Punggol was once a farming village.

Punggol Farm

Avenging Pig Spirits

Many people believe that animals have souls, just as we humans do.

Hundreds of pigs and chickens were slaughtered at Punggol Farm everyday. These unsuspecting and innocent animals were turned into cuts of meat and delivered to food markets. Squeaking pigs can still be heard today at the abandoned Punggol Farm. These avenging spirits emerge at night in search of redemption and peace.

That was many years ago and the Punggol Farm has since stopped operation. The reason responsible for the halt of operation is a paranormal one. Till this day, shrill noises can still be heard amidst the silence of the abandoned farm. 

White Tiger Spirit

In addition to the squeaking pigs, there is the legendary white tiger spirit that adds to the eeriness of the Punggol Farm. 

An anonymous informant speaks about a chilling encounter in late 1990. The time was 5am and the sky was dark while the rain poured incessantly the night before. Just like any other day, a man walked to the main gate from his bunk carrying a key. He was waiting for the delivery lorry to arrive. Every morning at 5.10am, the lorry would arrive on time to deliver exactly one and half tones of mixed feeding ingredients. The man’s job was to open the gate to allow the delivery truck to enter. 

As with every other morning, the man approached the gate with a small torch and the key in hand. The rhythm of the rain drops can be heard beating the trees and the zinc roofs of the farm houses. Other than the music of the rain, it was dead silent. Strange, considering that there were hundreds and thousands of pigs nearby. Apparently, they were all sound asleep. Slowly but surely, the man trudged through the muddy slope in his rain boots with no sight of anything surrounding him except for the few feet in front of him that was lit up by the torch. 

Suddenly, the sound of a screaming pig was heard from far behind. Echoes can be heard from two, three, ten or perhaps dozens after. The noise came swiftly and in the order of dominos. It was as if a large moving object was knocking down the livestock while it was traveling in a straight line. The screams were those of pain and the sounds of collapsing walls, wrecking timbers and bending metals were mixed in between. Eventually, the supposed large object came to a halt and started hitting the gate, belting out loud banging sounds. It was then followed by the screeching of a vehicle on Punggol Road which was not too far away.

The entire episode happened in merely ten seconds or so and the man was absolutely stunned. Not knowing what was happening, the man immediately ran up to the gate and took a peek around Punggol Road. As he already thought, the delivery lorry that he was waiting for was tossed over along the road side after making an emergency stop. A clear tyre track in the shape of an “S” was imprinted on the road and was clearly visible despite the heavy rain and dim street lamps. He went over to check on the driver and was eager to find out what went wrong. 

The driver said he saw something dash out to the road and it resembled a white tiger but he wasn’t sure. It jumped through the metal fence and then it stopped in the middle of the road to stare at the driver with its red piercing eyes. Its eyes were glowing amidst its white fur. The driver could only step on his brake in hopes that he didn’t run over the white tiger. Curious about whether the driver did run over the white tiger, the two men checked around the accident site but there was no trace of the animal. There was no sign of any blood and no sign of the white tiger itself. Its as if it just disappeared into thin air.

Later on, it was later estimated that more than one hundred pigs were killed and there were damages to the barns. The strange thing was that the deceased pigs and the damaged facilities formed a straight line. The line went all the way to the main gate and ended at the point where the driver supposedly hit the phantom white tiger. The terrifying news of this incident spread across the whole company like a wild fire. Workers, supervisors, managers and the board of directors were all talking about it and many who were frightened chose to resign, including the man who reported the incident.

There were many versions to the story and many speculations were flying around. Some said that Punggol had a legendary divine tiger. Others said that it was a secret weapon concoted by the Japanese for when they invade again. There were also rumours that there was a breed of mythical beasts that lived in the nearby swamp. The management of the farm still insisted that their enemies were to blame and that they were in the business of sabotaging the farm. 

It was later revealed by an old cleaner that there was a temple honouring a tiger spirit before the building was leased out to become a farm. The spirit was that of a divine warrior beast that is said to guard the Northern-South of Singapore. In ancient times, the tiger existed in pair with the legendary lion. Each one of them would guard different sides of the island.

Most people however would know the tale of Sang Nila Utama who established his kingdom on this very island that he eventually named “Singapura”. The same “Singha” represents lion and the “pura” means town. It is said that the king saw one of the mythical beasts, the lion, in the Tanjong Pagar area. The tiger remained unseen and hence it seemed to have been forgotten until that one fateful morning at Punggol farm.

Only a small group of villagers recognized the existence of the tiger spirit and they built a temple for it. Peace and harmony lasted for many years until the day that the land was leased out. The temple was bulldozed and a farm took its place. The villagers strongly objected the destruction of the temple, fearing that the tiger spirit would one day return. In order to appease the villagers, a high priest was employed to hold a high-profile ritual for relocating the spirit of the tiger. The entire ceremony was for show and the priest knew that all he could do was to put the spirit to sleep. Nonetheless, the priest was paid to convince the villagers that the spirit had returned to heaven. He predicted that the tiger spirit would wake up after 30 years. True enough, the spirit of the white tiger did return. Whether it is for vengeance, no one will ever know.