SINGAPORE – Defeated, exhausted and likely wounded, soldiers from the Malay Regiment gathered in the Keppel Golf Links area on the night of Feb 15, 1942, a few hours after the British surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
Not long after, the regiment’s Malay soldiers, numbering about 600, were separated from British officers and marched to a concentration area in Farrer Park, where they joined Indian prisoners of war.
The British were taken to Changi Military Camp and interned, noted a 1965 article on the regiment, in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
The journal also detailed its soldiers’ small triumphs, such as when they rained machine gun fire on approaching Japanese troops not far from the golf course, killing scores and preventing them from taking it until after the surrender.
More than eight decades after defeated soldiers gathered in the golf course area, the Housing Board announced last month (April 12) that the course will soon make way for 9,000 homes, with the first of about 6,000 public flats to go on sale within three years. The remaining 3,000 units are expected to be private housing.
Before construction begins, an archaeological study may take place on the 48ha plot. Spokesmen for the National Heritage Board (NHB) and HDB told The Straits Times in a joint reply last Friday (May 13) that they are considering commissioning one on the Keppel Club site.
The lease for the golf course site expires on June 30 and the club has until March 31 next year to clear and reinstate its clubhouse site.
The spokesmen did not elaborate on why a study is being considered, or what its scope might be, but archaeologists and heritage enthusiasts flagged the site’s archaeological potential last month in the wake of HDB’s announcement.
Referencing soldiers’ accounts of the war, which often include mentions of Allied soldiers disposing of their weapons to prevent enemies from using them, researchers said it is possible that an archaeological dig may uncover weapons, ammunition and uniform scraps.
Battlefield archaeologist Jon Cooper, who previously led a study of Adam Park, another World War II site, said while works on the golf course over the years mean that any artefacts may already have been lost or removed from context, the site’s periphery may yield finds, such as slit trenches dug by soldiers to defend their position.
Others such as heritage enthusiast and researcher Sarafian Salleh hope that an archaeological study, if conducted, will shed light on the larger Telok Blangah area’s history, which spans centuries.
He noted that Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan had in 1349 written about visiting Temasek, as Singapore was then known, where he passed through Longyamen, a name given to rock features that are believed to have been located in present-day Keppel Straits.
In Temasek, Wang recorded seeing natives and Chinese living alongside each other, leading Mr Sarafian to believe that multiracial societies existed in the area as far back as the 1300s.
More recently, Mr Sarafian said, villages also existed in and around the Keppel golf course, such as Kampong Berlayar, shown on a 1943 map.
Archaeologist Aaron Kao of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute said the odds of finding signs of human settlements on the course that predate the 19th century are low, as maritime societies before then – unlike those at the Singapore River – were largely known to live in boat dwellings, spending little time on land.
Nonetheless, he added, a study is necessary to determine if any artefacts can be found.
He hopes that rather than just focusing on the Keppel Club site, the authorities may consider studying the wider Keppel and Telok Blangah area, including islands such as Pulau Brani and Keppel Island, and the waterway between Keppel and Sentosa.
“The richness of the history of the area is intrinsically maritime in nature. This includes not only the New Harbour completed in the 1880s but also the once powerful Orang Laut – both of whose details we know little about,” said Mr Kao, referring to Keppel Harbour, which the British opened to boost maritime trade in Singapore.
“Archaeology, before more development works are carried out, may provide a more accurate and nuanced narrative of the area.”
Conservator Yeo Kang Shua said information from Keppel Club on how the golf course’s fairways were constructed will help archaeologists decide if digging should be part of the potential study.
If the original soil layer has been removed – which means it is unlikely that artefacts will be found close to the surface – Dr Yeo said a watching brief should suffice.
This involves having an archaeologist on standby when earthworks begin. This expert can document any artefacts that the works expose.
In the absence of the golf course’s construction information, Dr Yeo added, some trenches will likely need to be dug to assess the site.
He said besides studying the heritage of the golf course, he hopes a cluster of conserved colonial bungalows on Bukit Chermin – built in the 1900s – will be integrated into the future public housing development.
Features of the club such as its clubhouse, could also be reused to avoid the environmental cost of demolition and rebuilding, he added.
The NHB and HDB spokesmen said a heritage impact assessment will not be carried out for the club’s redevelopment, as it will mainly affect open spaces of the golf course.
The assessments “will likely only be required for sites with large-scale redevelopment, such as future housing estates and business centres, impacting clusters of buildings of potentially high and complex heritage significance”, they added.
But the authorities commissioned an environmental impact assessment in November 2020, given the site’s proximity to green areas such as Labrador Nature Reserve.
“Source: [Archaeological study may precede redevelopment of Keppel Club site] © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction”
