Cursed Spirit

Sometime ago, my family moved into a resale flat that we bought in Jurong West. From the moment I stepped into the house, I had an uneasy feeling about the place. I did not tell it to my family because I did not want to upset them, seeing them so excited about the new house. That night, while my family and I were preparing for dinner, I saw a young girl in a white dress sitting at the dining table. Thinking that she was my brother's new girlfriend, I smiled at her and laid her share at the dining table.

'Hi. I'm Chiou Yee, Wai Boon's sister.' 'I'm Lifang.' She smiled back at me. Soon after, I went into the kitchen to help my family. 'Hey! who's that new girl in the hall? Wai Boon, you really work fast, huh? Just one afternoon and you got your new girlfriend eating with us.' I teased my brother. My brother looked puzzled. 'Who? There's nobody here. Don't talk nonsense, Yee.' My mother reprimanded me, after she looked out of the kitchen to see who it was. I looked out too. She was not in her seat. I scanned the living room, she was nowhere in sight. 'She probably left lah since you all act like you don't know she was coming. If I were her, I'll be paiseh (embarrassed) too.' 'But I never invited anyone,' my brother protested. 'Yee, don't try to act funny.' My father scolded me. Dinner went by uneventfully. After washing up the plates, we were all settled in front of the TV set. After a while, our parents went off to bed.

Close to midnight, the doorbell rang. My brother got up to answer the door. When he cameback, he was grumbling. However, Lifang was behind him. 'Wah lau, those hooligans are making a fool of us!' No one took notice of that statement. Lifang just kept quiet behind him. She waved when I smiled at her. For the rest of the evening, she followed my brother around. She would sit next to him. My brother seemed to take no notice of her. After a while, I retired to bed, not wanting to disturb the lovebirds. The next morning, I asked my brother, nudging him. 'So what time did she go home last night?' 'Who?' My brother looked tired. 'The girl? Lifang?' 'I don't know anyone called Lifang,' my brother looked at me as if I was crazy.

'But she was following you around last night!' 'Don't be silly, Yee. No one visited me last night. My friends did not know my new address yet.' 'Am I the only one who saw her?' I had only began to realize. I quickly told my mother about this. She sensed that something could be wrong and called in a temple medium. He went into a trance and later told me that the girl I saw was the spirit of a young lady. She had committed suicide by jumping from the corridor right in front of our main door. The girl had ended her life because of a broken heart. She followed my brother around because she was lonely. For three nights, the medium prayed and made offerings to the girl's spirit. After that, I never saw her again.

Devil's Waters

'Excuse me... May I interrupt?' A calm voice spoke from behind them. 'Oh! Who are you?' Lyn who was first to recover from the shock, responded. Her other friends just stared. 'I am the security guard here. Do you know that the pool is closed?' The guard attired in white stood at the shallow end of the pool. 'But, uncle, we just finished our 'A' levels today lah. Now we are celebrating. Don't worry, we will not give you any trouble,' Yang said.

'Okay, but no matter what you do, you have to get out of the pool by midnight. And stay away from the deepest end of the pool.' 'What? But that's only fifteen minutes away. Let us stay longer, please. What's wrong with the deep end of the pool?' Samantha pleaded, in an obvious attempt to act sweet. 'Sorry guys, you have to get out by then, Fifteen more minutes. The deepest end is haunted. Someone died there last year, and since then, many people, especially children, had complained of sudden sucking force pulling down when they swim there.' Everyone felt a shudder passed through them. The security guard soon left, leaving them alone. However, a damper had been put onto the party. Slowly, one by one, they left the pool. 'Adrian, are you coming out or not? It is going to be twelve midnight soon,' Lyn shouted, seeing that Adrian was still in the pool. Moreover, he was lingering in the deepest end. Her question had fallen on deaf ears. Lyn thought that Adrian did not hear her. She walked around the pool to the deep end. Adrian swam through the water with powerful butterfly strokes. She never knew Adrian to be such a good swimmer. He used to be such a timid fellow, always staying at the shallow end of the pool.

'Adrian? Adrian!' He turned around. Lyn got the shock of her life. The whites in his eyes were showing. 'Hi Lyn, why don't you come in and join me? The water's just nice, not too hot, not too cold.' 'Adrian, lets go now!' 'No, I want to stay. Come and play with me.' Adrian stretched his hand out to Lyn. 'No.' 'No? Because you are afraid of this?' Suddenly, as if something was pulling from below, Adrian got sucked into the waters. Lyn tried to grab his hands. His fingers slipped through her grasp easily. With horror, Lyn could only look on as Adrian sank into the dark depths. Suddenly, someone pushed her from behind. Lyn gasped as she hit the water. Despite the warm night, the water was frigid. Getting over the shock, she tried to resurface. No matter how hard she kicked, she sank deeper and deeper into the waters.

Someone was pulling her down into the waters by her ankles! She struggled harder, her arms frailing frantically in the water as she fought for the surface. In her struggle, she managed to catch a glimpse of Adrian holding her ankle in a tight grip. His eyes were glowing green, like a beckoning beacon in the dark waters. The sinister look on his face sent chills down to Lyn's spine. She tried to kick at his hands, but it was futile. His grip was just too strong. She was running out of breath. Her kicks were growing weaker and weaker. Slowly, she began to lose consciousness. Suddenly, she was yanked from behind. In her dizziness, she dimly realized that someone had pulled her out of the water. 'Lyn, are you alright?' It was Adrian. 'Why did you go into the deep end?'

'No, I saw you in the water, and you got sucked in. Then, someone pushed me.' 'Huh? I left the pool ten minutes ago to look for you.' In shock, Lyn could only stare at Adrian before she fainted.

Vengeance

Wanling wwas my younger sister. Although she was only one year younger, she was mature for her age. Wanling was popular in her school and was often called the social butterfly. many boys would woo her. She was not only pretty, but she was also good in her schoolwork too. Simply, Wanling was the model student of her school, until she met Jack... It surprised me when Wanling eventually chose Jack for her boyfriend. Jack was a typical 'Ah Beng', a materialistic person who liked to show off. He would always borrow money from Wanling to buy expensive clothing. Knowing that he wanted a handphone, Wanling even bought one for him.

What surprised me even more was that Jack always had other girls calling him. Very often, they would even call my house, asking for Jack. Wanling was, however, very understanding and claimed that though Jack had a lot of girlfriends, he loved her the most. I began to see bruises on my sister's arms and legs, but when I asked her about it, she would brush it off to accidents at sports. It was after much probing that I found out that Jack had been abusing my sister. Very often, he would beat her without reason. When I wanted to confront Jack, Wanling would defend Jack fervently. The last straw came when Jack got Wanling pregnant. I went to his house, and told his parents. They were shocked that their son would do such a thing. When confronted, Jack did not bother to deny it. However, he refused to marry Wanling. Wanling, following Jack's example, objected to the marriage. When my father suggested abortion, she flew into a terrible temper and ran away. We also found out from Jack's parents that he had also run away from home. we later discovered that the eloped couple was living together.

Since then, we had lost touch with Wanling. My parents were terribly disappointed in Wanling and we did not speak of her much. Cherishing the hope that my little sister would come back, I tried to get in touch with her, but to no avail. One day, Wanling called me, telling me that she had been admitted to hospital. She was beaten up by Jack, seven months into her pregnancy. This caused her miscarriage, and she was hospitalized because of it. Jack had not visited her at all in hospital. When I visited her, Wanling had grown really thin, fading away like a wilting flower. My parents relented eventually, and they visited her in hospital. My mother wept upon seeing her daughter being treated so badly. They had told Wanling to come home, after she was discharged. Still, I could see something in Wanling's eyes that told me she had other plans.

When Wanling checked out from the hospital, she did not come home. Neither did she go back to Jack. Tragedy struck and we received a call from the police a few days later. Wanling had committed suicide. The last time we saw her was in National University Hospital morgue. We noticed that she was dressed all in red. Wanling was planning her vengeance. We Chinese believe that if a lady dies in red clothes, she will come back after her death to seek revenge. We never saw Jack. He did not turn up for Wanling's funeral. His parents came, they acted terribly apologetic for the wrong their son had done to us. My father stiffly refused to acknowledge their apology, and ignored their presence. feeling awkward, they soon left. Seven days after Wanling's death, Jack died. His face was terribly disfigured. Although he was reportedly killed in a motorcycle accident, having collided into a tree, we knew that my sister had returned to claim a debt.

