Fort Canning Park
Fort Canning is located in City Hall, Singapore, and was once considered to be a great symbol of authority there. The fort was named in honor of Viscount Charles John Canning in 1861. Canning was the first viceroy of India. The Malays called the Fort: Bukit Larangan, or “Forbidden Hill”. This is believed to be the case for quite a few reasons. The first reason is that the site contains the royal tomb of Sulta Iskandar Shah, who was the Malay ruler of the Kingdom of Singapura. He did not allow ordinary people to visit because of his wives that had bathed there.
The second reason for this is that the site had sightings of fabled lion. The Malays were scared of climbing the hill since they thought the palace of their kings once came to glory there and they believed there were many ghosts and spirits that haunted the site. A legend about the site is that there is a national treasure buried there by the sultans of the ancient kingdoms. There are many ghosts, most famously the spirit in the form of a python who protects the treasure.
If you know the magic word, the python will allow you to reach the treasure. However, if you do not know the word, the python will eat the hearts out of those trying to gain entry. Sir Stamford Raffles was the founder of modern Singapore and made the hill his home in 1822, calling it Government Hill. Fort Canning Park originally was a graveyard for 600 Christians. The only graves that are currently left are in the far corner of the park. To this day, you can still see walls made of tomb slabs that are placed around the cemetery. The wall is made up of the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for the colony. May they all rest in peace.
(Source: Belanger, Jeff. Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. 2005.)
