Today’s Friday File is going to be slightly different, as we look at not a missing person, but a missing item in Singapore’s history, lost to the sands of time

A Background of the Time Capsule

On 23 February 1970, as work commenced on what would be the future site of Singapore’s National Stadium, a time capsule containing newspaper articles, books, specimen coins, bank notes and sports memorabilia was carried by a team of runners, running relay style from Empress Place to the National Stadium construction site. The last runner in the relay, former high-jump champion Mr Nor Azahar Hamid, presented the cylinder copper capsule about the size of a briefcase to the-then Minister of Finance Dr Goh Keng Swee, who buried it with the foundation stone.

Like most time capsules, the plan was that it would be dug up years later and its items placed on exhibition, however this would never come to fruition, as the capsule would go missing without a trace.

The capsule’s disappearance first emerged when the National Stadium closed in 2007 and work began to replace it with the Singapore Sports Hub. As work began to demolish the Stadium, an urgent need to locate the capsule arose so that plans could be made to retrieve and either re-bury it or display the items, however the capsule was nowhere to be found.

Despite extensive search efforts made by various construction teams, a demolitions company and recovery parties, as well as a $50,000 reward offered for the discovery of the capsule, the capsule remained lost.

Photographs and Documents

While a photograph of Dr Goh holding the capsule was taken before its burial and also supposedly a plaque put up near the spot where the capsule was buried, no one could remember where it was located. This problem was further exacerbated by the fact that there were little to no landmarks since the capsule was laid in the piling stage of construction. To further compound the problem, attempts to search through archived records were hampered by inaccurate documents. As far as the authorities and contractors were concerned, the only conclusive lead was that it was somewhere underground as the capsule was placed together with the stadium’s foundation stone.

The contracted teams started methodically searching at spots where the capsule was likely to have been buried, bringing in metal detectors and at one point even discussed bringing in X-ray machines to aid the search, but all these turned up nothing.

Last Eyewitnesses

With records and photographs failing to bring up any leads, all eyes turned to the relay runners who made the run to Dr Goh, in hopes that their recollection of where they ran would bring up clues to the capsule’s location. Two people who were part of the relay team were sprinting legend Mr C Kunalan and Mr Noor Azhar Hamid.

According to Mr Kunalan, he described the land as being ‘very barren and piling works had only just begun’ and he suspects the capsule might have been been buried just in front of the staircase leading up to the grandstand tribune, where there used to be a fountain, however the aforementioned fountain was removed in the late 1970s. Mr Kunalan believed the capsule might have been removed at around the same time the fountain was demolished.

Being the last runner in the relay who handed over the capsule to Dr Goh, Mr Noor Azahar was asked to recall where he made his final sprint and hand-over of the capsule, in hopes that this could help to renew search efforts, however, try as he might, he was unable to recall this crucial detail.

“I was the last athlete and I personally handed the capsule to Dr Goh to bury it. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember where it went.”

The Trail Goes Cold

With all leads going to a dead end, officials conceded defeat and acknowledged the loss of the capsule, and with it, a piece of Singapore’s history vanished into the night. However, this loss would not be in vain, as the lessons learnt from it would be instrumental in ensuring that its successor would not fall victim to a similar mishap.

The Aspirations time capsule, a larger capsule constructed out of stainless steel and holding 50 items symbolic of Singapore’s sporting achievements and aspirations to be opened in 2040, is now sealed and displayed above ground in front of the SEA Games cauldron at the Stadium Riverside Walk.

Questions:

Where is the original time capsule which was buried in the National Stadium? Could it have miraculously survived the demolition & construction work and still be buried in the ground? Or was it unearthed at some point in time and destroyed? What could have happened to the contents within?

