The tombstone and tomb shoulders were originally part of the grave of Mr Chen Yongxiang 陳永祥 who died in 1938. Mr Chen's grave was one of over 3,700 graves that were exhumed between 2013 and 2014 for the construction of a new road through Bukit Brown Cemetery.The tomb was erected by his children (a son and two daughters). The inscription on the tombstone indicates that he was originally from the He Shan (禾山) district in Xiamen, Fujian province, China. While the inscriptions on the tombstone are written in Chinese, it is interesting to note that the children also included their names in English at the bottom corners of the tomb shoulders. This East-West hybridity is also reflected in the way the tombstone and tomb shoulders are decorated, which sees a melding of Chinese figural decoration and Western architectural features. This blend of tomb decoration reflects the cosmopolitan outlook of people living then in the British colony of Singapore.
