Singapore seems to have had quite a number of burial sites laid out across swampy grounds. Examples include the since drained old Malay cemetery at Kampong Gelam on the banks of the Rochor River, the burial grounds that were found at Kallang, and the long exhumed burial grounds at former Kampong Batu Puteh. One swampy burial site, perhaps the last in Singapore, can be found off Kranji Road. More recently referred to as the Wak Selat cemetery, it occupies a site that was close to the old Malayan Railway (MR or KTM) line and just by the MR’s old Kranji Gate hut, taking this name from a village, Kampong Wak Selat, that also seems to have acquired the name in fairly recent times.
While the name “Wak Selat” may suggest a village founded by Javanese settlers, the use of the name in this case can be attributed to a headman of non-Javanese origins. The so-called Kampong Wak Selat, was really part of a larger Kampong Kranji — that is until at least the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the clearance of much of the larger village left the part of the village close to the road named “Jalan Wak Selat” isolated.
An explanation for the name of the road can be found in an account provided by a former village headman, Mydeen Kutty Mydeen. In the account, Mr Mydeen described how five roads in Kampong Kranji were named by him in the late 1950s during the days of the Lim Yew Hock administration. In the case of Jalan Wak Selat, it was a reference to an elderly man who was known to reside in the area of the road, whom Mr Mydeen had never seen but had heard about and whom I guess we can call the “old uncle of the strait” (“Wak” is a term used in Java for an uncle who is an older than one’s father, whereas “Selat” means strait in Malay).
Mr Mydeen also named Jalan Lam Huat and Jalan Chuan Seng both of which were names of pineapple canning factories served by the respective roads, Jalan Jambatan Lama after an old bridge, and Jalan Surau after a surau (Muslim prayer hall). The pineapple factories, which had been a feature in the area since the 1930s (Lam Huat was already well established in Kranji when Chuan Soon moved from Upper Serangoon Road in 1936), also meant that the village attracted Chinese settlers. A Chinese school, Tao Khoon School, operated in the area from the 1950s until 1979. The local pineapple canners, along with several others in the trade, were also responsible for establishing the Metal Box factory to support their canning needs. The factory was a well-known landmark at the end of Woodlands Road from the 1950s until 1992 and something that those who travelled up Woodlands Road upcountry during the period would not have missed.
The cemetery, much like the pineapple factories, also seems to have been in existence since the 1930s as maps from the time show. One part of this cemetery, was cleared during an exhumation exercise in 1993 to allow for road widening. This has left behind less than 40 graves out of more than a hundred. With development in the area picking up pace, it will not be long before what remains of the old cemetery, much like the village that it once served, becomes a distant memory.
I had the opportunity to have a first look at Bird Paradise, Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s latest attraction.
Set on a 17 ha site close to the Mandai Road end of Mandai Lake Road, the successor to Jurong Bird Park will — at least at first glance — have what it takes to build an identity of its own. While it may not have a single iconic feature, which its predecessor had in its Waterfall Aviary, the new park does have a host of features that will allow visitors a more immersive experience. The highlight of Bird Paradise for me is its eight large walk-through aviaries — twice what Jurong had, each of which brings a varied experience.
Park information
Bird Paradise opens on 8 May 2023 and tickets (single-park admission), which go on sale from 24 April 2023, will be priced at $38 for adults, $23 for children (ages 3 to 12 years old) and $20 for senior citizens, from 8 May to 26 May 2023. From 27 May 2023, Single-park admission is at the full price of $48 for adults, $33 for children (ages 3 to 12 years old) and $20 for senior citizens.
All admission tickets must be purchased online at https://www.mandai.com/en/bird-paradise.html, prior to visiting Bird Paradise. An advance time slot booking is required. All ticket holders are required to make a booking before visiting Bird Paradise.
Participation in all feeding programmes must also be pre-booked on the ticketing website. A token fee of $8 per session applies for each participant.
Bird Paradise will be open daily from 9am to 6pm. Last admission into the park is at 5pm.
Prepare to be wowed even before you enter — the cascading waterfall, which you will encounter at the drop-off to Bird Paradise / Mandai West Node.
Under the winged canopy at the Bird Paradise entrance.
The back end of the Entrance Plaza
The cascading waterfall greets visitors at the Entrance Plaza, around which orchids recall the former Mandai Orchid Gardens which used to occupy the site.
Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove Penguins being moved.
At 3,000 square metres, Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove is a multi-level, state-of-the-art indoor habitat that showcases the fascinating behaviours of penguins. Its two large acrylic tanks each hold one of the biggest water volumes in the world to house penguins. Consisting of two storeys, the cold saltwater habitat allows guests to view penguins diving into the depths and emerging onto a Sub-Antarctic beach to waddle around under a domed sky surrounded by a projection of the Southern lights, the Aurora Australis. Lighting in the tank is designed to mimic the day and night of the Sub-Antarctic islands and complement the penguins’ breeding cycles.
4 species of penguins, which are Gentoo Penguin, King Penguin, Humboldt Penguin, Northern Rockhopper.
Get a rare glimpse underneath the swimming penguins from an acrylic dome on the first storey. Head to the mezzanine level for a multimedia projection highlighting the four seasons in the life of a King Penguin’s colony and impact of climate change on penguins in the wild.
Keeper Talk at 1.30pm daily. Learn about penguin behaviour and the personalities of individual penguins from their keepers.
F&B: Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove also features a dining experience immersed in an underwater environment with the aquatic birds at Penguin Cove Restaurant. Penguin Cove Café and Shop occupies the second level, offering penguin themed pastries and merchandise with a view of penguins waddling on the beach.
Ocean Network Express Penguin Cove – a cool new home for the penguins!
Over … the Ocean Express Penguin Cove’s beach level and …
under … where one can “dive” in the world of penguins, where visitors can also immerse in a dining experience.
