Even before mass tourism took root with the arrival of the jet age, Singapore has fascinated would be travellers from the West. The romanticised depictions of the island penned by the likes of Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham, in the late 19th and early 20th century have more often than not, made Singapore out to be an exotic destination, as have travel guide books of the day. Singapore was after all a great port city, the crossroads of the East and West in more ways than one, and a cultural melting pot in which the well-heeled traveller could travel to and be accommodated in the lap of luxury in the days when the romance of travel seemed at its height, and yet have that experience of the exotic East.
It was in fact travel guide books that provided the inspiration for the curators of Now Boarding: Experiencing Singapore through Travel, 1800s–2000s, to bring Singapore out as a travel destination. One of two exhibitions opening at the National Museum of Singapore this last weekend in May, the exhibition will offer its visitors an experience of Singapore from the perspective of a traveller to the island.
Postcards and Posters on display.
The exhibition will have visitors explore four common travel themes or chapters if you like in a (modern) travel guide book, Getting Around, Places to Stay, Eating Out and Sights and Shopping. But before all of that, as in the case of the days of mass travel, one has that small matter of getting to the “airport” at the museum’s Rotunda — where one will be greeted the all too familiar sight of a Changi Airport flight information flip board (or at least a part of the decommissioned Terminal 2 flip board), and having to collect a “boarding pass” — which serves as an entry ticket and more at the check-in (museum ticketing) counter.
Exhibition Boarding Pass.
The former Changi Airport flip board.
Exploring the exhibition — especially in the first two sections, one is struck by how much getting here and its associated experiences — even today, has an emphasis that is placed very much on luxury. In Getting Around, depictions of long, luxurious and somewhat leisurely voyages on the passenger liners of old or even train journeys on the Malayan Railway seen in posters on display confronts the visitor. It seems no different when it comes to the modern day, with a unmissable Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites Cabin in plain sight.
SQ A380 Cabin Suites
Once one is in Singapore however, there options of getting around the island that are on offer are a lot more down to earth. A trishaw on display, which has a rather interesting backstory to it, was an affordable means of conveyance for the person-on-the-street, as was its predecessor the rickshaw. It was also popular as a means to move around for tourists, for whom the trishaw was not only cheap, but a novelty!
A Trishaw.
In Places to Stay, the lure of the Raffles — an enduring Singaporean icon and the epitome of luxurious stays in Singapore — seems unescapable even in a museum setting. There are also other luxurious names of the past that will pop up such as the Adelphi (there is a small glass on display that tells yet another interesting story), and the Hotel de L’Europe.
Uniforms on loan from Raffles Hotel.
Eating Out at Singapore’s coffee shops, outdoor eateries and hawker stalls has undoubtedly been one of the must-dos for a visitor. It may not always have been the case given the issues we faced with hygiene in the past but this caught on in the 1950s and 1960s when street fare came to the fore. From a range of tools and kitchen utensils to kopitiam cups, drinking glasses, soft drink bottles and serving trays carrying advertisements of popular brands, to photographs and postcards featuring hawkers, visitors will get that sense of what the experience of eating out may have been like. In addition to this, there is an assortment of restaurant menus that can be viewed through an interactive display. The menus include one from A&W — the first fast food restaurant chain to set up shop in Singapore when it opened its first outlet at MSA (later SIA) Building in 1968.
Kopitiam memories.
Besides shopping at Orchard Road, a tourist draw since C K Tang opened its store in 1958 even if the shopping destinations then were at High Street and Raffles Place, Sights and Shopping also explores areas such the cabaret, night club and more recent clubbing scene. One popular and rather famous (or some say infamous) tourist spot — at least until the early 1980s, Bugis Street, is glaringly missing in the mix.
Recalling the club and cabaret scene.
To complete the exhibition experience, visitors can reflect on the portrayal of Singapore over the years and add personal impressions home at digital kiosks located within the gallery. Limited edition postcards featuring what’s on display from the National Museum’s collection are available with a donation to the museum. These can be sent to any address across the world by dropping them in at the Singapore Post mailbox placed just outside the exhibition gallery. Also, playing an accompanying Now Boarding mobile game will also yield a bonus digital gift. And if you have some energy left, there will also be pop-up rooms — with a disco room opening with the exhibition. In August, there are two other rooms to look out for that will feature transportation and a hotel-themed room.
A second exhibition opening on 27 May 2023, Get Curious: All About Food! is aimed at families with kids. More information on this can be found at: https://www.nhb.gov.sg/nationalmuseum/cs2023.
Held in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of Sport Singapore (1973 to 2023) and the Singapore Heritage Festival, Beginning of a Golden Age of Sport in Singapore opened at the Singapore Sports Museum on 18 May 2023. The exhibition, which runs until 31 July 2023, celebrates the achievements of a pioneering group of sportspersons who heralded a sporting golden era for Singapore in the post-war era.