Horse Spirit

'Go! Go! Go!' Mr. Woo yelled at Thunder and Yuyin. It was unbelievable. His horse and the rider were making a run for the finishing line, while the other horses lagged far behind. Mr. Woo, in his mid forties, was a regular punter whose business was doing very well. With his interest in the game growing, he obtained a license from relevant authorities and bought a horse. Proudly, he named it Thunder. Thunder came from Mongolia. At two years old, it was a handsome animal, of the majestic Arabian breed. It was very aggressive and has powerful legs. No jockey could ever subdue it. Mr. Woo kept advertising for a jockey for Thunder. Numerous responses came in, attracted by his generous offer, but the applications were shiftly withdawn upon seeing Thunder.

One day, a very young and pretty girl came for an interview. She was barely one point five metres tall. Her name was Yuyin. The moment Thunder saw her, Thunder was elated and came close to her. Yuyin immediately took it for a trial ride. The coach could not believe the speed at which they were going. Before she knew it, Yuyin was employed. It was the debutant game for Thunder and Yuyin today. Betting a token sum on the duo, Mr. Woo knew that Thunder was a dark horse. The odds against Thunder winning was 1-35. Mr. Woo had never expected them to win. If he had known otherwise, he would have betted more on his horse. Although his losses were big from betting on the other horses, the gain from Thunder's winnings made Mr. Woo rub his hands in glee. He had a prized possession in his hand, Thunder. There were definitely more money to come.

'Good job, Yuyin,' Mr. Woo said proudly, as he reached out to give Thunder a lump of sugar. 'Good job, Thunder.' 'Mr. Woo, isn't it wonderful that we won?' 'Yes, wonderful. You must continue your wonderful performance with Thunder.' Yuyin smiled at Thunder who neighed. The relationship between Yuyin and Thunder had grown since the first day they met, getting better day by day. It seemed that both had a language that only they would understand. They could even communicate by eye contact alone. In the months that followed, Yuyin and Thunder went to win almost all the races they participated in, Thunder had transformed from a dark horse, to a hot favorite. Jealous rivals tried to poison Thunder, but it was somehow immuned to those poisons. Mr. Woo was transformed into a millionaire overnight. He had lost interest in his business, and when it failed, he gave it up to concentrate on horse racing alone. The enormous winnings from Thunder's races were enough to maintain Mr. Woo luxurious lifestyles for the rest of his life. 

Still, Mr. Woo wanted more. He was a greedy man and decided to rig a race for Thunder to lose, hence winning all the punters money. 'Yuyin, I want you to fall from the horse today...' 'But, Mr. Woo...' 'No buts! Just do it!' 'Thunder will never let me fall.' 'You are the rider! It's not up to Thunder! Listen here, you'd better lose today's game, or you and the horse will be sorry!' 'No! No! No!' Mr. Woo yelled at Thunder and Yuyin. It was unbelievable. His horse and its rider were making a run for the finishing line, while the other horses lagged far behind. In the race, the other jockeys tried to push Yuyin off Thunder's back, thus disqualifying them, but to no avail. He had just lost his entire fortune. Yuyin had defied him for the last time.

He stared at the limp body, soaked in blood and lying in awkward angle on the ground in front of him. The anger was still pulsing in his blood, and he gave the body a few more vicious kicks. When Mr. Woo first started with Yuyin, her screams of pain filled the entire stable, and his heart. The louder she screamed, the more satisfied he became. Gradually, her screams reduced to painful whimpering. No sound seemed to come from Yuyin. In fact, the painful whimpering had died out for sometime now. No one could disobey him. He would not allow it. In the back of his mind, Thunder was still neighing in his stall. 'What was that sound? Like hooves striking wood,' Mr. Woo thought, as he looked at Thunder in his stall. The horse was trying all along to break the door down to save Yuyin. 'Don't worry. You are next,' Mr. Woo said sardonically, walking deliberately towards his horse.

The police found him, on board plane. He was leaving the country. His plane ran into technical difficulties and was delayed. The stable boy found bodies in the stables, when he came for work. When the police was informed, they tried to get in touch with Mr. Woo, but could not find him at home. They talked to his servants and found out that Mr. Woo had packed in a hurry when he returned, and was headed to the airport. The fateful night before the trial, strange sounds of a horse neighing and whipping were distinctly heard from Mr. Woo's prison cell. The prison wardens rushed to his cell, and found a horse and his rider vanishing into the wall. A gruesome and bloody sight greeted them inside. Mr. Woo was beyond recognition, and could only be identified by the numbers on his clothes. Every single bone in his body was crushed. The strange thing was the gates leading to the jail was computerized and heavily guarded. How did the murderer get in? According to the autopsy report, Mr. Woo was badly crushed to death by an animal's hooves.

Visitors

When my mother suffered from a life threatening infection four years ago, she was admitted to the hospital. I was worried sick and would spend everyday after school in the ward taking care of her. One night, I came in after finishing my project in school. Although it was past visiting hours, I wanted to check on my mother before I went home. My boyfriend had decided to come along too. When I entered her room, she was still awake. Three other ladies, whom I had never met, were sitting around her bed.

'Hi, Ling. Meet your aunts from Malaysia. Come and say hi,' my mother said to me cheerfully. I had never remembered her being so happy. I greeted each aunt politely. 'Waah, little Ling is such a big girl now,' one of my aunts said. 'She is also a very pretty girl.' 'Ling, do you have a boyfriend?' Another asked me. 'Yes, actually he is parking his car now.' I replied. 'Yeah, you should meet her boyfriend. He's a nice guy,' mu mother joined in. I sat down and listened to their conversation. It was clear that they had not seen each other for a very long time, and my mother was filling them in on all the gossips about my other relatives. My boyfriend came in shortly after he parked his car. He came into the room, looked around casually. 'I'm going to get some coffee,' he said. He turned and walked out without greeting my mother and my aunts. I was appalled by his rudeness. I smiled apologetically at my mother and my aunts. They did not seem to mind, smiling at me warmly as I left the room. I confronted him at the coffee machine.

'That was very rude of you earlier. You know that?' 'Rude? What did I do?' 'You saw my aunts talking to my mother in the room, and you did not greet them. You did not even bother to look at them.' 'Them? What them? I only saw your mother.' 'And you did not greet her at all! How could you be so... so... inconsiderate?' I was furious. 'She was sleeping. I did not want to wake her up.' 'She's not sleeping. She was talking to my aunts when I went into the room.' My boyfriend was looking at me queerly. 'What are the two of you doing here? Don't you know that it was past visiting hours? Can you talk softly? The patients need to rest,' a stern voice cut in. We looked around, and saw a nurse behind us.

'Sorry, anyway, Miss, did you know if anyone had visited the patient in Room 13?' My boyfriend checked with the nurse. 'Room 13? No one. Anyway, the patient is under heavy sedatives for tonight. She should be resting.' The nurse looked puzzled. I looked at my boyfriend and the nurse in disbelief. Quickly, I ran back to my mother's room. The seats around the bed were empty. My aunts were not there. My mother was deeply asleep on her bed. The nurse and my boyfriend came along soon. The nurse gave my mother a check. 'Your mother's resting fine. Her condition is improving.' Soon after, my mother was well enough to discharged from hospital. For the next few months, she stayed at home resting. One day, I remembered about the aunts incident and asked her about it. 'Mummy, do we have any relatives in Malaysia?'

'Yes, we used to have. I had three sisters living in Malaysia. However, they were killed during the Japanese occupation. It's strange you mentioned this.' Her gazed turned wistful. 'When I was in hospital, I dreamt that they visited me and we all had a good time catching up with each other.'

Witness

I have been working as a bus driver for twelve years. Normally, I handle the late shift and would go home late in the night. I remembered that once I had a strange encounter on my way home. It happened on a Saturday night... I was on my way home as usual. When I walked out of the lift into my floor, a gust of cold wind swept past me. I looked to my right and saw a young girl in a white dress, sitting on the staircase. It struck me as strange that she was not at home at this time of the night. Her face was wet and her eyes were red. She seemed to be crying.