Heart of Africa Bird Paradise’s largest aviary
At 1.55 ha, this is the Bird Paradise’s largest aviary. It features the park’s largest number of mature trees and features an elevated walkway, suspension bridges and a lookout tower. The Heart of Africa is also where feeding sessions are held at 9.30am and 2.00pm daily.
Inspired by the forest valleys of continental Africa, Heart of Africa houses the largest number of existing mature trees, with keystone species like the ficus. The aviary is designed around an elevated canopy experience where visitors will be led into a dense forest with meandering forest streams, where they can observe birds displaying their natural behaviours.
It has a population that contains some 80 species including eight different species of Turacos, the largest variety held in a single area. Other birds include superb starlings, red-winged starling, laughing dove, black-crowned cranes.
Features include elevated canopy experiences with suspension bridges above meandering forest streams, look out for immersive cultural elements such as Congolese pavilions and a larger-than-life artificial sycamore fig tree. Be sure to get a vantage point of the aviary at the Viewing Tower.
Feeding Sessions at 9.30am and 2.00pm daily, when a variety of bird species swoop down from the canopy for feeding-time.
A white-cheeked turaco.
A view of the suspension bridge at Heart of Africa.
The lookout tower.
A blue-bellied roller.
A taveta weaver.
Kuok Group Wings of Asia
Kuok Group Wings of Asia pays homage to the diverse habitats of Southeast Asia, through a recreation of winding bamboo forests and sloping rice terraces. Observe threatened species like the Black-faced Spoonbills and Baer’s Pochard as well as Mandarin Ducks wading in the shallow waters while charismatic hornbills soar above. For the early birds, swing by for a chance to see the Pied Imperial Pigeons flocking to their morning meal. Visitors can soak in the serene ambience while overlooking rice terraces and admiring Bali and Thailand-inspired architectural elements that have been integrated into the habitat.
More than 30 species are present such as the Australian pelican, black-faced spoonbill, Papuan hornbill, pied imperial pigeon, and milky stork
Features are a Balinese-inspired split gate, pavilions, and water-based sound sculptures.
Feeding sessions at 10.00am daily, when you can admire the view from the pavilion overlooking the paddy fields while feeding pelicans with their favourite fishes.
Part of the landscaping for this aviary is inspired by rice terraces of Asia.
The pelican feeding session that takes place at 10 am daily.
Hungry pelicans!
A sarus crane.
Hong Leong Foundation Crimson Wetlands
This aviary enthrals with a visual extravaganza of pink and red. Scarlet Macaws soar above American Flamingos set against the backdrop of a cascading waterfall, while Scarlet Ibises and Roseate Spoonbills wade across the South American wetlands.
40 species including scarlet macaw, red-and-green macaw, blue-throated macaw, scarlet ibis, roseate spoonbill, and American flamingo
Here in the Crimson Wetlands, you can hop across the lily play pockets and test your balance or take in a 20 m tall waterfall inspired by the San Juan Curi waterfall in Colombia, which pays tribute to the Waterfall Aviary of Jurong Bird Park.
There is a Keeper Talk at 12.00pm daily when flocks of macaws descend on the sound of an electric whistle, anticipating their favourite treats of macadamia and walnuts. Learn intimate anecdotes and gain a deeper understanding of their unique personalities and behaviours at this interactive Keeper Talk.
Offering breath-taking views of Hong Leong Foundation Crimson Wetlands, Crimson Restaurant is an elevated restaurant within the habitat that features a menu curated by local celebrity chef, Eric Teo.
Amazonian Jewels
The rainforests of South America are honoured at Amazonian Jewels, with its iconic ficus trees, large buttress root, terrestrial and epiphytic bromeliads and unique bird species.
More than 30 species such as golden parakeet, Andean cock-of-the-rock, saffron toucanet, chestnut-eared aracari, blue ground dove
Majestic buttress roots feature prominently in the habitat, surrounded by other unique plants from the South American rainforests.
A chestnut-eared acari.
Red-fan or hawk-headed parrots.
A maranon pigeon?
Sun conures
Songs of the Forest
Songs of the Forest sets the stage for the singing songbirds of Asia to shine, where the Bali Myna and Straw-headed Bulbul deliver a melodious symphony alongside threatened species of ground-dwelling birds. Inspired by the riverine forests of Southeast Asia, visitors can immerse in a peaceful haven characterised with large overhanging leaves and gentle streams.
Population of more than 40 species, which includes greater green leafbird, Bali myna, straw-headed bulbul, Victoria crowned pigeon, Santa Cruz ground-dove
Try out the Silent Forest interactive and keep an ear out for a forest filled with the melodious sound of birds compared to one without.
There is a Keeper Talk at 4.00pm daily, when you can discover the distinct vocalisations of each species and learn why it’s important to protect these threatened songbirds.
A Sulawesi ground dove.
A red-whiskered bulbul.
Lory Loft
Reminiscent of the much-loved Lory Loft at Jurong Bird Park, the new Lory Loft at Bird Paradise resonates the monsoon forest of Irian Jaya with gregarious lories and eye-catching parrots amid lush forest canopies. Visitors can revel in the thrills of offering the excited birds a nectar cup, enticing them to come up close and even to perch on their wrists and shoulders.
Memorialising the feeding experience at Jurong Bird Park, the experience echoes the heritage, legacy and memory of the much loved Lory Loft.
More than 10 species are present such as dusky lory, rainbow lorikeet, red-collared lorikeet, marigold lorikeet, coconut lorikeet, yellow bibbed lory.
Walk along elevated suspension bridges themed after ethnic treehouses in Papua and visit the sheltered pavilion.
Feeding sessions take place at 11.00am & 3.30pm daily.
