Battle for Singapore: Adam Park

As early as 12th Feb 2016, there has been WW2 tours going around in Singapore. Many of the tours conducted are places whereby battles were fought. Otherwise, they are places of historic significance relating closely to the war. Talks and exhibitions are also conducted during this time to commemorate the 74th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore. 

Many of these tours had to be pre-registered. They usually run on the weekends starting somewhere mid of February lasting till the end of the month. This year was the second year I signed up for such tours. Many times, through the guided tours, I get to learn new stories and look at things from a different light.

Some of the fiercest battles that took place were in Adam Park and Pasir Panjang Ridge (Bukit Chandu or Opium Hill). Both places I am interested to know more of their history. 

Sharing below what I have learnt in the Adam Park tour.

Our tour guide was Jon Cooper, an Englishman Battlefield Archaeologist for The Adam Park Project and Changi Museum. He is the founder of Adam Park Project. The team he led has uncovered a treasure trove of objects such as regimental cap badges, gas masks, boots and bullets. It is from these unearthed materials, we learnt more about the battle at Adam Park.

Heritage marker board at junction of Adam Road and Adam Park Road.

Adam Park

The 19 black and white houses (numbered 2-20) were built for municipal purposes in the 1920s. On that morning of 12 February 1945, the British soldiers of the 1st Battalion, the Cambridgeshire Regiment, took up positions in the Adam Park housing estate. The Battalion's headquarters was at house number 7. This is stated in the heritage marker board. However, Adam Park was involved in heavy fighting but this was not mentioned in the heritage marker board. In fact, this place was almost untouched since it was built. This is ideal for archaeology purposes. A lot of artifacts had been found especially in this area. It is believed that similar artifacts could be found around Sime Road (Hellfire Corner) all the way to Bukit Brown and MacRitchie which are nearby. This was the only battle line that was left standing on the 15th February 1942 before they were ordered to cease fire at 4pm. It became a POW camp for 3000 POWs. when the Japanese needed the manpower to build the Shinto shrine in MacRitchie Reservoir. Many of these POWs were later sent to work on the Thai Burma Railway that claimed many life.

"The area covered by the 19 colonial black-and-white houses that make up the Adam Park estate is the site of an intense three days of fighting in the battle for Singapore. It was here that, in February 1942, the men of the 1st Battalion Cambridgeshire Regiment held off a series of attacks by the troops of the Japanese 41st (Fukuyama) Regiment."

 -quoted from Expatliving.sg. These words were retold again by Jon Cooper during our tour.

This was not my first tour with Jon. I had been to his Hellfire Corner Tour last year which inspired me to write about a short children story regarding Sime Road.

7 Adam Park
The house, 7 Adam Park, was selected as it sits on a reverse slope and was therefore hidden from a downhill view from Bukit Timah Hill which the Japanese had occupied then.

7 Adam Park

Post war, the house was a private residence. It used to be NUSS Guild House. Now it is left vacant after the last restaurant operator left 2 years ago. Could it be used as a museum for Jon's trove of treasure found in Adam Park itself? These were some food for thoughts.

17 Adam Park

17 Adam Park, a private pool can be seen

17 Adam Park used to be the British Regimental Aid Post. It was burnt to the ground. It was set alight on the 15th February as the ceasefire broke down and tank shells tore into the house. The current building is reconstructed.

The house next to number 17 has swings

Sights at Adam Park

This hill, according to Jon, was difficult to take down. The Battalion soldiers were hiding in the interlocking trenches or drains. I wonder whether they are the same drains when we walked past.

16 Adam Park and the "Valley of Death"

16 Adam Park

This house , number 16, was mentioned in a Japanese soldier's account of the war. He mentioned they fired from a very big black and white house. The garden was so extensive that it even has its own golf course. Actually, all the black and white houses looked alike on this hill but this house has its own golf course. Hence, it is believed this was the house the Japanese occupied and was used to attack the British soldiers. This is located near the "Valley of Death". Jon shared how he deduced where the Japanese were fighting from and where the British were defending from by the artifacts that were dug out from various places around the park. I think it is pretty amazing!