Among the achievements of the golden era was Singapore’s very first Olympic medal, a silver at the Rome Games in 1960, that was picked up by Tan Howe Liang in weightlifting.
Among the guests at the opening were 1950s era sprinters Mary Klass and Kesavan Soon, both of whom represented Singapore at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and whose legacies are among those that the exhibition commemorates. Mary Klass, then one of two fastest women in Asia, also represented Singapore at the 1954 Asian Games in Manila, where she finished neck and neck with Japanese runner Atsuko Nambu in the 100m sprint, only to be awarded the silver medal. Kesavan Soon, a schoolboy studying in Victoria School when he ran at the Melbourne Olympics, also represented Singapore at the 1958 Asian Games in Japan.
Mary Klass and Kesavan Soon at the opening of the exhibition.
The post-war era brought Malaya it first successes in badminton. In 1949, the Malayan team — which included a Singapore-based player, Wong Peng Soon, beat United States and Denmark to lift the inaugural Thomas Cup, thereby winning the right to host the next cup competition. Malaya hosted the 1952 cup competition at the Gay World (then Happy World) Stadium in Singapore, which it won once again. Malaya also won the 1955 Thomas Cup, held at the Singapore Badminton Hall — which was built to host 1952 competition but was completed a little too late.
Badminton memorabilia on display, including a wooden framed Dunlop badminton racquet from the 1950s found in the storeroom, a wooden racquet press (to prevent warping) and shuttlecocks used by Wong Peng Soon.
The exhibition, an excellent way to learn more about Singapore’s sporting heritage, is being held as a prelude to a book being published by Sport Singapore, The Rocky Road to Kallang Park. There will be a talk and book launch (already fully subscribed) that will be held at the National Museum of Singapore on 27 May 2023 as part of Singapore Heritage Festival 2023.
A Malayan Thomas Cup team blazer that belonged to Wong Peng Soon.
Dr Nick Aplin of Sport Singapore, leading a tour of the exhibition. Dr Aplin is the author of “The Rocky Road to Kallang Park”, which will be launched on 27 May 2023. The exhibition is a prelude to the book launch.
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.
A pair of tickets to be given away for The Complete Hosaywood Football Shorts, 2005-2020
(screening on Sunday 21 May 2023 at 5 to 7 pm at Oldham Theatre, National Archives of Singapore)
Simply provide the correct answer to the question below as a comment on this blog post during the qualifying period from Thursday 11 May 2023, 5 pm, to Sunday 14 May 2023, 5 pm (Singapore Time).
The giveaway is open only to Singapore residents and first ten correct entries qualify for the final draw. The winner of the pair of tickets will be picked out of a hat.
Question for Giveaway: Name any one of the goal scorers for Singapore during the 2007 AFF Cup Final over two legs.
Photo: Hosaywood
Singapore’s first National Stadium, which opened in 1973 and was demolished in 2010, was a place that touched the lives of a generation or two of Singaporeans. The stadium’s terraces brought people from all walks of life together. It was where we as Singaporeans stood as one, whether in celebration of national pride on National Day, or to cheer our sporting heroes as the strived to do us proud.
It was also on the terraces that the once feared Kallang Roar was born. The thunderous cheer, accentuated by the stamping of more than 50,000 pairs of feet, intimidated the opposition as much as it provided great encouragement to Singapore’s football team in the days when Singapore was part of the Malaysia Cup set up. It was this encouragement that also spurred the Singapore team to unlikely success in the regional Asean Football Federation (AFF) competition, especially in the last football match played in the National Stadium that saw a sell-out crowd on 31 January 2007, the AFF Cup Final (first leg).
Get to a chance to soak in the atmosphere and to relive that last match during the Singapore Heritage Festival through a rarely screened documentary produced by Jacen Tan and his collective Hosaywood, Kwa Giu – Tribute to the National Stadium. The documentary is part of a series of short films produced by Jacen that is being screened as part of the programme Cinema Reclaimed: DRIVING, KICKING & PUNCHING! curated with support and collaboration from the Asian Film Archive. The films include Tak Giu, a video which was released in 2005 – just before YouTube launched. The video, which went viral, hilariously depicted the life of local football fans sneaking around to play in public spaces, evading authorities, placing bets and arguing over S-League.
Photo: Hosaywood
Tak Giu and Kwa Giu, are just two of several documentaries produced by Jacen that captures the passion for football and the struggle to find space for the game in Singapore and for the first time, these football films will be shown together.
Directed by Jacen Tan In Mandarin, Malay, English & Singlish Colour, 75 mins
Venue: Oldham Theatre, National Archives of Singapore Sun, 21 May | 5pm – 7pm
Films included: Tak Giu (2005), Lions All The Way (2013), Homeground (2015), Ultramen Johor (2014), Table Football Fanatics of Singapore (2020), Kwa Giu – Tribute to the National Stadium (2011).
