Factories around P.E.E. (9) - Magnolia Dairies

Up on a hill along Upper Bukit Timah Road near the 12km mark, stands a condominium complex called Bukit Regency. It is situated just opposite the old Bukit Timah Fire Station, directly across the road from what was the former Green Spot factory site.

But long before the area was rezoned for residential use, the hill top was occupied by a rather famous factory. It was called the Magnolia Dairies (S) Ltd factory.

Magnolia Dairies was built in 1961 by the Cold Storage group. It was to be one of the most modern food manufacturing plants in Singapore and cost $1m to build. A staggering investment in its day.

The first product manufactured was condensed milk.
In 1964, it added another new production line and produced fresh sterile milk in bottles.
The raw milk came directly from their own cows that were kept at Dairy Farm, located a short distance down Upper Bukit Timah Road. Their initial run was up to 500 gallons of milk a day.

The line of condensed milk made by Magnolia Dairies.

When I was in Princess Elizabeth Estate School, my parents had an arrangement with the school tuck-shop Magnolia ice-cream seller to supply a small bottle of milk each day for me and my siblings during each recess. The milk came in 2 sizes, a large bottle costing 20 cents and a smaller bottle that cost 10 cents. We were given a small bottle each day.

This was the bottle I remember from my school days.
You had to peel the foil cap.

Many PEES students will remember the Magnolia ice cream man. He was a very short elderly man who always wore wooden clogs (cha kiak). He had to stand on a pedestal he arranged from the milk bottle crates in order to reach into his freezer for ice cream.

I recall that I was supposed to drink a bottle of fresh milk each day but very often I would persuade the ice cream uncle to give me strawberry or chocolate milk instead. My own favorite flavour was the caramel milk but this was only available occasionally.

There was also another Magnolia ice-cream seller who plied his trade within P.E.Estate on his motorbike. He had his ice cream freezer mounted on his sidecar. This Magnolia man was familiar to all the estate residents. He was a round, portly man who was always flush in his face of reddish colour and wore a toppee hat. He was an icon of our estate in his grey Magnolia uniform.


In later years, the Magnolia Dairies factory also bottled soft drinks, squashes and cordials, soya bean and Chrysanthemum tea. I had also assumed that this Magnolia factory made all those Magnolia ice-cream we so loved, but I have it from some hearsay sources that the ice-cream were made elsewhere. The ice-creams were produced by another subsidiary called Cold Storage Creameries. Does anyone know?

The Magnolia Dairies factory in 1978.
(Photo from National Library Board archive)

How many of you can remember the old delivery vans belong to Magnolia and Cold Storage?

These pictures were taken outside the magnolia factory.

Do you also recall the Magnolia milk in this triangular packaging?

Related links:
Dairy Farm

Photos from ex-residents (16) - SK Yum

Last known traces of Johora Singaporensis crabs.

Following my last post on the endangered crabs that used to be found abundantly in our old estate, my friend SK, whom I previously mentioned, sent me some photographs. These photos were taken on the very occasion I mentioned about him taking his children to visit the old PEE site and searching for crabs and fishes.

These amazing pictures show the old large drain next to the old Bukit Gombak Community Centre beside the HBD Hillview Estate.
It is about the only thing that still exist now of the old HDB estate. It still drains the water from the grounds and from the run-off from Bukit Gombak when it rains.

With the building of the 2 new condominium complexes, The Hillier and Hillview Peak, this last refuge of the Johora Singaporensis crabs will soon also pass into history.

The old Bukit Gombak Community Centre.
The large drain behind the CC channelled run-off water from Bukit Gombak hill.

SK Yum's children exploring the old drain searching for shrimps and crabs.

The last refuge of the crabs.

In the far background, the hoardings where The Hillier will be built. Sigh.

Related links:
A lot of crabs
PEES school drain - More photos by SKYum

A lot of crabs

Johora singaporensis.

After more than 40 years, I just learned the name of those tiny little crabs that were living in the stream by the old Princess Elizabeth Estate School (PEES). These were the crabs that every boy (and girl?) from Princess Elizabeth would have known (or at least they would during my school days in the 60s).

They were also found in every other stream that flowed from Bukit Gombak down into our estate.

These streams ran through our primary school, through the drain beside the estate big football field, the large stream that ran along Lorong Taluki and in the large drain just outside the Castrol factory .

