The Children of Old Plaza Singapore

​Confession by Sal

The Old Plaza Singapura at Dhoby Ghaut area was an iconic place, situated right beside the Istana. The older folks who worked there had many experiences to share. I used to work at the Yaohan which was situated in the basement. We would go to the back area of the building to smoke and sometimes you could hear crying sounds or flashes of white flying overhead which we all knew was a Pontianak. But the mall was quite protected so she could not come in. Some of the more famous sightings in the mall were children's spirits. At night especially, when the mall was quieter, you could hear, and sometimes see children playing hide and seek. The security officers left sweets and toys around the mall for them.
 
School kids especially would play Spirit of the Pen or Coin at Plaza Singapura because apparently the spirits responded to the calling much faster there.
 
On one occasion I remember two secondary school girls got possessed and were brought to the Fire Command Centre. At first their friends thought they were playing a prank but when the “prank” wouldn’t stop, they got worried and called passerbys for help. Nobody wanted to get close. A security guard on duty saw and approached them.
 
From the Fire Command Centre they brought the girls out to the back where the unloading bay was. Some of us who were taking a break at the back were called in to help because men handling school girls might cause misunderstandings. I was one of those who were present.
 
They took the ash from the altar, rubbed it over the girls’ face and made offerings to the deity for help. I think nobody knew exactly what to do, so we just prayed in the way we knew how. One of the girls stopped struggling and fell unconscious; the other was still screaming as if in terror. Then the unconscious girl opened her eyes and started laughing. The behavior changed drastically and to me it looked like a different entity had gone into her. This one was much stronger. The two ladies holding her were thrown off their feet and three of the men had to jump in to prevent the school girl from attacking people. She had gone berserk. There were a lot of things going on at the same time.
 
I’m trying to recall as much as I can, but it’s been a very long time and I’ve already put this incident out of my mind until now.
 
Anyway, there was a lot of struggling and screaming and maniacal laughter. Then the violent girl leaped onto the other girl and pinned her down. The violent girl had her face right above the other girl and seemed to be sucking the life force out of her. The girl who was on the ground exhaled a very long breath and then they both collapsed.
 
When they came to, the paramedics had already arrived. They were treated for scrapes and bruises but refused to go to the hospital. Management came and everyone dispersed. Later that week we were all given a memo not to mention the incident to anyone as there was an ongoing investigation. We were never told what the outcome of the investigation was.
 
But word got around. From what I heard, this wasn’t the first time. There were many possession cases but they were written off as epileptic fits.
 
The mall later underwent a massive makeover and the vibe in Plaza Singapura today is nothing like the one in the 80s. According to rumors the cinema is haunted, maybe the spirits of the past are still lingering except maybe these days we are more resilient to them.