Getting There
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Travel SATURDAY, JULY 10, 2010 The guns at Fort Siloso protected the entrance to Keppel Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack on Singapore in 1941. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENTOSA Information National Museum of Singapore Singapore History Gallery 93 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178897 Opening hours: Daily from 10am to 6pm The rest is Admission: Adult S$8 (includes Singapore Living Galleries) MRT Dhoby Ghaut or Bras Basah stations Reflections at Bukit Chandu 31-K Pepys Rd, Singapore 118458 Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 5:30pm Admission: Adult S$2 MRT HarbourFront Station and take bus SBS bus 10, 30, 143 or SMRT bus 188 from HarbourFront Centre The Battle Box history 51 Canning Rise, Singapore 179872 Opening hours: Daily from 10am to 6pm Singapore’s World War II sites, museums and tours challenge preconceived Admission: Adult S$8 ideas of how the conflagration unfolded in the city-state MRT Dhoby Ghaut or Bras Basah stations Contrary to popular belief, Singapore’s guns, like this replica at Fort Kranji War Cemetery BY TONY PHIllIps Siloso, were not pointing the wrong way in 1941. 9 Woodlands Road, Singapore 738656 STAFF REPORTER PHOTO COURTESY OF SENTOSA Opening hours: Daily from 7am to 6pm Admission: Free MRT Kranji Station veryone knows that World War private bus to the former British command allied servicemen who died fighting in admission fee includes a tour with a guide II in the Far East began with post on Mount Faber, which provides a Southeast Asia or in its prison camps. who describes the gruesome methods used Fort Siloso the Japanese attack on Pearl panorama of the island from Johor to the The Kranji War Memorial overlooks the by the Japanese secret police to extract 33 Allanbrooke Road, Singapore 099981 Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Only it north, where the Japanese launched their cemetery, its walls inscribed with the information, although the squeamish can Opening hours: Daily from 10am to 6pm didn’t. The Japanese invasion of attack on Singapore, to Sentosa Island names of 24,346 allied combatants whose skip this part. Admission: Adult S$8 British-controlled Malaya began to the south, home of three British gun bodies were never found. Fort Siloso sits somewhat incongruously MRT HarbourFront Station then Sentosa Express or bus to just after midnight on Dec. 8 batteries. On the trip to Mount Faber our It was at this somber location that at one end of the leisure and entertainment Sentosa Island (local time), before the first bombs hit guide, Helena, provided an overview of Helena told the individual stories of some hub that is Sentosa Island, with its swanky Ethe US naval base on the other side of the the Japanese campaign and the military of the men buried there, pointing out their hotels, casinos and theme park; you can Changi Chapel and Museum international date line. commanders involved. These included gravestones and emphasizing that they easily spend half a day wandering around 1,000 Upper Changi Rd North, Singapore 507707 The fall of “Fortress Singapore,” which the “Tiger of Malaya,” Lieutenant-General were not just names but real people. One Singapore’s only preserved World War II Opening hours: Daily from 9:30am to 4:30pm Admission: Free followed a rapid Japanese advance down Tomoyuki Yamashita, who commanded of them was an Australian POW, Rodney coastal gun battery. It has a large collection MRT Tanah Merah Station then SBS bus 2 the Malay Peninsula, was described by Japanese forces, and his British counter- Breavington, captured along with three of memorabilia with life-size replicas Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston part, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, other prisoners while attempting to escape of guns and their crews and interactive Memories at Old Ford Factory Churchill as “the worst disaster and largest who had the rather less flattering nickname from Changi. The four were executed exhibits. You might even spot the peacock 351 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore 588192 capitulation” in British history. of “Bunny” thanks to his prominent front despite Breavington pleading that he alone that wandered into the site from one of Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays from 9am to Although the city-state is now teeth, a feature visible in a photograph was responsible for the escape attempt and Sentosa’s neighboring attractions during 5:30pm and Sundays from midday to 5:30pm known for tourist attractions such as of the rival commanders that was passed should therefore be the only one to die. my visit. Admission: S$3 the Singapore Flyer, the world’s tallest around the bus. The forces that defended Singapore Another interesting site is Reflections at MRT Bukit Batok Station then SMRT bus 173 observation wheel, and the newly