2 October 2022
Lazarus island is known for its pristine white beaches and crystal blue waters, seemingly an idyllic beach holiday destination. But behind this beautiful facade lies a much darker past, the island was once a site for a quarantine facility and a prison. Deep in the forest of Lazarus were old buildings I suspect were once used as prison cells - with heavy metal doors bolted shut and only a tiny window high up above ground. I can't imagine how depressing it must be to be within these 4 walls. I was warned that the trail in was treacherous and involved heavy forest bashing. Nonetheless, we prepared ourselves for the expedition, and I would say it definitely delivered on the bashing.
History
St John’s transformation into a less welcoming destination began in 1873, after a severe cholera outbreak in Singapore that claimed the lives of 357 people. Under pressure from the mercantile community, Andrew Clarke, the British Governor in Singapore, approved a proposal by Acting Master Attendant Henry Ellis to establish a lazaretto (a facility to isolate and treat patients with contagious diseases) on St John’s Island.
Ellis’ wishlist for the site included a steam cutter (patrol boat), a floating police station and a hospital as well as burial grounds on nearby Peak (Kusu) Island. St John’s stint as Singapore’s “Quarantine Island” thus began in November 1874 when the barely completed lazaretto took in between 1,200 and 1,300 Chinese passengers from the cholera-stricken S.S. Milton from Swatow (now Shantou), China.
Years later, in 1955, Perumal returned to St John’s Island when he was transferred there to help establish an Opium Treatment Centre. This centre, he explained, trained opium addicts in various tasks for rehabilitation into productive society. “After a month, when they are certified fit for work, they were given the jobs of carpentry where they made tables, chairs, furniture, rattan work, tailoring…."
In 1948, parts of St John’s Island were converted into a detention centre for political prisoners. Earlier, during World War II, the island had already acquired a political-military dimension when it housed Japanese and German civilians. During their stay, the Germans erected a Chinese-style moon gate by the island’s western shore, which still stands today.
Exploring Lazarus Prison
1130 | Forest bashing through the ferns |
1215 | Explore the abandoned prison |
1230 | To the beach |
1130 | Forest bashing through the ferns
We crossed the bridge towards Lazarus, flanked by blue skies and water. At Lazarus, we headed up a steady slope through the forest. At the end was an odd structure in an open field (I was told this was a VOR station). We kept moving forward and the trail became more and more unruly, until we reached a point where we couldn't see any through trail forward. Everywhere we turned was tall fern as high as a wall. We wandered around and tried to spot any signs of a path but to no avail. With no other options, we decided to bash through the dense wall of fern. It was so high, it was way over my head and I couldn't see at all where we were heading. Regardless, we pushed forward with blind confidence, branches scratching our arms and legs every step of the way. My friend wore shorts that day, I guess he didn't get the memo (or maybe I forgot to warn him oops). I was just hoping there were no snakes or sudden drops as we legit had no idea where the trail was heading towards. I was relieved when the forest bashing finally came to an end and our sight was clear again. We re-oriented ourselves, and I spotted some interesting looking trail markers in the forest, a bag of rice? so I suppose we must be on the right path.
1215 | Explore the abandoned prison
We circled the area looking for any signs of a building, combing every inch of the ground. Just as I was about to give up hope and decided to go further downhill, I saw a fence, and just beyond was a building. It had an iconic arch shaped awning that I recognised. We walked along the side of the building, it had tall walls with no openings except metal bolted door at the corner and a tiny window at another corner. The window was so high up, I could only take a peep in standing at the top of a side wall. Looking through the window grill, all I could see was pitch darkness. For some reason I was prepping myself that someone or something may jump up towards the window. This building made me feel extremely uneasy, the atmosphere around it felt dark and heavy. I wondered what was the function of this building and the only thing I could think of was a prison or a quarantine facility, considering the history of the island. I wonder how depressing it must be to be stuck within the 4 concrete walls, only able see a sliver of the outside world through a tiny window. Probably not even that since the window is completely blocked by the surrounding concrete walls.
1230 | To the beach
I didn't want to stay for long as the place made me feel uneasy, so we followed a trail going downwards. It was another round of forest bashing through the tall fern plants, although it was not as bad this time round. I later found out that there were a few more buildings deeper in, so I guess I will be back (though I am definitely not looking forward to another round of bashing)? We continued down the path and saw a waterbody just ahead. We walked out to the beach at the other end of the island. It felt so good to be by the sea and under the sun once again, after walking through the dense forest.
And of course, we had to do what everybody does at Lazarus. We found a nice spot with shade near the beach and lazed away eating our packed sandwich and playing in the clear waters.
My Thoughts
This was honestly one of the hardest trail I had to hike through (the bashing was no joke and we went back with scratch marks all over). I was happy to be able to find the place despite having only a rough inkling of where the location was and having to half rely on my instincts and some luck. The building was one of the more creepy locations I had been to and its function remains a mystery though it looked like it was built as a prison.
Nice sia. You write like a professional blogger XD