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THE FALLOF
SINGAPORE
Major areas of attack : Tengah Airfield, Kranji, Bukit Timah, City areas
Surrender of the British 15 Feb 1942 – "Black Sunday"
NAVAL BASENAVAL BASE
SURRENDER SURRENDER PERIMETERPERIMETER
MANDAI/NEE SOON
BUKIT TIMAH
PASIR PANJANG
15 FEB 194215 FEB 1942
TENGAH
SELETAR
SEMBAWANG
2
1
34
15 FEB 1942
THE SYONAN YEARS
• Coming under New Masters• Meeting Their Fates• Living the Days of Darkness• Fighting against the Japanese• Lessons from the Japanese
Occupation
SINGAPORE DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
COMING UNDER NEW COMING UNDER NEW MASTERSMASTERS
• Singapore – Renamed ‘Syonan-To’• Syonan = Light of the South
• People suffered great hardships• Lived in constant fear of the
Japanese
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
• The Allied POWs• The Local Civilians
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
• The Allied POWs– British, Australian and Allied
Europeans, including women and children, were imprisoned
– became POWs– Changi Prison, Selarang Barracks– numbered more than 50,000
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
• The Allied POWs– Indians soldiers and Gurkhas– asked to pledge loyalty to Japan– asked to join the Indian National Army
(INA) – set up by CPT Mohan Singh, a surrendered
officer from the British Indian Army– those who refused were tortured,
imprisoned or killed
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
• The Local Civilians– Japanese took action to place locals
under control– determined to wipe out those who
might threaten their rule– The Chinese became the main target– Wipe out all those considered to be
anti-Japanese– Operation Sook Ching
Singapore Under Japanese Singapore Under Japanese RuleRule
Singapore Under Japanese Singapore Under Japanese RuleRule
Japanese soldiers using a prisoner as a live target to practise bayonet fighting
A Japanese soldier torturing a prisoner
THE PRICE OF PEACETHE PRICE OF PEACE
THE WATER TREATMENTTHE WATER TREATMENT
“…..our captors beat us up, subject us to electric shocks and pumped us up with water as part of the interrogation routine.
The feeling of having one’s belly pumped full of water and then seeing the water gushing out of the body was hardly bearable.”
ELECTRIC SHOCKSELECTRIC SHOCKS
“…..when my interrogators could not get information out of me, they dragged my husband from Outram Prison, tied him up and made him kneel beside me. Then, in his full view, they stripped me to the waist and applied electric currents to me.”
ELECTRIC SHOCKSELECTRIC SHOCKS
“…..the electric shocks sent my whole body into spasms; my tears and mucus flowed uncontrollably. The pain was indescribable, but it must have been thousands of times worse for my husband who had to see me being tortured.”
“A Shameful Past in Human Memory : A Verbal Account by Elizabeth Choy” by Jane Thum Soon Kun in The Price of Peace
The Japanese regarded the Chinese as their arch enemies. Why?
1. Strong Chinese resistance during Japanese invasion of China2. Chinese in S’pore actively helped China in its fight against Japan’s attack3. In the Battle of Bukit Timah, the Chinese volunteers put up a fierce resistance against the invading Japanese troops
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
Mass Screening• All Chinese men 18-50 years old• report to Mass screening centres• Questioned by Japanese or singled out by
hooded local informers• More fortunate ones allowed to go home
– “EXAMINED” stamped on a small piece of paper– sometimes stamped onto shirts or arms
• Those accused of being anti-Japanese were brought to remote areas of Singapore and killed
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
Eurasians• suffered - related to Europeans• Japanese thought the Eurasians saw
themselves as superior to the Asians• Many belonged to the Singapore Volunteer
Corps and fought against the Japanese• Those suspected of helping the British were
shot• Others were imprisoned
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
Malays and Indians• Japanese did not see them as a threat• Tried to win the support of the Malays and
convince them that Japan would free them from Japanese rule
• Persuaded Indians that Japan would free India from Britain
• Both races not entirely spared though, esp if they did not obey Japanese orders
MEETING THEIR FATESMEETING THEIR FATES
FEAR• Harsh action taken to establish control• Looters were shot and beheaded, public
display of heads• Barbed wires to form road blocks• Bowing as a sign of respect
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
FEAR• Close watch over the people• Documents - work badges, vehicle and radio
passes• Families had to be registered• Surprise checks
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
THE KEMPEITAITHE KEMPEITAI
• Most feared of all Japanese• Spies all over the island• encouraged people to supply them with info by
giving rewards and privileges• Anti-Jap suspects beaten and tortured until they
reveal the info the Japs wanted• Nobody knew whom to trust• Anti-Japanese suspects were tortured to make them
confess or to extract information from them• Often people were punished for crimes they did not
commit
Hardship and Suffering• Life of POWs in prison camps• Death Railway
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
DEATH RAILWAYDEATH RAILWAY
Hardship and Suffering• Local civilians - serious shortage of food and
other goods• Essential foodstuffs like rice, salt and sugar
were controlled• Ration cards : Limit amount of food for each
person• Coping with shortages : Simple diets;
substitutes; improvise• Malnutrition and diseases• Shortage of medicine
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
Black Market• Not only basic necessities but all sorts of
goods• Because of shortages• Banana notes - worthless
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
BANABA NOTESBANABA NOTES
Propaganda• To influence the minds of the people to show
loyalty to Japan1.Learn the Japanese language2.Influence school children3.Controlled radio stations and radio sets4.Only Japanese movies and propaganda shown
in cinemas5.Chinese and English newspapers controlled
strictly by Japanese
LIVING THE DAYS OF LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESSDARKNESS
ANTI-JAPANESE GROUPSANTI-JAPANESE GROUPS
• MPAJA : Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army– sudden attacks on Japanese
troops– Hid in the Malayan jungles– Life was hard there– tried to stir up anti-Japanese
feelings among the people by distributing newspapers
ANTI-JAPANESE GROUPSANTI-JAPANESE GROUPS
• Force 136 – Secret British organisation to organise
sabotage activities– locals were also recruited– trained secretly in India and sent to
Malaya to help MPAJA– Lim Bo Seng was one of the leaders– Captured in Mar 1944 and tortured to
death
LESSONSLESSONS
• Defeat of the British– poor preparations for war– underestimation of enemy– always be prepared to defend one’s
country
• Respect for British dipped after the war
• People’s suffering– need to rid Singapore of foreign masters
LEE KUAN YEWLEE KUAN YEW
“MMy colleagues and I are of that generation of young men who went through the Second World War and the Japanese Occupation and became determined that no one - neither the Japanese nor the British - had the right to push and kick us around. We were determined that we could govern ourselves and bring up our children in a country where we can be a self-respecting people.”
CHANGI PRISON CHAPELCHANGI PRISON CHAPEL
CHANGI MURALSCHANGI MURALS