Former Mediacorp Radio Building
Jean Danker, Mediacorp CLASS 95 presenter
This happened some years back when Mike Kasem and I were hosting Cartunes at the former Mediacorp Radio Building on Caldecott Hill. We were on-air and I was in the middle of reading the traffic watch updates when out of nowhere, someone— who was obviously not us— said a perky little ‘hello’ which we both distinctly heard! Right when that happened, Mike and I exchanged looks because it was so weird… It was only the two of us in the Class 95 studio and that singsong voice sounded like it belonged to a small child, probably a young girl.
So once we wrapped the traffic updates, I rushed over to check who interrupted us. But there was nobody else around. And when I swung open the locked studio door to see if I could catch our prankster making a getaway, the long stretch of corridor was empty …so who was it? That eerie greeting couldn’t have been a figment of my imagination because Mike and I heard it, and doing a quick playback of the recording was all the proof we needed that that spooky incident really did happen. Someone had tried to say hello to us from the other side!
Old KK Hospital
Aunty Peck Har, retired nurse
It was the early 80s and I was working the late night shift, doing my usual rounds when I heard a loud scream. Thinking someone had taken a fall, I rushed over and found a terrified woman in the gynaecological ward. Eyes wide, breathless, fingers clasping what’s left of a rosary, beads scattered everywhere. The patient just underwent a hysterectomy and should be in pain but there she was, bolted upright and pointing at the corner behind me. She insisted there was something in the shadows… a lady in white, who had tried to strangle her, standing there still, staring at her.
I looked around but there was no one else. She was alone as the other five beds were unoccupied. The distraught woman pleaded to be discharged but that was only possible once the doctor had seen her in the morning, so she begged me to stay. As a compromise, I wheeled the patient with her drip to my nurse’s station where she spent the rest of the night. I never told her how just the night before, the emergency call buzzer kept going off when there was nobody in the ward, even when I manually unplugged it myself.
Toa Payoh Factory
Dr. Frederick Lum, Director of Operations
It was decades ago but I still remember everything like it was only yesterday. I had a literal face-to-face encounter with an entity a couple of months into my first job as supervisor of an electronics factory located behind the old Toa Payoh hospital and morgue. It was sometime after midnight when I noticed an odd flash of movement outside my office window. Curiosity got the better of me so I went closer to check and suddenly, right against my own reflection on the outside of the glass was a frighteningly pale face staring straight at me!
It flew off in an instant but I knew what I saw— a flying head, wrinkled and boney, with no body attached. Clambering downstairs, I bumped into the night guard who immediately asked me ‘Did you see it too?’. Then a week later, there was a commotion amongst the night shift workers. One of the factory girls was in tears because she clearly saw someone peeping in on her from outside, but it was impossible because that washroom was on the third floor and it’s a sheer drop from the open window. So it wasn’t someone who was watching her. It was something.
Clarke Quay, Singapore River
Vivien Lee, former sandwich artist of a popular F&B chain
For nine years I handled the first shift alone, which saw me getting the food prepped and ready as early as 6.30am. Once, while I was busy oiling the oven, the hairs on my arms and neck stood up. I felt a presence just as I heard a gravelly voice in my ear. I didn’t recognise the language or what the spirit whispered— maybe he wanted to know what I was doing— but when I turned, there was nobody!
Another time, I heard someone enter and when I looked up, a man in white stood in front of me. I greeted him like any other customer but to my shock, his legs started to fade away and then the rest of him. I was so tempted to run! Different colleagues had sightings on separate occasions too. One witnessed a ghost watching me as I ate lunch. Another saw a spirit standing behind me as I was taking freshly baked bread out of the oven. We’ve had many other paranormal experiences but one of the most frightening incidents was when our manager personally encountered a pocong in its white funeral shroud as she was closing up for the night!
Comfort Taxi Uncle
Ning Cai (yours truly)
So this happened back when I was in NP’s Film Media Studies. It was past 4am when we finally wrapped a long shoot and after loading up our equipment in the van, a classmate and I were the last ones standing after the rest drove off. He decided to sleep at a bus stop since it was two hours before service started, while I flagged a taxi for home. After croaking out my destination, I laid down at the back as exhaustion claimed me. I was well into dreamland when there was a screeching of brakes as we came to an abrupt halt.
Disoriented and confused, I cracked open an eyelid and realised the driver had twisted round his side to face me. White faced and bugged eyed, the man looked like he’d just seen a ghost. We stared at each other in uncomfortable silence until I ventured a tentative ‘Uncle, you okay? Why did we stop?’ He blinked as I sat up, then burst into laughter when I tied up my long hair. ‘Girl ah, you almost gave Uncle a heart attack! Uncle was driving, then looked into the mirror and saw nobody. Looked again, still nobody. But Uncle was sure he picked up a lady passenger!’
…And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the very last time I wore my long sleeved white linen tunic from Giordano.
BONUS VIDEO:
UNMASTERED, the studio that handles all of GEN X’s video productions, first launched with a horror short film called Singaporean Horror Story years ago. We thought it might be fun to share it here – enjoy!