Mysterious Papua
A bevy of cockatoos enrapture visitors at Mysterious Papua with their boisterous antics, while the southern cassowary stalks the coastal rainforest of pandanus trees and its iconic stilt roots. There are more than 20 species such as southern cassowary, Nicobar pigeon, Moluccan cockatoo, critically endangered white cockatoo and the world’s largest population of blue-eyed cockatoos under human care.
A longhouse-style bird hide offers visitors the opportunity to observe the birds up close. Look out for cockatoos perched amongst the palm-like pandanus trees with their signature orange spiky fruits.
Palm-like pandanus trees with their signature orange spiky fruits.
A Nicobar pigeon.
A Victoria crowned pigeon
A white cockatoo, which is critically endangered
Australian Outback
The arid forest-themed habitat in Australian Outback is home to iconic Australian species such as the second largest living bird in the world, the Emu. Listen for the iconic ‘laughter’ of the Laughing Kookaburras and keep your eyes peeled for the master of disguise, the Tawny Frogmouth as it camouflages as a tree branch.
Population of more than 20 species including Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, red-tailed black cockatoo, emu, straw-necked ibis, tawny frogmouth, laughing kookaburra
Aboriginal rock paintings decorate the towering rock structures, while thematic elements like a windmill and tower transport you to the Outback.
A kookaburra.
A magpie goose.
A friendly red-tailed black cockatoo.
Winged Sanctuary (not opened yet)
To be opened in two phases, Winged Sanctuary shines the spotlight on rare or predatory species of high conservation value including several hornbill species and various Bird-of-Paradise species. This zone will be a showcase of efforts undertaken by Bird Paradise to support in situ and ex situ conservation work, promoting awareness and education as well as conducting research and conservation breeding programmes of threatened species.
More than 100 species including Sulawesi hornbill, western piping hornbill, Philippine eagle.
Underneath the veneer of modernity that Singapore wears, is an island, a port and a city-state that celebrates its many cultural and religious influences. Among these influences are ones brought in by the Portuguese through the Portuguese Mission, which Portuguese naval surgeon and an early immigrant to Singapore Dr Jose d’Almeida, was instrumental in bringing in. The mission eventually established St Joseph’s Church in Victoria Street in 1853. The church that stands today is one that was rebuilt in 1912. Long administered by the Portuguese Diocese of Macau, it was transferred to the Archdiocese of Singapore in 1981, although appointments continued to be made by the Bishop of Macau up until 1999. The church is where the religious traditions brought in by the mission have been kept very much alive, one of which is its annual Good Friday service, which features a candlelight procession through its grounds.
Good Friday at the Portuguese Church
The procession, which has not been seen at the church for six long years (the church was closed from August 2017 to June 2022 for refurbishment and restoration), has always attracted a large crowd of worshippers, with many spilling out onto the grounds of the church and even onto the Queen Street behind the church, transforming the area into a sea of candlelight. While the crowds have dwindled over the years, the procession is still quite a spectacle and adds much colour and life to the Bras Basah.Bugis precinct.
Now rarely encountered, puppet performances were once a common sight here in Singapore. Much like street opera performances, the appearance of puppet stages more often than not, coincided with festivals celebrated at Chinese Taoist temples. While such performances may have provided entertainment to the common folk in days before television invaded our homes, they were often put up for religious purposes, with puppets also playing a part in performing rituals and in performances conducted for the pleasure of visiting gods.
Carried over by the Chinese emigrant community, various forms of Chinese puppetry have been seen in Singapore. String (marionette), rod, or glove puppets are mostly used. String puppets, which can best replicate human-like movement and gestures, carry the highest status and are thought to be most sacred amongst the various types of puppets. Belief was that puppets of deities used in rituals were brought to life by the deities they represented and the skills that the puppeteer demonstrated was imparted by the god of string puppets, also the god of theatre — a deity that is most often represented by a marionette. For this reason, string puppeteers were initially Taoist priests, due to their ability to communicate with the gods.
Over time, puppet troupes have taken over the role played by priests, with the eventual secularisation of the practice as a theatre form. Music used in puppetry has also changed, with a move from the use of nanyin music in Hokkien puppetry towards the more folk-like gezai music form that is associated with opera.
These days, all but a handful of puppet troupes keep the tradition alive. One, a Hokkien string puppet troupe known as Geyi, was founded in 2001 by Doreen Tan. Madam Tan, rather interestingly, was English educated and had no background in the traditional Hokkien theatre. Geyi is currently staging performances at the beautifully restored Temple on Phoenix Hill, Hong San See, during the elaborate commemoration of the feast day of its main deity, Guang Ze Zun Wang (广泽尊王) or Kong Teik Chun Ong (in Hokkien). The deity is widely worshipped in Lam Ann, the origins of the temple’s founders. The festival celebrations run until 16 March 2023.
The troupe during the banxian (impersonating the immortals) ritual.
More photographs taken during the Guang Ze Zun Wang festival at Hong San See:
The fire of the dragon of Sar Kong was seen again last evening, making a reappearance on the streets around its lair at the Mun San Fook Tuck Chee temple. The temple introduced the fire dragon dance in the 1980s, importing a tradition from Tai Hang Village in Hong Kong that has its origins in 1880. Mun San Fook Tuck Chee’s dance of the fire dragon, which usually makes an appearance once every three years, now seems a significant cultural event in Singapore and draws crowds of observers as well as many photographers.
The temple, Mun San Fook Tuck Chee (萬山福德祠), is thought to have its origins in the 1860s, serving a community of Cantonese and Hakka migrant workers employed by the area’s brick kilns, sawmills and sago making factories. The temple moved twice and came to its present site in 1901.
The dance of the fire dragon that is associated with the temple, although long a practice in its place of origin in Hong Kong, only came to the temple in the 1980s. The dragon used for the dance is the result of a painstaking process that involves the making of a core using rattan and the plaiting of straw over three months to make the dragon’s body. Lit joss sticks are placed on the body prior to the dance and traditionally, the dragon would be left to burn to allow it to ascend to the heavens.
