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!'

Vengeance

Recruit Edmund Lee kept on running. The 2.4 km run end point was only two hundreds metres away. It was so near but yet seemed so far away. From the distance, he could hear other soldiers cheering him on, screaming 'Hurry up!' and 'Endure!'. Edmund told himself that he could not afford to fail the timing for this 2.4 km endurance run for the consequences of failing would be severe. He had already failed all the other four stations in the Fitness Test and not passing the run would only annoy his superior, 2LT Tan Hin Seng, further.

'You better run faster or you'll get hell from me later!' It was Edmund's Platoon Commander, 2LT Tan. He was all the while running behind Edmund, reprimanding him all the time, in the hope that such scolding would spur him on to run faster. Edmund tried to sprint his way to the end point but his legs resisted. Right from the beginning of the endurance run, he had been feeling spasms of pain in his chest but did not reveal it to anyone, for fear of getting unnecessary scolding. The pain was pushing him from the back. His vision blurred and before he knew it, he blacked out. It was two in the afternoon. The morning Fitness Test proved to be a strenuous one for Edmund. Even though he had fainted before completing the run, he was now certified to be physically fit for further training by the Medical Officer in his camp. Silently, he prepared his equipment for the afternoon's Field Craft training. In a convoy of six military vehicles, the soldiers arrived at the training ground for the days Field Craft training. After being allocated Training site A for the platoon's training, Sergeant Thong organized the soldiers while waiting for the 2LT Tan to give a training lecture to the platoon. The lesson took only ten minutes after which the platoon of forty men was sub divided to be trained under various instructors. Edmund was taken aback when he was told to follow 2LT Tan for his training. He knew that would men the 'hell' as intended for him earlier in the morning.

'Move!' commanded 2LT Tan. All seven in the group tiptoed their way through the jungle, trying to be as tactical as possible in order to avoid discovery by the enemy party who was simulated by the other soldiers. It was then that a clumsy Edmund tripped over a fallen tree trunk. He fell flat onto the ground, his weapon flew out of his hand. Thunderous noises from weapons fired by the enemy shook the whole place. 'All seven of you are dead!' exclaimed a frustrated 2LT TAn. Recruit Edmund was summoned by the officer. He knew he could expect more then mere tribunal this time. True enough, not only was he mercilessly reprimanded, he was rewarded several forms of physical punishment which lasted as long as an hour. It was only when the pent up frustration caused by the clumsy soldier was totally released that 2LT Tan finally let him go. Night fell. For a while, Edmund thought that he would have peace back in the barracks after the days harsh training had ended. But he was wrong! 'You stupid asshole! Because of you we came back so late. If not, we can sleep much earlier already.' Thundered Recruit Lim Ah Kow in fluent Hokkien. Edmund knew he could not argue with this uncouth soldier for that would animate thrashings from him. So he kept mum all the while, listening earnestly to the swearing in the many colourful Hokkien words by Ah Kow. Even then, he was not forgiven.

Edmund was dragged into the toilet by the well built Ah Kow. Trashings were inevitable. It was only after 2 am in the morning that he was allowed to retire to his bed to sleep, with bruises all over his small body. 'Better don't tell sergeant, or else...' Edmund remembered Ah Kow grin as he was warned. The seventh day of the seventh month in the Lunar calendar. An inauspicious day for Sierra company to have a rifle shooting practice for the recruits. Edmund sobbed. He had not shot well for the morning's firing practice and was badly told off by 2LT Tan. For the past two months, he had been fighting a relentless battle within himself. A usually timorous him told himself to give up hope but the stronger side of him refused, telling himself to endure for the sake of his parents. But now, he knew very clearly what his next move was. He gnashed his teeth and proceeded for the afternoon's firing practice. Edmund was now in the firing site, accompanied by his coach, 2LT Tan. He remembered his earlier plans and was determined to carry them out. Suddenly, he flipped up his weapon and aimed it at 2LT Tan, who was standing just ten metres beside him. 2LT Tan was too stunned for words. 'You don't like me and I don't like you. Let me end this thing once and for all.'

Such were the last words he heard. Within the last few second of his mortal being, 2LT Tan thought of his parents, his girlfriend, his ORD date which was just two weeks away, and every other matter... Before long, he felt a surge of immerse pain in the chest. he fell dead on the ground. For the first time in his military life, Edmund revealed a willful and victorious smirk. 'Sorry, mum.' With the weapon butt placed on the ground and the muzzle pointing up his chin, he fired a shot. Blood splattered all over the firing site and both soldiers lay dead in a pool of blood. The ambulance was called for and the Medical Officer sent. Both were evacuated out of the isolated island, back to a hospital in Singapore mainland. But it was too late. The shots had been too accurate and both soldiers died instantaneously. A letter written by Edmund addressed to his parents was found amongst his belongings a few days later...