Chapel and Murals
The POW chapel is believed to be house 11. House 5 contains another mural.

Social History
Jon shared too the social history of the place. You may want to read about it here. His new book, Tigers in the Park, will be out soon.

"We are appealing to anyone who has heard stories of their fathers or grandfathers who worked in the area to also help provide a snapshot of how life was like then for civilians working with the POWs," said project initiator Jon Cooper, 48, a military historian and archaeologist.

                             - Straits Times , 4 NOV. Jon made a same request on our tour.

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Thoughts on the tour
This tour is enlightening , entertaining and interesting!  I have learnt much from the trip. So little is known about Adam Park. I have been goggling about Adam Park but not much is being found. Even Infopedia has no information on this last line of battle which left me pretty disappointed. Luckily with this tour, I managed to learn more about the place. I hope I would be able to pick up the book , 'Battalion at War', which he had mentioned. I hope I will not fall asleep.

Linking with~

Swiftlet Nests in Singapore

Yes, you heard me right! There are real Swiftlets' nests, commonly known as Bird's Nest ( made by the swiftlets using solidified saliva), in Singapore! I happened to stumbled upon one such area during the last weekend to visit Mt Imbiah Battery. I had signed up some tours for Battle for Singapore and this trip was one of it. What I had not expected is to find intact bird's nests in the battery.

Upon arrival, I joined a group of history enthusiasts. We were told current status of Mt Imbiah, stories of WW2, the history of the battery, and the suspected use of each rooms. Although the place was decomissioned prior WW2, this battery is the only intact battery in Singapore that remained relatively untouched after the British army left Singapore. The rest of the batteries (Fort Siloso and Fort Connaught) in Sentosa had been bombed. The underground rooms were where the infantry used to store weapons was flooded and almost suffered the fate of being buried away as a result. Luckily, that idea was being abandoned and measures were made to drain away the water. Otherwise, we will not get the chance to visit and experience how it was like in such a battery. 

We were also brought through a very narrow passageway (basically the passageway is the perimeter of the underground magazine), we were told that this passage will help to keep the ammunition that were stored next to it dry. It is also in this passageway, we found the swiftlet nests. We were told the swiftlets are Jin Si Yan and the nests found here are poisonous, not for human consumption. Walking though the narrow passageway in a dark and groomy environment is pretty scary if you asked me. We were told to switch on our torchlight in our phone but I don't know how to operate mine. Luckily, majority of the members of the group had their lights on, so I followed behind. From their lights, I managed to see 2 rows of bird nests near the ceiling on the both sides of the corridor and snapped a picture of 2 nests next to each other (below). You can imagine the excitement I had because I had never seen any bird nests of any kind in my life before. What an experience it was! The swiftlets were probably frightened by us as we were making quite a commotion and they flew all over the place. Luckily, we were told there were swiflets in the passageway, otherwise I may have thought they were bats. One of the birds even bumped into my hand. In the innermost of the passageway, I felt the floor soft beneath my shoes. I could not see what it was. I believe they are feathers. When we were finally out, one of the guides asked whether we saw any big fat cockroaches! Eeewwww... Yes, these are some of the creatures you can find here, much to my amusement. I am sorry to tell you that the magazine is not open to public except in tours like this. Plans are made to preserve the site. I do hope in future, it will be open to public, including the magazine.

Bird nests in Mt Imbiah Battery

In the next photo collage, I am pleased to tell you that you will be able to visit and know more about swiftlets in Swiftlet Garden Museum. This particular museum is located at D'Kranji Farm Resort. When we first saw this museum during our farm hop last December, I was pretty excited to know more. It is not a very big museum but with the guided tour, you will be able to know the history of Bird's Nest and how it was harvested. It was Admiral Cheng Ho who brought them back as delicacy for the royal family from the South East Asia. You will also learnt that swiftlets are  monogamous and not all swiftlets are able to produce edible bird nest, only a few species do. You get to know how despicable some manufacturers are to the extent of bleaching bird nest to make them white so that they are be sold as premium bird nests.

