Pearl's Hill Terrace, as its name suggests, is located at the top of a hill, and those approaching on foot have to walk up a long flight of stairs.
It's a pretty secluded and quiet spot behind People's Park Complex, and now mostly houses art studios and other unconventional shops.
Perhaps due to its long, storied history, people who visit the place allow their imaginations to run wild at that place, especially at night.
One GrabFood delivery rider, who recently visited the location, had a story of his own to share.
Suddenly, a cat
TikTok user @_siwurtv shared a video on Aug. 23 of him traversing the long corridors of Pearl's Hill Terrace.
@_siwurtv feeling2 👻 horror delivery end up 😹😼 naughty cat 🤣 #capcut #fyp #cat #delivery #prank #singapore #malaysia #lovecat ♬ Funny - Gold-Tiger
His caption revealed that he had been intending to create some horror content of the place, likely after making a food delivery there.
In the video, he strode quickly along the corridor before being alerted to the sound of some jingling coming from the nearby staircase.
A cat suddenly shot out from the staircase and scrambled away, giving the TikToker a huge fright.
Screenshot from _siwurtv / TikTok
"Kimak, you shocked me. Son of a wh*re," he exclaimed, and followed up with more swearing.
He later added:
"I wanted to create horror content but I ended up getting scared. I was already prepared to film in a place like this but damn, I got a shock."
Screenshot from _siwurtv / TikTok
The TikToker shared that he had wanted to film "scary content", especially since Pearl's Hill Terrace is so "ulu" (deserted).
"And then the cat scared me [more swearing]... Luckily, I didn't go crazy and lose my senses," he then mimicked himself going insane. "... Or get a stroke. Die sia. Luckily sia."
History of Pearl's Hill
Commenters were amused by the TikToker's antics.
"See, now all the expletives come out... all because of a cat 😂"
"Y’all think this cat also cursed at this brother?"
One, however, questioned what had managed to scare the cat so much to give it the zoomies.
Background
Pearl's Hill Terrace used to be the site of the Upper Barracks, built in the 1930s to house the Sikh Contingent of the Straits Settlement Police, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Conservation Portal.
After the Straits Settlement Police was disbanded, the building was used as either the Criminal Investigation Department or Police Headquarters, until all police functions were relocated to the Cantonment Complex.
From 1965, the Ministry of Interior and Defence, now known as the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs, were also housed in the Barracks until the late 1970s.
One of Singapore’s earliest prisons, built in 1847, was located at the foot of Pearl’s Hill, and housed prisoners-of-war during World War II.
Some 1,470 prisoners, mostly Chinese, died at the prison during the war.
In a local forum, some users claimed to have seen a "white lady" appearing at Pearl's Hill.
Top photo from _siwurtv / TikTok