opened Next stop was the site of Labrador were diverse, as the rows of gravestones Bukit Chandu, which focuses on the story Universal Studios theme park, there is no Battery, located in what is now a park. commemorating British, Australian, Dutch of the members of the Malay Regiment The Original Singapore Walks shortage of sites that offer an insight into Not much remains of the two World War and Indian troops and the Chinese and who fought virtually to the last man at www.journeys.com.sg Reservation is encouraged but not essential for tours what happened there during and after the II gun emplacements, one of which has Malay names on the walls of the war the Battle of Pasir Panjang on Feb. 13 and Cost S$45 Japanese invasion. been transformed into a gazebo, but it was memorial attest. Feb. 14, 1942. Its exhibition gallery covers The National Museum of Singapore is a here that Helena exploded the myth that The youngest victim, an Indian, was 16, the history of World War II in Malaya and good starting point to gain an overview of Singapore’s heavy guns were facing the while the oldest was a man in his 60s, his contains photographs, maps and artifacts, Suggested itineraries Singapore’s history during World War II. Its wrong way, out to sea, when the Japanese presence in a Chinese volunteer force high- including Japanese and British weapons. Singapore History Gallery contains sections attack came overland from Malaya to the lighting the desperate situation Singapore At Memories at the Old Ford Factory » The National Museum of Singapore and the Battle Box on the fall of Singapore and subsequent north. The guns were able to traverse, found itself in. you can see the boardroom where the are located near each other, close to the city center. Time occupation, with an audio-visual but she explained that they were mainly Original Singapore Walks also offers surrender negotiations took place on 15 permitting, a trip to Fort Siloso would also be feasible. companion providing further insights. equipped with armor-piercing shells, great a guided visit to the Changi Chapel and Feb. 1942. The exhibition gallery highlights The companion — a multimedia for blowing ships out of the water but far Museum every Saturday. The museum life in Singapore under Japanese rule and » Changi Chapel and Museum and the remains of handheld device comprising an LCD less effective against advancing infantry. houses a collection of paintings, documentary screenings cover various Johore Battery are located close to each other in the east of display, earphones and a keypad — Original Singapore Walks advises that photographs and personal effects donated aspects of the invasion and its aftermath. Singapore. provides audio, visual and textual content you bring water with you and by the end by former POWs. » Reflections at Bukit Chandu, The Kranji War Cemetery to complement the museum’s artifacts. of this part of the tour you’ll know why. The tour includes a walk on Changi and Memories at Old Ford Factory are to the west and Perhaps the most interesting, and Although there isn’t that much walking to Beach, site of one of the massacres northwest of the city center. certainly the most moving, objects on do, Singapore’s climate is hot and humid, perpetrated by the Japanese, and a trip Getting there view, are the belongings of the victims a fact worth remembering when thinking to the remains of Johore Battery, with its of a massacre that took place during the about the conditions troops had to endure replica 15-inch guns. » China Airlines, EVA Air, Jetstar Asia Airways and Japanese occupation. Religious trinkets, when fighting or as POWs in camps There are also brief stops outside the Singapore Airlines all fly to Singapore from Taiwan buttons, coins, spectacles and even a such as that at Changi, near where the old Changi Jail and Selarang Barracks, both Taoyuan International Airport. doctor’s wallet and stethoscope bear silent international airport is now located. of which served as POW internment camps. witness to one of the mass executions that Next on the itinerary was a drive All the sites included in the tours can be Getting around targeted the Chinese population and may around Alexandra Hospital, the scene of a visited individually. have claimed up to 100,000 lives in total. massacre of patients and staff by Japanese Two sites well worth a visit that are not » Singapore is not big and its extensive MRT and bus networks make visiting its World War II sites If you happen to be in Singapore on a troops. Helena explained that we wouldn’t included on either tour are the Battle Box straightforward. The Singapore Tourist Pass offers Wednesday afternoon you can gain a more be getting out of the bus as the hospital and Fort Siloso. unlimited rides on the public transport system and detailed understanding of the events of late was still in use and the current occupants The former was the underground head- costs S$8 per day for a one, two or three-day pass.