You also get to learn how this particular plant, Swiftlet Garden Group of companies , harvest their own bird nests in swiftlet houses without harming the swiftlets and how these nests were processed. Essences ( glycoprotein extracts to produce food supplements for anti-cancer -SGBx, and stem cell therapy-NUSGx) of bird nest were extracted to make cookies, chocolates and coffee. To find out more, you may want to visit their homepage. The items can be purchase from their visitor's centre. Although I believe in consuming whole food rather than extracts (which were made into products), I bought the oats and blackcurrent cookies because Little One likes them.  

We do hope to visit the musuem again. Hopefully if we are not rushing for time so that we can stay and read the boards in the museum. At that time, I also wished to visit their farm in Malaysia. Currently, their farm does not have open farm tours available but I do hope that they conduct some day. I am sure plenty of people, especially the Chinese, would be interested.

Swiftlet Garden Museum
Left: Harvesting in swiftlet houses
Bottom Right: Mock up of Bird's Nest in swiftlet house
Top Right: Harvesting naturally in a cave

PS: I am in not affiliated or associated with the above mentioned company. 

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Night Heritage Walk at Singapore Night Festival

Singapore Night Festival is coming. It will occur during the last 2 Fridays and Saturdays of this month. 7pm to 2am.

"The eighth installation of the iconic alternative night-time extravaganza of arts, culture and revelry returns to the Bras Basah.Bugis precinct with free spectacular performances, light installations and a multitude of activities for all to enjoy! In celebration of Singapore’s 50th birthday, visitors can look forward to an exciting line-up that will transform the festival grounds into a constellation of glittering local and international acts against the night sky."

                 ~ quoted from Singapore Night Festival website.

I strongly recommend the Night Heritage Walk. Fort Canning offers a beautiful captivating view at night if you were to climb on top of the hill. Be sure to bring along a strong torchlight and insect repellent. Do go as a group for safety reason as Fort Canning at night is pretty dark. If you have keen on the heritage of Fort Canning, this is one opportunity to go as a group. You may want to sign up here. Below is recollection of the trail I had taken last year. I used flashlight to capture only 2 of the structures because they are too dark to be seen.

History of Fort Canning

Fort Canning Hill was originally known as Bukit Larangan, which means “Forbidden Hill” in Malay. The locals believed the hill was the site of burial grounds and palaces built by the ancestral kings of the 14th century, and thus were forbidden to ascend the hill. When Raffles arrived, he set up his residence and the government house on the hill, as it provided a clear view of the port city. This gave the hill the name “Government Hill”.

In 1859, a decision was made to convert the hill into a military site. A fort was built, and named after Viscount Charles John Canning, Governor-general of India. “Fort Canning” subsequently became synonymous with the hill. The decision to surrender Singapore to the Japanese on 15th February 1942 was made here at the Battle Box but all the bad decisions prior to surrender were made at the headquarter at Sime Road Camp before the Allied army retreated to Fort Canning.

Now, most of the fort is gone. Only remnants remains. The place is now a park for visitors to enjoy.

Fort Canning Green

Did you know Fort Canning Green used to be a cemetery? It is the second cemetery site on Fort Canning. It used to have up to 600 graves. Some are prominent people such as George Dromgold Coleman, the first Government Superintendent of Public Works in Singapore. (He designed numerous buildings in Singapore, including the Armenian Church and the second Telok Ayer Market. Coleman Street was named after him.) Many of these graves were exhumed. Today, Fort Canning Green is a venue for celebrations, playing host to concerts, theatre productions and festivals. 

12 gravestones relocated from Bukit Timah Hill Cemetery.

One of the Gothic Gates constructed in 1846, entrance of the Fort Canning Green. There are 2 of them on the ground. The letters “IHS” were inscribed onto both gates. They stand for “Iota Heta Sigm”, the first three letters of the Greek word for “Jesus”.

Right to Left: Former Fort Canning Centre (now Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris), Memorial to James Brooke Napier and Cupolas. The Cupulas are designed by George Coleman too.

Interested to see the evidence that the site was a cemetery? Look at the walls surrounding Fort Canning Green. See whether you can find the headstone of George Coleman.

Majority of the gravestones, memorial and inscription plaques had been removed and set in the cemetery’s walls.