These were the places where PEE schoolboys and all the estate and kampong boys would spend hours catching crabs, fishes and eels that lived in them. It was a testament to the purity of the fresh water that flowed from the hills.

Of course, at that time, we wouldn’t have known that this species of crab was unique to our estate area.

It was just crabs to us.

In an article in the newspaper today, it was reported that this uniquely Singaporean crab is now an endangered species. Duh? Hello?  

It’s such a no brainer as to why this is so.

What was once their natural habitat are now all concrete drains!

Their only hope now lies in the isolated streams of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Bukit Batok Nature Park.

This poor crab, Johora singaporensis, is on the list of the 100 most critically endangered species in the world, and can only be found in the Bukit Timah, Bukit Batok and Bukit Gombak forest reserves in Singapore.

I can recall an abundance of these tiny critters all around our estate in my young days, and because it was small, we were not afraid of catching it with our hands. They would be found under the rocks, which we would gently lift and find them hiding beneath.  A 3cm crab would be considered huge. Most were black but some were whitish in colour.

As I lived beside PEES, it was the stream running through the school that was my favourite fishing spot. I remember hunting for the crabs in the large eddy hole that formed under the bridge to the small school field. Most of the larger crabs could be found further up the stream that flowed down from the hilltop beside this field, where the larger rocks would be found. The stream also had large schools of guppy fish and the occasional prized Tigerbarb fish.

The last time I went to the primary school, a few years ago, I noticed that this stream was no longer there. Instead a concrete drain now runs in its place. I supposed the last few batches of PEES students would not have the chance to play in the stream.

The other location where these tiny crabs could be found in abundance was just outside the school gate, in the drain under the road that led to Jalan Zamrud. I really doubt if any can be found there now.

I recall my ex-estate friend, SK Yum, saying he recently took his children around the empty grounds where once our estate stood and could still find some crabs living in the drains. Alas, these drains would soon too be covered over by the new condominiums being built there. And they lament that the crabs are dying out? Where's the coordination amongst the gov agencies?

There is still an abundance of fresh water flowing down from the springs within the Bukit Gombak hill, which unfortunately is now fenced up as the Ministry of Defence security area.

I am sure the crabs can still be found near the sources of these spring water.

In hindsight, thinking of those young days when I was catching these critters, I recall that what we did would be considered cruel. I remember pulling off their pincers while they were alive to prevent getting bitten...and what else?  We roasted the crabs over fire too. Did we eat them? No, we never dared.

Why we did those things were never a question then.  We were kids growing up in a world where the outdoors and nature were simply part of our leisure.

Here's a photo of a stream at Bukit Batok Nature Park which I took recently. This is like the stream at PEES in my time.

Very likely, there would be Johora singaporensis crabs in it.

So, if you take your kids there, please tell them not to pull the crabs’ pincers off or roast them like Uncle James did when he was young and foolish. 

Love them and be one with the natural world. We are losing so much of our heritage at such an alarming rate.

Related links:
SKYum's search for longkang crabs.

Photos from ex-residents (15) - Masturah Khatoon

Masturah Khatoon used to lived at Blk 24 Elizabeth Drive (7 storey block).
She has sent a photo taken sometime between 1970-1975?

It was of the birthday party of Aidah Jaffar with all her friends and neighbours attending.
Do  send in your comments if you are in the photo or if you can identify anyone else there.

Birthday girl, Aidah, is the younger sister of our estate footballer, Aziz Jaffar.

1. Masturah Khatoon
2. Sofia Khatoon
3. Khadijah Khatoon
4. Hari Devi Ramasamy
5. Tamil Selvi Ramasamy
6. Maria Sani
7. Yati Sani
8. Nor Aisha sani
9. Sangeetha
10. Sushila
11. Nor Aisha Abdul Samad
12. Norsheda Abdul Samad
13. Zubaidah
14. Azmi
15. Ita (nickname)
16. Dada (nickname)
17. Zainab Sabtu
18. Zarina Ghani
19. Zubaidah Yusof
20. ?
21. ?
22. ?
23. Sakti J. Mane
24. Birthday Girl, Aidah Jaffar

Princess Elizabeth Estate at Singapore Art Museum 8Q

The Dept of Architecture of the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be collaborating with the Singapore Art Museum to present the Annual Art Garden exhibition from 18th May 2013.