Dear dad and mum,
I am so lost now. I don't want to die. I want to live on for your sake but I feel so tired in this wretched place. I am sorry to say that I will leave this world earlier than you. Thanks for the love and kindness you have showered me for the past eighteen years of my life. I am very, very sorry.
With regrets,
Your beloved but unfilial son
Edmund

A grand military funeral was held for 2LT Tan Hin Seng. Recruit Edmund Lee was charged by military law for homicide. It was a night when Sierra company was conducting its firing practice. Edmund adjusted his seal silently by the side of the firing chamber, observing the firing of the soldiers who used to be his platoon mates. He was not afraid of being discovered for none of them could see him now. Even if they could, there was nothing they could do to harm him. He felt that it was so unfair even in the darker world, for such lower forms of being as spirits and the dead. That bastard 2LT Tan was given immediate reincarnation after death but Edmund was left a wandering spirit. He resented it all and had decided to return for revenge, on all those who had done him injustice before. Edmund waited patiently for Lim Ah Kow. He knew he had the whole night to himself. The time had come. Ah Kow proned himself comfortably on the ground, waiting for his turn to fire his weapon. With a whirl of his index finger, Edmund made himself visible to Ah Kow. The latter was shocked. What appeared before his eyes was a fleshless and transparent body which he could look through. The emotionless face was that of a familiar person but it was as pale as a white sheet of paper. it was that pair of unblinking murderous eyes that could make him insane.

Ah Kow screamed and told Sergeant Thong what he saw but it was of no use, for no one else could see Edmund except Ah Kow himself. Sergeant Thong, thinking that Ah Kow was trying to play a prank, gave the latter a smack on his head. Ah Kow could take no more of that ghostly sight. He yelled his way out of the firing site. Sergeant Thong, sensing something amiss, ordered the other soldiers to stay foot while he went after the frantic soldier. it was at a bare grass patch that Sergeant Thong found Ah Kow, now lying flat on the ground. It looked as if all his four limbs were pinned down, so that no matter how he struggled, he could not free himself. Being a devoted Taoist, the Sergeant knew what to do next. He took out a talisman which was folded into a triangular shape ans strung through a black string worn around his neck. In a single swift movement, he swept it across his eyes. It was now that he could see that ghastly face of Edmund. Blood was flowing out of those eyes which exhibited nothing but hatred. Sergeant Thong shouted for Edmund to release Ah Kow but his orders fell on deaf ears. With the talisman in his right hand, he dashed towards Edmund who was strangling Ah Kow with both hands. The long and sharp fingernails which were given a black coat of polish piercing through that latter's neck. Sergeant Thong pinned the talisman on the spirit's head. It let out a piercing scream and disappeared into thin air.

'I will be back!' Such were the words which rang through the air. Three other instructors ran to the scene, all armed with weapons, only to see a worn out Sergeant Thong and Recruit Lim lying unconscious on the ground. Both victims were sent to camp's Medical Centre. Two weeks later, Lim Ah Kow was disrupted from National Service and sent to a mental institute as he was found to be incurable. To his colleagues, the incident did not seem to affect Sergeant Thong at all. He appeared to be no different from the past, strong and daring. However, he had quietly requested for a transfer out of Pulau Tekong and was waiting for approval. Well remembering the words 'I'll be back' he hoped that he could get out of the mess by getting out of the wretched island.

Ouija

The ouija board is a board with letters and other signs on it which people try to use for receiving messages from the dead. Of course, most of us many know that there is a Chinese version too which displays Chinese characters instead of letters. Some argue that the Chinese were actually the ones to invent the ouija board and the Caucasians had merely adapted it to suit themselves. However, most seem to treat it more like a game than a serious means of communicating with the dead.

It must be played by three or more people. Some argued that if less than three people participated, it would not work. First of all, those involved have to placed their index finger on a circular marker placed at the centre of the board, usually an inverted saucer with a line drawn down the side. Then, an invitation had to be extended to any spirit in the area. If a spirit takes up the offer, it will began to answer any questions posed by moving the marker to the relevant characters. When the participants decide to end the game, they must invite the spirit to leave the place. The marker would return to the centre of the board to indicate its departure. Throughout the process, the participants must keep their fingers firmly on the marker until the spirit has departed. The story I am about to relate is about this game with the supernatural and why it is sometimes better to leave them alone. Many years ago, a new batch of recruits arrived on Pulau Tekong to do their Basic Military Training. As usual, there was the hustle and bustle of the first day in camp. They were sent to their respective companies and then brought to their bunks where they spent the better half of the day settling in. There was not much to do on the first day and the recruits were advised by their platoon sergeant to rest early as they have a long day ahead the next day. However, as the recruits of a particular company were getting ready for bed, one of their platoon mates produced an ouija board, a gift from his friend during his send off. A few started to gather around him, and soon the entire platoon was huddling together in the middle of the bunk to watch the proceeding. A thoughtful member went to switch off the lights so that the sergeant would think that they were asleep.

