In his letter, Mr Edwin Pang highlighted several firsts in the Farrer Park area (Preserve Farrer Park site for its historic firsts; April 3).

There are some other episodes in the area's history that seems to have been overlooked.

One of them is when the 2nd Battalion, Singapore Infantry Regiment (2 SIR) was forced to live in tents there for over six weeks, sometime in February 1966, immediately after returning to Singapore from six months of operational deployment in Sabah during Konfrontasi.

Health and weather conditions there were very trying.

The main reason why 2 SIR could not return to its barracks in Ulu Pandan (called Camp Temasek at that time) was that it was then occupied by the 5th Royal Malay Regiment (5 RMR), which had been responsible for the security of Johor and Singapore before Singapore's independence.

5 RMR eventually moved to the Khatib Camp in mid-March 1966.

Another episode in Farrer Park's history occurred during the Japanese Occupation.

Then, it was used as one of the major assembly areas for prisoners of war before they were dispatched on foot to Selarang, Changi and other parts of Singapore.

It is unfortunate that many sites which saw the history of Singapore unfoldhave disappear and will be forgotten.

It would be good if the Government could put up plaques at such locations to remind Singaporeans and visitors of our country's past.

Let us not strike away history with the stroke of pen.

Ajit Singh