April 22, 2007
HE was a nature lover who enjoyed going on long, rambling
treks.
One day in February, while walking along a forest trail near the
fenceline of Seletar Camp, he came across something unexpected.The
44-year-old Singaporean, who wanted to be known only as Gary, heard
voices from behind some bushes in the forest near JalanKayu.Curious
as to where they were coming from, he looked down the path, and
noticed that it had been heavily used.
'I was a kampung boy, so the footprints told me that there were
people around,' the businessman said. He followed the path, and
came upon a makeshift camp. 'I saw 20 surprised faces staring at
me,' he recounted.
'I was just as shocked to see them. Immediately, one of them told
me not to enter because it is a dead end. There were so many of
them, so I just walked away.'The men appeared to have been living
there for some time, as they had built quite an elaborate number of
structures within thecamp.Word of the camp's existence soon spread
among residents of nearby Seletar Camp.
Mr Eddy Goh, 44, and Mr Charles Tan, 38, were a few of those who
felt uneasy.The foreigners' hideout was just a five-minute walk
from the entrance of Seletar Camp, where bungalow-type homes
are.Their unease was not helped by news that there had been a spate
of thefts in their estate, where small household items have gone
missing.These include bicycles, plates and even coffee
powder.
None of the residents made police reports though, thinking that the
cases were not serious enough.
Mr Goh said he had, in the past, spotted foreigners picking fruits
and bathing in a stream in Seletar Camp.Mr Goh, who is
self-employed, said: 'Their makeshift sheds are too close for
comfort. We have stopped our cycling trips because we kept bumping
into foreigners in the forest.
'I have two children who are alone at home sometimes because of my
work. And since things have been stolen, I have bought a German
Shepherd, a year ago, to keep watch on my children and home.'
Mr Tan, an engineer, said the foreigners keep to themselves, but he
didn't think they like it when others get too close to their camp.
He said: 'One of them actually gestured to me to 'go away' when I
asked about fishing there. I thought he was rude.'
A team from the The New Paper checked out the camp several weeks
ago and found it well-hidden from view due to the thick vegetation
around it. Trees and lalang conceal the paths leading to the
illegal hideout, shielding them from the bus stop outside Seletar
Camp and the Tampines Expressway. The only way to the illegal camp
is via a partially-hidden trail under a Singapore Land Authority
sign board on the Jalan Kayu-bound road. This 1.5km-long trail ends
at Sungei Punggol.But less than 80m into the trail, a series of
smaller paths lead to the mosquito-infested camp.The walk is a
little treacherous as you have to climb a fallen tree to get across
a stream.Even then, the camp is barely visible because of the trees
blocking its view.Once across the stream, you still have to deal
with a fiercely-barking dog guarding the premises.The
'mini-kampung' we discovered was a little dirty, but appeared
organised.Clam shells, bottles, plastic bags and rotting food
littered the fringes of the camp.Ripe bananas hang on a pole beside
haversacks and clothes belonging to the occupants, who were away
when we visited.The camp had designated cooking areas, where
firewood and cooking utensils are neatlystored.Towels, toothbrushes
and soap boxes hang from a pole near a crude bathing area by
thestream.It appears that at night, candles are used to illuminate
the camp.An altar sits at the centre of one of the larger huts.
Beside it, fishing nets and parangs are laid out under
thesun.
On weekends, the foreigners venture towards Sungei Punggol to catch
clams andfish. Some of the catch is immediately grilled under an
expressway bridge nearby by the men, who appear to be in their late
20s and early 40s. On two occasions, we spotted women among the
crowd of men enjoying the cook-out. Each weekday morning, the
majority of the foreigners would leave camp and take a bus from
outside Seletar Camp.We saw 11 men do this while another three
workers were seen walking towards Jalan Kayu after leaving
thetrail.
POLICE RAID
When The New Paper conveyed the residents' concern to the police
earlier this month, the police began to monitor the men who were
going in and out of that camp.That operation eventually culminated
in a pre-dawn raid yesterday morning.Seven foreigners suspected of
immigration-related offences were arrested.The raid started at
about 4am.A team of about 20 police officers and about 20 Gurkhas
stormed the illegal hideout.
At 5.30am, the first suspected illegal immigrant was led to a
waiting van.Officers combed the area for at least threemore hours
before sixmore foreigners were finally arrested and taken away.The
raid had obviously caught the camp inhabitants off-guard because
some of them were bare-bodied or not wearing shoes.