Of the entire platoon, there was only space for eight of them to actually squeeze their fingers onto the inverted saucer. They were namely, Toh, Jeremy, Sean, Cheng, Yeo, Sim, Situ and last of all, Malcolm, the owner of the set. He lighted a candle to provide some light, adding to the already eerie atmosphere of the bunk. Malcolm started the ball rolling by inviting a spirit nearby to come forth to answer their questions. He did it in a purposefully dramatic manner, like the Chinese priests in the movies and that invoked a few giggles from his platoon mates. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The audience looked at each other and burst out laughing. Some of them were even beginning to feel a little silly. When they had all finally managed to regain their composure, Malcolm recited the invitation. When he was halfway through, the saucer on the board began to vibrate. Malcolm stopped midway amidst looks of bewilderment from the observers faces. Malcolm held his breath and posed the first question, 'Spirit, are you with us?' The saucer revolved slowly around the many characters on the board, emitting a soft, rasping sound. Then, it came to a stop on the character 'Yes'. There were gasp from those watching. Toh then asked the next question, 'Are you male or female?'

The saucer moved to the character 'Female'. 'Your name?' Toh asked. The saucer moved to the character 'Siok', then moved to the next character 'Leng' and then became motionless. 'Siok Leng', Toh muttered, 'Your name is Siok Leng'. 'Yes' came the reply. 'My turn! My turn! shouted Jeremy. 'Howold are you?' The saucer shifted again, giving the answer as 'Eighteen'. 'She's eighteen when she died. I wonder how long ago that was,' said Jeremy. 'How long have you been dead/' he asked. The saucer moved steadily and gave the answer as '1932' 'Man, that's a long time ago,' exclaimed Jeremy. Yeo then continued the questioning. 'Where are you from?' he asked. 'Near' was the reply. 'Why does she always answer with such vague terms?' Yeo asked in exasperation. 'Hoe near?' he asked further. This time, the reply was more concise, 'By the river'. 'I know the river!' exclaimed Jeremy. 'It's about 2 kilometres to the east of here. My grandmother even lived there a long time ago. Did you use to live there?' he asked.

'Yes'. 'My turn now', said Cheng. 'What's out sergeant's name?' 'Soo'. 'His full name?' Cheng inquired further. 'Soo Kar Siow', the spirit replied. Suppressed giggles broke out immediately throughout the bunk. 'Soo Kar Siow', someone repeated, 'I'll like to play a few rounds of mahjong with him someday'. They continued asking personal questions about their sergeant, platoon commander and each other. They discovered many hilarious facts; their PF is actually henpecked, and their sergeant goes to Geylang every Saturday, The horde sure had a good laugh at their expenses. Suddenly, the smart Alex among them, Sim, exclaimed, 'Hey, how do I know that its not one of you who has been secretly moving the saucer around, giving us all those ridiculous answers, and here we are, lapping up every single word of it.' 'Why don't you ask the spirit some personal questions about yourself which only you have the answers to?' challenged Malcolm. 'Hey, that's a great idea. Why don't we each ask a personal question about ourselves. That way, we will know that all this game is genuine,' Cheng replied. 'I'll start,' offered Sim. 'What's my baby sister's name?'

The characters showed 'Lim Siew Fang.' 'That's absolutely correct', said Sim, a bit surprised. 'None of you could have possibly known that.' Chen was next in line. 'What's my mom's I/C number?' he asked. The spirit took her time and gave the correct answer, right down to the alphabet at the end. In this manner, each of them took their turn to pose a question, and each time, the spirit managed to give an accurate answer. Finally, all of them were convinced that none of the players were trying to act smart. Malcolm, who was always too curious for his own good, then asked, 'How did you die?' There was an immediate hushed silence. The saucer moved slowly before stopping at the answer 'Violently'. 'Can you be more specific?' Malcolm pursued further. All of them were not prepared for the reply 'Raped and murdered'. The room took on a sombre atmosphere. 'Who did it?' asked Cheng, who was silent all this while. The arrow on the saucer pointed to 'Outsiders'. 'You mean there was more than one?' he asked. 'Five' replied the spirit. 'Man, these people are brutal. They are animals! Where did it happen?' he asked.

