Alkaff Gardens (also known as the Alkaff Lake Gardens and briefly known as Happy Garden from 1940 to 1941) was a Japanese-style park once located east of the Bidadari Cemetery from 1930 to 1964, on the present site of Cedar Girls' Secondary School at Bidadari, Singapore. In the 1930s, the park was a popular leisure destination for dating couples and families. It featured as its centrepiece an artificial lake, which was drained in 1964.
History
Plans for building the park on the 10-acre site near Upper Serangoon Road and Bidadari Cemetery first came into the mind of the Arab merchant Syed Abdul Rahman Shaik Alkaff, with his building contractor suggested in "decorating the site with Japanese teahouses, sidewalks with granitechips, Japanese Arch and bridges".
Opening
The park was first created with the help of Japanese landscapers in 1929, with artificial hills and an artificial lake. The Alkaff Gardens was opened to the public in January 1930, the park was known as first Japanese garden in Singapore and was an attraction for both visitors and residents alike. The tea-houses could be rented by people who visited the park and there were boating and fishing facilities.
Robert Bradwell, on behalf of refreshment bar owner Sailoku Tajiri, applied for a first-class licence to sell Asahi beer there, which was granted on 20 June 1930.
A mosque known as the Alkaff Mosque, which was situated close to the park and Upper Serangoon Road, was opened on 24 June 1932 for Muslim locals.
In September 1935, new recreational amenities with a Chinese touch were added by a well-known Chinese merchant, with the construction of boathouses similar to the ones seen on the Pearl River near Guangzhou at that time. A few small Chinese pavilions were added around the lake, interspersed with Chinese flower plants. The part of the lake at the bottom of the southern slope of the hillock was covered with white and pink lotus flowers. The water-cycle was first introduced in Singapore and demonstrated on its lake in November 1936.
The park later fell into disuse in late 1938.
Reopening
After about eighteen months or so, the park was leased to S. V. Salam, and subsequently renamed as Happy Garden on 28 January 1940. The park was reportedly expanded to 20 acres. The lake, which was the main attraction, was stocked with fishes, with fishing rods available for hire. In addition, boats, water-cycles and even motor-boats were available for hire. The refreshment booths there were manned by trained waitresses from Java and Sumatra. Visitors were able to rent small bungalows there for their picnic parties. The park was later reopened with free admission to the public on 8 February 1940, the first day of Chinese New Year, and remain open throughout the day and night, being lighted with hundreds of multi-coloured electric bulbs.
World War II
The park was requisitioned by the British Army in December 1941 in preparation for World War II. The Singapore Volunteer Field Ambulance Corps later moved into the park to set up their headquarters.
Battle of Singapore
During the Battle of Singapore in 1942, the Singapore Volunteer Field Ambulance Corps headquarters was supposedly spared from bombings by the Imperial Japanese Army warplanes due to the Red Cross sign laid on the grass. However soon after they evacuated from the park meant for another military unit to took over by the end of January, the park was bombed and shelled, destroying one of its two Japanese bridges and several buildings.
Japanese occupation of Singapore
Following the Japanese occupation of Singapore in 1942, an armed guard was stationed at the park entrance. The premises was restricted to the public, not even the owner of the park, Syed Abdul Rahman Shaik Alkaff, was allowed to enter. It was later revealed that the park was used as one of the seven Indian Army personnel internment POW camps under Lieutenant Colonel Nagar of Royal Indian Army Service Corps, who was under the supervision of the Imperial Japanese Army. The POW camp operated there until 1945.
Postwar era
By April 1948, the former Alkaff Gardens was largely forgotten and in disrepair, its lake water choked with weeds and all of its building structures having been taken down. Only a few people who lived nearby and had known the place visited there.
Although neglected, the former park was one of the sites filmed by the Shaw Brothers' Malay Film Productions to masquerade as an Egyptian garden for the Malay film Nilam (1949). Other films by Malay Film Productions were filmed at the park included Pembalasan (1951) and Di Perlimbahan (1952).