陳若鑑 Tan Jiak Kam (d. 1889) and 宋月娘 Song Guat Neo (d. 1938)
Ancestral place 永春 · Tomb dates Guangxu 15 (1889) and Republic 7 (1918) · Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Cemetery, Exhumed Remains Section
Tomb of Tan Jiak Kam 陳若鑑, Plot 9A, Tomb 46. Photograph: Raymond Goh. Click to enlarge.
Tomb of Song Guat Neo 宋月娘, Plot 10A, Tomb 4. Photograph: Raymond Goh. Click to enlarge.
Song Guat Neo 宋悟通姑太 at Chek Sian Teng 積善堂. Photograph: Raymond Goh. Click to enlarge.
儒門修道宋悟通姑太蓮座
pic taken at Chek Sian Tng
Tan Jiak Kam: 皇清故考若鑑陳府君之墓
光緒拾五年歲次已丑吉旦
孝男思孝立石
Song Guat Neo: 顯妣諱月娘陳母宋氏之壽域
中華民國七年
嗣男思密立石
Caption with the photograph at Chek Sian Teng: 宋悟通姑太
Summary: Tan Jiak Kam 陳若鑑 died on 10 June 1889, aged about 24, leaving a widow, Song Guat Neo 宋月娘, then 17. He (1865 to 1889) was a son of Tan Beng Swee and a grandson of Tan Kim Seng, and a brother of Tan Jiak Kim. Song Guat Neo outlived him by almost fifty years. According to an earlier Bukit Brown article, she came from an old Straits Chinese family, was cured of a chronic skin disease at a vegetarian hall (chye tng), and then gave her life to religion, rising to the rank of Kor Tai, the highest rank open to women in the Xiantian vegetarian halls, and supervising two vegetarian convents for women. The Seah Whye Liang Family post names her as the best known of the Peranakan abbesses of Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山. She had her own tomb built in 1918 and died on 20 September 1938, aged 66. Both tombs are now in the Exhumed Remains Section of Choa Chu Kang Cemetery.
Family 家族
| Relationship | Name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Husband | Tan Jiak Kam 陳若鑑 | Tomb inscription; death date from court documents |
| Husband's father | Tan Beng Swee | S.T.E.M. Tan Kim Seng family page |
| Husband's grandfather | Tan Kim Seng 陳金聲 | 2019 Bukit Brown article |
| Husband's brother | Tan Jiak Kim 陳若錦 | 2019 Bukit Brown article |
| Her father | Song Kee Lian | 2019 Bukit Brown article |
| Her brother | Song Chin Eng | 2019 Bukit Brown article |
| Son named on her husband's tomb | 思孝 (孝男) | Tomb inscription |
| Son named on her own tomb | 思密 (嗣男) | Tomb inscription |
| Nephew (her husband's brother's son) | Tan Soo Bin 陳思敏 | S.T.E.M. Tan Kim Seng family page |
Tomb Inscription 墓碑銘文
| 碑文 | Transcription / Meaning |
|---|---|
| 皇清故考若鑑陳府君之墓 | Tomb of the late father, Mr Tan 若鑑 |
| 光緒拾五年歲次已丑吉旦 | Auspicious day, Guangxu 15, year jichou (1889) |
| 孝男思孝立石 | Stone erected by the filial son 思孝 |
| 顯妣諱月娘陳母宋氏之壽域 | Tomb prepared in her lifetime (壽域) for the late mother, personal name Guat Neo, Madam Song, mother of the Tan family |
| 中華民國七年 | Republic 7 (1918) |
| 嗣男思密立石 | Stone erected by the heir son (嗣男) 思密 |
| 宋悟通姑太 | Caption with the photograph at Chek Sian Teng. 姑太 is her rank (see Notes) |
Notes on the inscription:
- Her tomb is dated 1918, prepared twenty years before her death in 1938.
- The two stones use different terms for the son who erected them: 孝男 on her husband's tomb and 嗣男 on hers. 嗣男 is used for a successor or heir son. The inscription does not say whether 思密 was her own son or an heir by adoption.
- 思孝 and 思密 share the generation character 思 with Tan Soo Bin 陳思敏, which suggests they belong to the same generation as Soo Bin.
- 姑太 (Kor Tai) is a rank, not a form of address. As explained in the Seah Whye Liang Family post, it is the highest rank open to women in the Xiantian 先天 vegetarian halls, above 老太姑, 大姑 and 姑娘. So 宋悟通姑太 reads as Song 悟通, of the rank Kor Tai.
