The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre (Al Qeyameh)

Ever since the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 A.D.) the Christians have been blamed for the burning of Rome and had been vigorously persecuted; St. Peter was crucified up-side down and St. Paul beheaded. The early Christians hid in catacombs (burial grounds) to escape from being rounded up. The ancient catacombs were used extensively from the beginning and throughout the persecution; from Emperor Nero to Diocletian in the 3rd century just before Constantine came into power. In 300 years the fledgling Church had suffered terribly in the hands of the Roman Rulers; some 6 million bodies of martyrs and Christians were interned there until the 5th century. If the catacombs were put back to back they would extend more than 900 miles. In 70 A.D. the Romans legions under Titus sacked Jerusalem during which it was said that over a million people died and the city with it's Temple destroyed; (second one built by Herod the Great) just as Jesus had prophesied (Lk 19:44). In the year 135 A,D. the revolt of Bar Kokhba was successfully suppressed by the Romans and the City of Jerusalem razed to the ground; with the Jews and Christians expelled. The Roman Emperor Aelius Hadrian wanted re-store a Hellenistic city and at the same time remove all traces of Christianity. He built a new city on the hill over the burial site; renaming the city from Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. Erecting a temple over the tomb of Jesus and dedicating it to the god Venus. In doing so he had subsequently and unintentionally preserved the authenticity of the holy site.

When Constantine finally became the first Christian Emperor in 313 A.D. he proclaimed the ‘Edit of Milan’ granting freedom of worship and Christianity spread like a wild brushfire throughout the entire Roman Empire. In 325 A.D. his mother Queen Helena, went for pilgrimage to Holy Land. She conducted what is known as the first archaeological excavation, discovering the site of the crucifixion and the empty tomb of Jesus. St. Helena was a devote convert and prompted her son to built a Basilica to commemorate Jesus burial site. The Holy Sepulchre is one of Christianity oldest and Holiest Church and was built in 326-335 A.D.; taken 9 long years to complete and the inauguration attended by some 300 bishops.

Matt 27:57-61 The Burial (quote from Jerusalem Bible)

‘When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate thereupon ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulcher.’

In verse 59 Matthew specifically mentioned that 'So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb.' And in verse 61 Matthew said there were 2 witnesses, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary.

In the other two Synoptic Gospels, Lk 23:50-54, Mk.15:42-47 and also in Jn 19:38-42 they all are referring to Joseph of Arimathaea who approached Pilate to claim Jesus’ body. Jesus was crucified on the day before Sabbath and died at the ninth hour. The Jews did not want corpses hanging during the Sabbath day; that explains why the legs of the two thieves had to be broken to hasten their death. The legs of Jesus were not broken because he was already dead (as prophesied). The bodies had to be taken down on the same day before sunset. It was Preparation Day (that is vigil of the Sabbath) and the Sabbath was imminent and they were rushing time. Jn 19:42 ‘Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was near at hand, they laid Jesus there’. In Luke 23:55 ‘Meanwhile the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus were following behind. They took note of the tomb and the position of the body. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested as the law required.

The entrance to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre at the Chapel of Adam lies a long slab of polished pink limestone called 'Stone of the Anointing'. This stone marks the place of the ancient Oratory of the Anointing. According to tradition is the place where the body of Jesus was anointed after it had been taken down from the cross. Where his beloved mother wept over him (XIII Station of the Cross) marked by the altar of 'Stabat Mater'.

Josephine at ‘Stone of the Anointing’

The fact points out that Jesus was hurriedly buried near the place of execution, just outside the walls of the old city, in the new un-used tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea provided a very clear indication what tradition holds. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea is in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, dug into the rock is the only part belongs to the Ethiopian Church. The name of the tomb refers to Joseph of Arimathea.

In 614 A.D. the Persian conquered Holy Land, killing Christians and destroying monasteries, churches or shrines holy to the Byzantine. The relic of the Holy Cross was carried off as a booty.

However in the year 628, the Byzantine Emperor Heracles regained from the Persian and made a specticular entery into Jerusalem through the 'Golden Gate' with the Cross recovered from the enemy. The restoration of the Basilica of the 'Holy Sepulchre' was undertaken by Modestus, an Abbot from the Basilica. Muslim Armies invaded Palestine in 634 and after 4 years Caliph Omar captured Jerusalem; but the Omayyad Conquerors showed greater understanding and tolerance towards the Christians than the previous Persians. They even allowed freedom of worship.

In 1009 the fanatical Caliph el-Hakim ordered the total destruction of the Basilica and all trappings of Christian splendour. By 1030 the Cairo Caliphate of Egypt became master of Jerusalem and allowed the Byzantine to restore the Basilica; a task which was completed in 1048.

