Cotton and Bunker of Seah Im

Video Credit: 3 wheelingtots  Image Credit: Straits Times

What has Cotton & Bunker got to do with Seah Im ? Mention Seah Im and many people would think of the hawker center which is known for local delicacies like duck porridge and curry rice. 

The name Seah Im actually came from the road running beside it. Seah Im Road began its life as a private road in the early 20th century. It was built at the request of a wealthy Hokkien tin mining businessman named Ang Seah Im. Seah Im had many properties in Telok Blangah. In 1907, the Municipal Commission agreed to name it Seah Im Road, after Ang Seah Im met the requirements of installing lighting, fences and embankments on his new private road.

One of the majestic sight in Seah Im carpark is a magnificent Kapok tree. It had been designated as a heritage tree since 2005. Kapok Trees can grow up to 40m tall. They originated from tropical America and is the national tree of Puerto Rico. Kapok, in Malay, refers to the white cotton like fibre that surrounds the seeds inside its large hanging fruits.

The fruits, or seedpods, split open when ripe, releasing tiny black seeds with kapok that are scattered and carried away by the winds. Kapok is useful for its softness, good water-resistance and buoyancy. It is often used for a stuffing material for life jackets, pillows and mattresses. It is sometimes termed the poor man’s cotton.

Another interesting relic from the past nearby to the carpark is the mysterious Seah Im bunker. The 1m-tall Seah Im bunker lies on the forested slope of Mount Faber. Its brick entrance leads to an elongated tunnel, about 2.5m tall on the inside and was designed with small ventilation holes along its walls.

Little information is known of the bunker. It was likely to be built just before the Second World War. Some think that it might have been used for imprisonment of the prisoners-of-war (POWs), or as a storage place for wartime equipment and ammunition. Over the decades, it became covered by thick vegetation and its existence gradually forgotten.