MEET Mr Raymond Goh, Singapore's very own version of tomb raider Lara Croft – with a twist.

He is not out to plunder the tombs. He just wants to unlock the history buried in local graveyards.

He also ropes in his entire family on his "research" trips to the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery (BBCC) along Lornie Road.

A typical family outing does not see the Gohs going to parks or to shopping malls.
Said Mr Goh's eldest son Richmond, 15: "When we are free or during our school holidays, my father will say 'Come, let's go to the cemetery for family bonding.'"

Mr Goh, a pharmacist, has two other children, Andrea, 14, and Ryan, 9. His wife is clinic assistant Angeline Goh, 34.

While at the cemetery, Mr Goh's children help to clean up graves, listen to their father talk about the graves he has found and help him look for more graves.

While the children joke about the number of mosquito bites they have, these trips are no laughing matter to Mr Goh, 46.

Last week, The New Paper on Sunday reported that Mr Goh had uncovered what is possibly Singapore's oldest grave, belonging to a man known as Fang Shan, who died here in 1833.

Favourite haunt

Mr Goh has also found graves of prominent Singapore pioneers in the course of climbing up and down the hills of the cemetery – which he considers his favourite haunt.

Energetic, quick-footed and very knowledgeable, Mr Goh had this reporter struggling to catch her breath and jotting down notes furiously when he took The New Paper on Sunday around Bukit Brown recently.

He dished out the facts about each prominent grave quickly and concisely, like a walking encyclopedia.

Pointing at graves that were different in size and layout, he said the various decorations and inscriptions indicated the year the person died, whether the person was rich and where he came from.

Mr Goh spends much of his free time researching tombs and cemeteries.

He and younger brother Charles Goh, 41, are licensed specialist tourist guides with the Singapore Tourism Board. They focus on conducting heritage tours.

The younger Mr Goh founded the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) in 2005, while the elder Mr Goh is API's head of research.

One of API's projects involves investigating the origins of BBCC.

Said the elder Mr Goh: "My passion lies in investigating anything to do with Singapore's heritage."

Since 2006, he has been making weekly trips to the cemetery to do research and to "take care of the graves".

He pays some of the tomb keepers at BBCC to take care of certain graves that do not have people caring for them. He also helps to scrub headstones clean and clears the overgrown weeds around graves.

His wife is so used to his trips that she jokes about them.

"I always tell people that my husband has many 'mistresses' outside," Mrs Goh said, referring to the graves, statues and tomb keepers at BBCC.

"I'm totally supportive of what Raymond does. Going to the cemetery is his passion and helps him to de-stress."

She sometimes joins him and their three children.

Although their daughter Andrea confesses to not fully understanding all her father's stories, she said that visiting the cemetery is far from boring.

And for his unconventional ways, she thinks her father is "cool".

Her brother Richmond, who has been tagging along with Mr Goh to cemeteries since he was 10, agreed.

"I don't think my dad is weird. He's an adventurous tomb seeker, and it's interesting that he spends quality time not just with us, but with all the dead people too," he said with a cheeky grin.

Mr Goh said he hopes to share with his family "slices of Singapore's history and heritage".

"By letting them see death, I hope that they will know more about life.

"I want them to see that life is fragile, and that death is sure, but not something they should be afraid of," he said.

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This article was first published in The New Paper.