I finally managed to get up close with the trimaran variant of the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship or LCS. Developed at a time when I dabbled in the design of high performance marine craft, it was always interesting to see the many different approaches that were taken to finding a right fit of a hull form for a naval platform. And the LCS, especially the trimaran design of one of two variants of the LCS under consideration, represented an exciting move away from the tried and tested.
The USS Mobile at Changi Naval Base during IMDEX Asia 2023.
The LCS programme was the US Navy’s response to the changing nature of the threats that United States was facing. The was made especially apparent by the 9-11 terror attack on its own soil. Traditionally a blue-water navy, the LCS was conceived to fill a gap that the USN had in brown-water or littoral capabilities with a small and compact, agile, shallow draught reconfigurable platform.
The USN’s decision made in the mid-2000s to go with two configurations, a monohull and the Australian Austal designed trimaran, certainly raised eyebrows, as did the extensive use of aluminium alloy — a material that the USN had shied away from due to its susceptibility to stress corrosion and fatigue cracking, from its own experience with aluminium alloy superstructures in the post World War 2 era, as well as the concerns with the loss in structural strength of aluminium alloys at high temperatures.
Also raising eyebrows was the choice of hull form. The trimaran hull in the case of the Austal design was essentially a very slender monohull with two outriggers. It is certainly superior when it comes to minimising the drag increase due to wave generation — a dominant factor in the higher speed range at which the LCS operates. It also has a greater resistance to capsize (the slenderness of monohull is limited by its ability to remain upright). The widely spaced hulls also provide a greater deck area that is always welcome in naval platforms operationally. There is also the advantage of potentially reduced pitch and heave motions in waves due to their smaller waterplane areas, which provides the platform with a superior operability.
In operation for more than a decade — the first of class, the USS Independence was commissioned in 2010, the trimaran LCS as with the monohull variant, have been beset with problems. Cost overruns and a host of operational and maintenance issues have plagued both classes of LCS. Structural cracking, as predicted by material choice sceptics, have also been reported, leading to a reworking of structural design details. Designed to be in service for 25 years, two ships of each classes have already been decommissioned, with more expected to follow.
As for the LCS-26 (the trimaran variants are numbered evenly), USS Mobile, having been commissioned only about two years ago in May 2021, it would have incorporated the lessons the designers learnt from the lead ships in the class. As with the other ships in the class, its expansive main deck permits a large mission bay with stern door for launch of smaller craft to be laid out. On top of this a large two-bay hangar that can accommodate both the ship’s MH-60 helo and a Fire Scout drone, and a helicopter deck can be found. The ship is designed to be manned minimally and is operable with a core crew of 40, and can take up to 35 mission crew.
The USS Mobile, is here as part of a display of warships during IMDEX Asia, a regional naval exhibition that takes place every two years in Singapore. The exhibition, which serves as a showcase of the latest in naval platform, arms and sensor technologies, is often also barometer of the wants and desires of the region’s navies.
The stern door at the Mission Bay.
The Mission Bay.
On the fo’c’sle deck.
The helo bay of the Hangar.
The heli-deck.
The Hangar from the upper deck.
The HCR (Helo Control Room).
A gym set up in the Mission Bay.
A view of the stern. The main hull in is in the centre with four waterjets at the bottom that propel the ship and the stern door of the Mission Bay above. The heli-deck is on top. The two outrigger hulls can be seen on either side of the main hull.
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.
Nineteenth century Singapore had its fair share of interesting personalities. One was a certain Mr Charles Burton Buckley, who had what might be thought as Singapore’s very first mile of railway built at Bukit Timah.
Buckley in Singapore’s first motorcar
Buckley first arrived in Singapore as a young man of twenty in 1864 and was a well established lawyer by the time he had the line in 1892. Better known these days as the author of “An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore” and the owner of Singapore’s very first motorcar, Buckley’s legal career took him to Rodyk & Davidson, where remained until his retirement. During his time with the law firm Buckley became acquainted with Sultan Abu Bakar — modern Johor’s first sultan, for whom the firm acted as legal adviser.
It was with the support of the Sultan that Buckley made the rather ambitious effort in laying what was to have been the first section of a railway line from Singapore to Kranji. The journey to Singapore’s north was a one that many took during the weekends by horse-drawn coaches to get to the gambling farms in Johor Bahru — yes, JB was a weekend destination even then! In 1891, Buckley, who saw the potential of halving the time that would be taken for the half day journey with a light electric railway line, conducted an experiment at his own expense running a crudely built tram-like carriage along 180 feet supply trolley track by the docks at New Harbour on 16 September 1891. This was of course during a time when the use of electricity was in its infancy and New Harbour was where a small quantity of electricity was being generated for lighting purposes and Buckley had wooden poles constructed to carry an overhead electrical supply to the tram.