The exhibition called LANDscape in the BOX will feature collective works by 134 students from the Architecture faulty and will show their perceptions and visions of the Singapore landscape.

One particular work by 1st year student Woo Jiekai is based on the landscape of Hillview, where he lives. Jiekai compares the environment found at  Hillview Avenue with its gated condominiums today to that of our former estate of Princess Elizabeth.

A major part of his presentation was taken from this blog.
You can see a small preview of his work at this website: Landscape in the Box

The exhibition will be launched on 18th May 2013, which is the International Museum Day.
The exhibits are at the Singapore Art Museum Q8 at Queens Street ground level.
I am also eager to see what Jiekai has done, so if you can, please try and give him your support too.

Where was Hillview Estate before the war?

Seems like a strange question here on this blog, but I am very sure most of you will not know there was a pre-war Hillview Estate until you have read this article.

Not the HDB-built estate of the 1980s at Hillview Avenue which was also commonly known as Hillview Estate. This was built long after the war.
Is it the private estate centered around Jalan Zamrud and Jalan Intan? Again no, that's called Popular Estate. Princess Elizabeth Estate was also located off Hillview Avenue but it was not the Hillview Estate that was named as such. So where was Hillview Estate?

'Hillview Estate' pre-dated both Princess Elizabeth Estate as well as Hillview Avenue itself.
Hillview Avenue, as we know it, did not exist at that time. That area was all rubber plantations then.
In fact, this Hillview Estate was a pre-war development. I have been searching for this place for a very long time and even though I had a rough idea of where it was, I was also mistaken till recently.

As some of you might know, besides writing these blogs, I also indulge myself as a WW2 enthusiast.
I read all about the war, especially the events in Singapore and do consider myself quite passionate in this aspect. In fact, I can give you a day by day, unit by unit, account of the Japanese invasion during WW2 from the crossing on 8th Feb to the surrender on 15th Feb 1942.

In 1942, Maj-General Gordon Bennett was the commander of all Australian forces in Singapore. He was in charge of the defence for the entire Western Region of Singapore, i.e. Jurong, Choa Chu Kang, Lim Chu Kang, Kranji and Bukit Timah regions. This being the case, he established his divisional army headquarters centrally at Hillview Estate.
This explains its significance and why I had this eagerness to find its location. Also, the fact that it was called 'Hillview' in relation to this blog that I write, which is mainly about the present Hillview area.

Initially, I was misled by some old war records which had sketches marking the wrong location. They gave this at Jurong Road near where today's Signature Park Condominium or the old Lam Soon Cannery was.

A few days ago, I was in contact with Jon Cooper who is a battlefield archeologist working on the Adam Park Project in Singapore. He had recently made a number of short Youtube videos about the battle at Bukit Timah. It was in one of those clips, that suddenly I spotted the words "Hillview Estate"

This is a screen capture from Jon Cooper's Youtube so the details are not so clear but can you see Hillview Estate? I hope to get the actual 1938 map from Jon soon.
(Please click on the links to see Jon Cooper's Youtube clips and his Adam Park Project)

Hillview Estate was located between Margaret Avenue and De Souza Ave, off Jalan Jurong Kechil.
Today, only a very short stretch of De Souza Ave still exists.
Margaret Avenue was expunged decades ago when the kampong there was resettled.
Hillview Estate no longer exists there and was replaced by another housing development on the same site. Access to this present site is now via Upper Bukit Timah View.
You can see De Souza Ave and Margaret Ave marked as tracks in the 1938 map above.

The red lines marks the original roads (tracks) in 1942.

If you are still confused why the above map show Jalan Jurong Kechil as Jurong Road, an old blog article here will explain it all.

Looking across from Jalan Jurong Kechil where Hillview Estate would have been.
De Souza Ave is on the right while Margaret Ave would be at the other end of the football field.

An aerial view 1950 showing Hillview Estate at Bukit Timah.

Hillview Landslide

When I started this blog, the intention was to recall, record and share old memories of the former estate.
This include any tales of places around the vicinity that I can remember.