More information on the temple, its origins and its practices can be found in the following posts:
Following two subdued editions in 2021 and 2022 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the celebration of this year’s Thaipusam on 5 Feb 2023, saw a return to long-held traditions — with a procession of kavadis or burdens (including spike or velkavadis). The procession starts at the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple along Serangoon Road and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The celebration of the Hindu festival is one of multi-cultural and multi-religious Singapore’s most spectacular. A good place to catch it or even photograph it is at the procession’s start point, the Sri Srinivasa Perumal temple in which elaborate preparations are made by kavadi bearers before they embark on the over 3 kilometre journey of faith to Tank Road.
Do visit my numerous posts related to Thaipusam to find out more on the festival, which is celebrated annually on the day of the full moon during the Tamil month of Thai:
The opening of the heavens over Jurong late on Tuesday (3 January 2023), just as Jurong Bird Park was an hour or so short of shutting its doors for a final time was a poignant reminder of the sadness that was attached to the event. The deluge that its brought seemed very much like a torrent of tears that was being shed from up above. The park, which opened on the very day 52 years to the day it was to close for good, seemed to have a life to celebrate cut short, a life during which it left an impression on many young and old, gained a worldwide reputation and became the face to an otherwise grey and unfashionable Jurong.
The brainchild of the visionary Dr Goh Keng Swee, Singapore’s first post-independence wildlife attraction, seemed an unlikely attraction when it first opened in 1971. Located on the fringes of the heavily industrial west of Singapore, the bird park was like the industrial estate whose image it was to soften, a resounding success story. Boasting what was then the world’s largest walk-in aviary, the Waterfall Aviary, within which one also found the world’s tallest man-made waterfall, there was much to draw the visitor. It soon became a popular spot for family outings, school excursions and an attraction that put Singapore on the tourist map.
The bird park, which drew 41 million visitors throughout its 52 years of operation, attracted more than 30,000 in its last five days of operation, with 2,600 guests taking in the sights, sounds and shows on its final day. While the closure does spell the end for Jurong Bird Park as we have known it, it is not the end of the road for the staff and the park’s feather residents as the attraction is being reincarnated as Mandai Bird Paradise. The Bird Paradise is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2023.
A flamboyance of flamingoes takes one of its final flights in Jurong.
Mr Clarence Saw at the last of Jurong Bird Park’s show — just before the downpour.
A last look at Penguin Coast.
Staff of Jurong Bird Park taking a last photograph.
A last look at the great pied hornbill in its enclosure.
Tears from the heavens.
A last photograph in the rain on the suspension bridge.
The last High Flyers show.
A last look at the quite lush and verdant Waterfall Aviary.
Hornbill viewing.
A last look at what was once the world’s tallest manmade waterfall.
A view of the waterfall from the suspension bridge.
A last climb to a look out point in the Waterfall Aviary.
Last gifts for last day guests.
A last look at the entrance to the Waterfall Aviary.
A last dance with the birds at the Pools Amphitheatre.
The crowd at the last King of the Skies show and very last show at Jurong Bird Park.
A last opportunity to “mingle” with the avian residents at the Pools Amphitheatre.
Last chance to get up close at the African Treetops.
A hornbill wows the crowd at the last High Flyers show,
The foraging Raoul, a southern-crested caracara at the King of the Skies show.
A greater flamingo.
A migratory stork in the greater flamingo enclosure. While the storks are non-residents at the bird park, they were regular visitors who came for food and were fed along with the other birds.
A giant pied hornbill.
A violet back starling feeding at African Treetops aviary.
A bearded barbet at African Treetops.
A sun conure at the last High Flyers show on an enrichment device.
The photographs of the remains of Connaught Battery contained in this post were taken during a recent recce accompanied by a member of Sentosa’s staff. Do note that the area in which the remains are found is out of bounds. It contains a number of hazards and it is not only not advisable not to visit the area without the necessary permissions and supervision, you would also be trespassing if you do so.
The remains of Connaught’s No 3 Gun emplacement.
Hidden in the vegetation of Sentosa’s two easternmost elevations just a stone’s throw away from one of Singapore most luxurious residential quarters, are the remains of its guns from the era of the Second World War. The better known of the two elevations, is of course Mount Serapong, which has been made accessible through public tours. A second set of guns, three 9.2 inch guns, were placed on the neighbouring elevation. These went into action during the Second World War, and were turned north and north-west to fire towards advancing Imperial Japanese Army troops in the direction of the Causeway, Jurong and Bukit Timah. All available ammunition, a large proportion of which were armour piercing and therefore ineffective against the advancing foot soldiers, was used before the guns were spiked and destroyed on 14 February 1942 — a day before Singapore capitulated. What remains of Connaught Battery include the badly damaged No 3 gun emplacement, a Battery Observation Post and an underground magazine, a retaining wall of the underground structure and several ventilation and other openings.
Another view of the No 3 Gun Emplacement (inside – the shaft and opening for the ammunition hoist can be seen)
A Battery Observation Post
Fittings for railings and a hinge on the emplacement
Inside the BOP
Inside an underground magazine (note the red brick cavity wall)
The cavity wall arrangement, which was possibly installed for moisture control
A view up the ammunition hoist
Background to the development of Sentosa’s Coastal Defence Positions and Connaught Battery
For large parts of its history, Sentosa was not as tranquil an island as its name would suggest. The so-called isle of tranquility, was previously called Blakang Mati, a name that carries with it a suggestion of death or even violence, even if little seems to be known about the origins of a name that it was known by since at least the early 17th century.1 Blakang Mati was also an island that has long had a reputation of being a pirates’ lair. This seemed to be the case as far as the 14th century, with the accounts of Yuan dynasty Chinese voyager, Wang Dayuan, describing what is now thought to be the waters in the area of the island as being infested with pirates2.