I was concerned and went up to her. 'Little girl, why are you sitting here alone?' She kept quiet and pulled herself closer. 'Why, little girl, tell uncle. Maybe I can help.' She looked up at me with such mournful eyes. 'My parents don't love me. My mother don't care, and my father don't even talk to me anymore.' 'Oh, why? Have you done anything to make them angry with you?' 'I don't know. They don't care about me anymore.'Why, you don't know? All parents love their children, no matter how angry they are with their children. There must be a reason. Have you ask them why?' 'No, I'm afraid to.' 'Little girl, you have to understand. Your parents are very busy people. They have to work very hard, so by the time they come home, they are already tired. It does not mean that they don't love you when they don't talk to you.' 'Really, uncle?'

'Yes, when they don't talk to you, you go and talk to them, okay? So don't cry. Come, let me take you home.' 'Okay, Thank you, uncle.' She got up from the steps, and told me where she stayed. She lived three floors above me. When we were almost at her door, she turned to me. 'Uncle, thank you for sending me back. I can go home on my own now.' Believing that she would be fine, I turned to leave. When I went down the stairs to my apartment, I saw a gold bracelet lying there on the step where she sat. 'The girl must have forgot the bracelet and left it behind,' I thought. Since it was late, I planned to returned it to the girl the next day. The next morning, I knocked on the door. A man, in his early thirties, opened the door. 'Yes, what do you want?' The man asked suspiciously. 'I think your daughter dropped her bracelet yesterday. Anyway, here is it.' I passed the bracelet to him.

'My daughter?' Incredulous, he looked at the bracelet closely. After a while, he said no more nut invited me into the house, giving me a weird look. There was no sign of the young girl in the house. 'Hello, madam. Where is the little girl? Gone to school, is it?' I smiled at the wife, who had just came out from the kitchen. The man showed the bracelet to his wife, whose eyes widened. Shortly after, she burst into tears. 'My wife and I have no children.' The man said flatly. 'But the little girl told me that you are her parents. Come on lah, your little kid is so young. Don't disown her.' 'We used to have a daughter...' The man said. 'If you want to punish her, just scold her. You should not disown the poor girl. She was heart broken, crying so pitifully on the stairs last night.' 'She died five years ago.' 'What?' I looked at him, stunned.

He showed me her photo, and there it was, a smiling portrait of the girl I saw last night. My blood ran cold. 'What did she tell you?' 'She said that you don't talk to her anymore, and that you don't love her anymore. But I saw her to your door last night.' 'She's probably upset that we did not visit her grave on her anniversary this year. My poor daughter.' The wife broke in, her voice full of sadness. 'We were held up overseas, and could not make it back in time.' The man said sadly. 'Since we got back, we were so busy with our work that we forgot to visit her.' Soon, the couple were on their way to their daughter's grave. The bracelet, they claimed, was the very same one their daughter wore when they buried her.

True Army Ghost Stories

Shaking Cupboard

It was deep in the night when Mark awoke in the barracks. His sleep was disturbed by a loud murmur that seemed to be coming from beside him. He opened his eyes slowly and saw nobody around him. He sat up in his bed and realized that the cupboard next to him was shaking violently and seemed to be vibrating as if something or someone was shivering inside. He was curious and at the same time brave. He got out of bed and saw that the door of the cupboard was slightly ajar. Gripping the handle tightly with his sweaty palms, he prayed to God that it was someone playing a prank on him or that a cat or some animal was trapped inside. He jerked the door wide open with a sudden force. Crouched inside the cupboard was a lady dressed in white. And she was staring straight back at him with a steely pair of eyes. Her face and hands were too bony to belong to the living. Her lips were cracked and blood trickled down her chin as she looked icily at Mark. Mark took a step back. Recovering from his initial horror, Mark sprinted to the end of the barracks. He tripped over the doorstep and fell. He was found unconscious the next morning by his platoon mates. Fortunately, he broke only one leg from this otherwise unfortunate encounter.

Standby Cupboard

The following event occurred in Foxtrot Company. At about 3 am at night, Jeff was a awakened by the creaking sound of the rusty cupboard hinge. When he opened his weary eyes, he saw a dark figure with a blur outline opening his platoon mate's cupboard adjacent to his bed. he saw the figure fumble through the things in the closet, closing it a few minutes later. The figure then disappeared into the darkness without uttering a word. Believing that it was just a dream, the recruit went back to sleep. However, the next day, he awoke with a strong impression of what he saw last night. he approached K T Tan, the owner of the cupboard. Tan thought that he was joking as he did not hear anything and was sure that no one could open his cupboard. In addition, his cupboard was locked at all times. To provide his point Tan opened his cupboard. Both of them were shocked to find the contents in the cupboard to be in a complete mess. 'How come? I did not touch my cupboard after arranging it neatly yesterday', he remarked. 'Nobody has the key except me. Furthermore, the Yale lock is strong and cannot be picked easily.' They had no explanations as the lock was in perfect condition. They went to report the matter to the Platoon Sergeant who later told them that there was a recruit who died during training and that it was his cupboard that Tan now has. Perhaps he came back to get his stuff. The Platoon Sergeant advised them to forget the incident.

Rocking Bed

Ivan was fast asleep, tired from a day's training. In his dreams, he could feel himself shaking in a rhythmic to and fro motion. The rocking grew stronger and he awoke to find his utter surprise that the double deck bed was really shaking. He thought that his mate below must be scratching himself. Soon his fatigue overcame him and ignoring the vibrations, Ivan went back to his dreams. To satisfy his curiousity, Ivan asked his partner the next morning, 'Phua, why you keep moving in bed last night, cannot sleep is it?' Phua answered with a quizzical look on his face, 'Well, I thought you were the one who rocked in your sleep!' Both were amazed by the strange incident. The rocking motion continued for the next days. Strangely, it seemed to die down when they were awake, and resumed with full ferocity the moment they shut their eyes. As they were greatly perturbed and suffered countless sleepless nights, they thought that it was best to report the matter to the platoon officer. The platoon officer could not offer much help other than advise them to shift their mattresses and sleep on the floor if the rocking persisted. The occupants a few beds away encountered similar problems and shifted their mattresses onto the floor. The strange shaking spread like wildfire to every bed in the room, and soon enough, by the end of the BMT, the entire platoon had adjourned to the cold, hard, stone floor.

Moving Beds

Sasi was the first one back from the weekend break and he took a rest on his bed as he was an hour early. While flipping through his copy of Newsweek, he heard a rattling sound. Immediately, after that his bed started to shake, moving extremely violently. Out of sheer horror and fear, Sasi jumped out of his bed and as soon as he did, everything was back to normal. Wondering if it was just his imagination, he sat down carefully on the edge of the bed. The shaking motion began again as soon as he touched the mattress. Frightened, he ran to get his officer in charge. After having a tough time trying to convince his officer that it was not a hoax, they returned to the room. As they walked to the room, Sasi noticed something strange. All the beds seemed to be lined closer together. Looking more carefully, he noticed that all of them had moved a few inches closer to the centre of the room. The officer looked surprise and as if he knew what had happened. However, he decided to keep the matter to himself and advised Sasi not to utter a word about what happened when the rest of the platoon returns.

Coconut Tree Stabbings

Hasnim, Ben and Weichen were great secondary school friends. They were also lucky enough to be in the same camp during their BMT stint in the Army. Often they would meet at night while on their patrols and stop to chat and puff a few cigarettes. One night, Ben suggested that they meet at the bench in the old kampong houses at the foot of the slope. They met as scheduled and started talking and about their camp life. They only had an hour before reporting back in order to avoid being caught by the officers. Before the hour was up, they were overcome with a strange sense of drowsiness. Within minutes, they were all sound asleep. In the middle of his sleep, Hasnim felt a presence on his left. Slowly he turned his head and shifted his eyes to the spot. A young lady dressed in white with long, flowing hair was sitting at the far end of the bench. Her unmoving, cold eyes were focused on Hasnim. She appeared to be unreal to him and he wondered if she was just part of his dream. Instinctively, he nudged Weichen, but there was no response. He decided a sharp elbow jab to the ribs might do the trick. Weichen woke up with a start. 'Look to your left,' Hasnim whispered. Weichen swiveled his neck and peek over his shoulder. Hasnim could see the look of horror in his eyes confirming that she was not a dream. In the same fashion, Ben was awoken. Still in a state of semi consciousness, they did not know what to do. The three men simply froze on the bench. Slowly, their weariness took over and they fell back to sleep. 'Hey! What are you doing there?' shouted the furious corporal across the field. The trio awoke abruptly to find the bright sunlight shining on their faces. They had slept the entire night away and did not report back to the sentry posts. As they looked around, the surroundings seemed to have changed. They were facing a row of trees. Across the field where the corporal was standing, shouting at them was the kampong house. 'Why did you people move the bench across the field?' barked the corporal. After a stern scolding they were awarded detention by the officer in charge when they reported back to camp that day. Later, a Muslim trainee told them that a few years ago, a Malay lady who lived in the kampong house hung herself on the coconut tree after her husband left her. A few days after her death, her husband was found stabbed to death near the same coconut tree. Everybody believed it was her spirit that haunted the tree and will take her revenge on unfaithful men.