Slowly, the saucer indicated the reply 'By the river'. 'When did it happen?' he inquired further. 'Today' it replied. 'Today?' Cheng asked in bewilderment. 'Oh, you mean in 1932? That means that today is actually the anniversary of your death?' 'Yes'. 'What do you mean the people who raped and murdered you were outsiders? Do you mean that they were from somewhere else?' asked Malcolm again. 'Yes', replied the spirit. 'Then, where exactly were they from?' Sean interrupted. The characters indicated 'Mainland'. 'Then, what were they doing here?' he asked. 'Seeking fun', and after a moments hesitation, the spirit added 'and trouble'. Toh then took over the questioning. 'Why did they pick you?' 'Alone' came the reply. 'Why were you alone?' he asked. 'My father's grave' she replied. 'Your father's grave?' Toh pondered. 'You were alone at your father's grave, near the river? Were you there to clean his grave?'

'Yes' she replied. 'So you were at your father's grave when those scoundrels stumbled upon you. They then took you to the river where they took turns raping you?' This time, there was a slight rattling of the saucer, as if the spirit was reluctant to answer the question. It pressed down hard on the board, went around the board, emitting a sharp, screeching sound, before coming back to the character 'Yes'. 'How then they kill you?' asked Jeremy, with a perverse grin on his face. 'Beaten and drowned' was the reply. There was groans of disgust all around. 'Those bastards aren't human', somebody exclaimed. 'Didn't those in your village catch them?' Sim asked in turn. 'They didn't know' she replied. 'Why could they not know?' he asked, genuinely puzzled. 'Body never found' was the reply. 'How come?' he pursued further. 'Cut to pieces and dumped into river' came the reply. Sim immediately felt like vomiting. 'These bastards are really sick', he thought to himself/ 'So those bastards got away scot free?' asked Yeo in anger.

This time, the reply was a quick 'No'. 'What happened to them in the end? Were they sent to prison? But you said that nobody knew?' This time, the saucer moved promptly to the character 'Kill'. 'You mean they were murdered?' he prompted, the atmosphere now deadly serious. Nobody was treating it as a game anymore. 'Yes' replied the spirit. Situ quickly cut in, 'Who did it? How could all five of them be killed?' The instantaneous reply, 'I did', curdled his blood. 'What do you mean you did? You are dead!' This time, the saucer remained stubbornly on the character 'I'. Malcolm was the first to recover from the shock. 'You meant to say that you caused their death, don't you? Just how did you manage to do that?' The spirit seemed to hesitate for a while before answering. 'Unnaturally' was the reply. By then, all of them were scared shitless. 'Let's end this game', said Yeo to the rest, 'its getting was too far'. 'No!' exclaimed Jeremy, with a look of fascination on his face. 'Just how did you manage to do that? They overlooked something that night, didn't they?' he asked the spirit.

'What are you talking about?' interrupted Sim. Jeremy paid no attention to him. Instead, he continued, 'You were wearing something special that night, weren't you? You were wearing something red?' 'Correct' was the reply. 'From head to toe' the spirit continued. 'That's why you were so vengeful, because you were wearing red. But why would you wear red to your father's grave? You had something else up your sleeve, didn't you? You wanted to be noticed, didn't you?' reluctantly, the saucer moved to the answer 'Yes'. 'You knew that those scoundrels were passing by,didn't you? You wanted to be noticed, didn't you?' This time, the saucer swung viciously around the board before stopping on the character 'No'. 'You know you can't lie. You were the one who was trying to have fun, right? Things just got out of hand and you finally got yourself killed, isn't that right?' This time, the saucer did not move an inch. 'So you are not going to deny it anymore, are you?' Jeremy continued. Once again, the spirit refused to answer his question. The group was at a lost for words. The air was thick with apprehension as they sensed the spirit's increasing defiance. They were no longer in the right frame of mint to ask questions, except Jeremy, that was. 'So, how did you manage to get all of them killed, huh? Didn't anybody suspect foul play?' Jeremy asked.

'No' the spirit answered this time. Then, the saucer continued to move, forming the words 'you... are... next'. Suddenly, the saucer went berserk. It began to revolve round and round the board, faster and faster. All of them was trying to keep their fingers on the saucer as it sped around the board. The screeching sound had become deafening. Malcolm was shouting above the din to the rest, 'Don't let go! Whatever you do, don't let go or else we are all dead meat!' Jeremy, who was shocked by the reply of the spirit earlier on, was the first to let go. The others were immediately thrown backwards by a huge force. Some landed on their backs while a few of the others were thrown against the lockers. Malcolm was the first to regain his senses. He half crawled back to the board and, to his relief, saw that the saucer had returned to the center of the board. Apprehensively, he picked up the saucer and flipped it around. A look of terror immediately flashed across his face. There was a solitary drop of blood at the base. He flopped on the concrete floor with a look of resignation. 'We're dead. When you play with the ouija board, you must never release your finger until the spirit has left. Now we are done for. She will never rest until we are all wiped out', he moaned. Reluctantly, the rest of the platoon picked themselves up and returned to their beds. All were fearful of what Malcolm had said. They were especially concerned about Jeremy, whom the spirit had singled out. For the rest of the night, most could not sleep. Those who did had nightmares. Malcolm and a few others even claimed that they had seen the grinning face of a woman starring at them in thin air during one point at night or another. It was a terrifying sight, as there was blood trickling from her eyes and mouth and a bluish tinge in her complexion.

when somebody tried to awoke Jeremy the next morning, he was already stone cold. His face was frozen in a mask of sheer terror. he would never have the chance to tell anybody that he used to have an aunt living on Pulau Tekong with his grandmother, except that she had been missing since she was eighteen.

