Cycling through history: Tour of military sites part of NHB efforts to tell stories from Japanese Occupation

SINGAPORE: A new cycling tour will take riders through places like Gillman Barracks and Pasir Panjang, but it is no ordinary journey.

It is part of the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) efforts to retell the story of Singapore's wartime past. 

The tour will take participants down the Buona Vista defence line, featuring sites that played a crucial role in Singapore's final battles before the Japanese Occupation, which lasted from 1942 to 1945. 

Besides exploring historical sites that may be hidden in plain sight, riders will learn about stories behind the landmarks from heritage experts doubling up as tour guides.

The tour is among more than 25 programmes lined up to mark the 82nd anniversary of the fall of Singapore during World War II. The events under the annual Battle for Singapore programme will run from Saturday (Feb 17) to Mar 3.

SITES ALONG CYCLING TOUR

Among the sites that cycling tour participants will get to visit is a military guard post, or pillbox, located at Pasir Panjang.

Built nearly 100 years ago and left untouched after World War II, it was meant to protect Singapore's coast from enemy landings. From inside the fortification, soldiers used machine guns to reinforce their defence from all sides.

It is among several historical sites on the cycling tour route that starts from Buona Vista.

Another landmark is a 6m wide canal which the last remaining soldiers of the Malay Regiment had to cross to inform their commanders of their failed defence at Bukit Chandu, days before Singapore surrendered to the Japanese. 

"We hope to revive Singapore's history - part of the lost history that people don't know about,” said heritage researcher and writer Lee Kok Leong.

“But more importantly, we want people to know that … Buona Vista was really defended by our Malay Regiment and some of the Singapore Volunteer Force (so) it's really really local.”

EVENT LINE-UP

Other events from the anniversary programme include film screenings, visits to old battlegrounds and a taste of wartime cooking recipes.

One key highlight are the tours to Cashin House at Lim Chu Kang Nature Park. Built on a pier overlooking the Johor Strait, it witnessed some of the first landings of the invading Japanese troops during the initial wave of attacks.

The site is only accessible through the National Parks Board’s programmes and activities covering topics such as heritage and nature appreciation.

"In school, we learn about the history of Singapore as Singaporeans. Sometimes, we take it as just something on paper and we don't really absorb it,” noted NHB’s director of international and museum relations Goh Chour Thong.

“Most of us grew up not realising these things (wartime landmarks) are actually hidden in plain sight. And there are many physical vestiges of the war that still remain,” he added.

There will also be events at some museums. For instance, at the National Museum, participants at a Makan With Seniors segment will be paired up or grouped together to talk about second-generation war memories and the legacy of World War II in Singapore over a meal.

A separate initiative, Peacetime Kitchen, will allow visitors to taste and learn wartime recipes.

The Singapore Art Museum will give participants a chance to hear from artists Ho Tzu Nyen and Ma Jung-Yeon, the duo behind Hotel Aporia, an installation at Tanjong Pagar Distripark that confronts the complex ideological and historical backdrops that plagued the 1940s. 

Mr Goh said that while many Singaporeans who lived through the war have died, there remain stories to be told. 

“Part of the reason we run this programme is to introduce everyone to these sites, to bring them (and let them) understand the stories,” he said.