Club 30's "Kill the Boredom Demon" JivePad 112th Edition
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Originally posted by fudgester:
You see, we Muslims count days from sunset to sunset. So Thursday night is actually a holy day for Muslims (since it actually counts as Friday, which is a holy day).
Long ago, Malay parents would tell their children unholy stories about demons and ghosts lurking around on Thursday nights. They would do so in a bid to prevent the kids from playing around on such a holy night and to instead spend it in prayer.
These stories became oft-repeated and the myth of Thursday nights being haunted arose.
And somehow this myth got into the SAF. I guess that's how that stuff about the recruit being killed specifically on a Thursday night came about.
And yes, I find it dumb to use unholy stories to scare kids into respecting a holy night.
but then the stories in the SAF ........
statistical co-incidence ? .....
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and the charlie company 3rd door has nothing to do with the route march mishap
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It is a well-known fact that Pulau Tekong has a number of ghosts. Some of you readers may have read or heard about the ghost at Charlie Company at the old basic military camp 1. Unfortunately, some versions that I read or heard have been distorted over the years.
Here, I hope to set the record straight. Instructors and trainees of Charlie Company, Infantry Training Depot during the March-June 1983 period can vouch for my version of the story. It is NOT my intention to revive hurtful memories especially for the bereaved family or to blame anyone, but purely to narrate facts as they had happened.
The starting point of this true story should be the 16 Km route march about 18 years ago. Before the march, the Officer Commanding of the company asked the trainees whether anyone was sick or not feeling well. No one put up his hand. But there was a trainee among the company, Recruit Tham W.K., who was down with flu but did not put up his hand.
Then the route march started. The platoons took turns to lead the company after each break during the route march. Sometimes, the pace of the march became too hot for some trainees, who could not keep pace and had to fall out. They became stragglers and had to be picked up by a few instructors walking at the rear of the company. The landrover with the medical orderly was also supposed to be at the rear.
Somehow, Tham fell out and managed to slip out of view by taking cover in the forest. He was not to be seen alive again.
During subsequent rest breaks, there were head-counts. He was presumed to be with the medical orderly. It was only in the evening after the route march, when the the rifles were due to be returned to the armoury, that they realised Tham was missing. They went to the medical centre but he was not there. The instructors feared the worst. Overnight, they organised a night-search party for him, re-tracing the 16-Km route taken earlier in the day. They could not find him.
The next day, the entire Camp I ceased training and batches of instructors and trainees were dispatched to find Tham. It was only about 5 p.m. that his own platoon commander (PC) found his corpse. Near a forest track junction, the PC noticed a half-pictched tent. He called out but there was no response. As he neared the tent, he noticed many flies buzzing around and detected a foul stench. There lay before him his dead trainee, lying with one hand holding his rifle and the other hand outstretched with a water bottle, with its cover opened. The PC broke down in tears and wept openly.
(A subsequent post-mortem showed that Tham had apparently died of stomach rupture. When his body system was still hot from the heat of the route march, against the advice of instructors, he had apparently gulped down massive amounts of water suddenly. It was like pouring ice cubes into a thin glass of hot water, which can cause the glass to crack. But the post mortem also found puncture marks on his body, which could not be satisfactorily explained to this day.)
It was left to the Company Sergeant Major and his landrover driver to drive the corpse back to camp for transfer to the mortuary. It was twilight at that time. Inexplicably, the engine could not start. The thought of the two of them spending the night with the corpse unnerved them. But eventually, they somehow had the engine started and returned safely to base.
The late Tham was promoted to NCO and cremated at Mount Vernon with full military honours. As the company trainees lined the road snaking up to the crematorium to salute our late comrade, it was a heart-breaking sight to see a distraught mother being supported by two daughters following the hearse.
A few instructors returned to the site where he departed from this world, to offer incense and prayers. One instructor asked the late Tham not to come back and haunt us, but rather to express his last wishes in a dream so that his soul could rest in peace after his wishes were fulfilled.
But Tham did not listen.