Abu Bakar, the grandson of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, who became Maharaja and then Sultan of Johor.
Although the press was not particularly impressed, with the initial trail being described as a “waste of power”, the experiment was successful enough for the Sultan, who was a guest at the experiment, to lend support to the ambitious project. What Buckley had in mind was to run the line alongside Bukit Timah Road from Kandang Kerbau to Kranji with five stops. Following the experiment, he went about the business of laying the first mile of the line between 5½ and 6½ milestones Bukit Timah Road. This section was chosen as Sultan Abu Bakar owned property close by, the stables of which could accommodate a generator.
With the mile long section of the line complete, a trial was conducted in the first week of September 1892 — approximately a year after the initial experiments at New Harbour. Among the guests was Tunku Mahkota Ibrahim, Abu Bakar’s heir and eventual successor as sultan and to whom Buckley would serve as financial advisor to. Although rather clumsily built, the trial, which involved the running of three carriages over seven days over the mile long line, was pronounced as “more successful than expected”. News of the successful trials even reached the United States, where it was picked up by the Chicago based “Street Railway Review”. Despite making the observation that while they “did not admire the graceful outline of trolley stand and pole”, they did “suppose that they were for the benefit of our Simian ancestors, who may wish to travel on top”, the Review reported on the trials rather favourably in its January 1893 edition.
Charles Burton Buckley’s Electric Railway (1892) Source: Street Railway Review, Vol III, January 1893
Nothing much more would however be heard of Buckley’s endeavour and with the Government taking steps to build a railway of its own — a detailed proposal for a non-electrified railway was brought up for consideration to the Legislative Council in 1898 and although the proposal was rejected initially, the proposal was passed the following year with work on it starting in early 1900. The first section of the Singapore Government Railway, also known as the Singapore and Kranji Railway, began operations on New Year’s Day 1903 with the first train departing at 6 am from Singapore Station built on the former Police parade ground off Tank Road, running to Bukit Timah. The connection to Kranji would be completed in April the same year and with that Buckley’s efforts were forgotten.
Singapore Station, Singapore and Kranji Railway, 1903
Toa Payoh, the first satellite town that the Housing and Development Board planned in full, was recently in the news, having been the subject of a refreshed National Heritage Board (NHB) heritage trail. As part of the NHB’s efforts to update the trial, two markers have been added: one is sited at Toa Payoh’s now famous dragon playground, and the other at the so-called VIP block, Block 53.
The dragon playground from the since demolished Block 28.
Block 53 is a block that I have had an association with, having moved to it when it was newly completed in 1967 at the age of three and spending nine of my formative years in it before moving out at the end of 1976. As an early Housing and Development Board (HDB) Toa Payoh and Block 53 resident, I got to witness many of Toa Payoh’s many milestones as the town grew and matured. The Toa Payoh that I moved into, felt very much an extension of the villages that many of its early residents had been moved out of. Doors were kept open, neighbours popped in and out or said hello as they walked past; common spaces came alive, especially in the evenings. Even if it may have been against HDB rules, many reared chickens and chickens running around was a rather common sight. Chilli, pandan, lime and pomegranate, planted in pots or in the common spaces behind ground floor flats were also commonly seen. Many residents lived as if they were still living in the kampungs that they had moved away from.
When Toa Payoh was a “flowery” place. Before the roads became Lorongs, they were named Jalan Bunga XXXX.
While Toa Payoh in its reincarnation as a HDB town, was beginning to shed its long-held reputation as the “Chicago of Singapore”, criminal activity continued to plague the town. An incident that I clearly remember, involved one of Singapore’s most wanted persons who went by the nickname “Hun Cher”, who was being hunted down by the police for a series of daring armed robberies. Having been tricked into renting a flat at Lorong 5 — not far from where I lived, Hun Cher chose to take his own life during his stand-off with the police.
Block 64, where Hun Cher took his own life early one July morning in 1970.
Toa Payoh’s high profile crime cases, did little to get in the way of the becoming the HDB’s model town and a showpiece for Singapore’s public housing success story. Visiting dignitaries were often brought to Toa Payoh to be impressed at how well Singapore had done on its own in its public housing programme; to be shown that Singapore could do it. A purpose-built VIP block, Block 53, had been put up. Uniquely designed with a “Y” shaped planform, the block featured an open-air viewing deck on its roof that offered a panoramic view of Toa Payoh and its surroundings.
The Queen at the Viewing Gallery on the roof of Block 53 Toa Payoh
The marvellous playground at Block 53 with Lorong 4, the Lorong 4 market, and Lorong 3 in the background. This offered much greater fun than the rather static and compact dragons that now seem to used as a reference point for the playgrounds of yesteryears (scan of a postcard courtesy of David Jess James – On a Little Street in Singapore).