Then came the Crusaders led by Geoffrey of Bouillon who overran Jerusalem in 1099, followed by a horrible blood-bath killing many Muslim and Jews alike. He was hail as Defender of the Holy Sepulchre and the Crusaders set about establishing a Latin Kingdom and restoring the Basilica. The Sepulchre is almost in the centre of the old city. and entry to this church is from the public square named as the ‘Dooms Day’ area.

In 1187 the Crusaders was totally defeated by ‘Saladin’ the Sultan of Egypt in the ‘Battle of the Horns of Hattin; King Guy of the Latin Kingdom was taken prisoner. Next to fall was Jerusalem itself and Saladin’s lieutenants prompted him to torch the ‘Church of the Holy Sepulchre’, However, Saladin refused after all Jesus is a prophet also accepted by the Moslems and they honour Mary his mother. It is inscribed on the walls of the Mosque of Omar better known as the 'Dome of Rock'

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Entrance to the empty tomb of Jesus

Quoting Koran a passage from Surah 19:33

‘God bless your messenger and your servant Jesus, the son of Mary. Blessed be he on the day of his birth, on the day of his death and the day on which he will be raised from the dead’

Instead Saladin simply locked up the church and passed the keys to the Muslims and the two families in Jerusalem; are the ‘Nuseybe’ and the ‘Cude’. So from ancient times it was customary for the Muslim family to ‘open/unlock the door’ for the Christians to enter for worship.

Subsequent regimes, Mamluks, the ‘Ottomans’ from Turkey maintained the “Status Quo” The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was strictly regulated according to this tradition, so much so even the roof could not be repaired for 19 years. The reason the ‘Ottoman’ administration lacked a ruling for such an issue. Anyway it had shown tolerance for the peaceful co-existence of Muslim and Christians.

In 2006 April my wife Josephine and I went for a 12-day pilgrimage to Holy Land to the place where Jesus was born, walked, preached, crucified, died, buried and resurrected. Our spiritual director was a Franciscan monk, Friar Joseph and we visited the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. The Franciscan Order had been the Custodian for the Holy Land since the year 1342. That day we began early in the morning as we walked the way of the Cross following the foot-step of Jesus along the cobble pavement of ‘Via Dolorosa’. We entered the Basilica by the IX Station marked by a Roman column passing through the Coptic Chapel (Egypt) and heard chanting of strange language. In the XIV Station, the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre is in the middle of the

Sketch of the ‘Holy Sepulchre’

rotunda of ‘Anastasis’ (Greek word for resurrection). Through centuries of transformation, the original cave of ancient Jewish tombs being cut away. A small building of Turkish rococo design called the Aedicule covering the tomb of Jesus was erected after a fire broke out in 1808. To our right is the XI Station, the Chapel of the Nails and this part belongs to the Roman Catholic. This is the place where Jesus was stripped off his garments and nailed to the cross. Above the altar is a beautiful scenario done in mosaic of Jesus lying on the cross and being nailed, actually beneath the flooring that we stood upon is the rock of Golgatha. Our Spiritual Director Friar Joseph celebrated Holy Mass; this Eucharistic celebration is Catholicism highest form of prayer and worship. The word ‘Catholic’ simply means universal.

Next on our left is the Chapel of Crucifixion belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church. A life size icon of Jesus hanging on the cross with his mother Mary and his disciple John, standing by the foot. In between the Greek Orthodox shrine and the Catholic Chapel of nails is the shrine of ‘Stabat Mater’ of Mary, Jesus’ mother in grief at her son dying on the cross. The different Christian ownership of their respective shrine is a sad reminder of the great schism that split the Catholic Church in 1054 between the Latin-rites Roman Church and the Byzantine Eastern-rites Greek speaking Orthodox Church. Presently the Church is shared by a few different religious communities, Latin, Greek, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian : they contribute to the maintenance of the church and conduct their own services according to their liturgy.

Mosaic scene in the ‘Chapel of Nails’

The shrine of ‘Stabat Mater’

Finally we came to the XIV Station ‘Jesus is laid in the Tomb’ the place where the story of Jesus' earthly life ended and entered the Aedicule erected over the tomb. Upon entry the larger chamber is called the ‘Chapel of Angels’ and that leads to another smaller room called the ‘Mortuary Chamber’ where the empty tomb of Jesus is. It is on the right-hand side of the room and here a marble slab protects the rock of the tomb. Above a number of silver lamps hanging belonging to 4 different Christian churches. The 3 over the slab represent the Resurrection according to Greek, Latin and Armenian versions. Anyway the place is really narrow and cramp for even 5 persons at a time. Outside the queue had been exceptional long and you are rushed, to kiss or touch and quickly move on. However we discovered that behind of the Aedicule is an Egyptian Coptic shrine where a monk on duty to assist you by showing the spot underneath the altar. There is a hole in the ground where you can touch the original rock of the tomb.

