Place: Somewhere at Mount Elizabeth, Singapore

The new security guard had just arrived for the night shift, and Ahmad and Ah Tan briefed him and Mohammed (the other regular night shift security guard) when they took over from the dayshift blokes in the evening.

“It’s going to be a long night, and I reckon it’ll rain tonight,” said Ahmad to the new bloke.

Michel smiled at him, but did not answer Ahmad, and stared at the tall eerie building.

“How many floors is it,” Michel inquired.

“Well, I am quite sure the floors are safe, but the only place you have to worry about is checkpoint 7 on the ground floor,” he replied, and stared back at Michel, who felt a chill ran down his spine.

“Why … is there something wrong with checkpoint 7,” he asked Ahmad and Ah Tan, naively.

They looked at each other, and Ah Tan laughed.

“Some things are better left unsaid,” Ah Tan giggled.

“Just be careful and if you have any more queries, you should always direct your questions to Mohammad, cos’ he’s a veteran here, and has battled against all kinds and sorts of evil that lurks in the dark during the nightshift here at Mount Elizabeth; and he’s your guardian angel until you have grasped the trick of the trade here,” Ahmad advised.

“See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil – this way, you’ll survive the first night,” Ah Tan murmured.

The dayshift security guards were on their way home, and the nightshift guards had taken over, and Mohammed elaborated in details to Michel, the pros and cons of the security trade in Singapore, and agreed with what Ahmad and Ah Tan had said.

They sat down at the guard house again after attending to several chores, and did their duties accordingly, and several hours had passed, and it was already dark as hell.

Soon, it would be time to go for the usual security patrol and checks throughout the premises, and Ahmad drank his coffee and began to relate to Michel this horror story.

During the old days, especially when the 2nd World War reached Singapore, the local Chinese triads in Singapore had colluded with the Chinese-Peranakans in the British Civil Administration against Great Britain, and they had turned the rebellious Sikhs, Sindhis and Sepoys in the British East Indian Army against Great Britain and the Colonials in Singapore.

The infamous Meyer Clan was wiped out in just one night, and this was followed by the massacre, murder and rape of all the other Colonials by the Chinese triads and the Sikhs, Sindhis and Sepoys in the British East Indian Army that were not interned by the Japanese Imperial Army.

Despite the humanity and humanitarianism, and the many privileges and benefits that the transplanted Chinese coolies and the South-Asians in the British East Indian Army had received, they had plotted and schemed against the Colonials as they wanted and coveted anything and everything that these “Mat Sallehs” had, including Singapore.

Thousands and thousands perished – old folks, families that include men, women and even children of the British Army Garrison based in Singapore, and most of the other Colonials in Singapore were systematically wiped out in a short period of time, and the blame was conveniently and effectively placed on the Japanese Imperial Army at that time.

“It’s really haunted alright, the whole island; anywhere and everywhere you work in this trade, you will encounter all kinds and sorts of spooks during the nightshift,” Mohammed explained.

“Especially the nightshift,” Michel nodded in agreement, and shed several tears, as he had heard these same horror stories from his late-aba, and many other people he had known in his life story in Singapore and even Malaysia.

He had volunteered to do the first round of patrol and checks, and it was almost midnight, but he was not afraid.

He had scoured the entire premises and building for the unusual, and was on his way to checkpoint 7, when he was shocked by a black cat that suddenly ran across him at the car park in the basement.

Michel heaved a sigh of relief, and walked up the staircase to checkpoint 7 that was at the back of the building’s garden.

He shone the torchlight around, and spotted a figure along the covered drain to his right.

It has very dark long hair that was shapely and it covers its whole face and body, and these dark long hairs were so long that it touches the steel covers of the drain and curled up, and Michel had shuddered for a moment, but he quickly steadied his nerves, and stared back at this long-haired demon that was only several metres away from him.

There was a pause, and some time had elapsed, and both man and demon were locked onto each other, as if some kind of confrontation was inevitable.

But the long-haired demon did not even move an inch, and Michel clocked checkpoint 7 and turned left towards the side of the building’s exterior and looked back at the entity one more time, and it was still there.

There was an eerie silence, as several seconds felt like eternity, and Michel’s eardrums sounded, and his head spun, but he continued his last errand and returned to the guard house.

“How was it, smooth,” Mohammed smiled and looked at Michel.

“Everything’s fine and well” Michel had succumbed.

See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.