Head In Toilets

Two recruits sought permission to relieve themselves while on a rad march in Pulau Tekong. The warrant officer pointed to an old hut some distance away and said, 'Hurry! I give you only five minutes.' The pair walked hastily away. Barely a minute passed, when the two recruits sprinted back to the main group with horrified looks on their faces. 'Head... eating shit in the toilet.' They had seen a bodiless human head munching on human excrement from a bucket. When they entered, it dived into the bucket and disappeared. The officers with a few recruits went back to check and there was a bucket of excrement with some of it spilling on the ground. Though they saw no head, the expression on the men's faces were genuine, and they even wet in their pant. Since then, the platoon started to dig their own holes during field training to relieve themselves.

Japanese From Well

Somewhere not from Jaguar camp in Pulau Tekong, there is an old unused well. During one of the recent storms, a banana tree fell into it with part of its trunk sticking out. Two friends, Peter and Ahmad, used to meet there during their free time. One day while Peter was on his way to meet his friend, he saw a person standing, facing the well. As Peter approached the figure, it turned out to be Ahmad. His eyes were dead fixed on the well and the banana tree trunk. He seemed to be frozen solid, not a single muscle twitched as Peter tried to shake him out of his stupor. After much shaking and calling, Ahmad woke up from his stunned state and started talking gibberish. Peter tried to calmed him down and was able to do so only after slapping him a few times. 'I saw a Japanese soldier coming out from the well. It was staring at me and I dared not move. He then slowly climbed out and disappeared right before my eyes.' Both of them never dared to venture near the well since then.

A Brand New World

Sometimes, while a person in consciously awake, he can feel a strange force pressing down on him, which seems to immobilize his every muscle. Doctors say its just the awakening of the conscious alone while the motor system is still in a state of sleep that causes this sensation. Some Chinese believe that it is a seven legged spider lying on top of the victim. but a former guardsman had his own unique experience and explanation. Besides feeling immobilized, he seemed to have entered into another dimension. Furthermore, it occurred  everyday for two weeks during his stay in camp. These experiences would always begins with a ringing sound in his ears and he would enter into a new world. In the new world, he could see the room around him although his eyes were shut. Strange people walk past his bed and odd creatures float in the air. It feels real except that his body could not move. Everything appeared to be so lifelike. The only way to wake up is to first start wriggling his fingers and then to slowly start moving the rest of his body. Each encounter seemed so scary as if there was no certainty in him awaking. Sometimes he would feel so pressurized that he had problem just breathing to stay alive.

No Pork

Camp three at Tekong is situated right next to the Malay Cemetery. Out of respect for the Muslims, no pork is allowed inside the barracks. Sometimes, at night, recruits would see an old Malay man sweeping the old parade ground. Occasionally, he would stop, look up, and wave to them. When they try to find out his identity from the Malay villagers, they would find out that he had died a few years ago. One day, back from duties early, two trainees brought Wanton Mee from the canteen to the barracks to eat. That night, one of them heard someone mumbling. As he looked up, all the people seemed to be asleep and the noise appeared to be coming from nowhere. Throughout the night, his sleep was constantly disrupted by the mysterious voice. The next morning, he asked his mate who also ate the dumpling noodles last night about the voice. To his surprise, his friend also heard it and the nature of his experience was similar. The rest of the people were questioned, but none of them heard anything. What was even stranger was that the pair was sleeping on different ends of the barracks, separated by at least a dozen beds. Later, they realized that the dumpling that they consumed yesterday, contained pork and also realized why they banned it here in this camp!

Pull Ups

Due to some medical reasons three recruits stayed back in their Seletar barracks while the rest in the block were training in Tekong. After carrying out some chores, they all moved to sleep in the same room. In the middle of the night, they could hear sounds from the pull up bars, as if somebody was training. But it was impossible as they were the only people left. Curiously, the trio went to the corridor and looked across the parade square. Indeed, there were two recruits doing pull ups at astonishing speeds without much effort. Behind them was a sergeant standing with arms akimbo. However, something sent all three recruits screaming in fright. The people at the pull up bar were headless.

Resident Ghost

It was Friday evening, Chee Hong was one of the last to leave the block for the weekend break. As he was passing by one of the rooms, he heard sounds of muffled sobbing. Looking closer, he saw a well built recruit with a surprisingly fair skinned complexion sitting on the bed. Out of concern, Chee Hong approached him to comfort him thinking that he had been detained for some extra duties. However, the person did not respond and continued weeping with his hands covering his face. Feeling helpless as there was nothing that he could do, Chee Hong patted the recruits shoulder and left the room. On his way to the bus stop, Chee Hong met his primary school friend Robin who happened to be in the room he was in just now. Robin answered, 'No, nobody from my platoon was detained this time. You must be mistaken. Furthermore, the bed that you described has been empty since the occupant died in a firing accident last month.'

Lady At Jetty

The dark waters crashed upon the shores at the Tekong Jetty as the sea breeze cooled the two sentries who were performing guard duty. One of them noticed a young lady in white with long hair sitting on one of the poles. Curious he signaled to the other sentry and both of them headed towards her. As they approached her, they could hear her weeping silently. The two sentries immediately presumed that she was about to end her life by jumping off. One of them started to persuade her to come down from the pole before she falls off and injures herself. However, even after much persuasion, they could not get her to come down. She continued sobbing incessantly. One of the sentries ran to get the duty officer and both rushed immediately to the scene. The officer spoke sternly, 'Miss, if you do not get down, we have to use force.' He was serious as he did not want anything to happen while he was on duty. Still there was no reply. He reached out his hands to get a hold of her around her waist to pull her down. Suddenly, the lady turned away quickly before she could be touched and delivered a forceful slap on the officer's face. The officer fell to the floor unconscious. The two sentries gathered round the sergeant. When they looked up again, the lady had disappeared mysteriously. They saw that the sergeant had five deep gashes on his face, a warning to them to leave the Tekong spirits alone.

The Woman By The Sea

One night, two patrolling sentries at Pulau Tekong decided to take a rest. They sat on the steps of the stairs facing the sea. One of them took out his cigarettes and both started smoking. While laughing over some dirty jokes that they exchanged between them, one soldier gestured to the other to quiet down. At this instance, both could hear soft but shrill singing which seemed to be coming from the direction of the sea. It could not be the wind as the midnight air was still. They looked to their left. About hundred yards away, sitting atop one of the large boulders was a lady with long, shiny black hair, dressed completely in white. The outline of her body seemed vague and blur in contrast to the sharp and jagged outline of the rocks basked in the moonlight. Slowly and deliberately, as if she knew that they were watching her, she turned her head to face them. Both of the guards were already scared out f their wits as they knew what she was. They had no intention to get involved with the supernatural. Noticing the movement of the head, they picked up their rifles and bolted back to their posts, never daring to venture anywhere close to the vicinity again.

Sirens

Nazli is a gunner on board one of the coastal patrol crafts. One night when he was walking on the deck towards the stern, he could hear faint sounds of people screaming for help and shrieks of pain amidst the gentle splash of the wave against the hull of the ship. Listening carefully, the sounds seemed to originate from the sea. As there were no boats nearby, and the shoreline was near the horizon, he could only conclude that they came from the vast body of water around the ship. During dinner time, when he brought up the strange incident, one of the more experienced crew members offered his explanation. During the Japanese Occupation, able bodied young men were massacred along the Changi shoreline. At this moment, the navigator recalled his grandfather telling him that on a certain day, an extraordinary number of people were gunned down by the Japanese. 'I think it was... oh yes! 14th October 1942.' As the crew turned the calendar next to the clock, it showed the exact same date!

