NUS Toddycats has conducted the Battle of Pasir Panjang Commemorative Walk since 2002. During the walk, we remember the battle and also share other stories of nature, history and the environment.
Event details:
Date: Sat 3rd Feb 2024 (50 pax) or 17th Feb 2024 (30 pax)
NUS Toddycats are pleased to invite you to the Battle of Pasir Panjang Commemorative Walk!
The account of the heroic defence of the ridge by the Malay Regiment in World War 2 by Dol Ramli left such a strong impression on us that we decide to share the story in 2002. Annually since, we commemorate the Battle of Pasir Panjang which took place from the western end of NUS to hill 226 where the Reflections at Bukit Chandu now stands. Read this account by Kenneth Pinto from 2011.
It is a shorter walk that we conduct this year, as we did last year, which begins at The Gap which you can access from Kent Ridge MRT station. The walk still ends at Reflections at Bukit Chandu which has Pasir Panjang MRT nearby at the bottom of the hill.
The guides, Kok Oi Yee, Stella Wee, Kenneth Pinto, Airani S and Otterman will also introduce aspects of the geography, history, flora and fauna of the area which drew every natural history student in NUS to explore the ridge over the decades.
All are welcome, just register for these time slots (15 pax/slot):
The Battle of Pasir Panjang Commemorative Walk with the NUS Toddycats, volunteers of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore.
Sun 16 Feb 2020: 7.00am – 12.00pm from NUS
The heroic account of the Malay Regiment at the Battle of Pasir Panjang left a strong impression on us, and there few of us have come together to commemorate the Malay Regiment’s defense of the ridge every year since 2002.
Guides will share with the public stories about the battle, the geography, history and the flora and fauna of the area which drew us to explore the ridge decades ago which led us to gradually learn of its history.
Our commemorative route takes us from the battle front at the National University of Singapore to Kent Ridge Road and through the Gap to Kent Ridge Park and ends at Reflections of Bukit Chandu (note that this is closed in 2020).
You must be able to wake up and join us at 7.00am at NUS’ University Cultural Centre and be physically fit enough to walk 5km (with some stairs) at a moderate pace over five hours.
Please read the other details and guidelines for preparation on the Eventbrite page.
Sat 9th Feb 2019 – some 70 members of the public with a special passion for heritage gathered before dawn to commemorate the Battle of Pasir Panjang. Fought through the ridge 77 years ago, it would be the last two days before Singapore fell on 15th Feb 2019.
We traced the steps of the Malay Regiment as they held off the Imperial Japanese Army, and then were forced into a desperate and retreating battle. We began, as they did, at the junction of Ayer Rajah Road and Reformatory Road – what is today Ayer Rajah Expressway and Clementi Road.
We remembered the observations of Penrod Dean before we set off:
The Malays started to fight the Japanese on Reformatory Road,” said Lt. Penrod V. Dean of the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion. “They had dug slit trenches but they didn’t have a lot of weapons. They started fighting the Japanese just with rifles virtually. And when the Japanese broke through them, the Malays took to them with bayonets, they put bayonets on the rifles and with a bayonet charge they drove the Japanese back across Reformatory Road.”
“They were very brave people. They fought very hard, but for every Malay soldier there was about 10 or 12 Japanese soldiers. So it was inevitable what was going to happen.” [link]
After the 7.00am briefing amidst a grove of Gelam trees next to the NUS University Cultural Centre, we made our way up the ridge, onto Kent Ridge Road, past The Gap into Kent Ridge Park and finally Bukit Chandu.
Along the way, we shared stories of the battle, interweaved with the history, geography and biology of the ridge. This year – also the 200th anniversary of modern Singapore’s founding – the recurring theme was a biologist view of human behaviour: from expanding civilisations to colonialism, World War 2 and beyond: the exploitation and manipulation of humanity by a minority of their own kind.
But importantly, we took heart by remembering these men who had been banded together, who faced impossible odds, fought on these grounds beyond the call of king or country, neither for creed nor ethnicity but simply for each other.
We begin the walk amidst the grove of gem trees, at NUS’ University Cultural Centre, where the Battle of Pasir Panjang began.
A series of markers for the Kent Ridge Heritage Trail pepper the route and provide highlights about historical points along the way.
Veteran guide, Oi Yee, who walked the ridge in the 1950’s, shares tales about the botany and uses of Simpoh Air and Resam from kampung days.
Following the guides up to point 270 on the maintenance trail.
Sivasothi aka Otterman explain the events leading to the renaming of the ridge after the Duchess of Kent in 1954, during the Emergency.
Just before Bukit Chandu, the group listens to a heartfelt account about the last stand of Lt Adnan bin Saidi and his men of The Malay Regiment.
Ever changing landscape: The point blocks at Normanton Park, where the Normanton Oil Depot was located. This will be lost to redevelopment soon.
For more about the heritage of Pasir Panjang, see the webpage and blog.
Join us on our briskwalk? Please register your participation at the Eventbrite webpage, thanks!
In 2008, a 9-km series of trails, bridges and walkways were unveiled, which reconnected the Southern Ridges which had been carved through by several roads (see map). An almost continuous traffic-free walk from NUS to HarbourFront became possible which takes two hours at a brisk pace.
This is an excellent way to get in some exercise at the end of a tough week, amidst a unique landscape and greenery. Get to know various points along the Southern Ridges and plan future visits. But we are hard pressed to find the time, aren’t we?
To get you going, NUS Toddycats are leading a series of brisk walks for NUS staff, students and friends from YIH Plaza through to HarbourFront MRT on the following dates:
Fri 26 Jan 2018
Fri 23 Feb 2018
Fri 23 Mar 2018
Fri 27 Apr 2018
Fri 25 May 2018
Please register your participation at the Eventbrite webpage – pick your date and register for that individually.
You may leave the group at any time. Some of the typical stop points along the way include:
2.0km, 22 mins – Science Park 1 (Kent Ridge MRT Station)/li>
4.0km, 51 mins – Reflections at Bukit Chandu (near Pasir Panjang MRT Station)
5.3km, 1h 12mins – Hort Park (near Labrador Park MRT Station)
NUS Toddycats! 