Deadly Pranks

Nicholas Koh Eng Soon was commissioned exactly a week ago. He would never forget the pride he felt that day. Since then, he was known as 2LT Nicholas Koh instead of being called a cadet for the past ten and a half months. He had gone through so much and he was determined to make full use of his newly gained status. He had only received his posting the day before. He was to report to Pulau Tekong Camp 2 as the new MTO (Military Transport Officer). Nicholas had to admit that he was a little disappointed. He had hoped to be posted to some combat unit as a PC (Platoon Commander), where he could lead his men into battle. Instead, for the rest of his NS career, he would have to be stuck in a transport company, away from all the action. However, he had not forgotten his oath on the first day of his enlistment to do the best in whatever he was assigned to do.

As instructed the day before, he arrived at Changi jetty at a quarter to eight. He was met by a Malay corporal called Ibrahim. Together, they took a ferry from the jetty to their destination. Nicholas had never taken a ferry before in his entire life and the trip was rather interesting to him. He had only been to Pulau Tekong once during his OCS course and they had taken a military RPL, a huge barge like vessel. His impression of the island was limited. He remembered the humid forest and long stretches of tarmac where he and his fellow cadets had trekked. The temperature there was always one or two degree higher then the mainland and the whole island seem to have an air of desolation. Nicholas turned his attention away from his string of thoughts to the waters. Surprisingly, he thoroughly enjoyed the sea breeze and the emerald green of the see. Along the way, the small ferry passed by several large islands and a few kelongs, which Nicholas observed with acute interest. The trip slightly longer than thirty minutes. Upon alighting onto Ladang jetty, the ferry on Pulau Tekong, he was struck immediately by the heatwave. Ibrahim ushered him to a waiting jeep and both of them proceeded to Camp 2.

Nicholas saw that the island was pretty much the same as the last time he was there. Time seems to stand still here on the island. There was the familiar dense vegetation on both sides of the single lane road. The street lamps were the type that could be found on the most rural areas of the mainland, the most unique feature about Pulau Tekong was the absence of traffic lights on all the roads. It was a driver's paradise. After ten minutes ride, they arrived at their destination. Camp 2 was very much like one of those old camp at Changi. The buildings were colonial bungalows of the early twentieth century. They were obviously very old and desperate need of a new coat of paint. Ibrahim parked the vehicle at a corner of the parade square. He then led Nicholas towards a cluster of one storey buidings at the edge of the camp, which were the living quarters for the soldiers. The officers bunk were at the very edge of the group. Nicholas was the one on the extreme left along the row next to the jungle. Surprisingly, the corridor and the drains were well cleaned. The interior of his bunk was also very tidy. It was definitely more spacious than his previous one at OCS. It was approximately the size of a master bedroom in a HDB flat. The room was sparsely furnished with a single metal bed, a study table and a wardrobe. There was a window with wooden shutters near the entrance of the room. There was also a back door, which Ibrahim explained, led to the common toilet behind the building. Nicholas then excused Ibrahim and started to unpack his belongings.

it took him about twenty minutes to unpack all his stuff. It was then that he noticed the rusty old kris hanging above the back door. It had tarnished with age and humidity. Curious, Nicholas took a chair from the desk and placed it at the door before climbing up to removed the kris from its perch. The metal with which the cover was made of was green with oxidization and had stained his hands. It was wet and cold to the touch and he was quite repulsed by the clamminess. With his hand on the elaborately carved handle of the kris, he slowly withdrew the blade from its sheath. To his disgust, a stream of murky and evil smelling liquid which had gathered inside spilled out onto his No.4. He shrank back instinctively and, simultaneously, threw the kris onto the ground before wiping his hands on his pants. Upon impact, the kris broke into two. He then noticed that the blade of the kris had strange inscriptions on it. Whatever it meant, the kris had stirred a sense of uneasiness in Nicholas and he decided to get rid of it. With a broom and dustpan, he swept up the mess and dumped it into the dustbin outside. Nicholas had just changed into a new set of No.4 when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door and there stood a short and wiry Malay. He introduced himself as 1st Sergeant Mohan, the senior vehicle mechanic. He had accidentally discovered the broken kris in the dustbin and had come to find out the cause. Nicholas described the accident and how he had dumped the broken pieces into the bin. He noticed that 1SG Mohan had suddenly turned very pale, as if in shock and was speechless for a moment. When he finally regained some composure, he explained that an officer friend of his used to reside in this same room and had left the kris behind when he was discharged from service.

