Faber House, a 12-storey office building along Orchard Road, would be remembered by some as the site of two explosions in the mid-1980s. The first - and largest - occurred on 17 March 1985 and the second on 21 December 1986, both Sundays. No one was injured. The building is owned by United Overseas Land (UOL), a subsidiary of the United Overseas Bank group.

First Explosion, 17 March 1985
The explosion occurred at about 11:30 pm. At the time, the only people in the building were the security guards. The police cordoned off the area less than an hour later and bomb disposal experts from the army had arrived at the scene by 1 am. No one was injured in the incident.

It was believed that less than 500g of plastic explosives had been planted in a 25cm-wide drain running parallel to the sidewall of the building. Because of this wall and the two-storey building next to Faber House, the impact of the blast was directed upwards and not just sideways. The impact left a hole in the drain and knocked off the roof tiles of the adjacent building.

At Faber House, the glass doors on the ground floor and the glass windows from the first to sixth storeys were shattered, and a large marble tile was blown off the wall. The damage was not considered serious and UOL estimated the cost to be less than S$50,000.

On the day after the explosion, the police received a call informing them that a bomb had been set to go off at Faber House at 9:45 am and they quickly evacuated the building just after 9:20 am. This was found to be a hoax and all the workers were allowed to return to the building later that morning.

There were two diplomatic missions located in the building then, the Israeli embassy and the Canadian high commission. Although both reported that they did not receive any bomb threats, there was suspicion that the bomb was targeted at the Israeli embassy.

No one claimed responsibility and the case remained unsolved until 1991, when a Palestinian guerilla named Fuad Hassin al-Shara confessed after he was captured by the Israeli army that he was behind the explosion and that his target was the Israeli embassy.

Second Explosion, 21 December 1986
This explosion occurred at 8:40 pm. By 9 pm, the police had cordoned off the area. As in the previous incident, no one was injured. The blast was determined to have originated from a drain near a power substation at the back of Faber House, but investigators did not find evidence of any explosive substance.

The drain was left with a hole measuring 30cm wide and 30cm deep. However there was no damage to Faber House. Instead, the nearby Singapore Chinese Girls' School bore the brunt of the impact. The school was located at Emerald Hill, on a slope about 15m behind Faber House.

The explosion caused fresh cracks to appear in the school's walls and shattered some of its glass window panes. The Israeli embassy and the Canadian high commission were still tenants in Faber House at the time. The explosion was suspected to be the work of terrorists who were targeting the Israeli embassy, though those responsible have not yet been caught or identified.

Still, the incident has been cited by government officials and in the media as an early example of terrorism in Singapore along with the 1985 explosion.

1987 Bomb Hoax
In November 1987, the police received a call about a bomb in Faber House. Acting on the information, the police sealed off the building while bomb disposal experts scoured the premises. No bomb was found and people were allowed into the building around 12 pm.

Significance
The 1985 bomb attack and possibly the 1986 explosion at Faber House were some of Singapore's earliest direct encounters with international terrorism and highlighted Singapore's vulnerability to such attacks even before the high-profile hijacking of Singapore Airlines flight SQ 117 in 1991.

Given Singapore's openness and the significant foreign presence here, the possibility of terrorist acts occurring in the country remains a constant threat to national security.

By Chew, Valerie
written on 2009-07-15
National Library Board Singapore

Labels: Articles, Faber House explosions