A string of visiting and local dignitaries were treated to that panoramic view, including the late Queen Elizabeth II during her first visit to Singapore in 1972, several visiting Prime Ministers and President Benjamin Sheares of Singapore. Dignitaries were also taken on pre-arranged visits to flats in the block. Living on the top floor of Block 53 had its privileges when it came to this and the humble three room flat that I lived in with my parents and younger sister was graced by the Queen with Prince Philip and Princess Anne), President and Mrs Sheares and also John Gorton, PM of Australia and Sir William Goode — the last British governor of Singapore and Singapore’s very first Yang di-pertuan Negara (see: Psst … guess who dropped in today?).
A photograph taken during the visit of the Queen to my flat in 1972.
Toa Payoh, a town of many firsts, was where the very first international mass sporting event held in Singapore, the 7th SEAP Games in 1973, had its games village and aquatic sports centre — something that many early residents of Toa Payoh were extremely proud of. The seven national contingents participating in the 7th SEAP Games were housed in 346 four-room flats in four newly constructed point blocks in Toa Payoh Central. The flats would be sold through a ballot fully furnished — the first HDB flats to be sold in this manner. There were also other buildings within the games village that would be repurposed. These included the Games Secretariat offices, which is now Toa Payoh Community Library, and a dining hall, which now houses a supermarket and restaurant.
Did you know … that the “World’s Greatest Footballer” conducted a football workshop at Toa Payoh Stadium in 1974?
Another Toa Payoh milestone, would be the opening of the then Toa Payoh Town Garden (now Toa Payoh Town Park), which featured a lookout tower — the first in a HDB town garden, the prototype dragon playground (which had a metal face) and weeping willow trees lining a pond that could be crossed on stone bridges. The pond, weeping willows and stone bridges, which made Toa Payoh Town Garden a popular destination for outdoor wedding shoots, are still there today, along with the lookout tower (to which access is now restricted). The dragon, has long been removed and is now recalled by what may be thought of as its offspring, some 900 metres down Lorong 6.
The view from the top of the lookout tower.
Climbing the dragon at Toa Payoh Town Garden, 1975.
The prototype dragon playground.
From SIT Toa Payoh to HDB Toa Payoh
While Toa Payoh can be thought of as the HDB’s first planned satellite town, it was actually the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) that cast the die that set off Toa Payoh’s development in the 1950s. The SIT, which was set up initially to carry out town planning and improvement, also took on the task of providing public housing. Among its early public housing projects was the one at Tiong Bahru, which was carried out in the pre-Second World War era. The task that the SIT faced post-Second World War was however much greater when it faced with rapid population growth. It was about this time that SIT began first of all to assert its rights over land ownership. It also embarked on the then rather difficult task of acquiring land for public housing for large scale public housing developments.
What the SIT had in mind for Toa Payoh was an estate to house 65,000 people. SIT did in fact build flats in the Kim Keat Road area (Temple Estate) which were completed in 1954. The SIT’s project however made slow progress for several reasons, chief of which was the reluctance of villagers and squatters to vacate land that was earmarked for the future estate. In 1955, an estimated 21,000 people were still occupying uncleared parts of the intended estate, living in scattering of attap and zinc-roofed houses. The area’s cottage industries, chicken and pig farms and vegetable farms, a source of employment for pre-HDB Toa Payoh’s residents, were still operating. The were also other sources of blue-collar work in and around Toa Payoh, and also in chicken and pig rearing and other forms of farming. The SIT was quite toothless when it came to exerting authority. This, coupled with villagers and squatters refusing to budge, made the task of land acquisition slow and rather painful. Hardly any progress was made by the time the SIT had firmed its plans up for Toa Payoh in 1958 and by 1960, flats housing only 4,000 were built — far short of the 65,000 figure that the SIT had in mind.
1960 was of course quite a significant year in Singapore’s public housing journey. It was the year when the SIT was disbanded and the HDB came into being. The HDB made even more ambitious plans for Toa Payoh and in 1961, announced that it intended to tackle Singapore’s housing crisis with an estate in Toa Payoh that was to cover over 600 acres (243 ha) and house 200,000 — a tenth of Singapore’s population! Like the SIT, the HDB faced resistance from villagers and squatters. It noted in its 1961 Annual Report that “organised resistance” played a part, which prevented the commencement of clearance and development work on the new town. The HDB was however given greater authority to overcome very similar difficulties that its predecessor had faced. Offers of monetary compensation were more generous, and it also went further by the provision of temporary housing for displaced villagers. Harder methods were also employed where necessary to counter the intimidation that its officers faced from gangsters and various communist influenced groups that were behind the organised opposition to land acquisition. By 1962, most villagers had agreed to take the HDB’s offers up, paving the way for the clearance of land in 1963. Construction on the estate started in 1964 and by October 1966, Toa Payoh’s first 720 flats were put up for balloting.
