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No ghosts, lots of history, on spooky Singapore tour

By Rina Ota

SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) – Don’t take the Singapore Spooky Tour expecting to see ghosts, but those seeking an old-fashioned thrill in this modern state are likely to get it through insights into abandoned sites and ancient practices.

The tour is conducted by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API, api.sg) who spend most of their time poring over legal texts and archives to unravel the beliefs and confusion surrounding supposedly paranormal phenomena.

“It is not a thrill-seeking, ghost-searching expedition,” said Charles Goh, API’s founder and guide on the tours which started last year.

Charles Goh, founder of API [file photo: ST]

“Our tours are specially themed educational programs and you will walk through a living, breathing history book that tells you a lot about Singapore,” he told Reuters.

“I carry out paranormal investigations, which is research into recovery of lost histories, urban myths, and legends… which helps me bring people to unusual places.”

The tour, which takes visitors around the island for about four hours, is listed by the Singapore Tourism Board as one of 20 unique activities to do in the city.

While on the bus, guides play videos and share ghost stories and urban legends.

The first stop is usually the “Village of the Dead” or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery.

When this private property became a public graveyard in the early 20th century, the nearby village’s economy became one based on death, but housing developments in the 1980s emptied the village and the area was abandoned.

Visitors are also taken to Kampong Buangkok, the last surviving village in Singapore, and Matilda House, a bungalow reputed to be the most haunted home in the city but whose real claim to fame is that it is the last remaining structure in the northeastern Punggol area from the early 20th century.

API say that while the tours lack the fear-factor, they often open people’s eyes to another side of Singapore, and arm them with information not widely known

“Many of the urban legends, haunting and ghost stories that abound in Singapore are usually due to misconception, misinformation or lack of information,” says API’s website.

The group’s peak season is around Halloween in October, Goh said, instead of the annual Hungry Ghosts Festival which usually occurs in September and during which some Chinese believe the gates of hell open and the souls of the dead roam the earth.

(Editing by Miral Fahmy and Sanjeev Miglani)

The below photos are from Reuters (http://www.daylife.com/search?q=api)

Members of the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) look at a grave during the Singapore Spooky Tour at the “Village of the Dead” or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery in Singapore February 13, 2009 . With the tour stops at the cemetery and other places of intrigue, the Spooky Tour is not a ghost-searching expedition, but an educational tour mixed with old-fashioned thrills in the modern state of Singapore. The Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetry became a public graveyard in the early 20th century and the nearby village’s economy became one based on death as gravediggers and caretaker, but housing developments in the 1980s emptied the village and the area was abandoned.

A woman looks out from her house at Kampong Buangkok in Singapore February 13, 2009, during the Singapore Spooky Tour by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API). With tour stops at the cemetery and other places of intrigue, the Spooky Tour is not a ghost-searching expedition, but an educational tour mixed with old-fashioned thrills in the modern state of Singapore.

Grave markers are seen at Shang Long Shan Hakka Cemetery, located within a government housing development in Singapore February 13, 2009, during the Singapore Spooky Tour given by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API).

Graves are seen at the “Village of the Dead” or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery during the Singapore Spooky Tour by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) in Singapore February 13, 2009 .

A caretaker stands in front of urns at Shang Long Shan Hakka Cemetery located within a government housing development during the Singapore Spooky Tour given by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) February 13, 2009.

A caretaker’s makeshift shelter is built around a grave at the “Village of the Dead” or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery in Singapore February 13, 2009, during the Singapore Spooky Tour given by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API).

A cat sits on the kitchen stove inside a caretaker’s makeshift shelter on a grave in the “Village of the Dead” or the Bukit Brown Chinese Cemetery during a Singapore Spooky Tour by the Asia Paranormal Investigators (API) in Singapore February 13, 2009.