Sunday, June 28, 2009

Labrador Park-A Historical Journey Through Nature

Hello again, 

Today we will be stepping into the lush greenery of Labrador Park, in search of the famed yet notorious six-inch guns present in the Labrador Battery. Home to the secret tunnels, Labrador Park is actually a natural reserve which preserves and breathes life to the creatures, scuttling among the dry leaves or scaling the tree branches. It may be hard to think, how this seemingly peaceful natural reserve could once be a place to a fearsome battle, one which changed the course of Singapore history.

We started by walking along the History trail which provided many useful insights on the six-inch guns used to protect Singapore against the enemies' onslaughts. Otherwise known as the "big guns" of Singapore, they were publicised to be facing the wrong way when the Japanese fed a red herring and bombed a little at the north-eastern point. These was a trick which fooled the British, and therefore the guns were thought to face the sea and not be able to turn and assist the soldiers in firing at the Japanese soldiers.This, however, as we found out, was entirely not true (not not entirely true). Firstly, the six-inch guns were not fixed at abase and totally immovable. It could turn at an axis of 290 degrees (or 360 degrees for the other guns not in Buona Vista), allowing it to face Pasir Panjang and Bukit Timah, where the fiercest battles were fought. This was a major help for the Malay Regiment on Pasir Panjang Road. 

However, it should be noticed that the overall effect, due to a number of other factors, still led to the defeat of the British. Contrary to popular belief, the defeat may actually be caused by the ammunition. As the British had foretold (incorrectly) that the Japanese would attack from the northeast, their ammunition (Armour -Piercing Shells) was not suited to the correct warfare and thus led to our defeat. The ammunition needed was actually the high-Explosive rounds. In fact, the guns did give a very great contribution to the soldiers on the battlefield- the sound of the shells which were fired flying over the soldiers' heads gave them morale, as the noise was as loud as express trains. 

After checking out these useful information, we continued our quest for the six-inch guns. We trekked through wildlife and spotted some creatures, including a sun skink slithering its way back into the dead leaves, a kingfisher perching on a branch five metres above us, many termites and more mosquitoes. This brought us to the awesome sight of the six-inch gun, which showed signs of rust around its base. After some close inspection, I deduced that this was a) either a replica of the real thing or b) it had been coated by a layer of brass. The whole structure consisted of some statues of soldiers who were feeding 45 kg shells into the front of the guns. By the way, the "six-inch" in the refers to the diameter of the shell and the barrel of the gun. Therefore don't mistake the length of the guns to be six inch! (Even a sniper's longer than that!)

After we had seen the six-inch gun, we trudged away to the secret tunnels. Unfortunately, there seemed to be nobody in charge and numerous queries yielded no answers. In the end, we did not enter the secret tunnels and could not find the war memorial stated on the map at the entrance. But all in all, I believe that we still had a wonderful experience when we left the nature reserve, legs leaden and spotted with mosquito bites.

And that was all I could give you, guys! Watch out for more posts by our team. Stay tuned!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Civillian War Memorial

Hi everybody. Today, we'll be taking you to the Civillian War Memorial located along Beach Road at City Hall. This Memorial was built to remember the civillians who died during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and to remember the shared experiences and struggles of the major races of Singapore during World War II. The structure consists of 4 pillars over 70 metres tall which represent the shared experiences of the four major races of Singapore - Chinese, Malay, Indian and other races. Every year on the 15th of February, there will be a memorial service held at the memorial. Here are some photos and videos of the place.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Videos of Reflections at Bukit Chandu (2)

Hello everybody,

Here are some videos of the second level of Reflections of Bukit Chandu. The first video shows the statue of Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi. The second video shows the learning room, in which several artifacts are placed in. The third video shows the fake cell in which the "prisoner" is placed in. The fourth one shows the attire of the Malay Regiment soldiers. The fifth video shows the well of reflections. The last video features the door to the mini theatre at Reflections at Bukit Chandu. Watch and enjoy!

Inside Reflections at Bukit Chandu-the second level


Hello all,

We shall now proceed to the second story. Make sure you don't trip and fall at the staircase! On setting foot on the wooden flooring of the second level, you are greeted by a metallic statue of Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi staring at you.   
                    
                                                                                                     

Turning to the left, two panels of glass (called the "Windows of Memories") with information regarding Lieutenant Adnan from interviews with people who were very close to him are visible. I turn left once more, into a small room with yet more artifacts used more commonly in the war. They include a Lee Enfield rifle, an Arisaka rifle, trenching tools, clothing, etc. At one side of the wall, there are also several watercolour pictures from an elderly Chinese man who lived through the war.   



I walk out of the room and make my way to the middle of the second floor. There, a large, hollow, half stone cylinder protrudes from the wooden flooring. Above it, a slightly larger but otherwise rather similar cylinder is attached onto the ceiling. On four sides of the bottom cylinder are four box-like structures with telephones. The "boxes" are stuck onto the cylinder by only one of their six faces. When I pick one telephone up and put it to my ear, a pre-recorded voice track starts and someone talks about information related to the text in the hollow (which lights up out of the blue) at the topmost face of the "box". The same goes for all the other "boxes", except that the voice recordings vary in languages. They are in either English, Chinese or Malay. It turns out that the below cylinder is actually a mirror whereas the cylinder on top has some miniatures showing some British officers discussing at a table and several trees. I later discovered that the cylinder was supposed to be the "Well of Reflections".  

Behind them, there are two mannequins attired in the uniforms of the soldiers of the Malay Regiment. The uniforms are namely the walking out dress and the officer's uniform. 

