A PASSAGE TO INDIA: 158. FORT CANNING

A pleasant Sunday morning was spent exploring Fort Canning Park, ending with a picnic lunch of vegetarian noodles. There was much chatter and banter, the volunteer guides among us must have had a hard time getting everybody's attention when we were more into discussing other matters - from recipes to travel to latest gossip...! And I was clicking away at stuff which might make for an interesting report...

Better known in the old days as Bukit Larangan - Malay for Forbidden Hill. With a name like that, plenty of myths and stories abound - that it's haunted...that it's royal ground, so out of bounds...
From the archival photos, one can see why...

The Hotel Fort Canning is restored from a former British Military structure. It was an admin building of the British F E Command HQ, so many well known personalities passed through its corridors - many have lent their names to Singapore's streets. The Japanese used the building during their Occupation - 1942 - 1945. When independence came to Singapore, its Armed Forces (SAF) took over. For a while after that, it was a Country Club till 2011 when it was refurbished into this hotel...

This was the site of Raffles' home built atop Government Hill. It was a wood and attap structure in keeping with the tropics and a Singapore of old. Look at it now after restoration into an events venue!

The Fort Canning Centre is the back side of the Arts Centre. Over a period of several years I was an annual volunteer at the holistic fairs...as the appointments assistant to a palmist/numerologist! Great weekend to people watch and eavesdrop on the readings!

The Fort Canning Arts Center used to be a barrack block, converted into an Arts Museum, since closed. It faces Fort Canning Green, a large field which has been the venue of several successful outdoor arts performances...On the far left, the white memorial is to William Napier's infant son, now commonly referred to as the Napier Memorial. Napier Road was named after William Napier...

Napier Memorial - then and now

George Coleman's tomb (above) and what's left (below) a tombstone plaque at the same spot...

Coleman was an Irish public works architect. Coleman St and Coleman bridge were named after him. He designed the Gothic Gates and the 2 cupolas in this park. Quite a few English and Irish notables left their mark and their remains in Fort Canning perhaps because it was a large and important Operations center.

Guests workers from Myanmar and the Philippines have found a quiet and condusive picnic spot in this lovely park...somehow, they find their way around through their amazing network...

Gothic Gate - entrance into the christian cemetery. There are 2 of these gates intended as entry points into the christian cemetery. The very old graves were in a bad state so most were exhumed, a few are still there in another corner of the park, the tombstones of some exhumed graves are displayed on the walls as a memorial walk (pic above)
The 2 Gothic Gates and these 2 cupolas have been restored, they look brand new now...!

These cupolas are decorative to provide brief respite from the sun or rain, there are no seats within...

An excavation site where they found shards of porcelain, bottles, metal items, coins - nothing that will interest Nat Geo...
Whatever that was of interest are displayed behind the dig sites

A lighthouse on top of a hill makes sense. Before all that reclamation extended this island somewhat, ships could have bumped into our rock. This is a replica, a legacy of its contribution to Singapore's maritime history...

This is the keramat to an Iskandar Shah...some notable. He was the last king of old Singapura. Ancient history on our early ancestors is vague with no real facts or written records, chiefly word of mouth (like the story of Jesus). Many are based on myths and story telling. The remains are not placed in this keramat, it's just a monument...my guess is they never found the remains or weren't sure if they were his as this was way back before DNA testing...

Seed dispersal fascinates me, I truly am always amazed by the different ways and how they are each made for the purpose of spreading far and wide. Come to think of it, humans are not that much different - truly we are from the same source and everything's connected...These seeds are clearly made to be spread by the wind, their petals propel them acting like a parachute....terribly brilliant....the humans invented many stuff by learning from Mother...such irony...and the homo sapiens think they are so smart!

In this corner, looking lonely, is The Battlebox War Museum - this bunker is a good choice. It's large with 22 rooms and was the operations, command center as well as sleeping quarters of the British forces...

A secret garden...! Actually an entry and exit doorway to the fort (a Sally Port) used by the British forces when their battalion was based here, later used by the Japanese during their occupation.

In this other corner, a spice garden - not exactly flourishing - needs more TLC

Roots are sinuous, fluid

Life supports Life and there's always so much life in trees - not just plant life. In Mother's plan relationships are always symbiotic - the humans in most of the developed world have lost this. It's about Me, I, Mine, Privacy, Individuality...it's not all about us 4 and no more...