The story of the haunted Hillview Mansion at Jalan Dermawan had attracted the most attention and hits of all the articles that are in this blog. Most of them as a result of searches for 'haunted houses in Singapore'  or similar paranormal searches. I get requests almost every week from readers wanting to know more about the demolished mansion. I have tried to reply to everyone that provided a return address.
However, I think the time has come for me to maintain the current mystic about that place. With everyone knowing the background, the mystery is lost. So from today onwards, I will not divulge any further details as to how or why the mansion became haunted. Apologies to those who can't have their curiosity assuaged.


After the mansion was abandoned, there were 2 major landslides on that property.
Once in December 2006 and again a few months later in 2007. Both landslides occurred on the same slope and affected many adjacent homes downslope.

Here is a photo of the second landslide that occurred in 2007.

The land has been stabilised by the authorities since and today the view from the top of that property is really very scenic. The land has still not been developed since the mansion was abandoned in the 1980s.

After the landslide of 2006.

Related links:
The burial of the Hillview Mansion
The haunted house at Hillview

Photos from ex-residents (14) - Amir Ahmad

Amir has sent an old photo taken at the old Princess Elizabeth Estate Community Centre Kindergarten.
This was in 1969 when the PEECC had its annual Sports Day.
Amir Ahmad is the 3rd boy from the left.

Thanks Amir. If any of you have more photos, we would be only to glad to share it here on the blog.

Photos from ex-residents (13) - Johar Anuar.

BROWNIES - 1958/1959.

Johar has sent a photo of the P.E.E. School brownies group taken around 1958/1959.
It was taken at the Binjai Park home of Miss Barton, the last British expatriate teacher at PEES.

Some of the girls that can be identified are (back row): Catherine Szeto Ho (133A), Wong Hock Lim, Catherine Wong Hock Soon (133A). Front row: Asnah Anuar (134E).
The numbers refer to their house number and coincidentally they all lived at Blk 23.

If you are able to identify any of the rest, please do send in a comment.

Amir Ahmad remembers Ms Asiah.

Seeing his old kindergarten teacher, Miss Asiah Anuar in the previous post, ex-pupil Amir Ahmad just had to reminisce about her and sent me his old kindergarten report card.
Amir Ahmad was at the PEECC kindergarten in 1969. Any of his classmates here?

Kindergarten teacher Miss Asiah

The Princess Elizabeth Estate Community Centre (PEECC) was built under the auspices of the People's Association in 1963. Prior to this new building in front of block 17, the previous community centre was  a shophouse at block 16 and was run not by the PA but by the residents' committee themselves on a voluntary basis.

The new PA community centre provided bigger space for recreation and also proper classroom facilities for the new kindergarten. The kindergarten then came under the umbrella of the People's Association as well.

From the beginning at the new PEECC, one of the teachers would stay to become an icon of the kindergarten. Children in the 60s and 70s who went to the kindergarten would know her intimately. This was Miss Asiah.

Miss Asiah lived in the estate with her family and was well known as 'The Kindergarten Teacher'.
So closely connected with the estate and CC that when she got married, her wedding reception was held, where else, but at the community centre too.

Miss Asiah singing at the PEECC Talentime.
She sang Doris Day's Teacher's Pet and came in third place.

 These pictures are from Johar Anuar, the brother of Miss Asiah. They show their family gathered in their old house at blk 18 and another recent photo of Miss Asiah, now in her 70s.

Back row (L-R): Baharudin Anuar, Yusof Rahmat (Asiah's husband), Johar Anuar & Asnah.
Middle row: Joriah, Asiah & Muhamad
Front: Asiah's parents and grandmother holding Maria, her daughter. 

Miss Asiah at a recent family gathering.

Related links: PEE Community Centre
Photo of old shophouse kindergarten (Pre-1963)

P.E.E.S Class Reunion (1963- 1968)

Another happy class reunion after separation for 45 years!
As a result of Eddie Tan's request on this blog, several of his cohort managed to re-connect with each other after all these years.

Yesterday, this small but growing group met again for the first time for a class reunion dinner.
They were from the 1963 to 1968 batch.

L-R: Ricky Choo, Lee Yuh Mei, Mark Tay Boon Kok, Eddie Tan,
Catherine Chua Sok Wee, Debbie Phua & Esther Wee

       This was their Primary 3A class photo taken in 1965.

A little assistance from Eddie Tan to identify who's who!