Somehow, the lack of conviction in 1SG Mohan's statement made Nicholas suspect that he was not telling the whole truth. However, he decided not to pursue the matter as he was already late for an interview with his OC. Captain Lee Yew Hock was a huge disappoinment. His appearance was unimpressive, unlike his instructors in OCS. He was only about thirty plus and was already balding prematurely. He had a slight paunch and a thin moustache which reminded Nicholas of a centipede. He looked more like a hawker in the market than an officer. He shook Nicholas hand half heartedly and started to brief Nicholas on his duties. Nicholas was rather surprised by the amount of work he was assigned to. As the briefing continued, Nicholas realized that he would be covering both their duties. He was then dismissed and brought to his office by a junior clerk. He spent the rest of the morning going through the things in his office and interviewing the few clerks. During lunch, Nicholas had his first chance to visit the cookhouse, which like everything else there, was a disappointment. It was old and dilapidated and baldly in need of renovations. The food looked more fitting for animals and he immediately lost his appetite. At the cookhouse, he also saw 1SG Mohan. The Malay sergeant was with a few colleagues but he kept stealing glances in Nicholas direction. He would then point to Nicholas discreetly and whisper excitedly with his colleagues. Nicholas was rather amused by this. He thought that it may be because he was new and they just needed some time to get used to him.

After lunch, he went back to the office and started doing some paperwork. If fact, he was so occupied by his work that he almost forgot that it was time to knock off. His lazy OC had left the office long before the stipulated time to catch a ferry back to mainland. He was a married personnel and was accustomed to going back to his family a few times a week. The rest of the staff, however, were not allowed to book out during weekdays. As he strolled out of his office into the cool evening air, he saw a group of younger drivers and clerks having a game of soccer on the parade square. They called out for him to join them and he sportingly accepted their offer. After about an hour of vigorous soccer, the group broke up for dinner. This time, Nicholas decided against the cookhouse and joined his men at the canteen. The food there was much better and he enjoyed his dinner thoroughly. They stayed behind after that to chat and to watch TV. Nicholas then noticed 1SG Mohan at a corner of the canteen. he was staring absent mindedly at Nicholas before realizing that he was being watch in return. he immediately looked away and got up to leave. Nicholas was getting irritated by all these but decided not to take any actions for the time being. Something in 1SG Mohan's look frightened him. He looked terrified every time he looked at Nicholas. He was quite curious to know what frightened the obviously experienced sergeant so much when the others were not the least bit intimidated by him. He made a mental note to find that out the next time he saw 1SG Mohan.

After dinner, he took a nice slow stroll back to his quarters. On the way back, as he passed by the other bunks to reach his own at the extreme corner, he found that they were all unoccupied. He remembered vaguely Ibrahim telling him that all the NSF officers had ORDed recently and he was the first to be posted here since. When he reached his door, he let himself in and switched on the light. He peered out of the window at the lighted bunks of the specialists and enlistees some distance away. Sounds of people laughing and talking drifted through his window in the cool night air. He began to feel a sense of loneliness and desolation. he wished, at that very moment, that he was just a junior rank instead of an officer. As an officer, he was taught always to behave in a manner that distinguished himself from the rest of the men. In other words, he had to often keep his distance from them whereas the other ranks were not restricted by such unwritten regulations. After office hours, specialists and enlistees were free to mix with each other without any feelings of restrain. Nicholas could only sigh in desperation. As a recruit, he had hoped to go to Officer Cadet School after his BMT because he had always been consumed by a desire to be superior over everyone else. He had worked hard to achieve that. Now, that he finally had it, he was beginning to have second thoughts. He decided that it was probably a passing phrase and he would get used to it in time.

