Two collectors of Chinese antiques have stumbled on ___1___
pieces of old Qing porcelain on a beach ___2___
Punggol. Tipped off by a friend, the duo found fragments of
bowls. saucers, cups and opium pipes all of ___3___
have been confirmed to be mostly of Qing origin
___4___ made in the late
nineteenth century. According to an old villager they
interviewed, the pieces ___5___
dumped there by the Japanese ___6___
their surrender in 1945. He said some Japanese fish dealers
built a seaside hotel ___7___
the end of Punggol before the Japanese invasion in 1941. The
hotel sold Qing porcelain as well ___8___
common pottery to Chinese businessmen and antique collectors.
After the surrender, ___9___
Japanese simply demolished the hotel and smashed the Qing
pottery ___10___
discarding the pieces on the beach. |