The HDB spared no effort in making Toa Payoh a planning success story, and a model for future HDB towns. There were also some interesting concepts that the HDB adopted for the new town such as a rather unique traffic system that carried traffic into and out of the new town via flyovers. Roundabouts or road circuses rather than traffic-light controlled junctions were used to manage vehicular flow at the entry points, a system that was actually borrowed from SIT’s plans, which had featured British new town planning ideas. Similar to SIT designed Queenstown, Toa Payoh also featured a neighbourhood system built around neighbourhood centres with a concentration of markets, shops and other amenities, with a main town centre to serve the entire town. Population density would be where Toa Payoh differed from Queenstown, which was built to contain an average of 200 persons per acre. HDB applied the squeeze in Toa Payoh, increasing the planned population density by 2.5 times to 500 persons per acre.
One of the things that the HDB did in Toa Payoh, is retain some key religious sites such as the Seu Teck Sean Tong. The town and its roads were laid out and aligned around these sites. See also “The sunken temple of Toa Payoh“.
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:
Among the highlights of National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Battle for Singapore (BSG 2023) programme, which runs from 10 February to 5 March 2023 and will feature 30 unique programmes and offer 100 tour runs, will be the rare chance to visit one of the lesser known ruins of Sentosa’s coastal defence batteries, Connaught Battery (Fort Connaught Rediscovery Tour). Normally a restricted site due to reasons of public safety, the site has been opened up to guided visits conducted during BSG 2023. Participants will be able to visit the battery’s badly damaged No 3 gun emplacement, see a Battery Observation Post (BOP) and have a glimpse of the entrance to an underground magazine, a retaining wall of the underground structure, as well as ventilation openings.
The pockmarked BOP
Established in the 1930s on the site of the former Fort Connaught (established in 1878-1879), the battery comprised three 9.2 inch guns that protected the harbour against naval attack from its eastern approaches. Contrary to popular belief, the guns did turn north, firing in the direction of the Causeway, Jurong, Tengah and Bukit Timah at the advancing Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle for Singapore. The guns were spiked and destroyed on 14 February 1942 — the day before Singapore capitulated, but not before all ammunition was used. The guns had little impact on the enemy’s ground forces however as most of the ammunition they had been supplied with were of the armour piercing type. More information on Connaught Battery can be found at: The hidden remains of Sentosa’s big WW2 guns.
The Fort Connaught Rediscovery Tour, which is being held from 9am to 11.30am and 1 pm to 3 pm over three weekends on 11 and 12 Feb, 18 and 19 Feb and 25 and 26 Feb 2023, is priced ar $20 per participant and is recommended for ages 13 and up (minor below the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult/guardian). Tickets will be released on 8 Feb 2023 at 10 am at https://bsg2023.peatix.com.
I would be personally involved in two programmes, one of which will be a twinned tour of Changi Chapel and Museum (CCM) and Changi Point (two tours on 12 Feb 2023). I will be conducting the outdoor segment of this tour at Changi Point, where I shall be touching on the history of Changi, the reasons for its military sites, why it was chosen as a site to house POWs and touch on some of the documented experiences of POWs in Changi and site that may have been associated with them. Information on this can be found at the CCM website. As with the main BSG 2023 programmes, tickets (priced at $20) will be released on 8 feb 2023 at 10 am.
The second programme that I am involved in is Sembawang, Gibraltar of the East, which will involved a virtual visit on 16 Feb 2023 to some of the sites associated with the former British naval base in Sembawang, an important component of the set up that gave Singapore its reputation as being the “Gibraltar of the East” prior to its inglorious fall. Admission to this, which is being hosted on MS Teams, is free.
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.
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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.
Another set of photographs from the Harrison Forman collection offering a peak into Singapore’s past is one that contains views, in complete colour, of a famous but long demolished mansion and its curious garden in 1941. Both were objects of much fascination, and its even had the likes of Carl Mydans also photographing it for LIFE Magazine that same year, for a feature on Singapore published in July 1941.
Perched on an elevation that was described as “probably one of the best” for a mansion in Singapore and one that commanded a “striking view” of a great part of the island, the lavish and gilt-domed residence of the Aw’s in Pasir Panjang, Haw Par Villa, must have been a magnificent sight for the one thousand guests who were invited for its housewarming party in March 1937. No expense had been spared in the construction and the fit out of the rather lavish interiors of the mansion, which was topped by seven gilded domes. Such was the amount of gold that was used that Singapore’s entire stock of gold was reportedly depleted because of it!
Haw Par Villa in full colour, Harrison Forman, 1941.
