Heritage Tour: Singapore's Parsi Community

We were inspired today to learn a little about Singapore's Parsi community, Zoroastrians who settled in India for many century. We couldn't find a book or website which assembled what is known about Parsis in Singapore. After poking around, we've put some information together as a starting point.

Which places in Singapore are associated with Parsis? There's Parsi Road, in the Tanjong Pagar area, for one. That short street, we learned from the National Library Board's infopedia, was named in 1954 in honour of the Parsis who settled in the area during the 19th century. Parsis have been in Singapore since nearly the beginning, at least since 1829. They moved into the Palmer Hill area (yes, the hill is gone now) and set up their first cemetery in the vicinity. It appears that building a cemetery was one of the earliest activities of the Parsi community.


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The Parsi cemetery is now at Choa Chu Kang, next to the Jewish cemetery. We visited this afternoon, only to find the small compound fenced off and the gate locked. Only a handful of graves could be seen, with a few more around back.


We're unclear on the Parsi community's burial practices. We thought they practiced something like Tibetan "sky burials," where corpses were left to be disposed of by vultures. If so, when did they start building cemeteries? Clearly, the traditional practice is difficult to maintain in a city but in the 19th century it can be imagined. Did the British have a policy against it?

The largest gravestone belongs to NR Mistri, a prominent businessman and community member of the early and mid-20th century. Mistri Road, running perpendicular to Parsi Road, is named after him, as is the Children's Ward at Singapore General Hospital.

Mistri was in the aerated water business, among others. He had worked for another Parsi, PM Framroz, before setting up his own shop. According to the clever sleuthing of Singeo, Framroz's office was located on Cecil Street. Mistri's move apparently set off a conflict in the 1930s between the two Parsi suppliers of aerated water. Singeo also has some nice photos of Framroz's office around 1929.

So, we can place three points on our heritage tour of Singapore's Parsi community: the Parsi Rd-Mistri Rd area, the site of Framroz's shop on Cecil St, and the Parsi Cemetery at Choa Chu Kang. Our effort is only a first step; someone with real knowledge on this subject could help fill it out.