[Defending the Lion City] Operation Sook Ching - The Bloody Purge begins

After Singapore came under Japanese control,  the Japanese, apart from stripping Singapore of its name and calling her "Syonan-to", began brutal actions to cower the local populace so as to solidify their grip on Singapore.

People were made to bow to the Japanese soldiers. Those who did not, or refuse to do so, would be severely beaten, some even killed.

But that was not the end of their cruelty.

The Japanese started the "Sook Ching" (a Chinese term meaning "purge through cleansing") operation which was intended, not only to purge the Chinese populace in Singapore of any anti-Japanese opposition, but seemly targeting mainly the chinese in revenge for their support to China in the war against Japan.

"... On 17th February, our new masters issued their first public order in Singapore,  now called Syonanto: all male Chinese adults were to report the very next day at designated camps – under threat of “severe punishment”, a phrase quickly to become familiar. Most of us presumed then it was only for some kind of registration of people. 

But those concentrations of the Chinese were actually for a sinister purpose. 

The conquering Japanese troops had  arrived with horrendous baggage: memories of bloody encounters with the mainland Chinese in the still ongoing Sino-Japanese war. 

And they were sorely aware that the  Chinese in Singapore had been anti-Japanese, staging demonstrations, organising boycotts of Japanese goods and raising money (the China War Relief Fund) to help the Chinese on the mainland in their fight  against invasion. And there were the Singapore  Chinese who took up arms against the Japanese: volunteers with the British forces as well as those MCP (Malayan Communist  Party) diehards, who struggled against them in the jungles of the Malay Peninsula. 

Led by the ruthless Kempeitai (Japanese Military Police), the victorious soldiers went all out to screen the Chinese, however hasty and slapdash the operation, to seek and destroy anyone suspected of being  hostile, no matter how flimsy the evidence,  no matter how many were fingered. ..."

Goh Sin Tub

Goh Sin Tub 

(Read more here: The Sook Ching)

Pic: Stomp

Many families, even till today, still grieve over the fate of their loved ones who went through the screening, and never came back. And many families had to assume that their loved ones were lost to the war.

Skulls, bones and other grisly remains being exhumed from a mass grave of Operation Sook Ching victims in Bedok on June 10, 1966. Photo: The Straits Times (via AsiaOne)

Skulls, bones and other grisly remains being exhumed from a mass grave of Operation Sook Ching victims in Bedok on June 10, 1966.

Photo: The Straits Times

- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/75-years-singapore-fell-operation-sook-ching-during-japanese-occupation#sthash.KgXzdJ1J.dpuf

Skulls, bones and other grisly remains being exhumed from a mass grave of Operation Sook Ching victims in Bedok on June 10, 1966.

Photo: The Straits Times

- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/75-years-singapore-fell-operation-sook-ching-during-japanese-occupation#sthash.KgXzdJ1J.dpuf

"... Thousands of other men were not so fortunate. Suspected of being anti-Japanese elements, these men were loaded into lorries and transported to remote areas such as Changi, Punggol and Bedok for execution.  

At these sites, the suspects were machine-gunned to death and often their bodies were thrown into the sea. In some instances, British prisoners of war (POWs) were tasked to bury the bodies. 

Known massacre sites include beaches at Punggol, Changi, Katong, Tanah Merah and Blakang Mati (now Sentosa island). Massacres were said to have also occurred at Hougang, Thomson Road, Changi Road, Siglap, Bedok and East Coast. 

Due to a lack of written records, the exact number of people killed in the operation is unknown. The official figure given by the Japanese is 5,000 although the actual number is believed to be much higher. 

Lieutenant Colonel Hishakari Takafumi, a newspaper correspondent at the time, claimed that the plan was to kill 50,000 Chinese and that half that number had been reached when the order was received to stop the operation. ..."

Singapore Infopedia

After the war ended, seven , seven Japanese officers were charged during a war crimes trial in Singapore for their participation in Operation Sook Ching in 1947.

All seven officers were found guilty. Two officers, Lieutenant General Saburo Kawamura and Lieutenant Colonel Masayuki Oishi, were sentenced to death while the remaining five were given life sentences.

In 1962, more mass graves were found in the Siglap area - dubbed as the 'Valley of Tears' by the press. The remains of the victims from various sites were exhumed and gathered for reburial in a dedicated memorial site, which would later be the Civilian War Memorial.

The Civilian War Memorial

Completed in 1967, the Civilian War Memorial stands prominently along Beach road in Singapore's civic district, and is dedicated to the memory of not only the victims of the Sook Ching operation, but for all civilians who had died as a result of the Japanese Occupation.

"... Comprising four tapering columns at a height of 67 metres, the Civilian War Memorial is affectionately known as the ‘Four Chopsticks’ by locals. Each column represents one of the four main ethnic groups in Singapore who perished during the Japanese Occupation: Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians. ..." 

"... Painted white, the prominent structure can be seen from afar, both in the day and at night. It sits on a raised platform enclosing a vault that holds the victims’ remains in 606 urns. Within the four columns, an empty urn placed on a pedestal, together with inscriptions commemorating the deaths of countless civilians, brings visitors’ attention to the burial chamber underneath. ..."

Roots.SG

"...  a black urn (sits) atop a high white pedestal with lion heads in relief. The words "In deep and lasting sorrow this memorial is dedicated in memory of those of our civilians who were killed between February 15, 1942 and August 18, 1945 when the Japanese Armed Forces occupied Singapore" are inscribed on the pedestal. There are translations in Malay and Tamil on the right and left respectively. ..."

Picture.SG

"... Then finally the Monument was unveiled by Prime Minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, on 15 February 1967, the 25th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore. 

In his speech, Mr. Lee said, "We meet not to rekindle old fires of hatred, nor to seek settlements for blood debts. We meet to remember the men and women who were the hapless victims of one of the fires of history. This monument will remind those of us who were here 25 years ago, of what can happen to people caught completely unaware and unprepared for what was in store for them. It will help our children understand and remember, what we have told them of this lesson we paid so bitterly to learn". 

Before the Prime Minister unveiled a plaque, and laid the first wreath on behalf of the Government and the people of Singapore, prayers were said by leaders of the Inter-Religious Council representing Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Zoroastrian faiths. A 3-minute silence followed the laying of the wreaths. Many families of the dead were there, especially their weeping mothers. ..."

Singapore Infopedia

In the years that would follow, there would be various ceremonies and services that would take place on 15 Feb to mark the anniversary of the 'Fall of Singapore' when Singapore was surrendered to the Japanese by the British.

#NeverAgain #DefendingtheLionCity #SAF #NationalService #NS50 #WhyMustWeServe #LestWeForget #TotalDefence

Read more here:

Singapore Infopedia - Operation Sook Ching

Biblioasia - The Sook Ching by Goh Sin Tub

AsiaOne - 75 years since Singapore fell: Operation Sook Ching during the Japanese occupation 

Mothership - The Sook Ching (YouTube)

Singapore Infopedia - The Civilian War Memorial

Roots.SG - Civilian War Memorial

Picture.SG - Civilian War Memorial urn