The Bukit Batok Memorial is located on top of the tranquil Bukit Batok Hill upon which once stood two war memorials built by Australian POWs to commemorate the war dead of the Japanese and the Allies who fought during the decisive Battle of Bukit Timah in Singapore during the Second World War. The two memorials were destroyed after the war and only the road and stairs that used to lead to them mark its legacy today.
Bukit Batok is located near the Bukit Timah area, where some of the heaviest fighting on the island—the Battle of Bukit Timah took place in early 1942. As a result, in June 1942, the Japanese wanted to build a war memorial and Shinto shrine to commemorate their war dead in the vicinity. Bukit Batok was significant as the 400-foot (120 m) high hill overlooked the Ford Motor Factory where Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, General Officer Commanding, HQ Malaya Command, had surrendered over 125,000 British and Commonwealth troops to Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita on the evening of 15 February 1942. [1]
POW labour was used to build a total of three war memorials, including one dedicated to the fallen of the Indian National Army in June 1945, and a Shinto shrine called Syonan Jinja in MacRitchie Reservoir during the Occupation. [2] English bombardier Stanley Warren of the Changi Murals fame, belonged to one of the work parties that built the stairs and a road named Lorong Sesuai, leading to the two memorials on top of Bukit Batok. [3] The Japanese had originally planned just one memorial called Syonan Chureito for their war dead but the POWs asked the Japanese for permission to build a memorial to their own war dead near the Japanese memorial and had been given permission and materials to erect a 15-foot (4.6 m) wooden cross behind Syonan Chureito. The Japanese had hoped to capitalise on the propaganda value of acceding to the request. [1] The Japanese engineering commander-in-charge of the POWs then was Colonel Yasugi Tamura. About 500 Australian POWs mainly from the Artillery, and Infantry battalions, encamped at Sime Road and Adam Park were marched back and forth each day between the job site and their camp and worked tirelessly until both memorials were completed.
On the night of 7 December 1942, in a solemn ceremony, the ashes of the Japanese war dead encased in white wooden boxes were brought to the foot of the long flight of steps leading to Syonan Chureito and ceremoniously carried up the torch-lit steps for interment inside a small shrine located at the top. The guest of honour was General Homma Masaharu of Philippines fame. [4] The Japanese memorial was a 12 metres tall wooden mast capped with a brass cone. The words "chu rei to" was inscribed on its side which meant "the sacrifice made by the fallen soldiers". A plain, stout, wooden fence surrounded the memorial. The Allies' memorial was unveiled on the same day by one of the POW camp commanders with a speech thanking the Japanese Army. [4] Military and Japanese officials would regularly worship the Japanese Emperor and the deified spirits of their fallen comrades at Syonan Chureito and Syonan Jinja.
The two memorials on the hilltop were torn down when the Japanese surrendered and all that remains are two entrance pillars and the 120 steps that now lead to a transmission tower operated by Mediacorp. [5] Like Syonan Chureito, Syonan Jinja was destroyed too after the war to prevent it from being desecrated by the returning Allied forces. The ashes at the Japanese war memorial were subsequently re-interred in the Japanese Cemetery Park in Chuan Hoe Avenue. [1] Upon a suggestion to the authorities by a former Australian POW, S. Hannam, in 1981, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and National Heritage Board (NHB) erected a memorial plaque at the foot of the steps to commemorate this little known history and the sufferings of the Australian POWs during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. [6] In 1995, the NHB gazetted the site as one of the 11 World War II sites in Singapore. [7]
Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularly targeted by the Japanese military during the occupation. However, Japanese soldiers engaged in indiscriminate killing, and did not try to identify who was 'anti-Japanese.' Singapore was a crucial strategic point in World War II. From 8 February to 15 February, the Japanese had fought for control of the city. The combined British and Commonwealth forces surrendered in a stunning defeat to the outnumbered Japanese on 15 February which led to its fall. The loss of Singapore was and still is Britain's largest surrender in history.
Bukit Timah, often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Central Business District, bordering the Central Water Catchment to the north, Bukit Panjang to the northwest, Queenstown to the south, Tanglin to the southeast, Clementi to the southwest, Novena to the east and Bukit Batok to the west.
Bukit Batok, often abbreviated as Bt Batok, is a planning area and matured residential town located along the eastern boundary of the West Region of Singapore. Bukit Batok statistically ranks in as the 25th largest, the 12th most populous and the 11th most densely populated planning area in the Republic. It is bordered by six other planning areas - Choa Chu Kang to the North, northeast and northwest, Cashew to the northeast and east, Clementi to the south, Bukit Timah to the southeast, Jurong East to the southwest and Tengah to the west.
MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's oldest reservoir. The reservoir was completed in 1868 by impounding water with an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir.
