Japanese Cemetery Park

Before i begin any further let me wish every readers of Euro Techno a happy new year sparkling with happiness, success and joy !

For the last time in the year 2007, we visited a park that resides in the midst of private estates. It's not a park that any joggers would frequent, it houses many tomb tones of the dead from the World War II. The history of the cemetery park goes all the way back to the end of the 19th century. Initially it was a rubber plantation that was donated by a brothel owner which he converted it as a burial ground for young Japanese woman who died in destitution. During the WW II more japanese soldiers and civilians who lost their lives in battlefield or illness were buried as well. A few well known generals who occupied Singapore were rested here, however General Yamashita who surrendered Singapore was nowhere to be found because he was hanged somewhere else.

From the outside it doesn't give any clue that a cemetery was built in this quiet estate. Then i just kept going until a wide open gate welcomed us ...

Memorial Plaza : In this open area, well-known Japanese in Singapore (but who are not buried here) are commemorated with this structure. An interesting fact is that the cemetery has another 30 years of land lease, it covers a total area of 29,359 square metres with a total number of 910 tombs.

Karayuki-san : During the Meiji era, many Japanese girls from poor households were sold to work in Southeast Asia. Referred to as "Karayuki-san", many of them died in Singapore.

Field Marshal Count Terauchi Masatake the supreme commander for the Southeast Asian troop during the Pacific War, died of illness in Johor Bahru after the war.

Prayer Hall : Although many Buddha statues are enshrined in it, the prayer hall was built for non-religious purpose. It is out of bound for visitors but i took a picture through the window grill nevertheless.

The picture turned out to be surprisingly bright, as you can see from the above pic it was totally enclosed but it was brightly lit up within.

Otokichi : An unusual tomb that looked like a PUB electrical box to me. 14-year old Otokichi was a deckhand when the ship he was on met a violent storm. The ship drifted on sea for 1 year 2 months before reaching the coast of America. Later, Otokichi lived in Macau and Shanghai, China before he migrated to Singapore in 1962 and became the first Japanese resident in Singapore. Being the first resident of Japanese resident in Singapore earned him a name in history, anybody wanna consider migrate to some wulu country and die there ?


War Memorial : Erected in the memory of those who lost their lives during the Pacific War.

History lesson ends here before somebody starts throwing rocks at me. There are plenty of stuff that are not covered here, if you happened to be at Chomp Chomp do drop by the cemetery park to catch a beautiful glimpse of it. At least you can flaunt to your friends that you have been to a place where the 99% population had never been to, not bad huh. Here's the rest of the pictures showing various parts of the park.

Would you mind staying in houses just beside the cemetery ?

The tomb stones are neatly laid out harmoniously with its surrounding and the park offers visitors peace and tranquility. At least it doesn't look like that sort of cemetery where creeps are spotted running around in the middle of the night !

5 minutes drive to Chomp Chomp from the cemetery to revitalize energy wasted under the hot sun. There's another secret hideout place also 5 minutes drive from Chomp Chomp was recently published in the newspaper. Anyway it's still a place which the 99% population haven't been to despite been exposed in the press, who would want to walk endure the hot sun and mosquito bites ? My friends even teased me that if i ever bring a girl to such places they would hate me forever, bifang even refused to browse the photos of my ghost hunting achieves ... I guess i should refrain from such activities in the year of 2008, because people always say visit such places bring bad fortune =(