Silhouette of tree against the evening sky

Keramat Iskandar Shah

This keramat belongs to  Iskanda Shah, also known as Parameswara, the fifth and last Raja of Singapura. According to the Sejarah Melayu (the Malay Annals), he was the great-great-grandson of Sang Nila Utama, the founder of the Kingdom of Singapura (Singapore's previous name). When the kingdom of Majapahit launched an attack on Singapura. Iskandar Shah fled to Malacca, where he founded a new settlement and became its first ruler. As he had died at Malacca,  It is believed that his body is never buried on this ground.

The keramat

9-Pound Cannon  and the South Battery

This is one of the pair of 9-pound cannons, which was part of a series of artillery installed in Fort Canning. However, they were never used in combat. Instead, the cannon was fired 3 times a day to announce the time at 5 am, 1pm and 9pm. It was also used as an alarm system for town fires. The fort was demolished in 1907.

The Lighthouse, Time Ball, Flag Staff and Raffles House (Maritime Corner)
Pardon me for only showing you the lighthouse, because only the photo of it came out best. All these are replica, it's a pity the original are no longer here. Look at the captivating scenery I have took.

Before land reclamation took place, Fort Canning Hill was near the shoreline and was very visible from the sea. A lighthouse was built in 1902 to guide ships into the harbour along Singapore River. The lighthouse ceased operations in 1958 when high-rise buildings in the vicinity blocked it from view. It was replaced by an electric-powered light on top of the Fullerton Building, but that light has ceased operation since 1979 with more reclamation and developments in the southern coastline of Singapore. The lighthouse moved to the top of condominium in Bedok. Even that will cease operation soon. Another lighthouse is built on top of No. 3 Marine Terrace to take over it. This continues the list of lighthouses built on Singapore mainland. The other 4 lighthouses are offshore.

The original flagstaff was a wooden structure, and was erected in 1825. The flagstaff provided numerous signals and information, such as the arrival of ships and the conditions on the ships.

The Time Ball was originally erected on Fort Canning to keep time. It would be raised at 12:55pm daily, and then dropped at 1pm. This allowed everyone living in the vicinity to synchronise their clocks and watches with the time announced by the Time Ball.

The residence for Sir Stamford Raffles, known as Raffles House, was built here. In the past, it had a clear view of the settlement around Singapore River. It was subsequently known as Government House. The House is opened for functions and events. I had seen a wedding taken place at this very building with my family. 

Part of Singapore River can be spotted here

Wall sculpture

Fort Gate, Fort Wall and Sally Port

Perhaps the most fun part of the trail is climbing up the fort gate and walking through Sally Port. At
least, that was how I feel.

In 1859, a decision was made to convert the hill into a Fort. It was completed in 1861, and included a strong wall that surrounded the summit of the hill. A moat also ran around the wall. Today, the moat has completely disappeared, together with most of the Fort Wall. Only the Fort Gate and a fragment of the wall remain today.

If you want, you may want to try pushing the any one of the gate doors. They are pretty heavy. You can also climb up the narrow stair way to the top of the gate and have a view from the top.

There used to be 3 sally ports where troops could escape from enemies undetected. However, only one remains. This is located near the fort gate. It is slightly disappointing to me because I had imagine it to be a long, mysterious tunnel. haha...

Top of Fort Gate

All in all, the night experience in Fort Canning is fun. Do register with NParks if you are interested. Sending the link here again for your easy reference. Details of Singapore Night Festival can be found here.

Linking with~

The Secrets of Sime Road

Are you into history? Does HIS-STORY (That is what I used to call history) bore you? Below is a short story I wrote. The story is inspired by one of the tours organised by the brownies, named as Battlefield Tour by Jon Cooper. The story incorporated part of the trail I experienced. If you do read it, tell me your thoughts. 

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"Dad, can I not go to SICC?" yawned Ben.

It was one of the mornings, Ben was going with his family to Singapore Island Country Club. His father, Mr Low is a businessman, a member of the Club, often invites his business associates to the Club for a game of golf. Initially, Ben enjoy visiting the place as it is vast and full of greenery. There are so many things to engage in. He used to love playing in the play room but now he had outgrown it. Occasionally, he plays bowling with his father or swims with his mother. But really, both are not his passion. If possible, he would rather not go to the Club. He would rather watch shows on television.

