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Contents |
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Have you ever wondered what Tanglin was like in days gone by? When men like Rudyard Kipling wrote about the people serving in the British Army?
Pat Smith found the site of the Pointer, the Journal of the Singapore Armed Forces, it included this essay.
I have taken a couple of paragraphs from it to wet your appetite. |
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A History of Tanglin Barracks
The Early Years |
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by MAJ (DR) Low Wye Mun |
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It is when I found occasion to work late into the night that I first heard the voices. |
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First there would be noises. Movement of feet and metal-studded footwear, creaking wooden floorboards. And then the voices would start, cries of the sick and tormented reverberating through the emptiness of the building. Empty indeed, for no one else remained in the office by this time of the night. Only the voices, and the haunted. |
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I paid little attention to them initially, but as time passed and following the decision of MINDEF to vacate the Tanglin site to move to new and modern premises, the voices became more frequent, more insistent. As if aggravated by the new buildings starting to assume shape and form, and the intensifying preparations for movement away from Tanglin, the voices rose in like intensity. |
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It was becoming increasingly discomforting to work with all the interruptions; and just when I'd decided to shift my work home, a peculiar thing happened: the voices softened. Oh, they continued, certainly, but their character had changed to that of muted suffering, of mournful plea. |
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And that was when I understood: these were the cries of The Forgotten. |
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They were appealing for the dignity of recollection, of remembrance, and perhaps even of reminiscence. They were pleading for their story to be told before, with the passing of more time in the headlong pursuit of the future, they, buried in the past, were heard no more. And as their chosen scribe (whom I assumed I was, having heard no similar hauntings amongst my peers), I felt compelled to relate their story. |
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In so doing we might all be reminded of our beginnings in this tropical island, our military heritage notwithstanding. And as we harken to our past, perhaps the voices will be subdued if not stilled. |
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The history of the Tanglin Barracks is very much a part of the history of Singapore. |
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To read the full essay click on the Essay Link below. You can then download the full story and read it at your leisure.
I have added a few photos to this page to show Tanglin through the past 100years.
Click here to read the full essay |
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A Bullock Cart
Outside Tanglin Bks 1880 |
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Tanglin Bks about 1880 |
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Tanglin Barracks
Between the Wars now at rest |
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The Golf Links
Tanglin Bks |
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Tanglin Bks
A Postcard of 1912
"To his sweetheart maybe?" |
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Visit of HRH the Duchess of Kent,
To HQ FARELF
Tanglin Bks.
1950 |
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Tanglin Bks
1935 |
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Tanglin Village
1965 |
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Links |
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Acknowledgements |
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It is here that I must thank the following people.
Maj Low Wee Poh. For giving me permission to use the material
Patricia Smith. For bringing the essay to my attention, and for the photo of Tanglin Village 1965.
Toh Ee Loong. Assistant Editor. For arranging the permission.
Jim and Carol Traynor. For their advice on content.
The Unknown Voices. Without which Col Low Wye Mun might never have written the essay. |
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Click on the picture
to read the latest edition on line |
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Tommy.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints
Rudyard Kipling |
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Soldiers Three |
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Singapore Today
Always remember to cick on a picture for a larger version |
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BMH Singapore
Now Alexandria Hospital
One of the best equipted hospitals in SE Asia |
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The Teleroom
next to the Peonix Club. 1997 |
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The Old Britannia Club Pool
Now a MRT Staion.
The building is still there but the pool is gone. The buildings in the background are on reclaimed land. |
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Sentosa Island.
What was once Blakang Mati
1999 |
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The Road back.
Harding Road. Tanglin Bks.
The road to the WRAC Quarters, Cricket field on the right.
PTIs Gymn, and Swimming pool on the left. 1997 |
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4 Indep Coy Lines
2001 |
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Orchard Road
1997 |
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These are contibutions from Jim &Carol who have been back.
Some dates may be wrong, but I prefer saltanas |
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Back to top of page |
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