绝后岛

Sentosa was once known as Pulau Blakang Mati (Chinese: 绝后岛) ,which in Malay means the "Island (pulau) of Death (mati) from Behind (blakang)". Don’t ask me why you get death from behind. I am thinking dirty but I shan’t elaborate :P

The island has gone through several name changes. Up to 1830, it was called Pulau Panjang ("long island"). In an 1828 sketch of Singapore Island, the island is referred to as Po. Panjang. According to Bennett (1834), the name Blakang Mati was only given to the hill on the island by the Malay villagers on the island. The Malay name for this island is literally translated as "dead back" or "behind the dead"; blakang means "at the back" or "behind"; mati means "dead". It is also called the dead island or the island of the dead.

Different versions of how the island came to acquire such an unpropitious name abound. One account attributed the ominous name to murder and piracy in the island's past. A second claimed that the island is the material paradise of warrior spirits buried at Pulau Brani.

A third account claims that an outbreak of disease on the island in the late 1840s almost wiped out the original Bugis settlers on the island. Dr Robert Little, a British coroner investigating the deaths, stumbled upon what was called Blakang Mati Fever, purportedly a type of fever caused by miasmastic fumes arising from decaying leaves and swampy water on the island. This event led to a controversy in medical circles at that time as to the causes of what was later recognised in 1898 as malaria spread by the Anopheles mosquito. The government's malaria research station was originally located here.

A fourth interpretation is that "dead back island" was so-called because of the lack of fertile soil on the hills. However, since the island creates an area of dead water behind it with no wind (hence "still behind" - still or stopped being an alternative translation of mati) it may be as simple as this — less romantic perhaps, but believable from a nautical viewpoint.

That explains why Sentosa’s beaches are artificial, reclaimed using sand bought from Indonesia and Malaysia. You hardly see any water sport happening in those waters too, and I never understood why the waters have yellowish foam all around.

In a 1972 contest organised by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, the island was renamed Sentosa, a Malay word meaning "peace and tranquillity".

Through the 1980s and 1990s, a number of pay-to-get-in tourist designations were built on the island, most of which the local people found uninteresting (But Fantasy Island shouldn’t have closed!! It was the best. Asian Village was second best, although after awhile the Viking was no longer thrilling). Consequently, there was a joke that the name Sentosa stood for "So Expensive and Nothing to See Also".

The above is extracted from Wikipedia.

Bet you didn’t know that about Sentosa, did you? Now it makes sense why I have encountered “The Others” before many years ago on Sentosa.

When I was 15, my school sent me as a representative to participate in an international youth Science camp. We stayed on Sentosa, it was an awesome camp. The toilets were a distance away from our sleeping quarters and late one night, we girls had to go.

I vaguely remember me and Heather made our way to the toilets near The Merlion. After completing what we went there for, as we exited, we heard a faint cry of a baby. I looked at Heather, and she looked at me. We looked around, but it was pitch dark around. We went back towards the toilet, the cries didn’t get louder, but we were somehow certain it came from within. We stopped outside; the air was still, the night was silent except for the baby’s cry. I asked Heather if we should check the cubicles. We hesitated, we were terrified. We decided to turn around and head back to camp. I turned around with a heavy heart, I felt guilty for not having the guts to check the toilets. I was afraid it is a REAL baby who needed help, and we two cowards might have cost a life.

As we walk further and further away from the toilet, the cries soon stopped. We approached the giant white steps that lead up to camp. This time, it was only me who saw. I saw a teenage boy in white sitting on the ledge right on top. It was faceless. It was gone the next second, and I didn’t mention this to Heather.

We had such a fun time in camp. It was international, so we had people from all walks of life, people from different nations. It was an elaborate camp, every activity was planned large-scale.

One of the nights, we played “Haunted Barracks”. The facilitators dressed up in black, brought us on a “spooky tour” and made our groups venture into an abandoned house and emerge as brave souls. The facilitators plant themselves within this empty house, covered themselves with garbage bags or canvas sheets and were positioned to scare the adventurers. course we were frightened, but after the “game”, we heard what the facilitators went through waiting alone, dark and silent in the abandoned house were even more frightening. One of them gave us an account where he was peeping out from under his canvas sheet, prepared to give the oncoming group a scary surprise, later on changed his mind when he saw a lingering blur figure following the said group. It was pretty comical as he told his story how he peeped out of his canvas, saw and decided to pull the canvas back over his head, hoping he was unnoticed.

Sentosa Spooktacular takes place this month, and frankly, I am SO TEMPTED! It’s a fantastic idea by the Temasek Poly tourism students, especially when they play up on Asian horror (Frankenstein is cute, and not scary).

1 ticket to 4 horror trails. Co-incidentally or not, The Merlion is one of the stops ( Me and Heather weren't hallucinating about the cries!).

Cursed Island

The Merlion

Journey towards the cursed island where death traps and mystical creatures lurk. Many have tried and failed, will you be next?

The Haunted Asylum

Images of Singapore

Infected by a virus, the villagers have all lost their sanity. Will you dare step into the dark abyss of the Mad Village?

Dead Or Alive Wax Museum

Images of Singapore

Uncover the truth about the disfigured wax artist that turns dead bodies into wax figures and unleashes horrors to haunt humanity.

Tower of Fear

Tiger Sky Tower

Rise to the sky in the Tower of Fear as you take in a truly haunting experience of sight, sound and light.

Should we or should we not participate? I heard a baby cry in the late hours near The Merlion. “They” say that if you hear a weak “baby’s” cry, the Pontianak is near (or right beside you), if the cry is loud and clear, the Pontianak is far (but still can fly to you in a flash). Don’t say you weren’t warned. Purchase your tickets here http://www.spooktacular.com.sg/

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