This is one of a small number of headstones found in Bukit Brown Cemetery that are not inscribed in English or Chinese. It is one of two headstones, among the over 3700 exhumed graves, that bear Dutch inscriptions. The inscription identifies the deceased as Mr Tan Tang Hoaj who died at the age of 65. His burial in Singapore highlights the social and economic linkages between Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, and the movement of the Chinese diaspora within the region.Bukit Brown Cemetery, located in the central part of Singapore, was officially opened on 1 January 1922 by the British colonial government as a public cemetery for non-Christian Chinese. It came to house an estimated 100,000 graves before it was officially closed to burials in 1973.
