Maverick713
December 26th, 2006, 02:47 AM
What's the story behind MYSTERY BUNKER?
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,120106,00.html?
Was it used to hold PoWs before execution?
Unlikely, says Heritage Society president who thinks it was likely used to store equipment and ammunition
By Teh Jen Lee
December 25, 2006
FOR the past 24 years, Bukit Purmei resident Amolat Singh has been taking daily walks around the forested area of Mount Faber, near his home.
But he has never noticed or even heard about the hidden World War II bunker that is located less than 30m from the Seah Im Road carpark (see map on facing page).
Some Singaporeans, who lived in the area during World War II, believe it could have been used to hold prisoners of war (PoWs) before they were executed.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2006-12-24/NP535524221_12_2006.jpg
The 1-m hugh entrance is hidden by foliage.-Pictures: Mohd Ishak
When The New Paper on Sunday showed Mr Amolat pictures of the bunker, which is roughly the size of three carpark lots, he was surprised that he had never noticed it before.
The 50-year-old lawyer said: 'On my daily walks, I must have passed by this spot countless times. The vegetation has done a good job in keeping it hidden.'
He remembers reports about tunnels in locations near Mount Faber such as Labrador Park and Alexandra Hospital.
'Considering that Mount Faber is on high ground, it is not surprising that there would be such tunnels and bunkers around it.
'High ground is always of great tactical value and so would have been enhanced with such features to enable troop concentrations or troop movements,' said Mr Amolat, who serves as a volunteer in the Singapore Armed Forces as a major.
There are no inscriptions on the structure that could help to shed light on whether it was built by the British Army before they surrendered or by the Japanese forces during the Occupation.
What about the possibility that the bunker was used to hold PoWs?
Mr Amolat said it seems unlikely because such facilities would resemble a prison with metal gates.
'It may have been used to extract intelligence information from PoWs, but I can't really tell,' he added.
The New Paper on Sunday learnt about the bunker when Mr Mohd Tahir Mohd Diah, 36, contacted us after reading about the Mount Faber Japanese tomb in last week's paper.
He told us about a cave-like bunker he saw as a child when he was living at Seah Im Road in the early 1980s.
The flat he lived in has since been demolished and converted into the Seah Im Road carpark which is next to the Harbourfront bus interchange.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2006-12-24/NP535524321_12_2006.jpg
Rusty tin can, stool frame in the 2-m high bunker.
On Wednesday, Mr Mohd Tahir took us to the brick bunker, which was built into a slope.
The 1-metre high entrance, overgrown with moss and plants, is connected to a 2.5-metre long tunnel.
We had to bend down to navigate the tunnel, which turned right into the elongated bunker.
There were dozens of large, speckled geckos which had made the bunker their nesting ground. Clusters of eggs were attached to the ceiling, which was about 2 metres high.
Tree roots have grown into the bunker through the tiny ventilation holes along the walls.
The main ventilation system appeared to be the three large holes in a corner of the ceiling.
The holes were at the base of a 2.5-metre metal chimney that extended outside the bunker.
A metal pipe in the bunker was so rusted that it crumbled easily when we stepped on it.
There was also a rusty stool frame and a large tin can, possibly left behind by latter-day visitors to the bunker.
It was the first time Mr Mohd Tahir had ventured into the bunker.
'DEATH ROW'
'When I was young, I did not dare to go in because it looked creepy. Much later, I found out from my mother-in-law that it was thought to have been a kind of death row,' said Mr Mohd Tahir, who works as a senior technical officer.
However, Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, has another theory about the bunker.
'Typically, PoWs were not hidden in bunkers but put in detention centres which were barricaded with barbed wires,' he said.
Looking at the photographs we sent him, he said the bunker could have been used to store equipment and ammunition.
The tunnel could also have been a communications tunnel used by troops to move from bunker to bunker.
He said: 'There are many similar types of tunnels like these, especially in Labrador Park. I think they should not be destroyed unless there is absolutely no way to preserve them.'
Since the bunker is at the base of Mount Faber, he thinks they will fit nicely into the heritage walk planned for the Kent Ridge-Telok Blangah area.
'Like all other built structures, they provide a very real and tangible connection with our past and we should certainly build on them in conveying Singapore's history,' he said.
Mr Amolat said the bunker may be worth preserving if historians are able to show that it was part of a larger scheme of tunnels.
