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THE RESERVIOR

Source: Singapore: Portrait of a Port, A Pictorial History of the Port and Harbour of Singapore 1819 – 1984, Port of Singapore Authority, 1984, p45 

Before the war in 1938, according to the Federated Malay States Survey Map, the reservoir was relabelled as a 'swimming pool'. The swimming pool was mentioned in Japanese Maps of Singapore during the Japanese Ocuupation.

 

In 1944, a British aerial reconnaissance report and map tagged the site as a “reservoir” describing it as “an open rectangular reservoir 55’ x 25’ with six filter beds, each 10’ x 4’, at the E. end.

 

After the end of the Japanese Occupation and the Pacific War, local maps often showed an outline of a body of water where the reservoir is sited but it is no longer captioned. For example, in the 1958 URA Masterplan, the outline of the reservoir was depicted but the water feature was not captioned (Annex B circled in red). 

Source: URA 1958 Masterplan, Sheet 229 

DID YOU KNOW?

Source: NewspaperSG

On 26 March 1948, a 17 year old boy drowned in Keppel Hill Reservoir when he went there for a swim with two other boys. He dived into the reservoir and got into difficulty. He sank and drowned. His body was recovered a day later. The Singapore Coroner issued a finding of death by misadventure.

DID YOU KNOW?

On 17 April 1936, the local press reported a double drowning tragedy that took place a day earlier. Two soldiers from the Middlesex Regiment drowned in the reservoir. At the time the site was described as a “pool on Keppel Hill” and the area was private property. The two soldiers arrived five days earlier with their regiment from Egypt. They drowned in the pool when one of them who could not swim dived into the waters. The other soldier was dragged to the bottom in an effort to save him. Both soldiers drowned as a result.

Japanese Tombstone

There is a mysterious  tombstone of a Japanese naval officer located behind the reservoir.

Fading Out

By 2000, the image of a body of water of the site completely disappears from local maps; the reservoir has been forgotten.

Significance Of Reservior

 

According to Mr Alvin Tan, Group Director(policy):"This is significant find as this unknown but still-functioning reservior has survived Singapore's post-independence developments and features buildings materials and methods from the colonial period to Japanese Occupation

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