Burial Register 埋葬記錄
| Tan Jiak Kam | Song Guat Neo | |
|---|---|---|
| Final Resting Place | Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Cemetery, Exhumed Remains Section · Plot 9A · Tomb 46 | Choa Chu Kang (CCK) Cemetery, Exhumed Remains Section · Plot 10A · Tomb 4 |
| Name | Tan Jiak Kam 陳若鑑 | Song Guat Neo 宋月娘 |
| Age | 66 | |
| Date of death | 10 Jun 1889 (from court documents) | 20 Sep 1938 |
| Date of burial |
Short Biography 生平簡介
Widowed at 17. Tan Jiak Kam died on 10 June 1889, aged about 24. His widow, Song Guat Neo, was 17, which puts her birth at about 1872. This agrees with the age of 66 recorded at her death in 1938. The 2019 Bukit Brown article describes her as coming from a long-established Straits Chinese family, a daughter of Song Kee Lian and sister of Song Chin Eng. None of the sources consulted records a remarriage, and she is still called Mrs Tan Jiak Kam in a family photograph of about 1920.Illness and religious life. The same article says she suffered from a chronic skin disease and went often to a chye tng, a vegetarian hall, to seek treatment from a teacher there and to pray for a cure. After she was cured she dedicated her life to religion. She eventually reached the rank of Kor Tai and supervised two vegetarian convents for women. Kor Tai is the highest rank open to women in the Xiantian halls, which combined residence with worship and practised celibacy and vegetarianism. The Seah Whye Liang Family post notes that the abbesses of Eastern Dragon Mountain 東龍山 were often Peranakans, and names Song Guat Neo, widow of Tan Jiak Kam, as the best known. The article ties the chye tng closely to the Peranakan community and its way of life, and cites The Peranakan, January to March 2002, pp. 9 to 13, on the Devonshire Road chye tng. It does not give dates for when she entered religious life or for her years as Kor Tai.
The family photograph, about 1920. The article identifies her, as "Mrs Tan Jiak Kam", in the front row of a Lee Brothers Studio photograph of the Tan Soo Bin family at Panglima Prang, taken about 1920 and held by the National Archives of Singapore. She would have been about 48. Others in the front row include Tan Peng Neo and Ang Geok Lan, Mrs Tan Jiak Kim.
Her tomb and death. In 1918, at about 46, she had her own tomb built. The stone names 思密 as the heir son who set it up. She died on 20 September 1938, aged 66. A photograph of her taken at Chek Sian Teng 積善堂 carries the caption 宋悟通姑太, and her portrait still hangs there.
| Year | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| c. 1872 | Born (calculated from age 17 in 1889 and age 66 in 1938) | 2019 article; tomb register |
| 10 Jun 1889 | Husband Tan Jiak Kam dies; she is 17 | Court documents; 2019 article |
| 1918 | Her tomb (壽域) is built | Tomb inscription |
| c. 1920 | Photographed as "Mrs Tan Jiak Kam" at Panglima Prang | 2019 article |
| 20 Sep 1938 | Dies, aged 66 | Tomb register |
Leads to Check
- 思孝 was the 3rd son of Tan Jiak Kim and adopted out to Tan Jiak Kam but unfortunately died early (from Tan Kim Seng genealogy book) Song Guat Neo also adopt 思密, but from which family is still not known
Sources 資料來源
- Tomb inscriptions and photographs by Raymond Goh, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery, Exhumed Remains Section, Plot 9A Tomb 46 and Plot 10A Tomb 4.
- "Deciphering an iconic picture of Tan Soo Bin's family at Panglima Prang", Bukit Brown, April 2019.
- Tan Kim Seng family, S.T.E.M.
- Seah Whye Liang Family, S.T.E.M., November 2017 (on the rank of Kor Tai and Eastern Dragon Mountain).
- The Peranakan, January to March 2002, pp. 9 to 13, "Devonshire Road Chye Tng", as cited in the 2019 article (not seen).
- National Archives of Singapore, Lee Brothers Studio Collection, "Straits Chinese Family (1920s)", accession 19980005808 - 0047, as cited in the 2019 article.
About this record. This entry is part of Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.) 新加坡墓碑銘集录, a specialised digital documentation project and archive recording historical tomb inscriptions in Singapore, with a focus on Bukit Brown Cemetery 武吉布朗坟场 and other early Chinese burial grounds. Each record transcribes the original Chinese inscription, gives an English translation, cross-checks it against the burial register, and adds a short biography drawn from contemporary newspapers and archival sources.
Cite this entry as:
Raymond Goh. "Tan Jiak Kam and Song Guat Neo." Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials (S.T.E.M.), tombs.bukitbrown.org, https://tombs.bukitbrown.org/2026/10/tan-jiak-kam-and-song-guat-neo.html. Accessed [date].
Keywords: Tan Jiak Kam, 陳若鑑, Song Guat Neo, 宋月娘, 宋悟通姑太, Tan Kim Seng family, Tan Beng Swee, Tan Jiak Kim, Chek Sian Teng, 積善堂, Eastern Dragon Mountain, 東龍山, Kor Tai, 姑太, Xiantian, 先天, vegetarian hall, chye tng, Choa Chu Kang Cemetery, Exhumed Remains, Peranakan widow, Chinese tomb inscriptions Singapore, Singapore Tombstones Epigraphic Materials, S.T.E.M.
Choa Chu Kang Cemetery Family - Song Chin Eng Family - Tan Kim Seng Name - Song 宋 Name - Tan 陳
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