Mysterious Shouting

Returning from an afternoon of jungle craft exercise, the entire platoon dragged themselves back to camp with their last bit of strength. As they were about two kilometres away from camp, they heard another platoon making their way through the jungle in the same direction as them, presumably another platoon returning to camp. The other platoon noticed them and shouted greetings. They replied with some vulgar remarks in jest. The both teams started the exchange of rude calls which filled the jungle. After ten minutes, the other platoon seemed to have slowed down and their replies became softer and slowly, there was silence. When the platoon reached camp, they discovered that all the other five platoons had arrived before them. There was no camp within a five kilometre radius from that camp and no other platoon training in that area.

Grave Mistake

Ah Seng was not much of a soldier. He was ill disciplined, and constantly brought trouble to his platoon. As he was a former gang leader, everyone feared him and let him have his way. One night, After the river crossing training, Ah Seng was on his way back to camp with his platoon. Half way, he bent over, remove his soggy, smelly socks and threw them in a careless fling into some nearby bushes. Later he put on his shoes and followed his platoon. After a supper of biscuit and tea, Ah Seng started behaving in an unruly manner. His condition deteriorated after sometime. His body shook with violent convulsions and he even foamed at the mouth. His eyeballs were rolled up and his pupils hid under his eyelids. When the commanding officer arrived, Ah Seng started to speak Cantonese even though he did not know the language. 'Remove the socks tonight or you will die a violent death.' His speech was jerky and his voice was in a harsh tone different from his normal voice. His platoon mates confirmed what he did earlier. The order was given. Almost the whole camp went out to look for the socks that Ah Seng threw. The torches lit the jungle as if a bazaar of elves and fairies was going on. After about an hour of tedious searching, nothing was found and Ah Seng's condition worsened. Just as strangely as it started, Ah Seng calmed down and fainted from the seizure. Five minutes later, someone ran in shouting, 'We've found the socks.' It appeared that Ah Seng was cured the moment the grave was cleared of his socks.

Night Stroller

Soon Hock shared a room with his buddy, David, on the third storey of Alpha Block. Every night, they ensure that the doors are shut tight and the windows locked before they sleep. One particular night, they did the same, but things were not quite normal. Soon Hock could feel the presence of someone in their room. The person was pacing up and down the small room, making a turn after every four steps, almost mechanically. As it moved alongside the bed, he could hear the sound of heavy breathing, coupled with an occasional sigh. It could not be David as he just felt him turning in the bed below. Upon this realization, he simply froze. Thump... thump... thump... The footsteps seemed endless. There was nothing he could do except shut his eyes and pray for daylight. The next morning, David also recalled the same incident. From his position below, he could view the entire room clearly, but could see nothing at all. Without uttering a word to each other about the incident, both knew that they had encountered the unnatural. They begged the officers to transfer them to another room that very afternoon.

Extra Track

Kok How followed the narrow jungle track flanked by thick undergrowth. Following him a couple of meters away was his platoon. He was supposed to meet another platoon before launching a mock attack on the enemy camp. It was already an hour passed and they reached the starting point of the other platoon. With the help of a signaler, they contacted the other platoon. They have reached the starting point too. Checking the map once more, they discovered that there was only one track through that part of the jungle. Kok How remembered coming to a junction and he took the track on the left. Retracing their route, the platoon managed to meet. However, nobody saw the other junction or the other route.

Trapped In Time

John was making his way out of the dark and dense jungle after a mock attack exercise to regroup with the rest of the platoon. He judged by his own timing that he was on schedule and will reach the meeting point on time. That part of the forest was familiar to him as many practices were held in that area. However, this time he seemed to have lost his way among the giant trees. As he turned around, the same sight appeared in front of his eyes. The same branch, shrub, log could be seen in all directions. He panicked as he did not know which way to go. John froze. Not a sound was heard in the forest, no crickets chirps, no birds sang, not even the rustling of leaves. Everything was in a standstill during that moment in time. The fear of being trapped and lost in this ghostly forest soon got on his nerves. He wanted to scream and break the spell but could not find his voice in the overwhelming silence. Then he heard it. Someone was shouting his name, someone close nearby. The voice sounded familiar. Miraculously , it broke the unearthly silence and he could get this senses back on track again. Quickly he made his way to the meeting point. John thought that he was late and apologized profusely to the officer, explaining that he was lost a while ago. 'John, where have you been?' the concerned officer asked. 'Do you know that we have been looking for you for the past three hours?' Only then did John realize how long the forest had held him captive.

Wail Of The Wild

Alex put on his slippers and dragged his feet to the toilet with a towel wrapped around his back, soap and facial cleanser in his hands. It was close to midnight and some of the people in his room were already fast asleep. As a person who kept a strict sense of hygiene, Alex decided to take a bath before sleeping. He left his stuff at the basin and went to relieve himself at the urinal. While he was doing so, he could hear a soft wailing from the last cubicle. It sounded like a child's cry but the icy and cold sobbing made his hair stand on ends. Slowly and with utmost caution, Alex turned his head around towards the source. However, all the doors of the cubicles were open and all of them were empty. Utterly shocked, he pulled up his briefs dashed back to the room. Hearing the hasty shuffling of slippers, all the people who were awake gathered around him to find out what was wrong. Calming down from his state of panic. Alex told his tale. The whole troop marched into the toilet. At this time, they could only feel the eerie silence, no wailing whatsoever was heard. After checking all the corners and cubicles, they could not find anything strange. 'Oi! Don't play a prank on us lah!' one of Alex's platoon mate said. Alex knew that he could not prove what he said, he grabbed his things and returned to sleep with the rest of his mates. He would rather not to be caught naked in a bath by whatever that thing was. He could still hear the wailing sound ringing in his ears. The next day, during lunch, he was seated next to a guy who told him about the wailing sound he had heard from the toilet. The very same sort of wailing which Alex heard. It seemed that this recruit's bed was on the other side of the wall, right next to the cubicle that wailed at night.

War Relics

Hock Jim belonged to the 4th platoon of Bravo Company who were camping on a slope near a forest in Pulau Tekong. After lights out at 11.30 pm, he left the two men bash to relieve himself at the lallang grass a couple of feet away. As he was buttoning up, Hock Jim heard a distant marching sound coming from a worn out road to his left. Initially, he thought it was an over zealous officer leading a route march. After listening carefully to the approaching noise, he could catch a few lines of the song that they were singing. It had a distinct marching tempo, but strangely, the language sounded foreign. At this time, Hock Jim strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the platoon as they marched past the campsite. He was caught off guard by what he saw. All the soldiers sported long and untidy shoulder length hair. Their uniform was unique colour - Temasek Green. In the darkness, their boots were barely visible but they seemed to be floating over the ground. They certainly looked like... Japanese Soldiers! When Hock Jim recovered from his shock, he dashed back into his bash. His partner was fast asleep, so he just closed his eyelids tight as the marching sound died down in the distant, leaving a live witness to an unearthly march.

Brutal Attack

Twenty four' the last recruit in the platoon numbered off. 'Where is twenty five?' the warrant officer thundered in a harsh and serious tone. Everyone in the platoon looked at each other, but no answer was heard. The roll call was repeated but the result was no different. Temporarily abandoning the mission, the platoon retraced its route in the dense foliage to search for the last recruit. Soon they were back at the starting point with still no sign of him anywhere. The officers in the surrounding barracks gathered for a short meeting. later, the entire camp split into small search parties to look for the missing recruit. It was already 4 am, three hours since the missing person was reported, but still there was no progress. In an hour's time everybody returned to camp to get some shut eye. That night, the warrant officer dreamt about a certain part of the forest near the camp. The same image kept recurring throughout his dream. The next morning, he led a few officers to the spot which he dreamt of the night before. A horrendous sight prompted them to look away in total disgust. A corpse was lying next to a rotting log. Its abdomen was brutally ripped apart, revealing the grotesque, bloody organs. It seemed that the body was mauled by some unknown beast. The fingerprints and identification tag on his body confirmed that it was the missing person. To this day, his death still remains a mystery.

