while not null: Europe Trip 2026

I planned a one day stop-over in Singapore. A shower, a night in a hotel on a flat bed, being outdoors, helps the body recover between long flights in cattle class. Singapore is ideal for that for trips between Europe and Australia, especially for an Australian. Singapore feels almost like home: the currency name is the same and the value is close to 1 to 1, English is the official language, drives on the left, it's safe, clean, public transport is great and works the same as in Australia: tap on/tap off with your credit card. Even many street names are familiar.

The Changi airport, still the best in the world:

I admire Singapore's pro common good/inclusive/positive messaging visible on billboards, murals, in careful/considerate telling of history in museums, on CNA TV, or just in flowers/greenery that make the place beautiful:

This time, I saw Sepak Takraw, or kick volleyball matches:

This time, I visited two places: Fort Siloso (military history) on Sentosa Island and Singapore City Gallery (architecture, urbanism). Both free.

Sentosa Island:

The rebranding of the Sentosa Island in 1970s was extraordinary: from Pulau Blakang Mati - "Island of Death Behind" to Sentosa - "peace and tranquillity".

Sentosa Island is a resort / entertainment area. Universal Studios is there. Plus beaches, nature/history trails, hotels, golf courses, gondola lifts, monorail, free bus shuttles...

The haze:

As you surely noticed above, there was a lot of smoke in the air when I visited. It came mostly from the forest fires in Indonesia, which are mostly a man-made ecological disaster: digging canals to dry the soil and then burning the forest and peat. Indonesia is destroying its biggest treasury - the rainforests containing extraordinary biodiversity, for agriculture and mining. A very short-sighted approach. Should be criminal. I see the same thing in Australia. Natural habitats are deemed to be "unimproved land" and hence have zero economic/tax value. If you cannot easily make money off something, then it's worth nothing. Building a motorway through koala habitat is deemed by the government as a good thing. I want to cry... The Air Quality Index during my whole stay was 'Unhealthy':

Today, 18 October 2026, the AQI values were over 200:

Fort Siloso:

What got me to come to Sentosa Island was history. Fort Siloso was one of many forts built by the British to defend the colony, originally from the Dutch, and later the Japanese:

The Fall of Singapore:

New Zealand pilots defending Singapore

Australians defending Singapore

The fall of Singapore in a broader context:

Terror:

Three days after the fall, the Japanese Sook Ching terror operation started. The mass killing of 40 to 50 thousand, mainly Singaporean Chinese, in two weeks, in occupied Singapore reminds me of German and Soviet terror against Poles in occupied Poland.

Occupation:

Singapore renamed to Syonan - "light of the South".

A picture dictionary of basic Japanese.

The occupational rag reporting on German counterattacks during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.

Traitors:

The Indian National Army (INA) formed in part from Singaporean citizens of Indian origin, was allied with Germany and Japan during WW2. Its founder Subash Chandra Bose escaped from house arrest in India to the Soviet Union in January 1941, was moved to Nazi Germany in April that year, founded Indian Legion (later part of Waffen-SS) - part of the Legion fought against the Poles and the British in Italy. He met with Hitler, had a child with an Austrian photographer and in February 1943 left Germany by U-boat and went to Japan and then to Singapore to create the second incarnation of the INA.

From Wikipedia:

"Bose escaped from house arrest in India in January 1941 and made his way through Afghanistan to the Soviet Union, with some help from Germany's military intelligence service, the Abwehr. Bose, ideologically a Communist was inclined to the Soviet Union for aid.

Once he reached Moscow, he did not receive the expected Soviet support for his plans for a popular uprising in India. [...] The German ambassador in Moscow, Count von der Schulenberg, soon arranged for Bose to go to Berlin. He arrived at the beginning of April 1941, and he met with foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and later Adolf Hitler.[12] In Berlin, Bose set up the Free India Centre and Azad Hind Radio, which commenced broadcasting to Indians on shortwave radio frequencies, reaching tens of thousands of Indians who had shortwave receivers.[13][14] Soon Bose's aim became to raise an army, which he imagined would march into India with German forces and trigger the downfall of the Raj."

After recapture of Singapore in 1945:

"Bose chose to escape to Manchuria to seek a future in the Soviet Union which he believed to have turned anti-British."

He didn't get to the Soviet Union though. He died in August 1945 in a Japanese plane crash.

Aftermath:

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Let's leave the grim history and focus on something lighter now, like wildlife, architecture and urbanism.

Wildlife:

Red Junglefowl, the wild ancestor of a modern chicken:

In Australia, we have Indian Myna, an introduced species, and a native Noisy Miner. Both are frequent visitors in my backyard. This is Javan Myna ('myna' pronounced the same as 'miner' in Australian English):

Joo Chiat:

One of the historical areas of Singapore. This was the second time I stayed here. I find it colourful, lovely, and very lively. The footpaths are sometimes very narrow and treacherous. If this was in Europe, it would probably be pedestrianised: