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History & Ghost of Sentosa

September 15, 2009 by saikitshijie

Sentosa History & Ghosts

Sentosa Today

Sentosa Island, looking at it today it is a very properous island & a popular tourist place of attractions.

However has it ever come across your mind on what was this place before it became Sentosa of today? Has it even been known to you that Sentosa is the new name of this little island?

Ancient Days

Too little was known about Sentosa before the 19th century. The real history of this island began somewhere during the 1800s onwards. before the 1800s, everything about this island was an island of mytery. It was just basically some mysterious, isolated, deserted & remote island.

This island came into the hands of many & several events took place in fact.

It was believed to had fallen into the hands of indonesian rule as one of their land once as well as the hands of many more others. Many of our enemies & neighbours during those ancient days had been going all out to conquer this island.

What was Sentosa?

Some said that this island was once an island of the dead with several graveyards & cemetaries. But there are also records of the place to be some village or so called kampongs of the malays or the Bugis or some Indonesians have settled here initially.

However, the inhabitants was not able to stay in this island peacefully. During the 1700s era & those days where the pirates rule the seas & waters, this island was the lair of the Pirates! It was very likely that there could have been some epic or legendary battles between the local inhabitants & the pirates that might had taken place in which in the end the pirates won the fight & dominated island, thus making it their pirate lair & stronghold.

Pirate’s Treasure Island

Who knows? perhaps someday someone will discover some hidden treasures, gold & many valurables burried in this island. Perhaps it really is some treasure island ! After all as it was the lair of the Pirates. This place was once their home, the place where they would bring back their loots & store it here & many other pirates related activities taking place in or near this island.

In the timeline of history of the past, this island has been some very impregnable fortress, basically.

Old name

The Old name for sentosa was

Pulau Blakang Mati which means Dead from behind in Malay. Don’t ask me why & any other details, this was simply just the name of this island back then. The name of Sentosa in malays means : peace and tranquillity.

Accounts Of Pulau Blakang Mati

There are some accounts on how this island got this name, probably. The below are some likely or perhaps possible reasons to how island got this name.

Story 1

An account to this ominous name was of vicious, guresome & brutal murder as well as piracy in the island’s past that attributed to the name of Pulau Blakang Mati !

Story 2

This island was the Material Paradise of warrior spirits buried at Pulau Brani & hence this island was named as Pulau Blakang Mati !

Story 3

An outbreak of disease on this island in the late 1840s in which almost all of the orginal Bugis settlers on the island was wiped out for good. This myterious disease was actually malaria being defined out in 1898.

It was Dr Robert Little, a British Coroner was who investigating the deaths that stumbled upon what was called as BLankang Mati Fever was actually caused by miasmastic fumes arising from decaying leaves and swampy water on the island. This event has leand to a controvery in the medical circles at that time being defined as malaria that is spread by the Anopheles mosquito. The government’s malaria research station was originally located there. Hence it was named as Pulau Blakang Mati !

Story 4

The last account was due to the lack of fertile soil on the hills of the island that lead to this name of Pulau Blakang Mati !

So which to you is the more likely version of how or why this island was named as Pulau Blakang Mati to you out of the 4 accounts? You form your own conclusions.

Sentosa During British Rule

The story did not end just like that, it still continues. Years later, during the 1800s Singapore became a British Colony. So what happened during that period of time?

This island was once a protected island as it is a passage way to Kepple harbour during the point of time in which Singapore was a settlement of the British colony. Initially there were few fortifications in the island until 1880s when rapid growth of the

harbour led to concern over the protection of coal stocks against enemy attack. The forts built on the island were Fort Siloso, Fort Serapong, Fort Connaught and the Mount Imbiah Battery.Years later during World War 2 (WW2), Fort Siloso was once used to be called sarang rimau (the

tiger’s den). There is however no explaination of orang laut of Kampong Kopit only knowing the place by the name of sarang rimau. It was somewhere in the 1930s, that the island was heavily fortified and a crucial component of Fortress Singapore, and the base of the Royal Artillery

Believing that the only way to invade Singapore is by the seas, The British placed big artillery guns on this island facing the south. The British were expecting a sea assault.However, the Japanese caught them by suprised & off guarded. The Japanese did not attack from the south but instead from the north! Indeed as it is, death from behind this name lifted up to it’s name.

Sentosa Prison Camp & Killing Fields

After the surrender of the Allied forces in

February 15, 1942, this island became Prison Camp! The Prisoners of War were being thrown into this island & it housed the prisoners of the British & Australian captured by the Japanese of that time. During that Japanese Occupation, an operation took place which was the

Sook Ching Operation. However, suspected people & especially the chinese of anti-Japanese activities & often arbitrarily were being brutally & merciless killed. Many of were killed at the beach of Pulau Blakang Mati ! Pulau Blakang Mati was just one of those killing fields.

