Phoenix Park: The Walls Have Ears

The Main Gate of Avondale Grammar School

This was a Heritage Festival Tour that was top on my to-do list. This is one place that we cannot just walk in to visit. It has been this way ever since the ground was occupied by Singapore Japanese Golf Club from 1930. (1)

The Japanese team was a keen player of the game. They had competed against other foreign-based teams since 1930 and their final competitive game was against Johor in 1941, just before the war. (2) Other teams the Japanese team had played against were the British, Americans and also British Municipals. (2)  

Looking out from the window

When Japanese took over Singapore in 1942, the Japanese ordered the Allied Forces to surrender their weapons at the Golf Club. (3)

The 'silent' corridor of Phoenix Park Camp

Post-1945

The complex was erected in 1949 and was designed by the architectural firm Messrs Palmer and Turner. It was called “Phoenix Park” as the British’s Southeast Asia Command  was located there and their emblem was of a mythical bird.(4)

Phoenix Park had also housed the who's who of the post-war British government. The offices of the Commission General, the Commander-in-Chief Far East and the Far East Defence Secretariat were all based there. (4) (5)

There were also other critical services that based themselves at Phoenix Park. such as the Regional Fisheries Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation. The organisation later moved themselves to Bangkok. (6) 

The British left Singapore in 1971. The Internal Security Department (ISD) made 318 Phoenix Park their home in 1976 and shortly after in 1977, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also set up their headquarters there. Both ISD and MHA moved out of Phoenix Park by 2002. (7) (8)

The Visit

Brilliant re-enactment of the rice talks by students from the Avondale Grammar School

The doors of 318 Phoenix Park was opened to public for the first time. Both the staff and students from Avondale Grammar School, who school was located within this historic building, were wonderful hosts. The students, some of them as young as six-years old, brought to life historical milestones through their re-enactment. One was about the critical rice talks that was held in that building. The purpose was to ease the post World War 2 rice shortages in that region. (8)  

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) talks

Another re-enactment by the students was the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) talks that was held in the 1950's. Countries came together to find ways of how to stop the communist threat in that region.(8)

All in, it was a really lovely visit to this historical building.

References

1. To-morrow golf at Tanglin. April 11, 1941. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942).  P12.

2. Municipal golf team to play Japanese. March 11, 1939. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942).  P10.

3. Escape from Singapore. November 10, 2003. BBC: WW2 People's War. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/37/a2010637.shtml Accessed on: May 11, 2015.

4. Home Team News. September 6, 2012. Phoenix Park leaves its mark in Singapore's history. (Part I)

http://www.hometeam.sg/article.aspx?news_sid=20120906gL2pW0Pq07WU Accessed on: May 12, 2015.

5. Scott talks to newsmen. February 19, 1956. The Straits Times. P5.

6. Moves to Bangkok. August 29, 1949. The Straits Times. P5.

7. Home Team News. September 6, 2012. Phoenix Park leaves its mark in Singapore's history. (Part II) http://www.hometeam.sg/article.aspx?news_sid=201209068Chzrh2O2Xdt Accessed on: May 12, 2015.

8. Hassan, N. J. (May 9, 2015). Students re-enact region's important meetings at Phoenix Park tour. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/students-re-enact-region/1836412.html Accessed on: May 12, 2015.