Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Creepy walkabout

Fort Siloso, Sentosa

Fort Siloso gives me the creeps. It may appeal to war history buffs, gun buffs or military types but for people like me who just happened to stray inside out of curiosity, the place is really creepy, more so 'cos I was alone.

It's a war museum relating to the capitulation of the British in Singapore and the occupancy by the Japanese during WWII. Built around the former British Army gun fort at the western end of Sentosa, Fort Siloso is the only restored fort left in Singapore. Albeit, the restoration was quite nicely done but it looks more like a park than a fort now. Too much vegetation.

Remembering that the place used to be called Blakang Mati (death behind you), and knowing that soldiers fought and died there, and with lots of old pictures showing you macabre scenes of the war, the whole atmosphere is really morbid.

It gets worst when you descend into the tunnel complexes! Boy, then it gets really really creepy. Dark, dank, smelly and full of twists and turns, your mind wanders and the hair at the back of your neck begins to stand . You worry that you will get lost and won't be able to find your way out, or worst meet the ghosts of the former POWS in there! That's the feeling you get wandering underground in the tunnels.

I'm not too sure of this place or what's it supposed to be, a gun museum or a replica of the old fort? In the end it appears to be a bit of both, sigh.

Here are some pictures I took of the guns there. Click for a larger image if you really want to, haha.



At least there's a myth I learned that was broken... We all know of the infamous " ...guns that pointed South when the Japanese invaded from the North..."
The guns at the fort were in fact rotated and pointed north to pummel the Japanese army during the Battle of Singapore in 1942. Token action a little too late.

No comments:

Post a Comment