Related link:  Eddie Tan's search for his classmates.

Guest blogger- Johar Anuar

Malay politicians from Princess Elizabeth Estate by Johar Anuar.

I was seven years old when my family shifted house in 1954 from a kampung at 6 milestone Bukit Timah Road to block 23, Princess Elizabeth Estate.

Like any other Malay Muslim parents, my parents wanted their children to have an Islamic studies background, which in those days would have meant possessing some basic knowledge of Quranic reading.

For me and my siblings, our Quranic lessons was at the home of a housewife, Mdm Sahorah binte Ahmat, at block 24 Elizabeth Drive (7 storey). Madam Sahorah did not accept any payment for the good deed, possibly because her husband Pak Chik Amir was a friend and office colleague of our father. In lieu of payment, we performed simple chores like watering the potted plants at the corridor of her house and playing with her young son Raphael. For she must have thought those were the things we as children could do.

Attending the Quranic class was something not to be feared or avoided for me and my siblings, as it otherwise would  have been for other Muslim children. I suppose it was mainly because Madam Sahorah was not always at home, which therefore meant there were very often no lessons for us.   

Moreover, this likeable woman would always treat us to many types of cookies and cakes she had in her house. That would in a way explained why we enjoyed being in her house, perhaps more than the imparting of her religious knowledge to us.

Mdm Sahorah was no ordinary housewife we learnt afterwards. 

She was a political activist for the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), which was a rarity for a Malay woman in those days.

But Mdm Sahorah was not the only UMNO activist staying at block 24.

There was also the UMNO Secretary General, Encik Selamat bin Samsuri, who was another of my father's friends. 

Though I am not too sure whether the the good man was holding that position in Singapore UMNO or only for the Bukit Panjang Branch while he was staying at block 24. But that he had held that high position was a matter of fact.

There was also Encik Ahmad bin Hj Taff, the chairman of Singapore UMNO.  

Encik Ahmad (later Senator Hj. Ahmad Taff) lived at block 20, Princess Anne Hill.  

He was then employed by the Singapore Dairy Farm.

In the 1950s, Singapore UMNO was a branch of the UMNO of Malaya.  

It was therefore not surprising to hear a story from Encik Selamat, told to me, on several occasions when we both served in the Ar-Raudhah Mosque (Bukit Batok) building committee in the 1980s.

I remember him saying that the he was amused whenever he reflected on an event which happened  about three decades ago. It was on 30 August 1957, when at the stroke of midnight, at the small plot of land in front of block 24, UMNO Singapore members raised the Malayan flag, singing 'Negaraku', the Malayan national anthem to celebrate Malaya's independent from Great Britain. Kelakar (comical), he chuckled, of the flag raising ceremony. A misplaced event he thought. Although he did not join the PAP like many of his UMNO colleagues, Encik Selamat had always spoke well of the ruling party.  

A historic political event

Unlike Encik Selamat, Mdm Sahorah, who had been a tireless UMNO member working the kampungs at Dairy Farm, Chestnut Drive and Bukit Panjang, changed her political party affiliation.

Mdm Sahorah stood for election to the Legislative Assembly in 1959 as a PAP party candidate.
She was elected as the Assemblywoman for the constituency of Siglap.

Mdm Sahorah then left Princess Elizabeth Estate to live at Dido Street in Siglap.  

Who would have expected that a simple housewife, whose roots began at Seremban, Negri Sembilan would become an Assemblywoman in Singapore? 

In 1961, the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew called for a vote of confidence in his government over the proposed referendum for merger with Malaya. His party needed a majority vote to carry the proposed referendum. Failing to obtain that decisive vote would cause the government to fall, leading to the possible formation of a leftist government, as related in the book 'Men in White'.

Mdm Sahorah, who was hospitalised at the time, was dragged out from SGH, brought to the Legislative Assembly House in an ambulance and carried to the chamber to cast her vote.
With her vote, the government obtained 26 of the 51 votes cast. 

Mdm Sahorah being stretchered into the Legislative Assembly  to vote.

We know that Mdm Sahorah had made her contribution to this country. 

In whatever form it had been, we ex-residents of Princess Elizabeth Estate can proudly say that the late Mdm Sahorah was from Princess Elizabeth Estate. She was one of us.

