Note:
KBL is something that I don't want to talk about, so don't ask me what's that.
I had censored some scenes in this story.
This is a true story. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
"…I'm sure that I'm going to throw away my dolls." Ino and Sakura said in unison.
"Let's continue the competition! I can't wait to know the results!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.
"Ok…" Sighed Shino.
There is a canal near my flows to the sea.
Together with my friends, Beng and Hock, I bought some live prawns and went there at around 11pm. Everything was perfect for fishing. The tide, the date of Chinese calender, and the location. All perfect.
When we reached there we immediately rigged up and cast our live prawns. We didn't talk much; we were there on a mission. Beng went to my left to fish near the bridge. Hock went to my right. This way we had a good spread over the area. After only ten minutes, Beng came to me and said,"Tang, I think there's no fish over here. We better pack up, don't waste time."
I looked at Beng incredulously. I had gone all the way to Lavender Street to buy live prawns and this friend of mine was telling me to pack up when we haven't even used half the bait. I told him straight off:"We've only been here ten minutes. Come on man, how come you so impatient one?(Singapore English)"
Beng replied that he didn't feel like fishing anyway, and that this place has no fish, and he went over to join Hock. After a while, both of them went to the back, sat down to drink from their thermos and ate their snacks.
The Encounter I stood beside the bridge and cast my prawn near the pillar. I was enjoying myself, hunting for my quarry.
After a few minutes, I heard someone running through the bushes behind me. I thought it was Beng running up to give me a scare, so I turned around. There was nobody.
I assumed it must have been my imagination, so I resumed fishing. After another 30 seconds, I heard the footsteps again. This time whoever it was had to be a metre or so behind me, but he seemed to be running around from left to right. I was fed up with all this horsing around, I turned around sharply to scold Beng.
"Beng! Don't play a foo….." Again, there was nobody.
I quickly scanned the area. There was nobody in the vicinity! The closest people were Beng and Hock, but even they were at least 50 metres away. Suddenly, my hair stood on end. Because that only meant one thing. I briskly walked over to the guys, and I could see that both of them also looked quite scared.
"Come let's go back, Beng you're right, this place got no fish."
Neither of us said anything on the way back. But when we reached home, Beng explained what had happened.
"There was this Malay policeman, he was quite tall about 6 foot and he had a very angry expression on his face. When I was fishing by the bridge he kept charging towards my body, like a bull. But every time he came to contact me he bounced off. He tried charging to me a few times, like as though he was unhappy that I was standing there. I hinted to you to pack up, but you didn't get the hint, so I and Hock went behind. Then you went over to that spot. From where we were, we could see the policeman running towards you, but every time you turned around, he disappeared into thin air. You better thank your lucky stars man, otherwise you might have been possessed or something."
I was shocked. So ghosts really exist?
I checked with my uncle, who has stayed in Bedok area since his childhood. He said:
"Aiyah, you should have told me you were going there. In the 1970s, the gangster Koh Sek Lim killed a Malay policeman near the bridge. Came out in the newspapers. The gangster challenged the policeman, "You want to catch us right? Meet us at the bridge on this date and time and you can catch us." Of course, the unfortunate policeman was stupid to go alone - he was stabbed to death by the gang. Koh told the police that the murder was committed as 'an example to the police'."
So there we have it. It could not have been Beng's imagination, because he described the ghost perfectly without knowing about the murder. Back in the 1970s he was only a toddler. It could not have been my imagination either, because I was interested in fishing for fish, not looking for such experiences.
One frequently reads about people asking in the Fishing Singapore Forum etc.
"Where to catch fish? What time to catch fish?"
I am worried for these beginners.
The Liang Court Experience
Diehard fishos like me don't get scared by just one incident. So there I was back to my old habits a couple of months later. This time I became braver. This time I chose to fish alone because I had learnt from a number of occasions not to rely on impatient 'kakis'(kids).
It is known among KBL enthusiasts that the mother KBLs (larger than 5kg) need to go to brackish (half salt half fresh) water to breed. The salinity of the water is conducive for their eggs, according to researchers.
In the River, the correct salinity is only found behind xxx. I went to the area behind xxx and started spinning my live prawn. I could see the people enjoying themselves.
I wondered what I was doing here on a Saturday night.
Suddenly out of the blue I felt that the faces of a few people were staring at me. You know the feeling right? When someone is looking at you, you can feel it. But the strange thing was that I was the only person in the vicinity. Now let me assure you that I was not trying to imagine things. I was here to hunt KBL, and my mind was set on fishing, not such eerie thoughts. I tried to ignore it, but the sudden image of faces (men and women) just appeared in my mind.
It spooked me a bit, and I figured there that this place was "unclean". I immediately packed up my tackle box and left. Later I asked my father about it and he told me that a car had crashed into the river at the spot where I was fishing a few years ago. (During the era when The Warehouse was happening) All the passengers died of drowning because they could not get out of the car. I do not wish to draw any inferences from this incident, for it could be purely my imagination. I'm sure if Beng was around with me that night he could tell me what he saw.
That doesn't scare you right?
If it does, skip chapter 11, Sakura's story. It's going to be gruesome.
Really.