September 10, 2021

(Article is in Mandarin, Translation by Google Translate)
5 September 2021, Lianhe Zaobao

Original article: https://www.zaobao.com.sg/lifestyle/history-heritage/story20210905-1190485

The multiple historical identities of St. John’s Island

St John’s Island in the south of our country is a blue sky and green space temporarily far away from the island for many people. It actually has a rich history and played a special role in the history of Singapore’s founding and development. Hearing that the former islanders recalled the old buildings and ruined tiles, countless historical pictures immediately leaped in front of them. The next time I land on the island, I will definitely have deeper emotions and thoughts about this land.

It is said that when Raffles landed in Singapore and passed through St. John’s Island, he took the name of the island with the name of his fellow missionary. St. John’s Island also has a Malay name “Sakijang Bendera”, which means “red deer and flag”. The Chinese name “棋樟山” is believed to be translated from “Sakijang”.

St. John’s Island covers an area of ​​about 40 hectares. There are several ferry boats departing from Binhai South Wharf every day. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to reach the destination, and the round-trip ferry ticket is about 15 yuan.

Quarantine station

At the beginning of the opening of the port in 1819, St. John’s Island served as a signal station for the outer islands. In 1874, the East India Company set up a quarantine station on the island. The ships carrying aliens (also known as “new passengers”) are moored off the coast of Singapore. As soon as an infected person is found, all passengers are transferred to the island’s quarantine station to smoke sulfur and sprinkle disinfectant in the disinfection area. Those who were later changed to take the lowest class must go to the island for inspection and disinfection.

At that time, infectious diseases were raging, including cholera, plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, black death and measles. The quarantine station has hospitals, pharmacies, morgues, laboratories and vaccine freezing equipment, and nearby Lazarus Island (Lazarus Island) has a graveyard. In the 1930s, St. John’s Island became one of the largest isolation centers in the world, with a capacity of more than 6,000 people.

Many of the older generations had stayed in Qizhangshan when they went to Nanyang, and they all recalled that they could not bear to look back (for a period of time, men and women must be examined naked). At that time, sanitary conditions were inadequate, water and food were lacking, and many people died before they could set foot on the main island of Singapore.

With the rise of the aviation industry in the 1970s, the number of people entering the country by boat dropped drastically, and the quarantine station that had been used for more than 100 years was successfully retired in 1976.

In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Assistant Professor Hamzah Muzaini of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore said that the island has become an isolation center very early, so the infrastructure is quite complete, with large water storage towers for supplying tap water, houses and asphalt roads.

Detention Center for Political Prisoners

In 1948, the British colonial government planned St. John’s Island as a detention center for political prisoners and private members. Lin Qingxiang, Tiffany, Uhhal, and Fang Shuishuang were detained by the British from 1953 to 1959. Lee Kuan Yew was their lawyer at the time and visited four people on the island. Tiffany became the third president of Singapore.

The former prison cells have now become pavilions. Former islander Abdul Rahim Abdul Wajis (64 years old) said that the four walls have been removed and only the four pillars and roof are original. He still remembered that political prisoners weren’t kept in cells all the time, and the outdoor range within the fence was quite large and the scenery was pleasant. At that time, he and other children would sometimes walk into the detention center and would not be afraid of political prisoners.

Opium Healer

Before the end of World War II, there were more than 16,000 opiates in Singapore. In 1955, the British colonial government established an “opium healing clinic” on the island, focusing on smoking cessation and transformation, and allowing smokers to learn new skills such as carpentry, rattan and tailoring to prepare them for reintegration into society. The same site was renamed the Drug Rehabilitation Center in 1973 and closed in 1975. Some buildings are still preserved.

An opium smoker who had stayed there said in an earlier interview with the media that he and 40 other opium smokers were crowded in a barracks. At first he felt miserable, but later his physical strength and spirit gradually recovered and he began to do some work and engage in outdoor work.