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Originally posted by kopiosatu:
ehhhh... read the link i gave.
some guy investigated, its got nothing to do with muslim ghosts.
the guy died from a stomach rupture..
The guy supposedly died on a Thursday night.
The thing is, this 'no night training on Thursdays' predates the story, going back to the 60s. At least, that's what I've heard from my Encik and a couple of other sources.
I'm thinking that whoever came up with the story of the third door extrapolated it to the 'no night training on Thursdays' rule.
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Originally posted by fudgester:
The guy supposedly died on a Thursday night.
The thing is, this 'no night training on Thursdays' predates the story, going back to the 60s. At least, that's what I've heard from my Encik and a couple of other sources.
I'm thinking that whoever came up with the story of the third door extrapolated it to the 'no night training on Thursdays' rule.
What I need now was someone who was there between 1986 and 1984.
As luck would have it. I found such a man.
He is 1st Sgt Phua, currently from the same platoon as I am, serving as a NSman in 27 SIB. Sgt Phua was a recruit in Bravo Company, in the year 1986.
He was aware of the 3rd door, but he wasn’t aware of the route march death. Sgt Phua said that he heard that a recruit hung himself in that bunk, and after a bout of strange disturbances, a Priest was called in, who after a ritual declared that a 3rd door have to be made in order for the aggrieved spirit to leave the bunk.
Sgt Phua thus provided the missing link that I was looking for. Though certain facts could never be ascertained to a high degree of accuracy, we could deduce the following conclusion from our interviews and research.
Our Conclusion
1. It is very possible that at the time of the death of the recruit in 1983, the 3rd door was not built yet. That would explain why people I interviewed belonging to that period was not aware of any 3rd door mystery.
2. It is very possible that there was a transition period in which for reasons as yet unknown; a 3rd door was built in a Charlie bunk. It is possible that supernatural events occurred in that bunk, including a suicide, that led to a Priest being called in, and a 3rd door created. Sgt Phua knew about the suicide in the bunk with the 3rd door.
3. Over a year or so, someone realise the connection, or created the connection between the route march death and the 3rd door.
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the investigator even went to find the grave of the route march casualty
"As if Fate had guided my path I found him just as I was about to head home after a fruitless 1 hour search.
From the date of birth to the time of death on 24th May 1983, Tham W. H. was 19 years of age, the right age for army enlistment.
And like Mr. Soh, I too prayed that may Mr Tham’s soul rest in peace.
IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD YOU WILL DWELL FOREVER"
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Originally posted by fudgester:
The guy supposedly died on a Thursday night.
The thing is, this 'no night training on Thursdays' predates the story, going back to the 60s. At least, that's what I've heard from my Encik and a couple of other sources.
I'm thinking that whoever came up with the story of the third door extrapolated it to the 'no night training on Thursdays' rule.
but the third door's real ... I saw it with my own eyes ....
me and three other chaps sneaked off to explore the place when we had a rover .....
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Originally posted by Fatum:
but the third door's real ... I saw it with my own eyes ....
me and three other chaps sneaked off to explore the place when we had a rover .....
Well, the third door may be real.....
But as kopi's source stated, the circumstances behind it are not entirely clear. Someone may have hanged himself, and maybe not.
It also may well be true that that person died on a Thursday night, but that may well be a coincidence. From what I know, the 'no night training on Thursdays' rule predates the story, and someone may have simply put two and two together.
I think I gotta ask the older generation about this 'no night training on Thursdays' rule..... my Encik wasn't old enough to be in the previous generation.
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In one special session, which I unfortunately missed, but my fellow officers told me, it involved a Mindef Directives on not conducting training on Thursday nights. The reasons cited included an increased risk in accidents, injuries and incidents occurring in Thursday Trainings in the evening.
The session included an actual case study of a mysterious death of an army recruit. The incident supposedly occurred in the 1970s.
Basically it involved the incident of a recruit who went missing halfway through a route march. First the platoon, then the company, then the camp, and eventually the entire island was mobilized to look for him. They found him the next day, with his body disemboweled, along the route of the route march.
