Bishan Columbarium 广惠肇碧山亭

Pavilion at Bishan Columbarium

Went with my family for ancestral prayers earlier this month: my paternal grandparents' remains are placed here. While hanging around at the place in between the prayers, I did a quick sketch of the picture postcard setting of the pavilion there and then filled it with colour later.
 

Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng （广惠肇碧山亭） was a cemetery in Singapore that was established in 1870 by immigrants largely from the three prefectures of Kwong Chow Fu （广州府）， Wai Chow Fu （惠州府) and Siew Heng Fu (肇庆府) in Guangdong Province, China. It was originally solely for the Cantonese community, but within a century, Peck San Theng (PST) became one of the biggest Chinese cemeteries in Singapore, holding more than 100,000 graves over 384 acres (1.55 km²) of land.

In 1979, the Singapore government decided to acquire all its land to create the present Bishan New Town. Many graves were exhumed and remains cremated during the 1980s. To enable Peck San Theng to continue with its tradition, the government leased 8 acres (32,000 m²) of land to Peck San Theng for accommodating an office block, a Memorial, two temples and a columbarium. The columbarium houses some 100,000 niches which are available to the to public irrespective of race, language and religion since 1980. It was and will continue to be a place for ancestral worship in Singapore. Peck San Theng is currently managed by a federation of sixteen clans of the Cantonese community in Singapore.