Bidadari is a housing estate in the Central Region of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, part of the planning area of

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh (, ta, தோ பாயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catc ...

. Before the development, the area was the site of

Bidadari Cemetery Bidadari Cemetery ( Malay: ''Perkuburan Bidadari'', Chinese: 比达达利坟场) is a defunct cemetery in Singapore. It used to serve the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sinhalese communities, and accepted burials between 1907 and 1972. The site ...

, which served Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sinhalese communities.

Etymology

The word ''bidadari'' means "angel" in Malay, which was in turn derived from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

word ''vidhya dhari'', which means a

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label= Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's heaven or a

houri In Islamic religious belief, houris (Pronounced ; from ar, حُـورِيَّـة ,حُورِيّ, ḥūriyy, ḥūrīya), "literally means having eyes with marked contrast of black and white", group=Note are women with beautiful eyes describe ...

of paradise. The ''bidadari'' are depicted as angels that preside over the union of flowers.

History

19th century: Estates and palace

During the early 19th century, a 45-acre of estate land in Singapore was first acquired by the British civil engineer Henry Minchin Simons in 1855, and there he had the house built between 1855 and 1861 and would later exchange the estate with William Napier for his Tyersall estate. The estate was subsequently sold to

Temenggong Abu Bakar Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah ibni Almarhum Temenggong Seri Maharaja Tun Daeng Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 3 February 1833 – 4 June 1895) was the Temenggong of Johor. He was the 1st Sultan of Modern Johor, the 21st Sultan of Johor and t ...

in the mid-1860s. He gave it to his second wife, a Danish woman Zubaidah binti Abdullah who was born Cecilia Catharina Lange, for her residence. Thus the estate and house was known as Bidadari and Istana Bidadari in reference to the beauty of the Temenggong's wife. Soon after Abu Bakar was proclaimed the Sultan of Johor in 1885, Sultana Zubaidah moved to Johor. The palace itself was rented out to various parties until 1902 and later its demolition in 1915.

1908–1996: Cemetery

In 1902, plans were made to develop a Christian Cemetery. The Municipal Government acquired the land in 1904 and

was officially opened in 1908. Later on, the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist burial sections were added. The cemetery continued to accept burials till 1972. In 1996, the government announced that the site of the Bidadari Cemetery had been earmarked for development.

2013–present: Redevelopment into residential estate

In 2013, HDB announced plans for a housing estate at the site of the former Bidadari Cemetery. Residential developments are currently underway. Upper Aljunied Road has been realigned, and three new roads (Bidadari Park Drive, Alkaff Crescent, Woodleigh Link) have been constructed to serve the upcoming estate. Woodleigh MRT station along the

North East Line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...

will provide MRT access to residents of Bidadari estate once it is ready.

References

{{Places in Singapore Toa Payoh