The Third Door

The infamous Charlie Company of Pulau Tekong is regarded as one of the most haunted barracks. The most striking feature is that, besides the two doors both ends of the quarters, there is an extra doorway somehow in the middle which serves no particular purpose. A platoon from Charlie Company was on a routine night training. When a roll call was conducted a recruit was found missing. The officer in charge called off the exercise and the platoon mounted a tedious search combing the area around their route from camp. After three hours, somebody found the missing person, or at least what remained of him. The trainee's uniform was neatly folded, topped with his helmet and his boots and rifle were lying beside him. One of the platoon members recalled the missing recruit heard some noise and departed from the original path to investigate. Though nobody said anything, they knew that he must have been taken away by some unnatural force or being. Since then, strange wailing could be heard from the barracks whenever it was empty. Belongings began to disappear and reappear at strange places. Beds rocked mysteriously. As there were no life threatening incidents, the events were left attended least the spirit should be angered. Nobody wanted to even talk about it, that was until the next batch of recruits came in. The unfortunate recruit to sleep on the bed of the missing trainee went berserk the very next morning and took his life a few days later. It seemed that the original occupant died tragically and could not rest in peace. A Taoist priest was summoned after the trainee's death. He explained that the spirit of the missing recruit felt trapped and he was the cause of all the mischief. In order to pacify the spirit, a door should be built to allow it to move freely in and out of the barracks. From the day the third door was in place, the strange happenings died down and things were back to normal. However, the occasional shriek and marching from the parade square could still be heard at odd hours in the deep of the night.

Last Night

La la la la... last night in Tekong! I'm so happy! P.O.P. Loh!' I will always remember this song and the night we sang it. It was our last night in Tekong. Everybody was in high spirits as we were going to leave the island, hopefully for good. All of us were looking forward to get out of this damn place the very next day. To everyone's surprise, 'Mr. Devil', our platoon commander had promised to leave us alone. However, to the shock of everyone, just after night snack, Leong, one of my platoon mate, was called to the platoon office.

He returned half an hour later with no one other than the Devil himself. 'Lights off! Everybody goes to bed now!/ shouted Devil. 'Recruit Leong! Pack your things now. Tomorrow immediately after breakfast we'll leave. understand?' 'Yes, Sir!' Leong replied loudly with a noticeably depressed tone of voice. As soon as Devil was out of earshot, everybody started yakking and talking about what they were going to do with the short break before posting. Nobody gave any attention to my buddy Leong. They were too happy to be concerned. I asked Leong what happened earlier in the platoon office but he refused to say anything. Slowly and quietly, he went to packing the items in his cupboard into his gunny sack. My guess was that he was given an immediate posting to a hellish camp, probably as a combat engineer and had to forego his break. I offered to help him pack his stuff bu he declined. I did not pursue the matter any further as I assumed that he had too many things on his mind. As the lights went off and everyone got into bed to enjoy their last night's sleep, probably their only good night's sleep on the island, I crawled between my sheets ans was soon fast asleep, happily dreaming about tomorrow. A while later, I awoke to nature's calling. I realized that there was someone still moving around in the bunk. It was already past midnight and yet Leong was still packing with the help of his torch. I heard a little sob coming from his direction and decided to leave him alone.

I got up and headed for the toilet. A strange icy cold breeze gently blew past my face as I got out of the bunk. I shivered a little. Somehow, something made me check to see if I was wearing my amulet. Shit! I left it under my pillow. I quickly finished my business at the 'Great wall of China' and headed back to the bunk. I was startled to make out the figure of an old lady and a little girl before me in the dark. They were walking about inside the bunk. There was something very eerie about this couple that gave me the creeps. 'Granny! Somebody's awake!' the girl exclaimed. I thought I was discovered! Quick as lightning, I hid behind the doors. They did not see me. They were staring at Leong instead. The girl was talking about Leong! Leong turned around, startled by her voice. Before he could react, a mysterious force sent him up into the air and there he was, suspended in mid air. I could see that he was trying hard to scream and struggle but he could not even move a finger. he was frozen with cold sweat trickling down his face. The old woman grinned... Slowly she floated before him and stretched out her right hand. She stroked Leong's hair like a lover would. Suddenly, her expression changed. She began to cry but instead of tears, blood trickled down her cheeks. Slowly, pieces of skin fell from her face like a tree shedding its leaves. Her face was nothing but rotting flesh.

I covered my mouth to stop myself from vomiting. Fear had overcome my senses. I shut my eyes tightly, I dared not to even take a glimpse at the gruesome sight. Oh the other hand, the little girl seemed to be enjoying herself. I could hear her laughing out very loudly, as if watching a clown act. Strangely, none of my platoon mates seemed to have heard that frightening laughter. I heard a crack and curiousity took the better of me. I stole a glance. To this day, I regret my decision. I saw the old lady's head dropped off and glanced in front of her chest supported by nothing but rotting skin. Like a grandfather clock, it began to tick from side to side. Blood spurted out from her neck. It did not stop but spurted higher and higher. It was like a fountain in a pool of blood. She began to caress Leong's chest and her hysterical laughter grew even louder. I could not even imagine what was on Leong's mind as these passed by his very own eyes. 'Leong! No...' my mind was racing fast! My heart was pounding like never before! It felt as if it could jump out of my body any minute. Suddenly, my world turned dark and I fainted. The next thing I knew, my platoon IC woke me up. I found myself on my bed. Before he could open his mouth, I rushed to Leong's bed and kneeled in front of Leong. He was on his bed with a blanket covered right up over his head. I did not realize anything amiss as he usually sleeps like this. I sighed. 

'Leong, wake up. I've something to...' I said, pulling off his blanket, revealing his face. 'Leong!' I cried the moment I set my eyes on him. He was completely stiff. His face was pale, drained of all blood. His skin was modestly covering his skull. His eyes were wide open. There was  fear and hatred in those eyes. It was horrifying. 'Rest in peace, Leong.' I sobbed as I placed the flowers on his tomb. A sudden gust of wind blew past. 'Last... last... last night in Te... kong! Last night in Te... kong...' I could hear the song soar in the wind. I could hear Leong's cry from beneath my feet.

Bloody Door

Recruit T M Ang, C'mon. Endure! We're reaching dinner point soon.' 'Yes, sir!' Dragging his feet, Tuo Mei struggled behind the company. Gradually he lagged behind. He began to lose track of the time. Finally, after walking for what he seemed to be miles, the company came to a halt. They had reached their dinner point. The place, the company settled for dinner was a deserted durian plantation, left unattended after the last of the villagers left Pulau Tekong. The trees had then grown wild, with their crowns spreading like a mad man's hair. The abundant leaves formed canopies that they shaded the entire ground, allowing only rays of light to seep through. If one was to look up, he would notice a graceful dance as the gentle breeze touched the leaves. The whole plantation had projected such an air of serenity, in which no other place in Tekong could match. However, unknown to anybody, evil was steadily pushing its way into the plantation as the sun gradually weakened.

Dinner finally arrived, to the joy of the hungry soldiers. Everybody rushed to grab their food, but in an orderly manner. After eating, many just lazed around their confined area designated by their platoon commander. Nobody, except Tuo Mei dared to cross the boundary. Drawn by the mystical look of a gigantic durian tree, the subconscious soldier staggered towards it. With a sigh of relief, he threw his helmet and field pack down, tore apart the straps of his webbing and sank down onto the ground. 'At last! I can sleep!' meanwhile, at another corner of the plantation, the officers had gathered for a meeting. 'PCs we have a problem here. It's Thursday today and it's gonna get dark soon. However, we still have eight click, what's your opinion?' 'Sir, but the school's rule... I think we should wait here, while Encik goes back to call for transport.' As they were discussing and arguing, a sudden creepy feeling touched everybody's hearts. The entire plantation had become silent, dead silent. The crickets and the toads seemed to be gone. Or perhaps they had decided to listen to their conversation instead of participating. The recruits had gathered into groups, looking at each other. The urgency to leave the place become strong. Just then the dark clouds covered the sky like a big piece of blanket, refusing sunlight to enter the plantation. A creepy feeling crawled in.

