INTERPRETING LANDSCAPES OF DEATH : THE BIDADARI CEMETERY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The cemetery as a text is generally interpreted as a landscape ridden with fear. However, cemeteries are actually interesting places invested with multiple meanings. The study attempts to unravel the different readings behind the landscape of death. Using the Bidadari Cemetery as the main case study, the study focuses on the interpretations of the landscape by different groups of people and how the different readings result in varying reactions towards state policies - exhumation, cremation and the recycling of graves. Methodologically, this was achieved through a questionnaire survey that involved 246 respondents. The respondents were divided into two categories, the insiders and outsiders and within which, each category is heterogeneous. Ethnographic work and interviews were carried out to achieve a more in-depth understanding of people's interpretation of the landscape. Ethnographic work provided the opportunity to interview people who were at the Bidadari Cemetery and allowed observations to be made to find out the activities that people engage there. The 20 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews aimed to draw out the personal interpretations of the landscape and state policies. The findings suggest that in general, the Bidadari Cemetery is interpreted as aesthetic, sentimental and sacred landscapes but different groups of people have different notions of the interpretations. For example, 'sacredness' is viewed as holiness to some and sacred in memory of the dead to others. The study also shows that factors such as age and religion play a role in determining people's interpretation. Their various interpretations in turn affect their reactions towards state policies. Whilst some reacted more strongly towards the policies, others accepted the policies more readily. With different interpretations of the cemetery, different people would like to have different claims over the landscape for a variety of purposes. However, their claims are not actualised because the state has the most effective claim over the landscape. In conclusion, the study argues that if people were given a choice, the majority would like to have the Bidadari Cemetery developed into a heritage or recreational park than to have it exhumed for other developments. At the same time, most are resigned to what they perceive to be the inevitability of the states' pragmatic approaches-- reworking landscapes of death into landscapes for the living.