Spirits of Singapore

Ghosts, history and the eerie allure of dark tourism

- Hazel Tang

Everyone had to leave by 6pm. A thoughtful nod to work-life balance? Or was it to conceal something spookier when this rule was enforced at 35 Hendon Road?

The two restored colonial bungalows, which were the training campus for a large European bank, were a stone's throw from the old, disused Changi Hospital. Closed since 1997, it had gained the reputation of being the most haunted place in Singapore.

One evening, a member of the staff lingered slightly past 6pm, freshening up in the bathroom for a dinner date. She heard a toilet flush and out of the corner of her eye saw the reflection of a colleague in the mirror, stepping out of a cubicle and moving towards the washbasin.

"Oh, you are still here. I thought you had already left," she said, making casual conversation.

After a while, she felt something was not right; her colleague was not responding. When she turned around, the toilet was empty.

But when she looked into the mirror again, the reflection of her colleague remained — smiling at her.

Deeply shaken, the staff member reported the incident to the head office. Whether it was such unsettling hauntings or the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank ultimately chose not to renew the lease and the bungalows have been vacant ever since.

The story was told during a 2024 session of Walk with Hantu: Changi, a walking tour organised by Supernatural Confessions that weaves together the history, heritage and urban legends from Singapore's easternmost edge.

The six of us participating couldn't help feeling goosebumps, even though we knew the story was most likely apocryphal.

It was, after all, just a week before the lunar seventh month. That is the time when, according to Chinese belief, the gates of hell open, allowing spirits to roam the earth.