The Coptic (Egypt) Shrine

Here comes transitional change from props to jets

In the year 1950 saw the transition of piston-driven propeller aircraft to jet-propulsion types with the arrival of the first five de Havilland Vampire FB Mk.5's to Singapore.. The Royal Air Force had re-equipped No.60 Squadron discarding their Spitfire Mk.18’s for the new jets and stationed them at Seletar airbase. The sleek and streamlined fighter-bomber flew all the way from UK to Singapore, the longest flight undertaken by the RAF covering a distance of 8,500 miles. The 'Vampire' was built (according to specification D.H.100) and like the 'Mosquito' (Wooden Wonder) was of metal, balsa, plywood and glue. Despite of it's small size it was heavily armed with 4 x 20mm cannon in the nose, could carry two 1,000lbs bombs or two smaller 500lb bombs with rocket projectiles and external fuel tanks.The short fuselage houses a single centrifugal-flow 'Goblin 2' turbojet engine rated at 3,300lb static thrust giving a maximum speed of 548 mph(883 km/h) slightly faster than any piston-driven propeller aircraft at that period including the Spitfires or P-51 Mustangs. Two booms from either side of the wings supported and kept the tail-plane clear of the exhaust blast from the tail-pipe. Now new planes were getting faster and faster as the emphasis was on speed as the ultimate advantage. At the closing of Second World War, brilliant German scientists invented a revolutionary idea of jet-propulsion engine that removed large external propeller that drive conventional aircraft. The first jet fighter of the Second World War was sleek, streamlined, had tri-cycle under-carriage and powered by a twin-jet propulsion engine. The German built Messerschmitt Me262 was a beauty and entered into squadron service.

The first jet-fighter Messerschmitt' Me262' (Model 1/72 scale)


The German Luftwuffe chief Adolf Galland deployed them as fighters but Hitler wanted them as bombers so there was a conflict of interest, a rift that created a negative effect to the future outcome of the war. Meantime in England the British inventor Frank Whittle had produced his own jet-engine to power his little Gloster E.28/39 and the race was on. The invention of jet-propulsion engine was an amazing discovery in which large external propellers are done away. I can imagine what a shocking surprise those other pilots were, when they saw the Me262 without any external propellers just flew past them with ease. I was curious and wanted to know how a cute, small jet-propulsion aircraft could fly even faster than propeller-driven ones. I was then very young and dumb, scratching my head trying to figure it out how it works. I later understood that the 'Vampire' had 'Goblin' engine by which this revolutionary concept did not rely on large external propeller blades, instead it is replaced by internal sets of much smaller blades. Two sets of wheels fitted with multiple small blades are arranged on a single shaft at either ends. The front a larger wheel is the first stage where the blades acts as impeller when it rotates, it sucks in air through the two wing-root air intake on either side into the engine combustion-chamber. Here compressed air mixes with fuel, heated up and combustion takes place, turning the second stage turbine-wheel with tremendous force to propel the jet forward in what is measured as static thrust. In the advent of the newly found technological advancement, the propeller-driven aircraft had simply lost out to jet-propulsion.

‘Vampire’ fighter-bomber Mk.5 (model)

In the year 1954-55 when I was an air cadet with the Malayan Air Training Corps/Singapore Wing we had a retired propeller-driven Supermarine Spitfire Mk.24 in our compound acting as a gate-guardian.



MATC Headquarters/Singapore Wing at Waterloo Street


Our Spitfire model was a Mk.24 (Pk683) the final series of the Spitfire family, the ultimate, the best of the best, the epitome of design and always remembered together with the Hawker Hurricane in the 'Battle of Britain' that bored the blunt of the German aerial assault. The Spitfire was sleek, streamline, heavily armed with 4 x 20mm cannon, with all-round vision 'bubble canopy' and powered by a Rolls Royce Griffon in-line engine of 2035hp driving a five-bladed propeller at a maximum speed of 448mph. We always gathered around our icon and were really proud of it.