Places around P.E.E. (10) - Fuyong Estate.

Recently, one of my blog readers emailed me after coming across my Rail Mall article.
She wanted to know if I had any old photos of Fuyong Estate where Rail Mall is located and where she is presently living.

My biggest surprise when I replied to her was when I realised that she lives in the house that is next to the one where I used to live. She would have been my immediate neighbour had I not moved away! But then, that was years ago, while she just moved in recently. She loves the ambience of the small estate but unfortunately is having some issue with soil movements, perhaps due to the underground MRT tunnels being dug beneath or from some other causes.

She was hoping I might have some photos of the area behind Rail Mall which borders her house.
If you have been to Rail Mall, you would know that there is a service road that runs behind Rail Mall. The road divides the estate from the shopping arcade.

I told her that during my time at Fuyong Estate, there was no road behind those rows of shophouses that would later be converted to become Rail Mall. There was only a footpath wide enough for, believe it or not, the night soil carrier to perform his cleaning operations each day. The service road was created to serve Rail Mall in recent years.

Fuyong Estate was built in the late 1950s.
Being the nearest private housing development to Princess Elizabeth Estate, it was seen as the upmarket neighbourhood to aspire to. It comprised single-storied bungalows, semi-detached houses, a few rows of terrace houses and some doubled-storied semi-detached units. In all, about a hundred houses in the estate.
These were served by several shophouses consisting of provision shops, laundry, hairdressers, charcoal shops, and other sundry shops. These all fronted Upper Bukit Timah Road. The shophouses were converted to Rail Mall in 1995.

Heritage photos of Fuyong Estate taken in the late 1970s. 

(From National Library Board's PICAS database)

Fuyong Estate was built by the philanthropist Mr Lee Kong Chian in the mid 1950s. Lee Kong Chian also donated the adjacent land at Fuyong Estate to the Salvation Army for building a children's home called the Lee Kuo Chuan Home for Children. Today this has become the Salvation Army Paisehaven Nursing Home.
The roads within Fuyong Estate are known as Jalan Asas meaning Fundamentals, Jalan Tumpu (Focus), Jalan Siap (Preparedness), Jalan Tekad (Strength and Willpower) & Jalan Uji (Challenge or Test).

When my parents moved from Princess Elizabeth Estate to Fuyong, I was really happy because I had an entire bedroom for myself. This was not possible in our previous small S.I.T. flat. I also vaguely remembered that the house was priced about $7K at that time. Even then this was a princely sum. Recently I read that houses there now sold for over $1m! Maybe we shouldn't have moved away that soon?

The KTM railway bridge is located beside Chua Eng Say Road beside Fuyong Estate.

There were also 2 kampongs that grew as an annex to the estate. One was a Malay kampong at Lorong Chamar that was built behind Fuyong on the higher elevation of the hill slopes. The other was a Chinese village that was known as Kampong Chia Eng Say. This was located between Fuyong and the Singapore Granite Quarry. Both these kampongs were demolished and the squatters re-settled by the government years ago.

An old Chinese kampong house at Chia Eng Say Road.

  Recent photos of Fuyong Estate

Remember the kitchen sink?

It may look just like an ordinary sink, and it really is.
However, this picture of the sink will bring back memories for ex-residents of Princess Elizabeth Estate.

This was the standard kitchen sink that was installed in every flat in our estate.
It came with the standard brass tap and the side drain tray that was made of a ceramic material.
I can't remember if it was granite, cement or some other natural material.

If you thought that today's HDB kitchen is small, you have not seen the old PEE kitchen.
It was minuscule! It was so small that 2 persons standing together was a crowd.
That was why if you had a fridge, it would normally be located away from the kitchen.

The trade off was that the bedrooms were much larger than today's apartments.

Now my blog can claim to be  Everything About Princess Elizabeth Estate,  including the kitchen sink.

P.E.E.S. Class Reunion (1960-1965)

After almost 50 years, ex-classmates from the batch of 1960-1965 were reunited at a Class Reunion last Saturday.

I am happy to say that this blog played a large part in re-uniting almost three-quarters of the class.
I hope that they will send in their comments and share this joyous occasion.