Nicholas decided to take a nice long shower and retire early for the night. He reached for his towel and toiletries from the wardrobe and proceeded to the toilet from the back door. He was surprised by a draught that hit him the moment he opened the back door. He reasoned that the air at the back could be much colder than the front. There was further humidity in the air, almost a clamminess that made him feel uneasy all over. However, at the shower, the feeling left him as mysteriously as it came. The water was cold, but he did not mind as it helped cool him down in the hot weather. On the way back to his bunk, Nicholas was once again aware of the unsettling feeling he has felt prior to leaving his room. He dismissed it as chills from the cold shower. In his room, he did a bit of reading before going to bed. It was approximately ten thirty. The cold was really getting to Nicholas. He subconsciously pulled the blanket up his neck. Suddenly, a stiff wind blew across his body. It was so chilling that he was rudely awakened. He opened his eyes and then got yet another rude shock. Instead of looking up at the ceiling of his room, he saw the lush, leafy branches of a tree swaying in the wind. he sat up and found himself in the open! There was a door on his left. He was in the damn courtyard outside his back door. Even his bloody bed was there. That certainly ruled out the possibility of sleepwalking, which was never a problem for him.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was four in the morning. In addition to the cold of the morning, he once again felt the chill that he had felt while walking past this exact place earlier on. He quickly jumped out of bed and tested the back door. It was unlocked though he was sure he had locked it before going to bed. It was then that he realized that he could be the victim of a very sick practical joke. He carefully looked around him, but could spot no hidden figures in the shadows. Frustrated, he dragged the bed back through the back door. For the rest of the night, he was so perturbed that he could not get back to sleep. Nicholas got out of bed at first light the next morning. By six, he was dressed and proceeded to the cookhouse for breakfast. Throughout the entire night, he had thought things over and was convinced that someone had played a practical joke on him. The first person that came to his mind who would have a motive for doing so was 1SG Mohan. He believed that the incident of the broken kris must have had offended him more than he had suspected. That must have sparked off the mischief. Hence, he was determined to find 1SG Mohan within the day to force the truth out of him. At the cookhouse, he tried to keep a lookout for 1SG Mohan but failed to find him. After attending his company roll call, Nicholas made his way to the vehicle repair sheds some three hundred metres into the forest at the back of the HQ building. Arriving at the run down shed, which housed all sorts of vehicles in various states of repair, he only managed to find the same group of people that 1SG Mohan had hung out with. He questioned one of them concerning the whereabouts of Mohan and was told that he was running a high fever the night before and was sent to the Medical Center at the other side of the island this morning.

Disappointed that he had failed once again to find the elusive 1SG Mohan, he left a message for Mohan to see him the moment he returns from the Medical Center. Later that same afternoon, Nicholas was informed that 1SG Mohan had been sent to Changi Hospital on the mainland because the Medical Officer had felt that his condition was too serious for the inadequate facilities on the island. The rest of the day passed uneventfully as Nicholas occupied himself with his work. That evening, after dinner and a few drinks at the canteen, Nicholas returned to his room. He decided to put the previous night's incident on hold until Mohan was back. Though he still experienced that awkward feeling on his way to and from the shower, he was no longer as badly disturbed by it as the previous night. It also occurred to him that when he went to the toilet this morning, the feeling was not there. Therefore, he was further convinced that it was just the cold of the night and nothing else. That night, just before he turned in, he double checked the doors and the window to make sure that they were locked. When he went to bed, it had suddenly begun to rain heavily. he had caught a glimpse at the clock on his table. It was midnight. Water was dripping on Nicholas and that had awakened him. He used his palms to wipe away the trickles from his face before opening his eyes. He did not realize that the ceiling was leaking so badly. He was getting frustrated for being disturbed the second night in a row. Until he fully opened his eyes and realize that he was no longer in his room. He was at the exact spot as he was the night before.

The rain had dwindled into a slight drizzle. His entire mattress was almost soaked and his pillow and blanket were wet. Nicholas was furious this time. His watch showed that it was again four in the morning. Whoever had done this was going too far. He sprang out of bed and searched the surrounding area, challenging the responsible party to come out and face him like a man. Still there was nothing but shadows in the rain. Finally, he had to give up and drag his wet bed back into his room. After he had dried himself, he had to make a makeshift bed in a corner with his spare No.4 uniforms. However, the night was so cold that he spent the remainder of the night huddled in his spread of clothes. The next morning, Nicholas went back to his office to inform his OC that his bunk had leaked and he needed the rest of the day off to make some repairs and repack his room, which was a lie of course. His OC was annoyed that he would be shorthanded and grumpily allowed him only the afternoon off. Hence, Nicholas had to struggle to prevent from dozing off after two successive fitful nights. He had also decided to feign ignorance tonight and lead the pranksters into trying their tricks again, while he set a trap to ambush them.

At noon, he was finally allowed to leave the office and return to his bunk. The entire place was isolated at this time of the day. He laid out his bedding to dry in the sun and changed his bedsheet and pillowcases. He spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping in his makeshift bed. When the intruders came again, he thought, he would not hesitate to breaks a few bones. After discovering their identities, he would ask his OC to charge all of them and send them to the Detention Barracks. Then, everyone would know not to mess around with 2LT Nicholas Koh. Nicholas woke up slightly after four in the afternoon, after about three hours of undisturbed sleep. He felt wonderfully fresh, better than he had felt in the last two days anyway. He collected his bedding, which was completely dried by the extra hot Pulau Tekong sun, and proceeded to pack up his room. Slightly after five, he went for dinner at the canteen. He tried to act as normal as he could, all the while keeping a lookout for any suspicious characters, but everybody seemed to be going about their business without paying any special attention to him. Earlier in the day, he had made inquiries and had found the 1SG Mohan was still in hospital. He had to concede that whoever the pranksters were, they were playing it cool and were not giving themselves away. After dinner, he lingered around, all the while trying to detect if anybody was keeping tabs on him. At about nine, he slowly walked back to his bunk. As usual, he got his things and headed for the shower. Once again, he got that distinctive eerie feeling on his way to the bathroom. After a quick shower, he went back to his bunk where he began to get ready for the night.

