The last tiger in Singapore may have roamed the island some eight decades ago. It does however appear that the island’s secondary forests still conceal a few tigers from a less distant past. I stumbled upon one, hidden in a lair that lies under a forested slope in the south of Singapore.
The entrance to the tiger’s lair.
The “lair” in question is a bunker that seems to have been built before WWII. Red bricks reinforce its tunnel-like structure, a common feature among prewar bunkers. The bunker’s small entrance leads into a small passageway, which in turn opens out into a lower room on the right.
Not quite a light at the end of the tunnel … it is in this room that I found the crate.
The dust-covered wooden box appears to have been left undisturbed for a number of years. There’s a large Tiger logo printed on one side.
Opening the crate.
The contents of the crate seem intriguing. Among them are a number of newspaper clippings and photographs, a Paul Cheong vinyl record, as well as a Kodak Brownie camera of perhaps 1950s/1960s vintage. These provide clues as to the crate’s age.
A first look into the crate.
A chain with a shackle, resembling something out of the prisons of old, is one the crate’s most disturbing contents. Less disturbing is a Tiger Beer bottle and an old Tiger Beer can. Both seem rather old. The can is of steel and not of the aluminum variety that is used today.
A close-up of the undisturbed contents.
A close-up of the undisturbed contents.
The crate also contains what appears to be a nameplate with the name “Chu Beng Huat” and the number “21509”. Who Chu Beng Huat may have been, and what happened to him are a mystery.
A close-up of the undisturbed contents.
It’s hard to say where the crate came from, or who put it there. Perhaps it was abandoned or left by mistake. I am not sure of the crate’s origins or where the crate came from and some further investigation would be needed.
I am not really fond of putting videos up, especially when I can be seen in them, but I have included one that one of my jalan-jalan kaki took that would provide an appreciation of the “lair” and what can be found in it:
Filed under: Forgotten Buildings, Forgotten Places, Reminders of Yesterday, Singapore 