One time while camping at HMS ‘Simbang’ a Royal Naval Air Station located at Sembawang, the land-base home of the Fleet Air Arm. At times FAA aircraft are flown off from their carriers and are temporary stationed ashore. I once saw a 'Fairey Firefly' propeller-driven 2-seat carrier-borne naval fighter-bomber starting up. The ignition was by cartridge that went off with such a big 'bang' that it startled me, gave me an awful shock. The mighty Rolls Royce Griffon engine of 2,245hp belching out smoke before it burst into life, roaring thunderously loud to a deaffening effect. My ear drums almost breaking by the constantly high pitch rhythm ringing in my ears until it hurts.



Fleet Air Arm Fairey Firefly carrier-borne fighter-bomber

In jet-propulsion engine unlike propeller-driven, it starts with a low whining pitch and slowly and gradually the sound increases in volume as the pilot pushes the throttle feeding more fuel into the engine. By my time in 1955 the Malayan Emergency had gone into it's eight year and the Colonial Government had gained an upper hand in containing the Communist terrorists deep in the jungle. The Royal Air Force had initially launched the aerial campaign termed "Operation Firedog" in 1948 employing a diversity of propeller-driven aircraft from single-engine Supermarine 'Spitfires' Mk.18's,PR.19's, Hawker 'Tempests II', to twin-engine Bristol 'Beaufighters' and 'Brigand', de Havilland 'Mosquitoes' PR34’s and 'Hornets' to the mighty 4-engine Short 'Sunderland' flying-boats. The Sunderlands forming the Far East Flying-boat Wing were stationed at Seletar airbase, Singapore. It made up of 3 squadrons, Nos. 88, 205 and 209 and No.205 being the ‘First’ had their motto inscribed in Bahasa Melayu “Pertama di-Malaya” (meaning the first in Malaya)

During the ‘Emergency’ period the ‘Sunderlands’ temporary undertook bombing missions until the arrival of suitable heavy land bombers like Avro 'Lancasters’ and 'Lincolns'. By 1950's with the arrival of ‘Vampire’ jets, started to replace Spitfires. Thus begun the gradual exit of the propeller-driven types especially in the fighter role, making way to jet-propulsion aircraft. From No.81 Squadron at Seletar the last operational flight by a Spitfire Mk.PR19 (PS888) on 1st April,1954 and Mosquito,PR34 (RG314) on the 15th December, 1955. It was followed by the 4-engine Sunderland flying-boats (DP199) of No.205 Squadron on the 15th May, 1959. A year after the ‘Beaufighter’ TT.10 (RD761) also from Seletar made it’s final sortie on 17th May. Jet aircraft replacement initiated by the 'Vampire' move on rapidly with the ‘Vampires’ themselves being replaced by the 'Venom' an up-graded version of the ‘Vampire’ with more powerful 'Ghost' engine increasing the airspeed to 640mph and equipped with ejection-seat. The replacements speeded up by a series of twin-jet fighter aircraft like the modified Gloster 'Meteors' (photographic and night fighter) and 'Javelin' an all-weather fighter to more advanced Hawker Hunters FGA-9's for ground-attack. Finally in 1960’s the supersonic English Electric ’Lightnings’ interceptors of No.74 Squadron (The Tigers) replaced the ‘Hawker Hunters’ of No.20 Squadron. The Jet-bombers came in the form of the twin-jet engine 'Canberra' light bombers; the Royal Air Force first jet-propulsion bomber and like their predecessor the ‘Mosquito’ was unarmed; relying on speed and altitude for safety. Fortunately the Communist did not have any anti-aircraft weapons and thereby no opposition from the ground. The Royal Air Force maintained total air supremacy.

Malaysia was granted Independence by Britain on the 31st August,1957 and ceremoniously handing over to a Malay Prince Tengku Abdul Rahman at Stadium Mederka, Kuala Lumpur. By 1960 came the official Government announcement the end of the ‘Malayan Emergency’ (1948 – 1960) after 12 long years fighting the Communist Guerillas led by Chin Peng (Secretary- General of the Malayan Communist Party) gave up. The Royal Air Force followed up with termination of “Operation Firedog”. Meanwhile the British stayed on in Singapore even after Singapore being booted out of Malaysia on the 9th August,1965. Britain was scaling down it’s forces but could still provide temporary a defence shield while tiny Singapore started slowly building up from scratch our military capability. For our Army we had two battalions of Singapore Infantry Regiment (Nick-named in Chinese as ‘Ang Tau Peng’ (Red Head Army, as they wore red side-caps), the Navy had two miserable wooden gun-boats named ‘Panglima’ (an old Ford class patrol boat built in 1956) and ‘Sri Bedok’.(a small ex-Marine Police patrol boat). And no Air Force at all.


Finally In 1971 the British threw in the towel and said ‘quits’ totally withdrawing from East of Suez.