The Central Catchment Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Singapore, occupying 2880 hectares. Forming a large green lung in the geographical centre of the city, it houses several recreational sites, including the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and the River Safari, as well as several newer facilities built to encourage public appreciation of the reserve, such as the HSBC TreeTop Walk. The reserve sits within the boundaries of the Central Water Catchment. It is one of the four gazetted nature reserves in Singapore. The other three are the Labrador Nature Reserve which was gazetted since 1 January 2002, Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. All four nature reserves along with the parks are protected under the Parks & Trees Act 2005.
Syonan, officially Syonan Island, was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II.
The Former Ford Factory is located along Upper Bukit Timah Road at Bukit Timah in Singapore. It is the place where the British Army forces surrendered to Imperial Japanese Army forces on 15 February 1942 after the Battle of Singapore. The Old Ford Motor Factory had since been gazetted as a National Monument in 2006, and converted into an exhibition gallery and archive named Memories at Old Ford Factory. The permanent exhibition gallery showcases life in Singapore under Japanese wartime rule, and the exhibition is one of the continuation of final battles from Pasir Panjang and at Fort Siloso.
The Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation, usually called the Civilian War Memorial, is a war memorial and heritage landmark in Singapore next to Esplanade MRT station. It was built in memory of the civilians killed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II. The Civilian War Memorial sits on serene parkland in the midst of busy city traffic near Singapore's Padang and City Hall. Located within the War Memorial Park at Beach Road within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district, it is usually easy to spot in most backdrops encompassing the CBD landscape. It was gazetted as the 65th national memorial on 15 August 2013.
Singapore has about 65 species of mammals, 390 species of birds, 110 species of reptiles, 30 species of amphibians, more than 300 butterfly species, 127 dragonfly species, and over 2,000 recorded species of marine wildlife.
Syonan Jinja was a Shinto shrine at MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore. Built by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II, the shrine was destroyed directly before British forces re-occupied Singapore.
The Selarang Barracks incident, also known as the Barrack Square incident or the Selarang Square Squeeze, was a revolt of British and Australian prisoners-of-war (POWs) interned in a Japanese camp in Changi, Singapore.
The Changi Murals are a set of five paintings of biblical theme painted by Stanley Warren, a British bombardier and prisoner-of-war (POW) interned at the Changi Prison, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II (WWII). His murals were completed under difficult conditions of sickness, limited materials and hardships. With a message of universal love and forgiveness, they helped to uplift the spirits of the POWs and sick when they sought refuge in the prison chapel.
The Japanese Cemetery Park is a Japanese cemetery and park in Hougang, Singapore. It is the largest Japanese cemetery in Southeast Asia at 29,359 square metres, consisting of 910 tombstones that contain the remains of members of the Japanese community in Singapore, including young Japanese prostitutes, civilians, soldiers and convicted war criminals executed in Changi Prison. It was gazetted as a memorial park by the Singapore government in 1987.
Kent Ridge Park is a 47-hectare public park located in Kent Ridge, Singapore, between the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Science Park. Due to its undisturbed habitat and abundant plant life, it is a popular venue for bird-watchers and eco-tourists.
The Kempeitai East District Branch was the headquarters of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was located at the old YMCA building, at the present site of Singapore's YMCA Building on Stamford Road. Opened in 1911, the distinctive Art Deco YMCA building was the site of interrogation and torture of many innocent civilians, including the war heroine Elizabeth Choy. After the war, the Singapore government erected several memorials with some at the former massacre sites. In 1995, the former site of the old YMCA building was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the eleven World War II sites of Singapore.
The SGH War Memorial is located within the grounds of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in Outram. This memorial marked the tragedy and the burial site of a group of medical students from the King Edward VII College of Medicine, who were killed during the Second World War in Singapore. In 2005, the memorial, along with eight other historic sites of SGH, was incorporated as part of the Outram Campus Heritage Trail that allow visitors to explore the important historical landmarks that are closely linked with the history of medical education in Singapore.
The Battle of Kranji was the second stage of the Empire of Japan's plan for the invasion of Singapore during the Second World War. On 9 February 1942 the Imperial Japanese Army assaulted the north-western front of Singapore, capital of the Straits Settlements.
The Changi Chapel and Museum is a war museum dedicated to Singapore's history during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. After the British army was defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Singapore, thousands of prisoners-of-war (POWs) were imprisoned in Changi prison camp for three and a half years. While interned there, the POWs built numerous chapels, one of which was named St George's Church.
Hillview is located in north west Singapore. The neighbourhood overlooks Bukit Timah Hill, hence its name.
Coordinates: 01°21′3.21″N103°46′0.37″E / 1.3508917°N 103.7667694°E