Over the years several probes were conduct on the Padang (Malay for ‘plain’ or ‘open country’). A small test excavation in 2003 revealed in-situ pre-modern strata, suggesting that the Padang is one of the largest reservoirs of pre-colonial remains in Singapore. In 2009, a test unit uncovered a World War Two midden filled with discarded helmets and gas masks dating to the capitulation of Singapore in 1942. More recently, research was conducted to identify the pre-1819 shoreline.