In front of the cylindrical structures, there is a fake cell with a metal statue of a male prisoner of war (POW) behind the bars. Behind and beside the prisoner are several of his artworks (not genuine, of course) about the prison. 


Lastly of all is the mini theatre. It is located just beside the "jail" and shows a short, approximately 10 minutes in length show from time to time. Everyone has to wear earphones to hear the sounds of war better. The show begins in a serene Malay village at Bukit Chandu, but the peace is unfortunately shattered when the Japanese invade the area and attack using troops and bomb-laden planes. The sounds of chaos are rather realistic, and so are the scenes (visible with the aid of a projector) and sounds of war. Much of the show focuses on the brave resistance put up by the Malay Regiment against the Japanese, with Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi in particular. The show ends with some words of wisdom by one of the survivors who was previously in the Malay Regiment, and it turns out that he is the narrator after all. His words left me in deep thought.

Well, it looks like we have covered the entire museum already. Perhaps this entire tour did not even take us one hour, but it definitely did leave us with lasting impressions about the horrors of war and made us truly appreciate the noble sacrifices made by the soldiers of the Malay Regiment to protect their homes from the massacre of the Japanese. I hope that through this tour, you would be able to realize how great these heroes were-some of the many heroes who willingly perished in an attempt to piece back the shattered peace.   

While World War 2 did leave many people with bitter and painful memories, it did at least reveal the heroes in our midst-heroes, whom we never fully understood until the time of war and peril. Maybe every cloud ever has a silver lining after all. However, as from the general point of view, the negative side of the second world war and the fruitless resistance put up by the Malay Regiment definitely outweighed its positive side. Hopefully, the time will never come again when yet more heroes will have to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the golden peace which we enjoy today. 

Hopefully, you have had a memorable experience at Reflections at Bukit Chandu. Our next tour will be to Labrador Park, a park teeming with flora and fauna. But just as one cannot judge a book by its cover, the peaceful appearance of Labrador Park can be deceiving. So, what may the lush greenery and the bustling fauna conceal? We will show you the secrets within the nature park during our next trip. Until then, see you! 

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Videos of Reflections at Bukit Chandu

Hi all,

For your viewing pleasure, here is a brief virtual tour through the first floor of the museum. The first video is about the little "gallery" containing several artifacts and panels with text regarding the second World War. The second show depicts one of the movies that are available to watch on the projector screen, which is the massacre at Alexandra Military Hospital. The third show, on the other hand, features yet another movie that is shown on the projector screen. It is about the battle for Bukit Timah. The fourth video shows the sad tale of pepper's ghost, who is (or was) a soldier in the Malay Regiment. The last video is about the other parts on the ground floor of the museum. Watch and enjoy!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Inside Reflections at Bukit Chandu

Hello guys, 

We will now be entering Reflections at Bukit Chandu. Remember to maintain silence at all times! Just a word of introduction, this museum is rather small in comparison to other museums such as the Singapore Art Museum or even the Singapore Philatelic Museum, but it is still a treasure trove of knowledge about World War Two in Singapore, especially about the Malay Regiment that made their last stand here. The museum is only two stories tall and does not cover a very large area, but it definitely enables us to appreciate the sacrifices made by those brave soldiers who perished to defend their homeland and the golden peace which we enjoy today.

On entering, one can see some artifacts from the ye old days of war which included parangs, gas lamps and air-raid sirens behind glass panels. Apart from that, excerpts from war diaries, black and white photographs and information and dates regarding the war are also present. Directly in front the glass doors, or to the right of the mini gallery, is a projector screen with some informative "movies" about the battles that took place in Singapore, which includes "Massacre at British Alexandra Hospital", "Battle at Pasir Panjang", etc. A little wooden bench is directly in front of the screen for people to sit on while watching the shows. Against a wall beside them (to the right) are yet more black and white photographs along with related information, but this time about the bicycles that the Japanese used during the war, along with two of such bicycles in front of them. On the opposite side of the wall, a metallic statue of Japanese general Yamashita stands with a walking stick in one hand. I am inclined to believe that a barricade was placed in front of it to prevent an angry mob of people from pushing it over (ha,ha!).  To the right hand side of the statue is the wooden staircase leading up to the second level, and beside that is a dark room with "pepper's ghost", a soldier on a small screen in a computer-generated background of a forested area and some small houses. The soldier constantly talks about the fierce fighting in Singapore and the resistance put up by the Malay Regiment against the Japanese. Japanese planes keep flying overhead and shower the area with bombs. At one point, the soldier evens fights with some Japanese troops. The show ends tragically with the British surrendering and the soldier disappears into nothing.

That's all for the time being, but we will be going up the staircase to the second story soon. Until then, see you!      

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Reflections at Bukit Chandu

Hi everybody, 

Today we will be taking you to Reflections at Bukit Chandu, which is a museum meant to commemorate the valiant soldiers who heroically sacrificed themselves to maintain the peace and stability in Singapore which we enjoy today. As quoted from George Yeo, "If we do not remember our heroes, we will produce no heroes. If we do not record their sacrifices, their sacrifices would have been in vain..."

Many of those soldiers who bravely stood their ground were from the First and Second Battalions of the Malay Regiment, which only had about one thousand and four hundred soldiers as compared to the Japanese's thirteen thousand troops. Despite being heavily outnumbered, they still bravely put up a fierce struggle until their tragic ends. Out of all the thousand plus men in the entire regiment, only a handful managed to survive to recount the fateful battles that took place where this museum stands now. 

Prepare to embark on a trip that will take you back in time to witness the tragedies that took place on this hill. Experience the anguish at the senseless slaughter and the blood shed over our country, and also let the courage and comradeship of the soldiers that made their last stand on the very ground that this museum stands on now touch your heart. See you!