1st SRRAAfter the Japanese uncontional surrender in 1945 & Singapore was returned back to the British rule, this island had became into the base of locally enlisted First Singapore Regiment of the Royal Artillery (1st SRRA) in 1947. Other locally enlisted men from Singapore were sent to the island for basic military training before being sent to other units of the British Army in Singapore

Catholic Retreat & Protestant Church House

1 decade later, the 1st SRRA was disbanded and its guns dismantled. The coast artillery was replaced with Gurkha infantry units, first the 2/7th Duke of Edinburgh’s own Gurkha Rifles and later the 2/10th Princess Mary’s own Gurkha Rifles. Fort Siloso and Fort Serapong became a Catholic retreat and a Protestant church house respectively. Fort Connaught was left in ruins.

Indonesia Attacks

In the early 1960s, during the Indonesian Confrontation, the 2/10th unit defended the island against Indonesian saboteurs. Whom diliberately wanted give problems to Singapore hindering & stopping our independence. They wanted very much to make Singapore to be part of Indonesia.

With the end of the Confrontation in 1966 and the withdrawal of the Gurkha units from the island, the British handed over Sentosa to the Singapore Armed Forces of the newly independent Government of Singapore in 1967.

Naval Base Sentosa

In 1967, Pulau Blakang Mati became the base for the Singapore Naval Volunteer Force, which relocated there from its old base at Telok Ayer Basin. The School of Maritime Training was also set up there, as was the first Naval Medical Centre.

Holiday Resort Sentosa

It was in the 1970s, the government decided to develop the island into a holiday resort for local visitors and tourists.

It was in the year of 1972 that this island was renamed as Sentosa which means peace and tranquillity in Malay, from a suggestion by the public. Sentosa Development Corporation was formed and incorporated on 1 September 1972 to oversee the development of the island & some S$420 million of private capital and another S$500 million of government funds have been invested to develop the island.

In the year of 1974 the Singapore Cable Car system was built, linking Sentosa to Mount Faber. Subsequently, series of attractions were being built on this island & opened for visitors. A causeway bridge was opened in 1992 connecting Sentosa to the mainland of Singapore.

The Sentosa Monorail system was opened in 1982 to transport visitors to various stations located around the island & on 16 March 2005, the monorail service was discontinued to make way for the new Sentosa Express, which commenced operations on 15 January 2007.

Attractions still continues even in the recent years. Some of it is the Casino & alot more.

Sentosa Geography

Where geography of this island is of concern, 70% of the island is covered with rain forest, the favorite dwelling place of monkeys, monitor lizards, peacocks and parrots. Sentosa is a good collection of a wide range of flora and fauna. This island used to be a place with several pineapples.

Email on Sentosa Ghost

Just today I had received some very typical forwarded email regarding on Sentosa.

Basically in the email it says that the Siloso beach & the deep waters of sentosa should be avoided during the night.

The story basically says that some very typical girl that just wanted to have some fun who went there & stay there till very late in night & who want to enjoy the breeze & moon, & to frolick in the sun and sea at the beach side of the island returned home with something additional.

Sentosa Water Ghosts

It was not just the sports bra tanline but a set of child’s handprints and one more on the shoulder, a bigger hand. There also finger nails marks as well.

When they went to a Chinese temple regarding on this matter, this was what that exactly happened. There was initally a Child water ghost that appeared trying to drag her into the waters & drown her so that she could replace her as the next water ghost & when this happens this child would then be able to recarninate.

However what happened was that this Child ghost’s attempt was unsuccessful somehow & in the end this child brough along an adult ghost to help & the outcome was also the same, Unsuccessful !

So why was it then that 2 ghosts combined together to drown 1 mere mortal girl was unsuccessful? Were they really that lousy?

Buddha Blessing & Protection

Actually, that was not the case, as the family were buddhist & they do their prayers often & frequently, the gods were actually blessing & protecting their daughter from harm & danger.

The water ghosts were drown ghosts at Siloso beach in the recent years, probably.

Hence the email suggested on avoiding the Siloso beach or staying away from deep waters late at night.

Haunted Island Sentosa

In fact, indeed it is true as well that there are haunted places in this island of sentosa & there are ghost stories in some places of sentosa too !

Several deaths had taken place in the past few centuries inside this island. It is not anything suprising that it is a haunted island.

But anyways need not too worry too much, over all to say, this island is not really that “Yin” The ” Yang ” elements is still more & stronger as this island is always filled with live humans with many activities on this island all day through out, 24hrs & 365days.

Links

The below will be some links on the ghost stories of Sentosa island

http://www.hungzai.com/sentosa-chalet/

http://www.hungzai.com/sentosa-white-house/

http://forums.keeptouch.net/archive/index.php/t-44314.html

http://www.yensa.net/ghost1/ha18.htm

The below links would be some with regards to it’s history

http://www.focussingapore.com/singapore-entertainment/sentosa-island/history-sentosa-island.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentosa

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Sentosa_-_History/id/5454199

http://www-bus.tp.edu.sg/tas_home/tas_about_us/tas_history.htm

http://www.sentosa.com.sg/about_us/sentosa_island/milestones.html