Kent Ridge Park
 

Ghoulish Information


Many had died there...

There were many soldiers from both sides of Jap and Allied fought bravely and bitterly, died violently in the Pasir Panjang Ridge battlefield.


The bloody truth story

On 13 Feb 1942, the Japanese concentrated their attack on the southern coastal area of Singapore, especially Pasir Panjang Ridge.  The ridge was defended bitterly by the British for two reasons.  It overlooked Singapore to the north and it gave access to the Alexandra area where the main ammunition depots, the British Military Hospital and other installations were grouped.

Here the Japanese 18th Division fought a bitter battle with the 1st and 2nd Battalion of the Malay Regiment.  The ferocious fight put up by the Malay Regiment was a highlight.  At midnight, "C" Coy was allotted a new defence position near the eastern edge of Pasir Panjang Ridge, a position known as Point 226.  The battle that took place there later came to known as the "Battle of Opium Hill" as it was near the government opium factory.  This battle revealed the bravery of "C" Coy for, though they suffered heavy casualties and were greatly outnumbered, they held on to their position and fought back, supported by fire from the remaining 9.2- inch and 6-inch guns of Faber Fire Command.

"C" Coy commander arranged for his platoons to provide an all-round defence of the ridge.  There were no trenches, no food and water supplies forthcoming and the ammunition stock of the company amounted to a Bofors anti-tank gun, a 2-inch mortar, Lewis guns, hand grenades and rifles.

The Japanese assault on Opium Hill to dislodge the Malay Regiment started with a ruse in the early afternoon of 14 Feb.  A group of Jap soldiers disguised themselves as Punjabi troops were facing north, was not fooled and opened fire filling and wounding about 20 Japanese.  The Japanese then went on an all round assault and overwhelmed the Malay Regiment.

The reprisals of the Japanese were quick and brutal.  The commander was killed along with 12 Malay soldiers who died fighting beside him.  Lt. Adnan was shot, bayoneted and his body hung up from a nearby tree by the Japanese.  No one was allowed to remove his body.  Six of his men were captured, tied up and bayoneted.  Lt. Abbas, who was put in charge of the southeast sector of the ridge, fought bravely until only about six men survived uninjured.  He then led these few men on a desperate withdrawal to the Battalion HQ.

They were pursued by the Japanese and, when encountering a wide drain filled with burning oil, they had no choice but to jump across it.  Four exhausted soldiers failed to clear the drain and two were burnt to death.  Two others were pulled out by Lt. Abbas and his men, but had to be left behind as they were unable to continue owing to burns.  Finally, only Lt. Abbas and three of his men reached the Battalion HQ situation on a low hill near Alexandra Barracks after dark to report the entire wipeout of the regiment.  -- Source: "Fortress Singapore - The Battlefield Guide" published by Times.


Haunting Incident

Just a week before the Hungry Ghosts’ Festival, my class had a barbeque at our classmate’s residence, Normanton Park. After our barbeque at 8+, we went to Kent Ridge Park for a treasure hunt and night walk. The ending point for the hunt was at a big court, just below the fitness corner. There was a cannon on the court.  Over there, a very disturbing incident happened to my classmate which totally freaked her out. While walking up the stairs, she suddenly turned towards a dark corner where there were dark trees. She was walking past a big tree when she felt something dropping down on her from above. It reached all the way to her hands, and she said it felt like hair was all over her. She was so frightened that she ran away screaming. After the incident, all of us took a couple of photos at the cannon. Last week, I was looking through those photos when I saw a faint white orb in one of the photos we took there. The background of that photo was totally dark, so the orb can be seen fairly clearly. After going back to Normanton Park, two of our classmates revealed that earlier on in the evening at 7plus, when they were exploring the park to prepare for the treasure hunt, they actually heard some strange noises coming from the bushes. We spent the rest of the night freaking each other out with ghost stories. Most of the people left by 11+pm, leaving only 7 of us behind. All 7 of us went for a walk at about 2am in the morning. We walked on the overhead bridge over the AYE leading to a road. We’re not very sure of the road name but it should be Tanglin Road. There is an army camp on the right  side once you climb down the other end of the bridge. While we were walking along the road, we suddenly heard some techno music from behind. It was a very distinctive beat, and all of us heard it. We looked back, but there wasn’t even a single soul around and all the cars around were empty. The long stretch of road in front was also empty, and we could not figure out where the music was coming from. Somehow, as we continued walking, we would hear the techno music, then it would fade off, then we would hear it again, and it became very loud at time then faded off again.
 
At about 3am, we walked back to the estate. For some unexplainable reason, we continued to hear the music. While walking past another friend who was waiting for a taxi outside Normanton Park, the music became exceptionally loud. However, when we asked her the next day whether she had heard anything she replied firmly “No”. While lazing around at the clubhouse after a long and tense walk, we continued hearing the music. The music never stopped till dawn broke. We feel that maybe, just maybe, something followed us that fateful night.

P.S. Dearest SPI, if you could, please d an investigation in Kent Ridge Park and the area after the overhead bridge leading from Normanton Park. We would really like to find out whether what we experienced that night was a reality or just a figment of our imagination…

-- Source: email from Evelyn


Rumours

Anybody who go BBQ there in Kent Ridge Park would agitate the Malay solider ghosts who were burnt to death when crossing the fire drain.

Phantom sounds of gun firing could be heard at night.  (Evelyn may have mistaken them as techno music).

Sightings of were-tigers in Pasir Panjang reported.  In Malay, those green-eyed were-tigers are called Harimau Jadi-jadian - tigers who become something else.  Were-tigers were said to have originated in a place called Kerunchi in cnetral Sumatra.  There is a mountain named Gunung Kerunchi where some people went on full moon nights to perform rituals which would transform them into tigers.  They kill people by ripping off their throats with their paws.  Then eat half of a body in one bite, the rest in another!  Even the Bomoh doctors in trapping tigers would be careful of not catching a were-tiger.  Rumours said that nothing can cage them with their unbelievable strength.   -- Source: "There Are Ghosts Everywhere in Singapore", Vol. 2, The Publishing Consultant.



Battle of Pasir Panjang

http://www.s1942.org.sg/dir_defence5d1.htm
http://www.knowledgenet.com.sg/singapore/shf/e_journal/articles/EJV2ART003.htm
http://www.pointpub.com/kampungnet/fame/adnan.html
http://www.knowledgenet.com.sg/singapore/SG/BI/BIADS001.asp?next=0
http://www.heritagehub.com.sg/visit%20sites/marked%20historic/HS-PasirPanjangBattle/HS-PasirPanjangBattle-M.htm

Machine Gun Pillbox