Designed by pioneering Singapore architect Ho Kwong Yew, Haw Par Villa sat on a plan that was rather uniquely a series of circles centred on a central hall that was surrounded by circular rooms. Entering the house, one would have encountered its reception hall, and beyond that the central hall. There was also a drawing room, a dining room, four bedrooms with dressing rooms and attached bathrooms, all of which were furnished in a rather ostentatious manner with furnishings and decorative items that were handpicked by Mr Aw Boon Haw from the “best furnishing houses and decorators” during his travels to America and Europe. Even the coloured cement walls inside the house were expensively decorated — with mother of pearl inlays. There were also specially made bronze panels which had been brought in from Europe featuring tigers in various poses, lining the doorways inside the house. The opulent interiors would also have been brought quite literally to light by day and by night, having been illuminated by the generous amount of light filtering through stained-glass laylights fitted on the domes, and through the house’s curved steel-framed windows in the daytime, and by coloured lighting after nightfall.
A much photographed pagoda, Harrison Forman, 1941.
Almost as soon as it was completed, the villa, and the fantastical and extravagantly laid out and publicly accessible garden that was created to complement it, became an instant hit with visitors to Singapore, as well as with the local population. Open to the public, the garden was laid out over several terraces of the elevation that the villa stood on, and although it was meant to complement the mansion rather than take centrestage, much attention was drawn to it by curious press reporters and photographers. Its decorative structures, such as the rockeries and grottoes of artificial rocks, a pagoda, miniature buildings and figurines depicting animals such as cranes and storks, drew a fair bit of interest as did its 50 feet by 25 feet swimming pool.
A garden that was created to complement the villa, Harrison Forman, 1941.
The garden soon became synonymous with Singapore and a must-visit visitor attraction. Among its early visitors were Hollywood couple, William Keighley and Genevieve Tobin during part of their honeymoon in Singapore in May 1939, 39 Australian schoolboys visiting Singapore with the Young Australia League in January 1939. The garden also took centrestage for a pahit party (cocktail party) that was thrown for a visiting Republic of China military delegation in May 1941, which was attended by the British military’s top brass based in Singapore. Such was Haw Par Villa’s draw that it seemed to be the first out-of-town destination to which “all newcomers to Singapore” were brought to — as was the case with a batch of Australian nurses with the Australian Army Nursing Service who were sent to Singapore in September 1941.1
AANS nurses visiting Haw Par Villa (with the villa seen in the background) in September 1941 (source: Australian War Memorial, public domain, copyright expired).
The villa was itself was a draw. Public access to it was permitted during open houses held on festive occasions such as the Chinese New Year. Sadly, the villa did not survive very long. It was taken over for use as a residence during the Japanese Occupation and reportedly housed both Japanese and German officers.2 Poorly maintained, it was left in a poor state by the end of the war. Looting had also stripped the house of all its furnishings and many of the statues from its garden.
By early 1951, Mr Aw Boon Haw, who had lost his younger brother during the war (Boon Par died in Rangoon in 1944), had Haw Par Villa demolished in the hope that he could have a mansion modelled after a Chinese-styled palace put up in its place. Later, a 200 ft high pagoda was proposed. The ongoing austerity drive, which limited spending on private home to a mere $50,000, put paid to Mr Aw’s plans and he turned his attention instead to expanding the set of displays. In doing so, he placed focus on using displays to provide moral guidance to visiting members of the public through the depiction of scenes from Chinese folklore, the Chinese classics, and Buddhist and Taoist teaching which contained messaging on moral values such as filial piety.
Both Taoist and Buddhist themes feature in Haw Par Villa’s displays, Harrison Forman, 1941.
Mr Aw passed away in September 1954 without being able to fulfil a desire to have the demolished villa replaced. The garden, which took on the name “Haw Par Villa” from its association with the missing villa, continued to be a popular spot for visitors to the island. Its collection of figurines and tableaux would have appeared to have been quite bizarre to those not schooled in traditional Chinese teachings and was at the very minimum, a source of amusement and fascination. Among those who graced the garden was the very first Miss Universe, Armi Kuufcla, who visited in April 1953. Another famous personality to visit was teenage idol, Frankie Avalon, late in 1965.
Harrison Forman, 1941.
The garden was also popular for fashion shoots, and as a filming location. Among the movies with scenes shot at Haw Par Villa was a joint Bollywood-Malayan production, “Singapore” in 1959, which contained a scene that saw the popular Maria Menado dance with Bollywood heartthrob Shammi Kapoor. The film was released in 1960. A 1966 Hollywood production, Kommisar X, aka Operation Far East, aka So Darling, So Deadly, had a scene that featured a chase through the garden, and a 1967 British production, Pretty Polly (also A Matter of Innocence) included an evening scene that was filmed at Haw Par Villa.
Harrison Forman, 1941.