'C'mon, PCs get your men ready, we'll walk a bit faster and finish the last eight click.' A roll call revealed that everyone was present. Soon, the recruits were pushing their bodies which were totally exhausted forward and fastened their pace. Singing an army song that sounded more like a funeral tune, the company was filled anxiety. Unknown to everybody, recruit Ang Tuo Mei did not join in. Another recruit, Jason who was just discharged from the sickbay, had joined the platoon during roll call. Somehow the mistake was made when Corporal Cheong failed to notice Jason. A cooling sea breeze blew. Enchanting music filled the air, breaking the magical silence of the plantation. Tuo Mei was dreaming. He could not hear his friends singing. All that he heard was the gentle sweet voice calling him. 'I ask my girl, to take a walk, to take a walk...' Slowly the singing faded.

Captain Chia was looking at his watch with anxiety. It was already past eight o'clock. He knew it was getting late and he knew that he must reach camp before the school's bedtime. Therefore, he skipped the intended rest point and pushed his men to walk faster. He had only one intention in mind, that is to reach camp as fast as possible. The thought of camp finally became a vision. They had managed to make it back before the school's bedtime. 'Dari kanan bilang!' commanded Corporal Cheong. 'Twelve and one blank file, corporal!' 'One blank file? Sure? Fall in properly and number off again!' 'Twelve and one blank file, corporal!' shouted the last man in the file. 'Who's not here!?' After glancing at one another, checking their friends, the answer finally came to light. 'Recruit T M Ang is missing, corporal!' 'Corporal! I think I saw him sleeping when I was eating. 'Tuo Mei's buddy exclaimed. 'Hmm... cannot be what. The roll call after dinner was correct, twelve and no blank file.' Corporal Cheong began to probe for information. At last enlightenment was attained. Recruit Jason had messed the roll call. He was not supposed to be in the file during the roll call, as it was only meant for those who were in the original walking strength. furthermore, Jason failed to inform Corporal Cheong, the Duty Instructor of his return before joining the platoon. Thus, this had caused Corporal Cheong to make an error in the platoon's walking strength.

Immediately the matter was made known to Corporal Chia. Just as fast, a search was activated. The whole company was involved. Platoon 3 was assigned to search the durian plantation. 'Tuo Mei!' 'Recruit Ang Tuo Mei!' everybody was shouting at the top of their voice. Panic filled their hearts as they temporarily forgot about their tiredness. Just an anxiety reached climax, winds started howling and leaves rustled violently. The whole plantation suddenly became very much alive. It seemed to be protesting. The commotion created had caused a rumpus. A creepy kind of feeling struck everybody's hearts once again. However, this time it was a stronger one mixed with fear. Suddenly, the wind stopped, and the whole place was silent again. It was too quiet for anybody's comfort. Nobody wanted to shout anymore. Nobody wanted to walk another step. Everybody was staring at one another, dumb stricken. The trees seemed to be stretching out their branches to touch them. 'Okay... uh... guys... let's head back to camp! It's getting late.' Their officer's commanding order warmed their hearts. In just split second, everybody had gathered on the road, ready to get out of the eerie place. Once all were present, the platoon hurried back to camp, joining the rest of the company on their way back. Just as soon as the soldiers stepped out of the plantation, it became alive again with crickets, toads and all kinds of insects that inhabited the area. They seemed to be laughing, perhaps at the cowardice and incompetence of the soldiers.

Tuo Mei was feeling terrible. He could see the lady in in his dream, tearing his flesh, devouring his body. He heard his friends shouting, calling his name, and he had screamed out, using the last bit of strength that he had left. Sadly, nobody heard his painful scream, nor did they notice him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw them leaving, they had left him to die. Tears trickled down as they disappeared out of his sight. 'Company... Ber... hen... ti!' Charlie company had returned. It was almost dawn and everybody was dead tired. How much they had missed their beds and the warmth of their blankets. After dismissal however, 2LT Razali and his instructors followed their recruits to their bunk. They had not ruled out the possibility of Tuo Mei going AWOL. They intended to investigate further. Just when they had gathered the recruits around, a sudden blackout occurred. Mist started forming. It was evolving from Tuo Mei's cupboard. Cold sweat trickled platoon sergeant. 'Who opened that cupboard? Close it!' screamed the platoon sergeant. Too late! Out of nowhere, Tuo Mei's head appeared, resting on his intestines on top of his cupboard. Was it Tuo Mei's head? Nobody was sure. The face was hideous. It seemed as though half of the face was being burnt by acid. The dermis had melted, exposing the red raw flech. Blood was flowing profusely. If one was to look carefully, he could actually differentiate the cheek bones from the flesh. Teeth marks sank deep around his left eye causing blood to ooze out dripping on his intestines. The intestines were coiled like a rattle snake, nicely under the head, with the end part of the colon dangling at the edge of the cupboard. The intestines was red, yet made redder by the bleeding from the wounds on the face. Somehow it seemed to brighten the darkness consumed bunk. In fact, in no time, the entire cupboard stood out, together with the head and the intestines, as it was tainted with blood. The instructors and the recruits as well as everything else in the room had become the background as darkness gradually devoured them. 'All of you deserted me! Left me to die there!' Anger filled his eyes as Tuo Mei stared at every single soul in the room. Suddenly laughter filled the air. His anger had been appeased. Thunderstorm was over, was it? Everybody looked at him in fear. Their hearts were pounding as though they were racing. Nobody were scared out of their wits. Tuo Mei's buddy even uncontrollably urinated in his shorts, as he closed his eyes, trembling. Silence. The devilish laughter had stopped abruptly. A long frightened silence followed, reminding everybody of the extraordinarily quiet plantation. Tuo Mei was now scanning the room, recording each and everyone's expressions. Finally, the pair of eyes rested on Jason, Tuo Mei grinned.

'Revenge! I want revenge!' His words died off, as a monstrous mouth appearing from nowhere tore away the upper half of the head. Tiny pieces of flesh mixed with blood dripped at the corner of the mouth as it sank its teeth into the skull. Blood spurted out from the hollow of the lower part of Tuo Mei's head, creating a bloody fountain. 'I've... a... fare... farewell gift... for you...' cried Tuo Mei in bitter pain. As soon as he finished his words, something dropped on the floor from his colon. It was shit! Suddenly his colon erected, pointing at the startled faces and started spraying, like a machine gun. Nobody managed to survive this ordeal. Screaming and shouting, cursing and swearing, as they tried to wipe their face. They were powerless against him. Nobody even dares to shift his position. They were afraid that this could be just the beginning. Looking at their expressions, Tuo Mei laughed inside the gigantic mouth. He was laughing at their helplessness. The laughing ended as razor sharp teeth sank deep into his skull. 'Grunt! Grunt!' As the mouth gorged down its delicacy, saliva blended with Tuo Mei's blood dripped on the floor. It seemed to be enjoying every bite of this unusual food. Once it was done, it began licking the intestines lovingly, down to the colon. As though it was having oral sex, it began sucking the colon. Saliva dripped from the corner of the mouth. It was enjoying every single moment. Gradually, it sucked and swallowed the whole colon. It was disgusting, so much so that disgusting was too mild a word to be used to describe it. After what seemed to be hours, it finished the entire intestine. A burp followed by a grin ended the show. The mouth was satisfied. Suddenly it disappeared, vanished into thin air. Following that the cupboard door banged, sucking in all the mist, as it shut itself. Instantly, the light came back on.

All eyes were still fixed on Tuo Mei's cupboard. Nobody had yet recovered from the shock. Just then, their eyes caught sight of Tuo Mei's helmet, resting on top of this webbing on top of his cupboard. Nobody said anything. The image of the mouth, and their friend's head and intestines was still in their minds. They had not vanished into thin air. A long silence. 'Okay, everyone... uh... its over. Back to sleep.' The platoon sergeant broke the dreadful silence. Was it over? Or was it just the beginning? He himself was not sure. Nobody was sure. But he knew he had to do something. Slowly but firmly, he walked towards the cupboard. His mind was racing fast, his heart was pounding faster. He mumbled his prayers. He knew deep inside his heart that he could die with just one false move, and marked the end of his career. As he got nearer to the cupboard, he took out his beret from his trousers pocket, flung open the door and put his beret firmly inside the cupboard. lights flickered for a minute or to then returned to normal. He had subdued the demon! The Singapura crest on the beret did its job. Immediately, without thinking he grabbed a lock and locked the door of the cupboard. Then he took the berets of the other instructors and placed them on the cupboard. Everything was peaceful for now.

