| Punggol Point Park | |
|---|---|
| Punggol Point | |
  Location in Singapore | |
| Type | Historical park |
| Location | Punggol, Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°25′16.1″N103°54′39.0″E / 1.421139°N 103.910833°E |
| Opened | 20 November 2011 |
| Status | Open |
Punggol Point Park, formerly known as Punggol Point, is located in Punggol, north-east of Singapore.
Punggol Beach was one of the sites where Chinese civilians were killed during the Sook Ching Massacre.
The location has now been declared as a national heritage site. There is a plaque commemorating the Sook Ching Massacre. [1] The inscription on the plaque reads:
On 23 February 1942, some 300–400 Chinese civilians were killed along Punggol foreshore by Hojo Kempei (auxiliary military police) firing squad. They were among tens of thousands who lost their lives during the Japanese Sook Ching operation to purge suspected anti-Japanese civilians among Singapore's Chinese population between 18 February and 4 March 1942. The victims who perished along the foreshore were among 1,000 Chinese males rounded up following a house-to-house search of the Chinese community living along Upper Serangoon Road by Japanese soldiers.
— National Heritage Board. [2]
The remains of some victims from the Sook Ching massacre would later be discovered by beach goers and fishermen. In 13 March 1977, a human skull and some bones was brought to light when a man dug a hole in the sand around the area. [3] In December 1997, a man digging for earthworms as bait found a skull with two gold teeth as well as parts of an arm and a leg near the shore.
A jetty known as Punggol Point Jetty had been an iconic part of Punggol Point and it has been there for a very long time. Punggol Point was also a home to a cluster of popular seafood restaurants in the 1980s and the 1990s.
The area, including the jetty that is situated there, underwent development [4] and reopened as Punggol Point Park on 20 November 2011. [5]
The place can be reached from New Punggol Road. After its redevelopment into Punggol Point Park, a new road named Punggol Point Road leads into a public carpark for visitors. By public transport, it is a walking distance away from Punggol Point LRT station. It is also accessible by taking bus service 84G/84W from Punggol Temporary Interchange at Punggol Town Centre.
Changi is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Serangoon Harbour to the north. Changi, excluding the two water catchments and islands of Singapore, is the largest planning area by land size.
Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese convicted war criminal and general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore. His conquest of Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earned him the sobriquet "The Tiger of Malaya" and led to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill calling the ignominious fall of Singapore to Japan the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British military history. He was assigned to defend the Philippines from the advancing Allies later in the war. Although he was unable to prevent the superior Allied forces from advancing, despite dwindling supplies and Allied guerrilla action, he was able to hold on to part of Luzon until after the formal Surrender of Japan in August 1945.
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.'
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Kallang is a planning area and residential zone located in the Central Region of Singapore.
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Serangoon Harbour is a harbour in Singapore located between the mainland island of Singapore and Pulau Ubin.
Dalforce, officially the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was an irregular forces/guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. Its members were recruited among the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore. It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force. The unit was known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce, after its chief instructor and commanding officer, John Dalley, whereas the Chinese in Singapore only knew it as the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. This formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and some members conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation. The British noted how ferociously the Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought, earning them the nickname Dalley's Desperadoes.
Mamoru Shinozaki was a journalist for Dentsu and spy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in pre-war years, a military executive in Japanese-occupied Singapore, and a businessman and writer in post-war years. He is known for the Shinozaki Case in 1940, and for his testimony in the war crimes trial in 1947 for the Sook Ching massacre.
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