While an air of tranquility may have descended on the island following the Honourable East India Company’s (EIC) entry into Singapore with its second Resident, Dr John Crawfurd, describing it as a “beautiful and romantic spot”3, the spectre of death seem to still hang over Blakang Mati. Outbreaks of “Blakang Mati Fever” occurred. These were “of so deadly a character as to carry off three quarters of those attacked”, prompting some of those who settled on the island to flee in “fear and horror”.
The threat posed by “Blakang Mati Fever” however, did little to stop the one square mile island from being turned into one of Singapore’s most heavily armed and fortified square miles. Suggestion were in fact made as early as 1843, for an infantry garrison to be placed on the island as part of a plan to defend Singapore. While little came out of this plan in relation to Blakang Mati, the threat posed by Imperial Russia through it establishing a base in 1872 at Vladivostok on land it acquired from China, and the fact that advances in naval shipbuilding had greatly improved the speed, range, armour, and armament carrying capability of warships, prompted the building up of a coastal defence system to protect the Singapore and New Harbour. Measures taken included the placement of coastal artillery batteries on Blakang Mati. By 1878-79, batteries with fortifications were established at Fort Blakang Mati East (renamed Fort Connaught in 1890 to commemorate the visit of the Duke of Connaught to Singapore) and Fort Siloso. This effort also saw an infantry redoubt built at Mount Serapong.
Blakang Mati’s coastal defence positions and armaments on Sentosa would see overhauls over the years. Among the upgrades was the setting up of a battery at Mount Serapong following a review undertaken in 1885 with Singapore’s growing importance as a coaling station ii mind. Another upgrade, made from 1907 to 1911, came in the wake of Japanese successes in the Russo-Japanese War. This saw the battery at Mount Imbiah added, which was completed in 1912 with Fort Connaught’s battery being decommissioned as a result of it. Imbiah Battery would itself be decommissioned in 1937, when a rebuilt Connaught Battery came into play. The battery, along with a battery at Mount Serapong, remained in service up to the time of the Second World War. The rebuilding of Connaught Battery resulted in the removal of all traces of the 19th century fortifications of Fort Connaught.
While the guns at Serapong seemed to have been damaged during Japanese air raids in January 1942, the three guns at Connaught Battery were turned northwards and were fired in the direction of the Causeway and later at advancing Japanese troops at Jurong on 11 Feb 1942 and Bukit Timah on 12 Feb 1942, expanding all the available ammunition, before being spiked and destroyed on 14 Feb 1942.
________________
1 The first instance of the island being positively identified as Blakang Mati was through a map made by the Malacca-based Manual Godinho de Erédia. This was published in 1604 to aid in the discovery of the legendary islands of gold. In the map, the island is identified as “Blacan Mati” with the “c” being pronounced as a hard c.
2 In Wang Dayuan’s accounts contained Daoyi zhilüe (島夷誌略) or “Description of Barbarians of the Islands”, he provides a description of a pirate infested “Longyamen” (龍牙門) or Dragon-Teeth Gate, which is now believed to have been a reference to the pair of rocky outcrops at Tanjong Rimau at the western end of Blakang Mati and across the waters at Tanjong Berlayer. Known as “Lots Wife” to the British, they were removed to widen the entrance to New Harbour (Keppel Harbour) in 1848.
3 Among the early uses of the island in the early days of EIC Singapore was the installation of a flagstaff on the island’s highest peak, Mount Serapong, in 1833. The island would also find use for the cultivation of pineapple, jackfruit, guava and chempedak with three villages being established. One was Kampong Ayer Bendera, which was named after the flagstaff. This was located at the foot of Mount Serapong and inhabited primarily by Bugis. There was also a Malay village in the area known as Kampong Serapong, while the third village was Kampong Blakang Mati, another Bugis village. A few Chinese also found their way to the island.
Photographs freeze moments in time, moments that may never again be seen, or even ones with a tale or two to tell. A photograph with a tale to tell is one that belongs to a collection of photographs taken by American photographer Harrison Forman. Taken in While it has been dated to the 1950s, it does appear to be one of a multitude of photographs that Forman captured of pre-World Singapore in 1941, which also includes several taken on 35mm colour slide.
The photograph, taken with Amber Mansions along Orchard Road (where Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station is today) in it, also shows W J Garcia’s piano showroom. Garcia, who was a piano and organ dealer, and is now probably best known as the person behind the installation of what is now Singapore’s oldest pipe organ at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 1912.
Garcia, was a well known personality, having been a pioneering Singapore piano maker. He ventured into the business of piano making in the 1920s, challenging the commonly-held belief that pianos could not be made in the tropics. Garcia’s motivation for venturing the piano making business had been the difficulties that existed in the postwar (First World War) period in obtaining good pianos at reasonable prices. Prior to setting the factory up in 1926, Garcia had his son W H Garcia learn the trade in London. Within Garcia’s teak piano cabinets, were sounding boards made of Romanian pine, imported iron frames, actions, keys and hammers.
Garcia’s factory, which was at Holland Road, had a machine shop measuring approximately 20 by10 metres in which teak was prepared and cut, a room 15 by 10 metres in which the teak was seasoned, and another 20 by10 metre room for assembly. The Second World War would bring Garcia’s venture to a tragic end, with Garcia, who was interned as a civilian during the Japanese Occupation, passing away at the age of 66 on 26 April 1942.
Singapore, with its multi-cultural influences, is a city of festivals. Deepavali (or Diwali), the Hindu festival of lights that commemorates the triumph of good over evil was celebrated on Monday, just as decorations in anticipation of Christmas began making an appearance along Orchard Road.
The festivities bring much life and colour to Little India, and certainly puts one in the mood to celebrate — especially this year with most Covid-19 pandemic restrictions lifted. With the eve of Deepavali falling very conveniently on a Sunday — a day when throngs of Singapore’s South Asian guest workers make their way to Little India, the streets seemed even busier with crowds descending on the precinct to soak in the atmosphere and to make last minute purchases of festive snacks and sweets, clothes, jewellery and festive decorations.