He added: 'I hope someone can step forward and shed some light on the goings-on in this area.'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,120106,00.html?
Was it used to hold PoWs before execution?
Unlikely, says Heritage Society president who thinks it was likely used to store equipment and ammunition
By Teh Jen Lee
December 25, 2006
FOR the past 24 years, Bukit Purmei resident Amolat Singh has been taking daily walks around the forested area of Mount Faber, near his home.
But he has never noticed or even heard about the hidden World War II bunker that is located less than 30m from the Seah Im Road carpark (see map on facing page).
Some Singaporeans, who lived in the area during World War II, believe it could have been used to hold prisoners of war (PoWs) before they were executed.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2006-12-24/NP535524221_12_2006.jpg
The 1-m hugh entrance is hidden by foliage.-Pictures: Mohd Ishak
When The New Paper on Sunday showed Mr Amolat pictures of the bunker, which is roughly the size of three carpark lots, he was surprised that he had never noticed it before.
The 50-year-old lawyer said: 'On my daily walks, I must have passed by this spot countless times. The vegetation has done a good job in keeping it hidden.'
He remembers reports about tunnels in locations near Mount Faber such as Labrador Park and Alexandra Hospital.
'Considering that Mount Faber is on high ground, it is not surprising that there would be such tunnels and bunkers around it.
'High ground is always of great tactical value and so would have been enhanced with such features to enable troop concentrations or troop movements,' said Mr Amolat, who serves as a volunteer in the Singapore Armed Forces as a major.
There are no inscriptions on the structure that could help to shed light on whether it was built by the British Army before they surrendered or by the Japanese forces during the Occupation.
What about the possibility that the bunker was used to hold PoWs?
Mr Amolat said it seems unlikely because such facilities would resemble a prison with metal gates.
'It may have been used to extract intelligence information from PoWs, but I can't really tell,' he added.
The New Paper on Sunday learnt about the bunker when Mr Mohd Tahir Mohd Diah, 36, contacted us after reading about the Mount Faber Japanese tomb in last week's paper.
He told us about a cave-like bunker he saw as a child when he was living at Seah Im Road in the early 1980s.
The flat he lived in has since been demolished and converted into the Seah Im Road carpark which is next to the Harbourfront bus interchange.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2006-12-24/NP535524321_12_2006.jpg
Rusty tin can, stool frame in the 2-m high bunker.
On Wednesday, Mr Mohd Tahir took us to the brick bunker, which was built into a slope.
The 1-metre high entrance, overgrown with moss and plants, is connected to a 2.5-metre long tunnel.
We had to bend down to navigate the tunnel, which turned right into the elongated bunker.
There were dozens of large, speckled geckos which had made the bunker their nesting ground. Clusters of eggs were attached to the ceiling, which was about 2 metres high.
Tree roots have grown into the bunker through the tiny ventilation holes along the walls.
The main ventilation system appeared to be the three large holes in a corner of the ceiling.
The holes were at the base of a 2.5-metre metal chimney that extended outside the bunker.
A metal pipe in the bunker was so rusted that it crumbled easily when we stepped on it.
There was also a rusty stool frame and a large tin can, possibly left behind by latter-day visitors to the bunker.
It was the first time Mr Mohd Tahir had ventured into the bunker.
'DEATH ROW'
'When I was young, I did not dare to go in because it looked creepy. Much later, I found out from my mother-in-law that it was thought to have been a kind of death row,' said Mr Mohd Tahir, who works as a senior technical officer.
However, Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, has another theory about the bunker.
'Typically, PoWs were not hidden in bunkers but put in detention centres which were barricaded with barbed wires,' he said.
Looking at the photographs we sent him, he said the bunker could have been used to store equipment and ammunition.
The tunnel could also have been a communications tunnel used by troops to move from bunker to bunker.
He said: 'There are many similar types of tunnels like these, especially in Labrador Park. I think they should not be destroyed unless there is absolutely no way to preserve them.'
Since the bunker is at the base of Mount Faber, he thinks they will fit nicely into the heritage walk planned for the Kent Ridge-Telok Blangah area.
'Like all other built structures, they provide a very real and tangible connection with our past and we should certainly build on them in conveying Singapore's history,' he said.
Mr Amolat said the bunker may be worth preserving if historians are able to show that it was part of a larger scheme of tunnels.
He added: 'I hope someone can step forward and shed some light on the goings-on in this area.'