Following Aw Boon Haw’s death, Boon Par’s son, Aw Cheng Chye, introduced displays that broke with the garden’s theme, and its Chinese flavour. An avid traveller, Cheng Chye put up International Corners to mark his overseas trips. While this may have contributed to the garden’s quirkiness, it did much to alter its character. Much, much more has happened since. An attempt to convert the garden into a theme park in 1990, failed rather miserably. That saw a ride through an all too prominent dragon. This some believe, brought negative energy on the garden due to the incompatibility of the dragon and the tiger (the “Haw” in Boon Haw’s name, translates into tiger). Most recently, the garden seems to have gone the way of hell, with the current operator intent on Hell’s Museum becoming Haw Par Villa’s draw even if hell, especially the non-Chinese interpretations of life after death, was never intended as the garden’s dominant theme.
The dragon that swallowed hell up – during its theme park days.
1A number from the group were among a second batch of evacuees who would depart on board the SS Vyner Brooke on 12 February 1942, which was attacked and sunk by the Japanese forces on 14 February 1942 in the Bangka Strait. Out of a group of 65 nurses on board the Vyner Brooke, only 24 survived the war, with 21 losing their lives during a massacre on Radji Beach on Bangka Island.
2There was a German U-Boat repair and supply facility maintained at Pulau Damar Darat, which included a graving dock. Among the residences that German naval personnel were known to have used were ones in Pasir Panjang and also at Gilstead Road.
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.
The 66 ha Rifle Range Nature Park, which opened on Saturday, adds to Singapore’s growing list of wonderful publicly accessible parks that, placed on fringes of Singapore’s nature reserves, act as buffers to protect the forest reserves. These nature parks offer a chance for all of us in Singapore to do some forest bathing and take in some of Singapore’s natural beauty without adding to the pressures on our fragile forests.
The former Sin Seng Quarry turned freshwater wetland.
Singapore’s latest nature park takes its name from Rifle Range Road, which served as the access road to Bukit Timah Rifle Range. The range was built in 1924 by the Public Works Department, primarily to serve the Singapore’s volunteer forces. By 1930, the road was named after the rifle range, which later became the home of the Singapore Gun Club.
The former quarry and the viewing deck 31 metres above the freshwater wetland.
Rifle Range Nature Park, which is home to a wealth of biodiversity with more than 400 species of flora and 300 species of fauna (including the critically endangered Sunda Pangolin and Leopard Cat), features 7 km of boardwalks and hiking trails — the longest amongst all the nature parks. Some of its highlights is the former Sin Seng Quarry turned freshwater wetland, and, best of all, a wonderful viewing deck (Colugo Deck) that provides a breathtaking view of the wetland and beyond from 31 metres above!
Rifle Range Nature Park offers 7km of boardwalks and hiking trails
The visitor pavilion, which takes inspiration from the baffles of a rifle range.
The roof deck of the Visitor Pavilion.
The rain garden.
On the Gliders Boardwalk.
A Malay Viscount.
A shelter — made of mass engineered timber.
Cleverly designed lightning conductors line the boardwalks, featuring the fauna of the park.
A Malayan Colugo, seen in the vicinity in October 2018. The species, which is known for its distinctive skin membrane — which inspired the design of the Colugo Deck, has a near-threatened conservation status.
Where would the “most haunted” place in Singapore have been when you were growing up? In the days before the myths about a certain set of buildings in Singapore’s east acquired that reputation with little foundation, there were many other places or buildings that were thought of as being the creepiest. The list ranged from the old and derelict, houses with ghostly tales, to places such as the old YMCA at which the Kempeitai carried out verified acts of torture.
One that I was especially terrified of, was the so-called haunted house at Peirce Road. This was back in the 1970s and 1980s when many old bungalows whose glory days had long deserted them, could still be found and even accessed. The house at Peirce Road, was a large two-storey mansion (where Peirce Villas now stands) that was particularly popular for youthful thrill seekers seeking a nocturnal adventure. It was the place to head to for a dare, to show-off, or quite simply, to have the hell scared out of you. Reputedly Singapore’s most haunted house, the stories of those who dared venture into it were of instances of spirit possession, poltergeist-type activity and almost anything that made one’s hair stand on ends. By the end of the 1970s, the house had already become quite derelict, and even if the stories — true or false — did not put fear into you, there was the need to approach the house with some caution as there was the chance you could injure yourself if you were not careful.
Despite its reputation, the house played a starring role as the Soong family mansion in the 1989 TV mini-series, Tanamera – The Lion of Singapore, which was based on Noel Barber’s novel, Tanamera, set in 1930s Singapore. It was one of two buildings that were then in poor state that were used in the series, having to have repairs and a new coat of paint splashed on to look presentable enough; the other being the old Blakang Mati officers’ mess on Sentosa. While the old officers mess has since been refurbished as the rather resplendent Capella Hotel (the venue of the farcical 2018 Trump-Kim Summit), the Peirce Road mansion was demolished, not long after filming was completed in 1989.
