputation for secret-society activity, and names two gangs, Fei Lung and Woh Pheng, that used the cemetery’s hills. For the neighbouring district’s story, see our history of what Toa Payoh was before the new town.

February 1942: fighting among the graves

Infopedia records that the cemetery and Kampong San Teng were heavily bombed during the Malayan Campaign, and links this to their closeness to MacRitchie Reservoir. In the last days before the British surrender, British and Japanese troops fought across the cemetery hills from 13 to 15 February 1942. A student exhibition, “Becoming Bishan”, noted in 2015 that the British positions lay where Junction 8, Bishan Library and Raffles Institution now stand.

During the occupation that followed, some Chinese civilians, among them Samsui women, are remembered as having sheltered among the tombs, according to the Raffles Press account. We have not found an official source that sets out how many, so it is reported here as a remembered account rather than a measured one.

1973 to 1989: from cemetery to new town

Singapore needed the land. Peck San Theng stopped accepting new burials in 1973, and in 1979 the government acquired the site for S$4.95 million. The Kwong Wai Siew kept 3.2 hectares, where it built a temple and a new columbarium with at least 70,000 niches in the mid-1980s. Exhumation followed: Infopedia dates it to stages between 1982 and 1984, while other summaries give 1980 for the start.

Kampong San Teng was cleared and its residents resettled in the 1980s. HDB then built the town in stages between 1983 and 1989, with more than 23,000 flats over 132 hectares, according to Infopedia. The best-known design choice came straight from the cemetery: the pitched roofs on some Bishan blocks were inspired by Peck San Theng’s pavilions, and they gave the new town a skyline unlike its neighbours.

Transport and institutions followed quickly. Bishan station opened in 1987 on the first stage of the North-South Line, initially under the name San Teng. Bishan Park opened along the Kallang River in 1988; its construction began in 1986, according to the Ang Mo Kio heritage trail. Raffles Institution moved to Bishan in 1990, and Junction 8 opened on 22 January 1994; the mall’s own story is in our history of Junction 8 in Bishan.

How did a cemetery become a sought-after address?

This is our reading rather than a documented fact, but location did most of the work. Bishan sits close to the middle of the island, it had an MRT station within about two years of its first flats, and it gained well-known schools soon after. Those advantages outweighed whatever unease some buyers felt about living on former burial ground, and the ghost stories that still attach to Bishan are best treated as folklore about the old cemetery rather than evidence of anything else.

What survives is small but visible. The Peck San Theng temple and columbarium still stand, and the name is on every MRT map. The Kallang River now flows through Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, which spans the boundary with the farmland and villages described in our history of what Ang Mo Kio was before Ang Mo Kio.

Seeing old Bishan today

As of October 2026, Peck San Theng is still an active temple and columbarium run by the Kwong Wai Siew, so visitors should treat it as a place of remembrance, especially around Qing Ming. Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and the Kallang park connector follow the river south; our guide to the park connector network shows how they join the wider routes, and our history of what Novena was before Novena tells another story of a district shaped by a cemetery.

A Bishan history timeline

• 1870: The Kwong Wai Siew clan associations found Peck San Theng.
• 1936: A village school opens at Kampong San Teng, according to Raffles Press.
• 13 to 15 February 1942: British and Japanese forces fight across the cemetery hills.
• 1973: Peck San Theng stops accepting new burials.
• 1979: The government acquires the cemetery land for S$4.95 million.
• 1982 to 1984: Graves are exhumed in stages, according to the National Library.
• 1983 to 1989: HDB builds Bishan New Town.
• Mid-1980s: A new Peck San Theng temple and columbarium are built on 3.2 hectares.
• 1987: Bishan station, first named San Teng, opens on the North-South Line.
• 1988: Bishan Park opens along the Kallang River.
• 1990: Raffles Institution moves to Bishan.
• 22 January 1994: Junction 8 opens.

Questions people ask

Was Bishan a cemetery?

Yes. Most of today’s Bishan was the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng cemetery, founded in 1870. It stopped taking burials in 1973 and was exhumed in the early 1980s.

What does Bishan mean?

Bishan is the Mandarin reading of 碧山, “jade hills”, from Peck San Theng, “pavilions on the jade hills”, the cemetery that occupied the land.

How many graves were exhumed in Bishan?

The National Library estimates about 100,000 graves, exhumed in stages between 1982 and 1984. Some other sources give higher figures, up to around 170,000.

Why do Bishan HDB blocks have pitched roofs?

The pitched roofs on some Bishan blocks were inspired by the pavilions of Peck San Theng cemetery, according to the National Library.

Is Peck San Theng still there?

Yes, in a much smaller form. The Kwong Wai Siew kept 3.2 hectares, where a temple and a columbarium with at least 70,000 niches were built in the mid-1980s.

Sources and further reading

• National Library Board, Infopedia: Bishan
• Raffles Press: A History of Bishan (2024)
• All Things Bukit Brown: Becoming Bishan heritage exhibition (2015)
• Explorer Singapore: The Origins of Bishan Town, Peck San Theng Cemetery
• National Heritage Board: Ang Mo Kio Heritage Trail booklet (2023), for Bishan Park
• Wikipedia: Bishan, Singapore (for alternative figures)

This is a historical reference: dates and figures come from the sources above, and where they disagree we say so. Read next: What was Ang Mo Kio before Ang Mo Kio · What was Toa Payoh before Toa Payoh · Back to The Memory