A new surveillance camera was installed and restaurants closed on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, a popular tropical getaway thrust into the spotlight ahead of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Located a quarter mile (400 meters) off the coast of the city-state, Sentosa is no stranger to celebrities and VIPs. It is linked to the city by a bridge and home to high-end resorts, golf courses and a large amusement park.
The macabre history of the island, which will become the venue of the historic summit on Tuesday, is less known.
In the 18th century, when Singapore was a British colony, an unknown epidemic killed off most of its population of 60. Only two households survived.
During World War II, the British used artillery forts and a battery on the island to unsuccessfully fend off a Japanese invasion, which transformed it into a prisoner-of-war camp.
It’s no wonder the island was known as Pulau Blakang Mati, which roughly translates as “island of death from behind.”
In 1970, the island was renamed after a nationwide contest. Sentosa was subsequently developed as a resort and expanded on reclaimed land.
Nevertheless, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s prime minister from 1959 to 1990, used the island to hold long-term political prisoners who were often detained without trial. Chia Thye Poh, a former member of parliament, spent 23 years in jail and under loose house arrest there.
He worked as a freelance translator for the island’s management, before he was allowed to visit the mainland for a short time every day and set free.
These days, the…
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