Seated L-R: Betty Chua Sok Yong, Irene See, Anne Moss, Chan Kum Sung, Brenda Phua, Rosalyn Tan & Elaine Yau.
Standing L-R: Ernest Wee, Daniel Lai, Wong Chin Yeow, Richard Choo, Tony Cheong, Victor Chee, Donald J.,
Seetoh Hon Hoi, Chen Ming Yoong & Baharuddin A. 

Pr 6A - 1965
(Form Teacher - Mr KL Venugopalan)

Class of 1960 - Primary 1A
(Miss Pat Ortega Form Teacher)

Searching for an unmarked grave.

When I started this blog, it was to recollect and record memories of the past. It was to help old friends, old neighbours, new friends and readers to remember and connect with those days we spent in our small estate.

Some articles stretched a bit further back than most of us can remember, like the piece about  the Tragedy at Sleepy Valley.  Here it was more to let others know of the places near where we lived and how it related to the past.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I received a note from Paul Cameron of Perth, Australia.
Paul had read my blog on the events that happened at Sleepy Valley during the war in Feb 1942.
Paul could relate to the story personally because his grandfather, William Cameron, had fought and was killed in action at Sleepy Valley.

This was what he wrote, "... it is of great importance to me, as my late Grandfather William Cameron, of the Special Reserve battalion, E Coy, 2/4th Machine Gunners, died in battle here.
He died approx. 10am on the morning 11th Feb 1942 , whilst retreating from the Battle , and to this day our family do not know where he was buried."

I was very touched by what he wrote and emailed to him. What he knew of the events on that fateful day came from the recorded history of his grandfather's military unit, the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion of the 8th Australian Imperial Forces. The E Coy, 2/4th MG Bn was part of the Special Reserve Battalion which I wrote about in my earlier blog. This battalion met their demise at Bukit Batok during the Japanese invasion when they were ambushed.

From details found in a book called "Colour Patch" by author Murray Ewen, it said that the Commanding Officer of the unit, Major A.E. Saggers, obtained permission from their Japanese captors to return to Sleepy Valley to recover and bury the remains of the soldiers killed there. This was after 10 months had past since the British forces surrendered to the Japanese Army.

Major Saggers and his burial party managed to recover about 62 bodies of their fallen comrades which they buried in an unmarked mass grave somewhere in the vicinity. The only record was that it was marked on a map with grid reference 753147.

I consulted my friend Peter Chan, who is a WW2 history enthusiast, and he managed to translate the grid reference into a GPS coordinate for me. So with this stroke of luck, we managed to determine that the unmarked grave was located at what is now Eng Kong Gardens / Cheng Soon Gardens housing development at Toh Tuck Road.

The 1961 map of the battle site that was used to identify the location of the unmarked grave.

Google Earth screen capture of the location today.
The unmarked grave site is at Upper Toh Tuck Terrace/Lorong Kismis. (green arrow)

It is fortuitous that the site is today a small park in the midst of a sprawling housing estate.
How fortunate can that be! 
Below is a picture of the Eng Kong Gardens Playground where the unmarked grave was located.

From the shape of the land, it can be seen that the park was levelled out from the hill slope. 

There is the possibility that during the construction of the park, they could have found and exhumed the grave. However, I searched the newspapers archives but couldn't find any record of such a find. 

I then came across an article that said that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission had, between 1947 to 1950, gone around Singapore to recover and rebury the remains of Commonwealth soldiers killed during WW2. The remains were reinterred at the Kranji War Memorial. It is also very possible that the CWGC had recovered the bodies there for reburial as Sleepy Valley was a known major battle site during WWII. 

I went to the Kranji War Memorial and checked the burial register. There is no record of a William Cameron from 2/4th MG battalion buried there. However, I found that his name is engraved on the wall at the Singapore Memorial of the Kranji War Memorial. That would indicate that his remains is unidentified and could possibly be buried together with all the unidentified remains in the un-named mass grave at Kranji.

On my suggestion, Paul has written to the CWGC and as well as to NParks, who built the Eng Kong Garden Playground, for some further leads. Paul Cameron will be visiting Singapore in March and a visit to his grandfather's epitaph is on top of his list. I am happy that Paul will be able to reconnect with his grandfather.

  

Related links:

The tragedy at Sleepy Valley

Topo map reading

WWII relic at Hillview Ave

Kranji War Memorial
A grave discovery