Sec2 Chap7 Syonan[1]

THE FALL OF SINGAPORE World War II

Major areas of attack : Tengah Airfield, Kranji, Bukit Timah, City areas
Surrender of the British
15 Feb 1942 – "Black Sunday"

NAVAL BASE SURRENDER PERIMETER MANDAI/NEE SOON BUKIT TIMAH PASIR PANJANG 15 FEB 1942 TENGAH SELETAR SEMBAWANG 2 1 3 4

15 FEB 1942 bLACK sUNDAY

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 MASTERS
Singapore – Renamed ‘Syonan-To’
Syonan = Light of the South
People suffered great hardships
Lived in constant fear of the Japanese

MEETING THEIR FATES
The Allied POWs
The Local Civilians

MEETING 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 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 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 Rule

Japanese soldiers using a prisoner as a live target to practise bayonet fighting A Japanese soldier torturing a prisoner

THE PRICE OF PEACE

THE 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 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 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

MEETING THEIR FATES The Japanese regarded the Chinese as their arch enemies. Why? 1. Strong Chinese resistance during Japanese invasion of China 2. Chinese in S’pore actively helped China in its fight against Japan’s attack 3. In the Battle of Bukit Timah, the Chinese volunteers put up a fierce resistance against the invading Japanese troops

MEETING 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 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 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

LIVING THE DAYS OF DARKNESS
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

FEAR
Close watch over the people
Documents - work badges, vehicle and radio passes
Families had to be registered
Surprise checks

THE 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

DEATH 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

Black Market
Not only basic necessities but all sorts of goods
Because of shortages
Banana notes - worthless

BANABA NOTES

Propaganda
To influence the minds of the people to show loyalty to Japan
1. Learn the Japanese language
2. Influence school children
3. Controlled radio stations and radio sets
4. Only Japanese movies and propaganda shown in cinemas
5. Chinese and English newspapers controlled strictly by Japanese

ANTI-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 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

LESSONS
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 YEW “ M y 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 CHAPEL

CHANGI MURALS

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Sec2 Chap7 Syonan[1]

by donaldleo on Aug 14, 2007

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