Sources:

(more NewspaperSG articles can be accessed via your nearby library multimedia kiosk)

National Stadium time capsule lost

No sign of original time capsule

Old time capsule not found, but Singapore has new one to preserve local athletes’ legacy

Time capsule Goh Keng Swee buried under old National Stadium in 1970 has never been found

Today’s Friday File is going to be slightly different, as we look at not a missing person, but a missing item in Singapore’s history, lost to the sands of time

A Background of the Time Capsule

On 23 February 1970, as work commenced on what would be the future site of Singapore’s National Stadium, a time capsule containing newspaper articles, books, specimen coins, bank notes and sports memorabilia was carried by a team of runners, running relay style from Empress Place to the National Stadium construction site. The last runner in the relay, former high-jump champion Mr Nor Azahar Hamid, presented the cylinder copper capsule about the size of a briefcase to the-then Minister of Finance Dr Goh Keng Swee, who buried it with the foundation stone.

Like most time capsules, the plan was that it would be dug up years later and its items placed on exhibition, however this would never come to fruition, as the capsule would go missing without a trace.

The capsule’s disappearance first emerged when the National Stadium closed in 2007 and work began to replace it with the Singapore Sports Hub. As work began to demolish the Stadium, an urgent need to locate the capsule arose so that plans could be made to retrieve and either re-bury it or display the items, however the capsule was nowhere to be found.

Despite extensive search efforts made by various construction teams, a demolitions company and recovery parties, as well as a $50,000 reward offered for the discovery of the capsule, the capsule remained lost.

Photographs and Documents

While a photograph of Dr Goh holding the capsule was taken before its burial and also supposedly a plaque put up near the spot where the capsule was buried, no one could remember where it was located. This problem was further exacerbated by the fact that there were little to no landmarks since the capsule was laid in the piling stage of construction. To further compound the problem, attempts to search through archived records were hampered by inaccurate documents. As far as the authorities and contractors were concerned, the only conclusive lead was that it was somewhere underground as the capsule was placed together with the stadium’s foundation stone.

The contracted teams started methodically searching at spots where the capsule was likely to have been buried, bringing in metal detectors and at one point even discussed bringing in X-ray machines to aid the search, but all these turned up nothing.

Last Eyewitnesses

With records and photographs failing to bring up any leads, all eyes turned to the relay runners who made the run to Dr Goh, in hopes that their recollection of where they ran would bring up clues to the capsule’s location. Two people who were part of the relay team were sprinting legend Mr C Kunalan and Mr Noor Azhar Hamid.

According to Mr Kunalan, he described the land as being ‘very barren and piling works had only just begun’ and he suspects the capsule might have been been buried just in front of the staircase leading up to the grandstand tribune, where there used to be a fountain, however the aforementioned fountain was removed in the late 1970s. Mr Kunalan believed the capsule might have been removed at around the same time the fountain was demolished.

Being the last runner in the relay who handed over the capsule to Dr Goh, Mr Noor Azahar was asked to recall where he made his final sprint and hand-over of the capsule, in hopes that this could help to renew search efforts, however, try as he might, he was unable to recall this crucial detail.

“I was the last athlete and I personally handed the capsule to Dr Goh to bury it. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember where it went.”

The Trail Goes Cold

With all leads going to a dead end, officials conceded defeat and acknowledged the loss of the capsule, and with it, a piece of Singapore’s history vanished into the night. However, this loss would not be in vain, as the lessons learnt from it would be instrumental in ensuring that its successor would not fall victim to a similar mishap.

The Aspirations time capsule, a larger capsule constructed out of stainless steel and holding 50 items symbolic of Singapore’s sporting achievements and aspirations to be opened in 2040, is now sealed and displayed above ground in front of the SEA Games cauldron at the Stadium Riverside Walk.

Questions:

Where is the original time capsule which was buried in the National Stadium? Could it have miraculously survived the demolition & construction work and still be buried in the ground? Or was it unearthed at some point in time and destroyed? What could have happened to the contents within?

Sources:

(more NewspaperSG articles can be accessed via your nearby library multimedia kiosk)

National Stadium time capsule lost

No sign of original time capsule

Old time capsule not found, but Singapore has new one to preserve local athletes’ legacy

Time capsule Goh Keng Swee buried under old National Stadium in 1970 has never been found