"No, your uncle and his family are meeting us there. Shawn would be there too!" replied Dad.

Ben dashed up to dress himself upon hearing Shawn's name. He is his favorite cousin. Shawn, two years older than him, is regarded as a smart and sensible young lad. He has a young sister, Emily , who is nine years old.

Mr Low drove the family to the Singapore Island Country Club located at Sime Road. Ben recognised the place as soon as he saw Chinese tombs located on the left of Sime Road. A large, flat golf field appeared on the right.

As Mr Low drove into the carpark of the Country Club, they saw Shawn and his family alighting from their car.

" Hey, bro! A game of golf?" Ben's father called out.

The men left for the golf game while the women and the children went to swim. For Ben, swimming with Shawn and Emily is totally a different thing from swimming with mommy. After an hour of fun, the women and children bathed and decided to have breakfast at a nearby cafe.

" How's Ben doing?" asked Shawn's mom. The smell of bacon, sausages and omelettes filled the air.

"Well, still the same. I had enrolled to Berries. I hope that would improve his Chinese proficiency. Oh yeah! Shawn will be having his PSLE this year isn't it?"

Conversations such as these bored Ben. He decided to gobbled down his breakfast and probably excused himself from the scene.

"Shawn, shall we go exploring the place after this? We are too old for Playroom." whispered Ben into the ear of Shawn.

Maybe he was not soft enough for Emily heard him. "I wanna go too!" Startled, Ben glanced at the women but they were deep in their conversations.

"I guess it should be ok. Let's just ask our moms later." replied Shawn.

"Gor, I wanna go too!" insisted Emily.

"OK. We'll include you in." said Shawn, patting his sister's head fondly.

After breakfast, Shawn sought permission and promised to take care of the rest of the children. They wandered around the compound.

"Shall we explore outside? I know there is a pillbox just outside SICC !" exclaimed Shawn.

"Pillbox? What's that?" asked Emily and Ben in unison.

"Remember Labrador Park? Daddy brought us there to take a look at mangroves. We stumbled upon one of the pillboxes at the playground?" replied Shawn.

"Isn't that a machine gun post?" enquired Emily.

"It's the same thing. You'll see what I meant when we explore. " said Shawn excitedly, walking faster towards the entrance.

The pillbox is near the security barrier of the Club with a plague in front of it. Shawn approached the plaque excitedly. He is very interested in history ever since he explored the Labrador battery with his father. Ben went straight into the pillbox while Emily cried in dismay that she did not want to go in. Shawn pacified her and led her inside the pillbox.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! So this is what it is like to be a soldier in the past guarding here. This pillbox is rather spacious." Ben was already pretending to shoot using his invisible machine gun.

"Shall we go back now?" asked Emily.

"I believe there are more World War 2 relics here, just like Labrador. I am interested to seek them out. Are you?" replied Shawn. Ben agreed enthusiastically. Realising she was the odd one out, Emily agreed reluctantly.

The children started exploring down the road. Although there was not much traffic , Shawn had the common sense to remind the children to walk on the side of the road and keeping an eye on the traffic.

" Oh! Look at those Black and White houses! " Emily started to appreciate the beauty of the place. Many are marked "Private Property". Further down the road, the children spied some monkeys. They were wandering on the field but quickly scattered away when the children approached.

"Monkeys! Did you see that?" exclaimed Ben. He enjoys being on an adventure with Shawn.

"I thought they appear only in the zoo!" laughed Emily.

Suddenly, Emily squealed in delight, "Flowers!" and dashed in the direction of a row of garden arches which were overgrown with vines. There were plenty of brightly coloured orange and purple flowers at the side of the arches. Shawn and Ben chased after her. She stopped right in front of the arches and started to admire, her eyes wide with excitement. " This is really my kind of Secret Garden!" and danced a little dance. She took a step and started to walk through the arches wondering what is beyond that.

The garden at Sime Road
When I post on my personal facebook account, I was asked where it was from.

"Wooooahh!!!" a unison of voices broke out behind the children.