history

• How the Japanese established control

  1. Using force

  2. Winning loyalty
• Groups persecuted by the Japanese


  • Chinese
  • Eurasians/Europeans
• Using force


  • Meting out harsh punishments
  • Threatening people with imprisonment or beatings
  • Beheading people and displaying it publicly
  • Encouraging "informants" to report on others
• Using force


  1. Imprisoning Allied Soldiers

  2. Carrying out Operation Sook Ching
• Operation Sook Ching was a Japanese military operation aimed at purging or eliminating anti-Japanese elements from the Chinese community in Singapore
• Massacre sites of Operation Sook Ching


  • Pulau Blakang Mati (Sentosa)
  • Changi Road
  • Tanah Merah Beach
  • Changi Beach
  • Punggol Beach
• The number of people killed in Operation Sook Ching remains unknown, but it is estimated that between 40k and 50k were killed, though Japan claims only 5k were killed
• Why the Japanese military carried out Operation Sook Ching


  • Suspicion of the Chinese due to long-standing tensions
  • Violence and executions used to keep the civilian population under control
  • To prevent anti-Japanese elements from interfering with their occupation of Singapore
• Coercing the Chinese community to show their loyalty


  1. Prominent businessmen ordered to give donations to the Overseas Chinese Association

  2. The OCA was the official channel between the Chinese business community and the Japanese government

  3. They had to mine $50M strait dollars as a "goodwill gesture"
• How the Japanese treated Malays and Indians


  • Malays: Encouraged them to get involved in defence, given opportunities for administrative jobs, provision of more opportunities for education
  • Indians: Given military training to serve as allies, advocated Indian independence
• Why Malays and Indians were treated differently than the Chinese


  The Chinese were already at war with Japan, while the Malays and Indians had the potential to be allies
• How the Japanese won loyalty


  1. Using propaganda

  2. Encouraging Indians to join paramilitary groups

  3. Provision of benefits to locals

  4. Imposing Japanese cultures
• Daily life under the Japanese


  • Hard to survive (shortages, diseases, forced labor, relocation)
  • Trying to create some sense of normalcy (leisure activities)
• Shortages of goods and food, black market started opening up
• Lack of food, medical supplies and unsanitary conditions resulted in the spread of diseases like beriberi, pneumonia, and dysentery
• POWs and other men were often captured and tasked to be free labor, many did not survive
• Chinese and Europeans were "encouraged" to migrate to Eudan and Bagan settlements in Malaysia, but many died due to attacks or infertile ground
• Japanese officials encouraged sports and allowed religious services to continue, and introduced radio programmes and Japanese movies/shows
• Local responses to the Japanese


  • Collaboration
  • Resistance
• Collaboration

  Some locals agreed to work with the Japanese for the sake of survival, such as Malays recruited as policemen and prominent figures like Lee Kuan Yew working in administrative roles
• Motivations for resistance groups


  • Chinese Nationalists
  • Reaction against Japanese oppression
  • Defending their families and homes
• Examples of resistance movements

  • Force 136
  • Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA)
• Force 136

  • Created by Allied forces, focused on intelligence gathering and sabotage, multi-racial organisation
• Lim Bo Seng was a prominent leader within Force 136 who was captured, tortured and killed by the Japanese
• MPAJA


  • Biggest resistance movement, mainly ethnic Chinese, supported by Allies
• The MPAJA's leader, Lai Teck, betrayed them in the Batu Caves massacre as he was an agent working for the Japanese
• USA drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

  6 & 9 August 1945
• Japan surrenders unconditionally

  15 August 1943
• Singapore returns to British rule


  12 September 1945
• The British Military Administration (BMA) was set up as a provisional government to help manage the situation in Singapore after the Japanese occupation
• Problems settled by the BMA


  • Broadcasting services
  • Postal services
  • Transport services
  • Physical clean-up of the streets
• Problems not settled by the BMA

  • Food and water shortages
  • Housing issues
  • Unemployment
  • Electricity shortages
  • Reinstating law & order
  • Monetary issues (inflation)
  • Healthcare issues
• The British did not have their priorities right in addressing the problems in Singapore
• The BMA faced issues like lack of worldwide shipping, corruption, and severe inefficiency despite huge demand to fix problems
• Rice, not politics, was Singapore's first priority after the Japanese occupation
• Evaluation of the BMA

  • It was a failure: British inefficiency and corruption resulted in increasing resentment, did not fix issues that truly mattered
  • It wasn't a failure: The BMA was a military institution not equipped to solve all problems, Singaporeans were initially grateful for their assistance
• The BMA was dissolved in 1946 and replaced by a more efficient and effective British civil administration focused on post-war reconstruction and addressing social issues