Rahim’s hometown was near the pier. He recalled: “Sometimes smokers would come out to play football with the islanders. Every morning and afternoon, they would take turns to take the food scraps to another place and throw them away, sometimes passing by my house. We are very used to seeing immigrants and drug addicts, and we are not afraid.”

Refugee shelter

St. John’s Island was used to settle Vietnamese refugees in the mid-1970s, and they lived on the island temporarily before being transferred to the official host country. When there were too many refugees in the 1980s and 1990s, the government took refuge in temporary refugee camps in Sembawang.

In 1998, the government announced the establishment of a detention center for illegal immigrants on the island. Because the number of overstayers and illegal immigrants arrested at that time increased, the island’s prisons could not accommodate them. The old football field near the ferry terminal was fenced off and toilets were built. However, according to the former islanders, it was not used afterwards, and buildings surrounded by green wire fences can still be seen.

Leisure and Marine Research Center

Since 1975, St. John’s Island has become a holiday paradise for Chinese people, and it is also a student holiday camp. In the past few decades, the government has deliberately developed it into a water park along with the nearby islands, and even invited investors to submit proposals, but there has been no follow-up since then.

The Land Management Authority of Singapore took over St. John’s Island from the Sentosa Development Agency in 2017. The resort on the island was upgraded and opened to the public for rent. It was temporarily closed during the epidemic.

In addition, the National Marine Research Center of St. John’s Island was established on the island in 2002, and the Maritime Aquaculture Center was established by the Agriculture and Food Bureau in 2003. Qizhang Bay, another rich ecology with mangroves, corals and seagrass, was originally planned to be opened to the public at the beginning of this year, but it was also temporarily suspended due to the epidemic.

The former islanders are full of memories

In the 1970s, islanders moved to the island one after another, and the rest were mostly islanders working for the government on the island. In 2017, the last four islanders also reluctantly left.

Muhamad Akim Giman (70 years old), who was born on the island, moved away in 1974. His house has been demolished. He took the reporter to visit another similar house and shared: “In the past, most houses built by the British army had separate kitchens and toilets. They were high-footed and allowed to ventilate underneath. The British army was right. We are very friendly, without class distinctions, like a big happy family.”

As the son of the island, swimming seems to be natural. Even if the waves are big, he and his friends will jump directly into the water, and often catch fish and crabs for dinner in the nearby mangroves.

Rahim also moved out in the late 1970s, but his father was an electrician on the island, so he often went back, sometimes helping with light bulbs, and sometimes going to the beach to help repair ships. He still remembered several Chinese residents on the island. One of the largest grocery stores was run by a Chinese living on the island. The owner took a boat to the island every day to do business and returned to the island in the afternoon.

Mohamed Fawzi (50), who once lived on the nearby island of Lazarus, shared an interesting story. Although St. John’s Island is full of green areas, the islanders have tried many ways to raise cattle and sheep, but chickens and ducks are okay. When sheep are needed for religious activities, they can be bought from other islands.

St. John’s Island English Primary School is the only school on the island and closed in 1976. Retired teacher Du Shirong said in a media interview in 2015 that she taught at the school from 1962 to 1963. At that time, there were more than 400 people living on the island, and a grandma would often bring two baskets of vegetables and dry food to the teachers’ residence to sell. The residents are kind and enthusiastic, and will give them freshly caught fish.

My community festival

The second “My Community Festival” hosted by the civil organization “My Community” was held from September 10th to October 3rd. The public who successfully signed up led by former islanders landed on St. John’s Island and talked about the past in detail. In addition to St. John’s Island, island tours also cover Turtle Island, Ubin Island and Pulau Hantu.

Other theme activities include watching the sunrise, understanding religion, understanding desserts, contacting craftsmen, feeling the rhythm, watching the sunset, understanding the life of the industry, night activities and community 24 hours.

Event fees range from RMB 10 to RMB 50, and some online guided activities are free. For more details, please refer to: mycommunityfestival.sg .