A destination whose attraction is its cool cafes and restaurants, and trendy boutiques, it is hard to tell that Chip Bee Gardens, when it was completed in the mid-1960s, served as an abode for British military personnel based in Pasir Panjang, Tanglin and Alexandra. Architecturally unique as a military residential estate, it wears the look and feel of a typical 1960s private housing development in Singapore and even parts of Malaysia, with its mix of residential and commercial properties.
Terrace houses at Chip Bee Gardens
Designed by Yang Tye Tai Architects, its developers, United Development and Finance Co, embarked on the development of Chip Bee as a private residential housing estate. Plans for it were announced in 1962. A year after construction started, the developer entered into an initial contract with the British military’s Services’ Lands Board for the sale of several housing units. A second contract was negotiated in 1965 that involved the sale of the bulk of the development to the board. Under the contract, a total of 603 units were to have been completed by 1967 for the board, comprising 349 three-bedroom terraced houses, 194 three-bedroom units in seven nine-storey apartment blocks, and 20 shop lots with 40 flats above.
Princess Margaret visiting Chip Bee Estate in October 1972 (via National Archives of Singapore).
The acquisition, which cost the Services’ Lands Board a reported $17 million, signalled a shift in the British military’s housing policy. The board had been renting civilian properties to address a housing shortfall with the expansion in the numbers of personnel being brought into Singapore and Malaya in the early 1960s. Parts of “Chip Bee Gardens Married Quarters Estate” would be ready for occupation by 1966.
The demolished apartment blocks would have been on the right.
While the acquisition of Chip Bee Gardens was carried out in anticipation of a long term British military presence in Singapore, circumstances would very quickly change and the estate had to be sold almost as soon as it was completed in 1968. Britain had then already announced its intention to withdraw its military forces from Singapore. The sale of the estate was negotiated with the Singapore government, who paid just over 40% of the price that Britain had invested in the estate with the understanding that British military families could stay on after the properties changed hands in 1970, up to the point of the British withdrawal in late 1971. Chip Bee Gardens’ function as a military estate however, went beyond the pull-out, with members of the Australian-led ANZUK Force occupying the estate until Australia’s 1975 withdrawal from the ANZUK arrangements. The Singapore government, through the Housing and Development Board, then put the properties up for rent. Shops and popular eateries snapped up the commercial spaces, but the take-up rate for residential units was poor.
Two blocks were built with 40 apartments above and 20 shop lots on the ground floor. The shop lots were used for communal facilities and to house amenities.
Through the years, several agencies have managed the properties. The Land Office took over the management in 1989 before handing it over to Jurong Town Corporation (JTC) in 2002. It was during the watch of the Land Office that the apartment blocks demolished in 1992 and the land sold to private developers. The Singapore Land Authority, the successor to the Land Office, has managed the properties since 2015.
The origin of the name Chip Bee
“Chip Bee” is Hokkien for Jimei (集美), a village and district near Xiamen (Amoy) in Fujian province in China. It was from Chip Bee that the likes of rubber magnate Tan Kah Kee and his one-time employee and founder of Nanyang University, Tan Lark Sye, hailed from. Tan Lark Sye’s nephew, Tan Eng Joo, was thought to have owned the land on which Chip Bee Gardens was built and was a associate of Ko Teck Kin, then President of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the developer of Chip Bee Gardens, United Development and Finance Co.
Among American photo-journalist Harrison Forman’s vast collection of some 50,000 photographs, found in the American Geographical Society Library of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee are the wonderfully captured scenes of a Singapore in 1941. The photographs, which include a number of rare colour captures, provide a glimpse of the bustling colony that Singapore was, just as preparations were being made for a war that many felt would not come to its shores.
A view of Hong Lim Green and the so-called “Suicide Flats” built in the early 1950s by the SIT (photo: Harrison Forman Collection, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
The collection also contains a number of photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960s that show a Singapore in transition, as Singapore went from colony to state, and eventually towards merger with Malaya and independence. One of these photographs, taken in the mid-1950s, is seen here. It captures the then newly erected 9-storey blocks of flats at Upper Pickering Street / Upper Hokkien Street (a plot now occupied by Parkroyal Collection Pickering) that was put up by the Singapore Improvement Trust or SIT (the block in the middle was in fact built to house the SIT’s HQ).
Completed in 1952, the blocks were Singapore’s tallest public housing blocks and the tallest buildings in Chinatown. As with many tall public housing blocks over the years, they had an unfortunate association with suicides and became known as the “suicide flats” almost as soon as it came up. The blocks of flats, also acquired a reputation for being haunted. This was not without reason as there were a number of reports of hauntings. An ex-resident — a former colleague of mine, who lived on the top floor of one of the blocks, described how he had resisted a compulsion to jump from the balcony at the urging of “a group of children” who were calling to him from the ground. He told his parents about the encounter and was never allowed out on the balcony again.
The SIT, which was established to carry out town planning and later took on the role of providing public housing, built Tiong Bahru Estate and also put up estates such as Princess Elizabeth Estate and Old Kallang Airport Estate (where Dakota Crescent is) and set what then was the largest public housing programme at Queenstown in motion. They were also responsible for putting up several smaller clusters or individual public housing blocks such as the Princess Elizabeth flats at Farrer Park, blocks in the Bugis area and in Kampong Kapor. SIT made initial plans and carried out the early land acquisition for Toa Payoh and built the old Kim Keat Estate as a prelude to Toa Payoh before being disbanded in 1960 — when the Housing and Development Board (HDB) was formed. The rest, as they say, is history. HDB became one of Singapore’s great success stories and built twice the number of public housing units that SIT had managed to put up in its three decades of existence in a matter of just three years.
