Outram Prison was one of the earliest prisons in Singapore. Originally, it was known as Pearl’s Hill Prison before being called Outram Prison or Outram Road Prison. Completed in 1882, the jail complex had five blocks for male criminals; four for natives and one for European. Other buildings housed the female prisons, hospitals, employees’ quarters, […]
When humans decide to start a war, there is always a price to pay. Other than innocent lives, the environment and the animals are the casualties of war which are often overlooked. Looking back in history, here are five sad stories on what happened to some animals during World War II (WWII): 1.The British pet […]
Junyo Maru was one of the many Japanese hell ships during World War II. It was used to transport Prisoners of War (POWs) with bamboo cages built in to imprison them. When it was attacked and sunk on Sept 18, 1944 by British submarine HMS Tradewind, it became the world’s greatest sea disaster at the […]
Do you know that a severe chronic form of thiamine (vitamin B1) is known as beriberi? The term ‘beriberi’ is believed to come from a Sinhalese phrase for ‘weak, weak’ or ‘I cannot, I cannot’. There are two main types in adults; wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system while the […]
The Borneo campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II (WWII) to liberate Japanese-held Borneo. One of the combats that took place during the campaign was Battle of Beaufort in 1945. Located about 90 kilometers south of Kota Kinabalu, the town of Beaufort […]
Malaysia has a lot of islands. In fact, there are 878 that belong to the country. Taking the prize for having the largest number of islands is the state of Sabah, with 394 within its waters. Each of these islands has its own charm. Some Malaysian islands are uninhabited, while others are a place the […]
In 1945, the Australian Z Special Unit organised a dangerous mission to rescue the Sultan of Ternate, Muhammad Jabir Syah right under the Japanese nose. They called the mission Operation Opossum. Also known as the Kingdom of Gapi, the Sultanate of Ternate is one of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Indonesia. It was established in […]
If you want to raid the enemy’s harbour and blow up their ships without getting caught, what better way to do it than using one of the enemy’s own vessels? MV Krait is a wooden-hulled vessel that was used in a raid against Japanese ships anchored in Singapore Harbour during the Second World War (WWII). […]
Operation Semut was a series of reconnaissance operations that took place in Sarawak. It was carried out by Australia’s Z Special Unit in 1945 during the final days of World War II (WWII). Altogether, there were four operations were undertaken under Operation Semut. Their main objectives? To gather intelligence and to train the indigenous people […]
When it comes to the Pacific War, most people believe that the first shots that began it all was Pearl Harbour. Little do most people know that the first attack actually took place in Kota Bharu, the capital of Malaysian state of Kelantan, as part of the Japanese invasion of Malaya. The Japanese landed at […]
