Grisly murders and shootouts: Retrace the steps of 3 crime cases that shook Singapore

Singapore has a glowing reputation as one of the world's safest cities, but it's no utopia.

If you need any examples, look no further than Singapore Crimes: A Tour, which takes place this weekend (Nov 13 and 14) and revisits three dramatic cases in Singapore's history.

The guided tour is organised as part of Singapore Writers Festival 2021 and is operated by Everyday Tour Company.

Speaking to 8world, founder Yeo Pei Shyuan shared just what to expect.

The outlaw who killed a police officer in a Serangoon Road gunfight

Lim Ban Lim holds the dubious honour of being the most wanted gunman in Singapore and Malaysia in the '60s.

He was involved in a number of robberies and shootings, and even killed Koh Chong Thye, a 27-year-old police officer, in a gunfight in 1968.

The shootout, which took place near Serangoon Road, had broken out after Koh spotted Lim, who was on the run at the time.

Lim managed to escape in a taxi, but was eventually killed by police in 1972 in yet another gunfight at Margaret Drive. He was 32.

The first leg of the guided tour will bring participants around Serangoon Road, Kitchener Road, Verdun Road and Sam Leong Road.

The trader who bankrupted Britain's oldest merchant bank

If gunfights aren't your cup of tea, how about some white-collar crime?

Nick Leeson became the centre of a global financial scandal in 1995 when it was revealed that the then-28-year-old, who was working for Barings as a trader, had racked up some $2.2 billion in losses.

Concealing the records of his losses, Leeson, who was based in Singapore, had led the bank to believe that he was turning handsome profits.

In the end, the 233-year-old bank folded and Leeson was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for forgery and cheating.

This leg of the tour covers Singapore's financial centre, taking participants from One Raffles Place to Raffles Place MRT Station, and finally UOB Plaza.

The maid who dismembered her best friend

It was 2005 when the discovery of a severed head in a plastic bag near an exit at Orchard MRT Station shocked the nation.

The victim's arms and legs were found nearby, while the rest of her body was dumped near MacRitchie Reservoir.

Police investigations uncovered the sinister circumstances of the murder.

Guen Garlejo Aguilar, then 29, had killed her best friend, Jane Parangan La Puebla over the $2,000 that the latter owed her.

The pair had been engaged in a physical fight over the money when Aguilar smothered La Puebla.

Aguilar was eventually sentenced to 10 years' jail.

The final leg of the tour covers Orchard Road MRT Station and Ion Orchard.

Tickets to Singapore Crimes: A Tour are going at $35 and can be booked through Sistic.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com