The Rediscovery of Tan Eng Neo (Avenue)
The Persistent Spirit of Eng Neo
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This is a strange tale of a Road named Eng Neo Avenue……
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And the 3 year search for the tomb of Tan Eng Neo, who sleeps in Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery…
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The Tip-Off on a broken-off Tomb Piece
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It was at a Paranormal Fair held at Heeren in the middle of 2008 that we received a tip-off.
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The Informant said that there was one big tree in Eng Neo Avenue where the Informant heard that there was a spirit living in that tree and that occasionally someone prayed at that tree.
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Acting on the tip off, we then went forth to investigate the tree, and found a big magnificent banyan tree in Eng Neo Avenue.
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There we found an urn which was used for praying. We also found a tombstone fragment which was the Fu Shen which usually formed part of a tomb complex.
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Fu Shen is the protective deity for tombs. From the shape and design of the Fu Shen, we could deduce that it most likely belong to a prominent family, and dated around early 20th century.
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The Fu Zhen is very big, so much so that we can be sure that it would have come from a very big tomb.
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Could this area be a former graveyard? We asked ourselves. We decided to research further into the land history.
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Gaw Boon Chan Grave?
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From our research from the land deed records, we found out that Gaw Boon Chan (Tjhan) bought over the land in 1900 when he came over to Singapore.
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After his unfortunate murder in 1911, his wife became the administrator of his estate which cover the whole of the 21 lots.
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His wife died on Dec 27, 1941. She was 81.
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Her body was buried at Bukit Brown.
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Mrs Gaw Boon Chan’s name was Tan Eng Neo
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Tan Eng Neo in a will dated Jul 1938 appointed Kwa Siew tee and the eldest son among her three sons Gaw Khek Swee, Gaw Khek Chew and Gaw Khek Jim to be the executors and trustees of her will.
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5 years from the date of her death the land and properties will be sold, realised and converted into ready cash all such part and to divide the among the trustees.
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Auction of land
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Execution of Tan Eng Neo will was slightly delayed by the war, but finally on 27 May 1950, nearly all her properties were auctioned off, including the which included the grave.
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The birth of Eng Neo Avenue
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In a 1938 map (Federation of Malay States (FMS) Survey No 292 – 1938, we could roughly make out the plot of land that Tan Eng Neo owns, but there is no Eng Neo avenue yet on the map.
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There is only a crown reserve road linking Dunearn Road to the land owned by Tan Eng Neo.
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In a land deed dated 2nd Aug 1939, the Bukit Timah Rubber Estate Ltd agreed to construct a road not less than 18 ft around the land owned by Eng Neo. They also need to take care of the road until the road was taken over by the Road Board or other authority.
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The period of construction shall not less than 3 years from the date of that agreement. This was in consideration of a land exchange deed between Bukit Timah Rubber Estate Ltd and Eng Neo over some small plots of land.
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It became a public road only in 1976.
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Eng Neo Avenue wrongly accredited to the wrong Lady
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There is one book titled “Street names of Singapore by Peter K G Dunlop” which has the following information:-
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Eng Neo Avenue – Goh Eng Neo, wife of Seow Tiang Swee, of chop Heng Moh became bankrupt in 1885 owing $200,000.
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But the Book was wrong. Eng Neo Avenue never existed until after 1939.
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Eng Neo Avenue was named after Tan Eng Neo, not Goh Eng Neo.
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If it is not for the information provided by the Informant, and the piece of tomb fragment that we found, we might never have gone deeper into this research to find out about the origin of Eng Neo Avenue.
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Now the magnificent banyan tree is gone in the name of development, and the landscape has changed forever there.
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The tomb and the tree might have been gone, but at least the history and memory of Gaw Boon Chan’s wife, Mdm Tan Eng Neo and how the road came about remain.
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Tan Eng Neo grave lies just below Chew Boon Lay’s, in Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery…….
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