This day, 70 years ago, Singapore fell into Japanese hands.

With all the hype surrounding Valentine's Day, which is yet another commercialised, over-rated day in the year, it's not hard to overlook a highly significant date in our history.

We've been studying Singapore's history all through Primary school to... Secondary school? I don't remember having anything to do with that in Junior College. But, it was "just another topic", and not one that I particularly like, for that matter. World War II, and the Fall of Singapore was just something else we had to know and learn about, which I duly did. I know Lim Bo Seng, Elizabeth Choy, the Malay Regiment and Lt Adnan. But again, it was just something I had to know about, for exams' sake.

This year though, I went for the Battle of Pasir Panjang heritage walk, brought by the Raffles Museum Toddycats. And dragged my parents along.

It was on Sunday, 12 Feb 2012, and we had to meet at NUS University Cultural Centre at 7am. Along with some 100 other people who were also willing to sacrifice their Sunday morning.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time, walking along the ridge where the Battle of Pasir Panjang was fought back then on 13/14 Feb 1942. Siva, Oi Yee, Airani, Kenneth, Stella, Alvin, Chee Kien and Von Bing are amazing guides, and told really good stories. And with most of them being biologists, we also learned more about the flora of Kent Ridge.

I had tragically forgotten to bring my camera. But with a decent phone camera and a 3G sim card, I still took photos and uploaded them onto Facebook as we went along. Sorry, not been able to figure how to rotate my photos since they changed the layout.

Certain parts of it that struck me in particular, I shall list in point form cos I'm getting quite sleepy now:
1. I always thought the Malay Regiment were Singaporean Malays. Like, a bunch of Malays that were recruited to fight. Turns out they're actually Malaysian Malays (yeah I know this was before Singapore was Singapore, but you get the idea!). Like, troops from Malaya, trained excellently and deployed to help in the defence of Singapore.

2. I never knew that Kent Ridge was once Pasir Panjang Ridge. And was renamed to commemorate the Duke and Duchess of Kent [update 23 Feb: refers to the son and the mom, not husband and wife] visiting the troops that were stationed here.

3. The entire Pasir Panjang area used to be occupied by British Military. But there were also Malay and Chinese villages dotting the area. And Pasir Panjang means Long Sand.


At this moment now, I can't quite remember what else captivated me during the walk. Apart from learning more about the flora and fauna, which I'll spare you from reading about (mostly because I can't quite remember also :/)

We ended the walk 5 hours later, at Reflections @ Bukit Chandu. Which I also visited, years earlier as a student. But it holds much more meaning now, knowing the details of the Battle and how much courage and determination and pride went into trying to fend off the Japanese. Not just of the Malay Regiment, but also the Allied troops from Britain and Australia.


I don't know if it's the times of today, or my friends, or just cos I'm out of school, but it seems like there is little appreciation by the larger community of Singaporeans out there, of those significant years in our history. Of course, you'll have school groups visiting Memories at Old Ford Factory, Changi Museum, Kranji War Memorial and many other historical sites. But still, I wonder if they fully understand and appreciate the bigger meaning behind it. Because I certainly didn't, not even in my Secondary School days.

15 Feb, which is Total Defence Day, was just another day where we had food rationing (2 tins of Khong Guan biscuits), some talk, and the Public Warning System will sound at 12.05pm to let everyone know and familiarise with the different signals.



Perhaps it's cos I'm leaving Singapore for further studies in the UK in about 7 months' time, and I want to be able to talk about Singapore and her history confidently to others who may think that Singapore is part of China. Or perhaps it's just cos I'm on my gap year and hence have more time to think about these stuff. Or perhaps it's just a growing sense of awareness and appreciation of history and culture and heritage.


In any case, do spend some time thinking about the people who gave their lives to defend Singapore 70 years ago. I wonder if the NS guys now are of the same standard, people who will proudly and willingly fight for Singapore and even sacrifice their lives. Not coming from any moral high ground, I don't know if I will even stick around should a war come to our shores...







On an unrelated note, my new Macbook Pro has arrived! Annoyed though, Chrome doesn't seem to be working well, not sure if it's my internet connection or something else. My old Mac (which I'm using at the moment) has not that many internet connection problems (it's a little erratic, but at least I can load sites!) so might be something to do with the new Mac itself. Ahhh! But at least I can always see what I'm typing I guess.