- but this is where the timings don't match up. because the route march incident was 1983, the investigator isn't sure about the validity of "no training on thursdays" rule.
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almost 1pm... time for lunch?
damn, i'm still thinking about the issue with kids
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Well, haunted or not, urban legend or not, all I gotta say is this....
Regardless of whatever your beliefs may be, some things are simply not meant to be messed around with.
Like that Malay kid I bumped into during SAF ward duty, who was in a near-catatonic state after asking a bomoh to put a hex on his former poly lecturer (I kid you not).... whether it's self-suggested psychosis or not, I don't really want to know.
I can still remember my dad sending me off at the ferry terminal at Tekong on the first day of BMT..
As religious as he may be, and as much as he doesn't believe in all this spirit stuff, he gave me a stern look and told me to recite a short blessing every time before entering the jungle.
Oh well.... I gotta go now. Experiments to do.
*me mysteriously disappears in a puff of smoke*
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well ... I heard some stories about pontianaks from one of the old malay watchmen at st john's island yonks ago ....
he would not allow any visitors to stay overnight on st john's on a thursday night ....
even till today ... if you check out the sdc's website, their bunglow and camp offerings never stretch over a thursday night too ....
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Originally posted by kopiosatu:
In one special session, which I unfortunately missed, but my fellow officers told me, it involved a Mindef Directives on not conducting training on Thursday nights. The reasons cited included an increased risk in accidents, injuries and incidents occurring in Thursday Trainings in the evening.
The session included an actual case study of a mysterious death of an army recruit. The incident supposedly occurred in the 1970s.
Basically it involved the incident of a recruit who went missing halfway through a route march. First the platoon, then the company, then the camp, and eventually the entire island was mobilized to look for him. They found him the next day, with his body disemboweled, along the route of the route march.
- but this is where the timings don't match up. because the route march incident was 1983, the investigator isn't sure about the validity of "no training on thursdays" rule.
Tekong camp was built only in the 90's?
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Originally posted by SevenEleven:
Tekong camp was built only in the 90's?
that's the new school
the old school is further in
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I remember there's this 80's channel 8 drama about tekong ...岛的å©å� or something ....
that's supposed to be about the eviction of the residents from there to mainland singapore ....
so tekong as a training ground dates back to at least then ? ...
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Originally posted by kopiosatu:
that's the new school
the old school is further in
oh....thks. i remember there was only 2 school back then.. Nee Soon SMBT and Sembawang ITD. but I didn't do my recuirt time there. I was posted to Selarang Barrack
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hey guys!!!
3rd day of my new job, eating oatmeal porridge at desk for lunch... later go meet ex colleagues to smoke... here there's zero smokers >.<
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your new work place is near to old one ? ...
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Originally posted by tare:
hey guys!!!
3rd day of my new job, eating oatmeal porridge at desk for lunch... later go meet ex colleagues to smoke... here there's zero smokers >.<
how's the new office?
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in the malay and islam beliefs, thursday nights are when the spirits roam, so that could also be a point of influence to no activities on thursday nights.
it is known as Malam Jumaat (you can check with your older malay colleagues)
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Originally posted by tare:
hey guys!!!
3rd day of my new job, eating oatmeal porridge at desk for lunch... later go meet ex colleagues to smoke... here there's zero smokers >.<
had oatmeal as well!how's work?
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Originally posted by Fatum:
your new work place is near to old one ? ...
yah very near... just a building away hahahaa7-11, new office okie... ppl friendly, all those guai guai type de tho :P
and they seems to like to make kopi everyday hahahahaa -
Originally posted by cassie:
had oatmeal as well!how's work?
so far i think can handle lah.. just have to get used to the work flow and system asap... but it's really nice to have someone doing all the scanning and filing for me *cover mouth giggles* -
Originally posted by tare:
yah very near... just a building away hahahaa7-11, new office okie... ppl friendly, all those guai guai type de tho :P
and they seems to like to make kopi everyday hahahahaamake kopi ... no good?
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Originally posted by ä¸�如就æ»:
make kopi ... no good?
i guess it's a habit i must developed :P