SIT built Tiong Bahru
While the blocks at Upper Pickering Street have been demolished, the legacy of the SIT can however still be found. The SIT built portion of Tiong Bahru has largely been conserved. There are also several blocks around Dakota Crescent that are being conserved following calls to keep the surviving part of the old estate. Beyond public housing, the back lanes behind shophouses, and the spiral staircases found behind them, could be thought of as another legacy of the SIT with the trust having been responsible for executing the scheme following their formation. There are also the estates that the SIT built and maintained that housed their senior staff. These are still very much with us and can be found at Adam Park and at Kay Siang Road.
It was joget time tinged with quite a fair bit of nostalgia on the front lawn of the Istana Kampong Gelam last evening during the gala opening of the MHC ClosingFest. The event also saw Guest-of-Honour, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development letting his hair down by reciting a pantun and joining in at the end of the joget session.
The opening gala is part of a series of activities being held as part of MHC ClosingFest as the MHC or Malay Heritage Centre winds down (or rather up) towards its closure at the end of October for a revamp (it is scheduled to reopen in 2025). Besides the last night’s event, a series of activities are also being held across weekends in October that will not only celebrate the legacy and milestones of MHC, which the former palace of the descendants of Sultan Hussein houses, but also celebrates of the cultures of the Nusantara, from which some members of the wider Malay community in Singapore trace their roots to.
The Bazaar Nusantara, which is being held this weekend (15/16 Oct 2022 4 to 10 pm) for example, will feature the cuisines and cultural practices of the Baweanese, Bugis and Banjarese. There will be performances of Baweanese silat and Javanese kuda kepang, as well as a keris (dagger) cleansing ritual.
More information on the activities can be found on the MHC’s Peatix page.
It is sad to think that Jurong will soon be without Jurong Bird Park. The attraction, which brought many into the heart of what might have been an unattractive industrial estate if not for its presence, will welcome its last guests on 3 January 2023 — exactly 52 years after its 1971 opening. Its closure is in anticipation of its move to Mandai, where it reopen as Bird Paradise as part of the larger Mandai Wildlife Reserve. When the bird park does close, Jurong will certainly be a poorer place without it. What will become of the lush green space that the bird park occupies, one that has taken half a century to grow, is not known. I would certainly love to see that it is retained as a green oasis in the midst of the industrial sprawl that surrounds it. It will be quite a shame if we were to also lose it once after the bird park closes.
The old and very industrial looking entrance to the bird park. The park would have been in operation for 52 years when it closes its doors for the last time on 3 Jan 2023. (Photo: Mandai Wildlife Reserve).
For those like me who grew up with the bird park, Jurong will not be Jurong without it. Developed as part of the effort to provide the then newly minted industrial town a greener and softer face and a space to also live and play in — some 12% of the Jurong’s land area was set aside for parks and gardens, the bird park and the plan to make Jurong a “garden industrial town”, was the brainchild of Dr Goh Keng Swee. A trip that Dr Goh made to Rio de Janeiro for a World Bank meeting as Finance Minister in 1968, during which he visited the city’s zoo, provided the inspiration for the bird park. The zoo’s aviary caught Dr Goh’s eye and he hit on the idea of the bird park. When asked why not build a zoo instead, Dr Goh reportedly quipped, “birdseeds cost less than meat”.
Among the bird park’s visitors in its early days was HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. (Photo: Ministry of Information and Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore)
Like Jurong Industrial Estate, the new bird park’s host, the bird park was a huge success story. Given the “wow” factor through what was at 100 feet high, the world’s tallest man-made waterfall, which was set in the world’s largest walk-in aviary, the bird park captured the imagination of many of us in Singapore in the early years of nationhood and very quickly became a favourite destination for many. In a matter of less than twenty months of its opening, the bird park welcomed its one-millionth visitor in August 1972. It was especially popular as a destination for school excursions, as learning journeys were then known as. Besides the many family outings to the bird park, I also remember numerous long and usually uneventful journeys to it on the school bus. Getting that whiff of cocoa in the air, as the bus carried us down the grand avenue-like Jalan Boon Lay and past the Van Houten chocolate factory, was always something to look forward to. That meant always increased that sense of anticipation as it meant that the bird park was close by.
Once the pride and joy of Singapore. At 100 feet or 30 metres in height, Jurong Bird Park’s waterfall was once the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. See it for the last time before it closes its doors for good at the end of 3 January 2023.
To celebrate its legacy ahead of its closure, Jurong Bird Park is inviting all of us in Singapore to embark on A Flight To Remember. The four-month long last hurrah of sorts for the park, being held from 3 September 2022 till 3 January 2023, will see a series of activities held at the bird park. During this time, visitors will be able to recall some of the park’s more memorable moments as well as their past experiences through a self-guided heritage trail, mock-ups of the park’s features over the years such as its one-time cuckoo clock tower and the panorail (which operated from 1992 to 2012), and, a memory wall at the Penguin Coast to which visitors can add their own memories of the park. An opportunity will also be provided for visitors to see Jurong Bird Park through the eyes of its dedicated team of staff through a staff-curated Insider’s Guide.
The iconic cuckoo clock tower that once graced the park’s entrance. (Photo: Mandai Wildlife Reserve)
Come November 2022, visitors will also be able to join the bird park’s Nostalgic Signature Tour, which will be conducted by seasoned guides and will delve into the park’s much storied past. Bookings can be made for this tour from 19 October 2022. Adding to the sense of nostalgia, the bird park will launch a nostalgic dining experience in November, when traditional pushcarts offering local hawker fare make an appearance. More information on A Flight to Remember can be found on the Jurong Bird Park’s website.
A mock-up of the cuckoo clock for A Flight to Remember with a count down timer.
