These are the slides used to teach the new syllabus for Secondary 2 History for both Express and Normal Academic Stream on how World War 2 (WWII) affect Singapore.

1. WORLD WAR II
THE FALL OF SINGAPORE

2. Reasonsfor the
of
Singapore

3. British vs Japanese
Attitude Leadership War
Equipment
Strategies &
Training

4. Attitude
The Japanese The British
• Aggressive
• Wanted to gain power in Asia
• Gain access to natural
resources
• Wanted to be rich and
powerful
• Proud and arrogant
• Looked down on Japanese
• Underestimated the military
strength of the Japanese

5. Leadership
The Japanese The British
• General Tomoyuki Yamashita
had fought the war in China
• Strong leadership
• General Percival was
inexperienced in warfare.
• Generals could not agree with
each other
• Weak leadership

6. War Equipment
The Japanese The British
• ‘Zero’ fighters
• Superior and modern
• Tanks
• Able to move easily in
jungles
• ‘Flying coffins’
• Old and outdated
• Anti-tank guns
• Ineffective

7. Strategies and Training
The Japanese The British
• Intelligence services
• Gather information about
the British planning in
defence system
• Poor assessment of the
Japanese military strategies
• Not well-trained in jungle
warfare

8. How did the Occupation
change the lives of people
in Singapore?

9. Life of the people in Singapore
during the Japanese Occupation
Political Economic Social

10. Political
Impact

11. Singapore was renamed as
‘Syonan-to’
Light of the South

12. Nippon Seishin
The Japanese promoted this
Japanese spirit in order to
remove any Western
influence.
‘Nipponisation’
1. Mass drills (Taisho)
compulsory for everyone
2. Singing of the Japanese
national anthem, Kimigayo
is compulsory
3. Teachers & students have
to learn Japanese

13. Propaganda
To influence the minds of the people to show
loyalty to Japan

14. Controlled radio
stations and
radio sets
Showed only
Japanese movies
and propaganda
in cinemas
Controlled
Chinese and
English
newspapers
strictly by
printing news
that favoured the
Japanese

15. Economic
Impact

16. Disruption of trade during Japanese Occupation
led to food shortage.
Food rationing was introduced to solve food
shortage.

17. Food Rationing
Each household was given
a “Peace Living Certificate”
to obtain ration cards.
Ration cards were used to
buy basic necessities at the
distribution centres.

18. Result
Many people
suffered
from
Malnutrition
Gave rise to
Black
Markets

19. Black Market
Illegal selling and buying of goods
Sold food necessities at a high
price that not many could afford

20. $120

21. $0.20

22. $80 1 kg

23. $0.80 1 kg

24. A Banana Note

25. Inflation of food
prices
Lowered the
value of money
The Japanese
printed unlimited
quantities of
banana notes
w/o serial
numbers

26. Social
Impact

27. The Allied
POWs
The Local
Civilians
Hardships
and Suffering

28. The
Allied
POWs
More than 50 000 British, Australian
and Allied soldiers, including women
and children, were imprisoned.

29. Became POWs in
Changi Prison.
Sent to work on
the Death Railway
in Thailand.
Many died of
infectious
diseases/ harsh
living conditions.

30. 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.”

31. Electric Shocks
“…..the electric shocks sent
my whole body into spasms;
my tears and mucus flowed
uncontrollably. The pain was
indescribable.”
“A Shameful Past in Human Memory : A Verbal
Account by Elizabeth Choy” by Jane Thum Soon Kun
in The Price of Peace

32. Bayonet Fighting Practice using
Dummy

33. Bayonet Fighting Practice using
Human

34. Kempeitai
•Japanese military police

35. Planted spies all over
the island
Encouraged people to
supply them with
information by giving
rewards and privileges
Anti-Japanese suspects
were beaten and
tortured until they
revealed the information
the Japanese wanted
Often, people were
punished for crimes
they did not commit

36. Living the Days of Darkness
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

37. FEAR

38. Treatment of the Chinese
The Japanese regarded the Chinese as their arch enemies.
Strong Chinese
resistance during
Japanese invasion of
China
Chinese in Singapore
actively helped China in
its fight against Japan’s
attack
In the Battle of Bukit
Timah, the Chinese
volunteers put up a fierce
resistance against the
invading Japanese troops

40. Mass Screening
To identify Chinese who were believed to have anti-
Japanese sentiments
All 18 - 50-year-
old Chinese
men
Report to Mass
screening
centres

41. 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

42. Singapore
under
Japanese Rule

43. Treatment of Eurasians
Suffered as they
were related to
Europeans
Many belonged
to the Singapore
Volunteer Corps
and fought
against the
Japanese.
Those
suspected of
helping the
British were
shot while
others were
imprisoned.

44. Treatment of the
Malays and Indians
Did not see
them as a
threat.
Tried to win the
support of the
Malays and
convince them
that Japan
would free them
from British rule
Persuaded
Indians that
Japan would
free India from
Britain

45. But both races were not entirely
spared especially if they did not
obey Japanese orders.

46. 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
Malnutrition and
diseases
Shortage of
medicine

47. Did life return to normal after the Occupation?

48. Conditions
in
Post-War Singapore

49. “Here are rows and rows of back-to-back houses
crammed to the physical limit. Conditions are bad.
Rooms contained several separate families. Those
who cannot share rooms live underneath stairways or
in cubicles which are in complete darkness at all hours
of the day and without direct contact with sunlight.”

50. Food Housing
Water and
Utilities
Unemployment
Shortage

51. “Many houses have
but one water-tap for
the whole house and
all the inmates share
one bucket-type
latrine. The dirt and
stench are appalling.”

52. British tried to solve the problems by
Clearing the
harbour
Removing the
shipwrecks &
mines
Rationing the
food
Opening
People’s
restaurants
Setting a law
on rent
control

53. It was not
ENOUGH.

54. Change
in
People’s
Attitude

55. The attitude towards
the British
government
changed after WWII.
People of Singapore
felt that the British
had ruled Singapore
for more than 100
years but had failed
to protect it.
They felt it’s time for
the local people to
run the country.

56. Created by
Goh Bang Rui
@gohbangrui
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