"Deep in the heart of MacRitchie Reservoir lie the ruins of the
Syonan Jinja, a Shinto shrine built during the Japanese
Occupation of Singapore. Envisioned first as a spiritual and
recreational centre for the future empire, then built by
Australian POWs and Japanese craftsmen, today it exists
only as stone relics and fragments, swallowed up by the
thick tropical rainforest.
As young artists, we have embarked on a journey of
discovery to reclaim this forgotten monument. Its very
existence is intriguing– a beautiful artefact of civilisation
from an age of blood and destruction. Its architects made
outlandish promises: that the site would be the greatest in
the world after the Meiji Shrine, that the area might be a
future host for the Olympic Games.
Perhaps most provoking is the love-hate relationship
between Singapore and the shrine. Historians and tourism
promoters want it preserved, even rebuilt to commemorate
our national heritage. Ordinary citizens, however, have
violently objected to any celebration of former Japanese
rule– even as they happily consume Japanese commercial
and cultural products.
Led by director Choy Ka Fai, we are an ensemble of creative
people from Singapore and Japan with roots in poetry,
dance, drama, architecture, sports and multimedia. We have
made pilgrimages to the jungle, probed the site scientifically,
studied archival documents, drawings and oral histories,
and processed our own collective memories to recreate and
re-imagine the shrine as a sacred site.
Our performance, a tapestry of images, sound and
movement, will be a drama of recollection, an attempt to
capture the Syonan Jinja's sleeping spirit.
“Egypt has its pyramids, China its tomb of Shi Huang Ti,
England its Stonehenge and Indonesia its Borobudur.
Why not Syonan Jinja for Singapore?
It has its fair share of history, mystery and romance.”
Report on Syonan Jinja Surveys September 1988.
Records of Singapore Tourism Promotion Board.National Archive of Singapore.
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