Jurong Bird Park, opens from 8.30 am to 6 pm (last entry is at 5.00pm) from Thursdays to Sundays, and on the eve of public holidays, on public holidays, and during selected school holidays.
A mock-up of the 1992 panorail at which visitors can take photographs.
“Old Birds” of Jurong Bird Park
Maggie Ang, Deputy Vice President, Jurong Bird Park, dressed as Doctor Squawk. Maggie Ang as Doctor Squawk as part of the Bird Park Goes to School programme that she helped launch (photo: Mandai Wildlife Group).Roslee Mustaffa, Manager, Facilities Management, who joined as a Penguin Technician and who met his future wife at the bird park.Mohammad Saad Bin Yahya, Assistant Manager, Animal Presentation, High Flyers Show.Sadali Bin Mohamed Tali, Senior Keeper, who contributed to the programme that saw the successful reintroduction of the Oriental Pied Hornbill to Singapore.Daisy Ling, Vice President of Corporate Services, who joined the park as an Education Officer.Clarence Saw, Senior Manager, Animal Presentation, Kings of the Skies Show, a former Military Policeman who works with raptors.Clarence Saw in his younger days (photo: Clarence Saw).Chandra Mohan, Manager, Animal Presentation, Kings of the Skies Show
Fort Canning Hill, aka Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill, the place of many a schoolboy adventure for me, has always been a place of discovery and rediscovery for me, as well as a space that provides an escape from the urban world. An abode of the ancient kings of Singapura — the spirits of whom are said to still roam the hill, the hill is one steeped as much in history, as it is surrounded by mystery.
Fort Canning Hill, the Forbidden Hill is a place that has long been cloaked with an air of mystery.
The mystery of the place, was quite evident when the British first established their presence in Singapore in 1819. Col William Farquhar’s attempt to ascend the strategically positioned elevation, which commanded a view of the plain across which the settlement and Singapore River, was met with resistance by the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman who claimed that the sounds of gongs and drums and the shouts of hundreds of men could be heard, even if all that was present then on the hill were only the reminders of a long lost 14th century kingdom. The claim did not deter Farquhar from making his ascent, nor his colleagues in the East India Company, who would exploit the hill to place the seat of colonial rule in Singapore, as an experimental botanical garden, for the first Christian spaces for the dead, and as an artillery fort and barracks, for fresh water supply to the fast developing municipality and as a strategic military command bunker.
It has long been a place of escape for me.
Much of that history, and mystery, is now wonderfully captured in the new Fort Canning Heritage Gallery — and in a book “Fort Canning Park: Heritage and Gardens” that was launched in conjunction with the gallery’s opening yesterday on 26 August 2022. The gallery is housed in a 1920s barrack block now known as Fort Canning Centre, that has seen use most recently as a staging point for the Bicentennial Experience and as the short-lived private museum, Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris. The centre, which also housed the “world’s largest squash centre” from the 1977 to 1987 during the height of the squash rackets craze in Singapore, sits quite grandly atop the slope we know today as Fort Canning Green and forms a magnificent backdrop to the many events that the former cemetery grounds now plays host to.
Fort Canning Centre, a 1920s barrack block in which the newly opened Fort Canning Heritage Gallery is housed.
Divided into five zones, the gallery provides an introduction to the hill, and through four themed zones, places focus on a particular aspect of the role that the hill has played through its own and also more broadly, Singapore’s history. The stories, told succinctly through information panels, archaeological artefacts excavated from the hill and interactive digital stations, provide just enough information to the visitor to provide an appreciation of the hill history and its heritage. There is also a condensed version of the “From Singapore to Singaporean: The Bicentennial Experience” video that plays in a mini-theatrette within the gallery.
Minister of National Development, Mr Desmond Lee, opening the new Fort Canning Heritage Gallery.
Also opened with the new gallery was an enhanced Spice Garden, which now extends to the 2019 pedestrianised section of Fort Canning Rise and a pedestrian ramp and underpass (that once led to the former car park at the rear of the old National Library). The pedestrian ramp and underpass now features the new Spice Gallery, which I thought was a wonderful and meaningful way to use a space that serves little other practical use today. The Spice Gallery, made possible by the generous support of Nomanbhoy and Sons Pte Ltd — a spice trader with over a hundred years of history, provides an appreciation of the significance of the spice trade to modern Singapore’s early development as a trading hub and also the role that Fort Canning Hill played in Singapore’s early spice plantations.
The newly opened Spice Gallery at the enhanced Spice Garden occupies a former pedestrian ramp and underpass.
A book, “Fort Canning Park: Heritage and Gardens”, authored by Dr Chng Mun Whye and Ms Sara-Ann Ang, which highlights the park’s rich heritage, was also launched together with the opening. This is available for sale Gardens Shop at various locations around the Singapore Botanic Gardens or online at https://botanicgardensshop.sg at SGD 29.90.
A book, “Fort Canning Park: Heritage and Gardens” was launched together with the opening.
Along with the permanent exhibition two galleries, there is also a “Kaleidoscope in Clay (I)” exhibition that features exhibits showcasing 5,000 years of Chinese ceramic history from 26 August to 11 September 2022 at The Gallery@L3, Fort Canning Centre. Also running is the 3rd edition of Festival at the Fort being held in conjunction with the opening and Singapore Night Festival, the programmes of which include movie screenings at Fort Canning Green, guided tours and children’s activities. The festival runs from 26 August to 4 September 2022 and more information can be found at https://www.nparks.gov.sg/activities/events-and-workshops/2022/8/festival-at-the-fort-2022.
Kaleidoscope in Clay (I) at Gallery@L3, Fort Canning Centre.
Fort Canning Heritage Gallery is opened daily from 10 am to 6 pm (expect for the last Monday of each month), while the Spice Gallery is opened from 7 am to 7 pm daily. Entry to both galleries is free to the public.
Photographs of Fort Canning Heritage Gallery during the opening on 26 August 2022.