Report to Brigade Headquarters on Missing Recruit Ang Tuo Mei
Date:     18 June 1980                    Ref:     X/T 666

13 June 1980, Thursday
0730 hours:     Charlie company had gathered in full battle order waiting to start their 24 km road march. Rec T M  Ang of Platoon 3 was experiencing severe headache. He reported to Corporal Cheong, the Duty Instructor for that day. Corporal Cheong encouraged him to participate in the road march and also assured him that he could fall out halfway if his condition got worse.

1200 hours:     Lunch break. Rec T M Ang was feeling dizzy. He informed 2LT Razali, his platoon commander, who suggested a rest before they moved on. He also offered oitment to ease his headache.

1240 hours:     The company proceeded. Rec T M Ang managed to keep up with the company's rear scouts.

1800 hours:     Dinner break. Rec T M Ang complained to 2LT Razali that his head weighed hundreds of tons. He dozed off at a corner.

1830 hours:     Captain Chia, after a meeting with all the platoon commanders, decided to continue with the road march to reach back to camp before lights out.

1850 hours:     A roll call showed that everybody was present. The company set off.

2130 hours:     The company returned camp. Rec T M Ang was found missing. Captain Chia immediately activated the whole company for a search.

14 June 1980, Saturday
0430 hours:     Search considered futile. Captain Chia command the search teams to head back to camp.

0500 hours:     Just before dawn, the platoon commander and the instructors of platoon 3, as well as the recruits witnessed the unusual phenomenon.

0730 hours:     The unusual incident was reported.

0800 hours:     The camp commander activated a 3 day search for Rec T M Ang.

16 June 1980, Monday
1600 hours:     Recruit T M Ang's remains were found dead near a gigantic durian tree.

Comments
It was strange that nobody had noticed the tree when they searched the durian plantation. What they found was only a skeleton with Recruit Ang's identification tag. Further evidence from the uniform the skeleton was wearing and the field pack beside it supported the fact that the skeleton was Recruit Ang Tuo Mei. The extraordinary speed of decomposition cannot be explained.

Conclusion
Classify case under Category X, also unsolved mysterious of Tekong. Fine to remain closed.

It was 14th June 1993, Friday. The time, 0700 hours. Staff sergeant Jason, Charlie company, newly posted Company Sergeant Major was found dead inside the company's lecture room. The room was actually an ex recruit's bunk, the one that brought back memories of Recruit Ang Tuo Mei, thirteen years ago. Staff sergeant Jason died a terrifying death, with his head been separated from his body and his intestines pulled out. It was a sickening sight, with the head resting on the intestines, on the stage. Blood was everywhere, on the walls, the benches and the floor. Upon investigation, the brigade failed to identify the killer. The case was then handed to the civilian police. The lecture room was put out of use. It was bolted and nobody was to use it ever again. They washed most of the blood stains from the room, except the one on the wall. It was very strange as the stain formed an outline of a door.

Thursday Night

A recruit's life is tough and torturing. Though a freshman, he is expected to attain the soldier's discipline as soon as his hair is cut. 'Tekaning' is usually being used by the intructors to instill discipline in the recruits. Beside that, a recruit is also expected to obtain a high level of fitness as the training progresses. Physically weak recruits will enjoy 'special treatment'. It was another routine of chin up sessions before lunch. Ronnie's platoon sergeant, the infamous sadist maniac, has came to see their progress personally. Everybody was trying their best not to anger him.

'Recruit Ronnie Ong! You swine! Call yourself a soldier when you can't even do one single chin up! Might as well wear skirt! This platoon is a bunch of weaklings. How can I expect a hundred percent pass in your IPPT?! All of you drop fifty. Recruit Ong, you drop one hundred! Down!' All eyes were on Ronnie as they carried on their push ups. They were filled with anger. How they wish Ronnie would just disappear from this world. Ronnie, the platoon sissy as he was called, was the weakest in the platoon. 'Sabo King' tittle was honourably given to him as he always get the platoon into trouble. How they hated him. How they detested him. Gradually, he was being isolated by everybody. 'I must pass! I must pass!' Ronnie would always mumble. After that incident before lunch, Ronnie was more determined to prove he was no weakling. He hated to be left alone. Tonight he would give himself extra training. It was Thursday night. The night where the school's rules stated 'No Training'. All recruits and instructors are to be in bed at 2200 hours. Nobody had ever questioned the rulling before and nobody knew the reason behind it. In fact, nobody had ever disobeyed this rule before. However, Ronnie was going to make an exception tonight. It was raining cats and dogs. Ronnie, putting on his physical training attire, waited impatiently for the rain to subside. Just as his eyes were getting heavy, the rain ceased.

'Must do it tonight! Do it or never!' he mumbled as he reluctantly left the warmth of the bed. It was extremely chilling that night, with mist forming around the chin up bar. The effect of the dim light from the cookhouse made the surrounding very eerie. Ronnie shivered... the atmosphere had reminded him of one of the horror scenes in a drama series shown a couple of years back. He remembered how he dared not sleep that night after the show. He was young then. Now, he was a soldier. He must be brave, and besides, such things were non existing. Picking up his courage, he approached the chin up bar. 'Pull! Pull up, useless arms!' In his anxiety and anger, Ronnie failed to realized that his hands were losing grip. In just a split second, he fell, lost his balance and fell headlong onto the curb. Blood flowed profusely from the gash on the forehead. Struggling to stand up, he stumbled and fell into the drain in front. There he laid unconscious... It was rumoured that ever since the fated accident, dogs had gathered around the chin up bar, howling on every Thursday night. It was such a spectacular sight. Dogs from nowhere would surround the shin up bar, like witches surround their pot of magic, howling. Sometimes, they even dance a tribal dance around it. Somebody had once said that it was an evil night. According to him, dogs would only dance around the place where spirits are fierce and revengeful. The more dogs there are, the fiercer the spirit.

A year had passed. The accident was long forgotten. People were using the chin up bar again. The Thursday night ruling was also abolished after a change in command for the military training school. However, one practice still remained. All recruits still do chin ups before every meal. 'C'mon Lee! Two more. Pull!' the platoon cheered on. Recruit Lee tried hard to do the additional chin up. He had needed two more before he could pass his chin up. His done his best, but 'not good enough!' his sergeant would say. 'Recruit Lee! If you fail your IPPT tomorrow, I'll have to put you on remedial training every Saturday until you pass. Is that clear!?' 'Yes! Sergeant! I will pass, sergeant!' How was he going to pass if he failed the chin up station. Sighed, he shook his head and went for lunch. 'I'll do it tonight. When everybody is sleeping, I will still carry on pulling until I can pull six.' Determined, Lee waited for night fall patiently. It was raining heavily after dinner. Lee waited. It was nearly midnight and Lee was about to give up. Suddenly, the rain stopped. It was very strange. Usually rain would subside then come to a stop, slowly. This rain just ceased abruptly as Lee's watch struck twelve.

As quick as lightning, Lee changed. He was determined to carry on. Putting on his shoes, he went down to the chin up bar. Strangely, a mist had formed around the chin up bar. Dogs were howling around it. Stunned at this scene, Lee back up. He was hesitating, when suddenly, a strange mysterious force drew him nearer the chin up bar. The dogs were howling even louder, louder than ever before. Subconsciously, Lee mounted the bar. The dogs were no longer dogs. They were his platoon mates cheering him on. There was an unfamiliar face among them. A face he had never seen before. The face was smiling. 'Pull! Pull up, useless arms!' cried Lee. To his surprise, he could not even do one chin up. He struggled. Angry with himself, he did not realize that he was losing grip. 'Thud!' Lee fell. A pair of hands from somewhere grabbed his feet, gave him a quick jerk and made him fall headlong onto the curb. Blood flowed from his forehead, partially blinding him. 'Damn!' cursed Lee as he clumsily got up his feet. The face was staring at him, grinning. 'Give me hand, will you?' 'No... problem...!' laughing out loud, the ghostly figure of Ronnie pulled Lee down the drain. There Lee laid unconscious. 'Ha! Ha! Ha! Company at last! I'm no longer alone. Ha! Ha! Ha!'

The mist clouded into fog. Laughter heightened. Howling deepened. Dogs from everywhere gathered around the chin up bar, dancing their tribal dance, singing their favourite song. 'What is all this commotion!?' 'Nothing! It's just another Thursday night! Ha! Ha! Ha!'