Singapore

Bugis is one of my favourite place although it’s always crowded.

Bugis, in Singapore, was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gathering of trans women, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore’s top tourist destinations during that period.

In the mid-1980s, Bugis Street underwent major urban redevelopment into a retail complex of modern shopping malls, restaurants and nightspots mixed with regulated back-alley roadside vendors. Underground digging to construct the Bugis MRT station prior to that also caused the upheaval and termination of nightly transgender sex bazaar culture, marking the end of a colourful and unique era in Singapore’s history. This change helped improve Singapore’s international image as it began to be globally recognised.

Today, the original Bugis Street is now a cobblestoned, relatively wide avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. On the other hand, the lane presently touted as “Bugis Street” by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is actually developed from New Bugis Street, formerly Albert Street, and is billed as “the largest street-shopping location in Singapore”. An attempt by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to bring back the former glamour was unsuccessful. Although the street is not a well-known tourist destination, it is frequented by many Singaporeans.

Kent Ridge Park is a 47-hectare public park in western Singapore, between the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Science Park. Due to its undisturbed habitat and abundant plant life, it is a popular venue for bird-watchers and eco-tourists.

During the Second World War, a hill in the park was the site of one of the last and fiercest battles fought by the Malay Regiment against the invading Japanese army, the Battle of Bukit Chandu (also known as the Battle of Pasir Panjang), 12–14 February 1942.

The park was officially opened in 1954, and was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of 11 World War II sites in Singapore in 1995. It is one of over 300 parks managed by Singapore’s National Parks Board, NParks.

As stated, there’s a history about Kent Ridge Park besides going there for sightseeing.

The area occupied by Kent Ridge Park and the National University of Singapore was formerly known as Pasir Panjang Ridge, and was originally a lowland evergreen rainforest. The park’s natural vegetation now consists of groves of Tembusu, Acacias and Dillenias. When the first settlers arrived in Singapore in the early 19th century, they grew crops such as rubber, pepper, gambier and pineapple on the ridge. During World War II, it was used as a fortress by the British in the defence of Singapore. Many of the plantations were destroyed or abandoned during the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), allowing the crops to grow wild.

On 23 February 1954, the Governor of Singapore, Sir John Fearns Nicoll unveiled a plaque which declared the area had been renamed Kent Ridge to commemorate the visit by the Duchess of Kent and her son, the Duke of Kent, on 3 October 1952. The plaque was erected at the junction of what is now Kent Ridge Road and South Buona Vista Road.

The park contains Bukit Chandu, alternatively known as Opium Hill (in Malay), after the opium processing factory owned by the British East India Company that was at the foot of the hill until 1910. During 12–14 February 1942, it was the site of the Battle of Bukit Chandu, fought by the 159 survivors of the Malay Regiment led by Lieutenant Adnan Bin Saidi against the 13,000 men of Lieutenant-General Mutaguchi Renya’s 18th Division. The Malay Regiment’s position on the hill was overrun by the Japanese and the battle ended in hand-to-hand combat after the last few defenders ran out of ammunition. All the officers except one, Lieutenant Abbas Abdul-Manan, and most of the men, were massacred in the aftermath.

And the park today?
Formerly used to house senior British Army officers, the last remaining black and white colonial bungalow at 31K Bukit Chandu has been restored and converted into a World War II war museum called Reflections at Bukit Chandu, commemorating the war and those who fought in it. Originally there were two smaller bungalows below 31K, but they were demolished in 1987 to make way for a public parking lot. There are three life-size statues and a plaque outside the museum, honoring the Malay Regiment and commemorating the lives of those who died.

Kent Ridge Park, Labrador Park, and the war museum, are part of the Pasir Panjang Historic District, which focuses on WWII battlefield events in western Singapore. Together with Fort Siloso at Sentosa and The Battle Box at Fort Canning, they serve as a reminder of an important chapter in Singapore’s modern history. Near to the park’s children’s playground there is a heritage site marker, showing where the 1942 Battle of Pasir Panjang was fought.

The park also has some decommissioned military artillery – two M114 155 mm howitzer guns and an AMX-13 Light Tank on permanent display, donated by the Ministry of Defence, part of its adoption of the park as an Army Green Park in support of the National Parks Board “Adopt-a-Park” scheme to inculcate a greater ownership among the public of local parks and greenery. The park’s facilities include fitness corners, look-out points, a nature trail, a multi-purpose court and a canopy walk. The highest point of the park is 61 metres above sea level, from where there is a panoramic view of the coast of Pasir Panjang and some of the Southern Islands, approximately 5 km off the south-western coast of Singapore. Islands such as Pulau Bukom and Pulau Semakau are visible on a clear day.

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