First of all, Nicholas took out his spare uniform, poncho and other large clothing items. Using the poncho, he covered the shutters of the already closed window. He used the other items to block the slits below the two doors and any other openings that might emit light. He wanted to give the intruders the impression that he had already gone to bed. As he noted that they usually strike at about four in the morning, he decided to keep himself awake until then. That was why he sealed all the openings but kept the lights on. He was afraid that he might doze off if he waited in the dark. Next, he plugged into his earphones, settled in bed with a thick novel and began the long wait. After a desperate struggle to stay awake for the past few hours, the time eventually drew nearer. It was three thirty in the morning, and Nicholas got out of bed quietly. First of all, he switched off all the lights. Then, he slowly and silently took away all the clothing he had used to seal up the room. He then returned to bed with his personal changkol stick by his side. He pulled up his blanket to the neck and continued waiting. It was three forty. After approximately ten minutes, he suddenly sensed sounds of heavy breathing in his room. He was surprised that he did not hear the pranksters come in. He had locked the door although he knew that it could not deter them as they had managed to undo the lock before. However, he did not expect them to be so quiet that he could not even notice them until they were already in the room. He heard them undo the rusty old latch of the back door and the slight creak as it was opened. By then, he had opened his eyes to a slit, and managed to catch a glimpse of four figures in the darkness. He tightened his grip on the changkol stick and watched as they slowly took their places at the four corners of his bed.

Up until then, except for their heavy breathings, these fellows hardly made a noise. Then, he saw them bend over and lift his bed slowly from the ground. With amazing fluidity, the whole procession began to move slowly towards the opened back door. This was the moment Nicholas had been waiting for. He pulled his changkol stick from under his blanket, raised it over his head and swung it sideways at the head of the nearest figure with all his strength. He felt the impact of the stick against the head and the sickening crunch of breaking bones. At the moment of impact, the head was actually scythed from the shoulders of the figure and it flew right across the room. The figure gave such a chilling scream that Nicholas felt his blood freeze in his veins. It was a scream from hell! Then as abruptly as they came, the four figures vanished into thin air altogether, along with the severed head, leaving Nicholas by himself again before he passed out from shock. Nicholas felt someone shaking him by the shoulders. Memories of the previous night began to flood back into his mind. He struggled with the pair of hands gripping him by the shoulders and opened his eyes. He saw the familiar face of 1SG Mohan and immediately relaxed. 1SG Mohan was first to speak. He had returned to camp late last night and had heard that Nicholas was looking for him urgently. he instantly knew the reason. He came to see Nicholas as soon as he had awaken. He has knocked on Nicholas front door for almost a minute and getting no response, came around the back to find the back door open and Nicholas completely knocked out. Mohan then told his tale.

When he was first posted there two years ago, he had became good friends with 2LT Shah, the previous inhabitant of that room. After some time, Shah had confessed to him that the room was actually haunted. The site of the whole camp had previously been a training area for mortar fire. One day, a group of four men had secretly sneaked into the area to pluck some rambutans. Without realizing that they were in there, the exercise begun. Later, the four men were reported to be missing and their badly ravaged bodies were later found in the area, at the exact spot where Nicholas bunk now stood. The spirits of the four men had came back to haunt the place where they died. The previous inhabitants never stayed there for more than a few days. They would request for a change of bunks. However, when Shah had moved in and experienced the haunting, he had gone to see his uncle, who was a bomoh. His uncle gave him the kris which he had blessed through a special ceremony, to keep in his bunk. True to his word, for the remainder of his stay there till he ORDed two weeks ago, Shah never experienced any disturbances again. However, when Nicholas moved in, he broke the blessed kris and Mohan was worried that the disturbance would start again. However, as it has been such a long time since anything strange had happened, Mohan hoped that the spirits were driven away permanently and he saw no sense in worrying Nicholas unnecessarily if that was the case.

He wanted to tell Nicholas the truth at the first sign of any unnatural happenings. Coincidentally, however, he had suddenly become very ill and had been unable to keep an eye on him. That very day, Nicholas had applied for a change of bunk, citing a leaking as the reason. Mohan had helped him move to his new bunk at the other end of the camp and he had not experienced anything strange since then. Some say that perticular bunk still stands but it had long been uninhabited and was used for storage purposes. Those who passed by the back door after dark still complained of a sudden eerie feeling.