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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| April 15, 2004 |
Singapore – 'Do You Really Know Singapore?' - Study Programme |
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| The well-known Singapore skyline |
Singapore is renowned for its modern conveniences, shopping in powerfully air-conditioned malls and sightseeing - all of which Peace Boat participants enjoy. But few Japanese ever have a chance to learn about the long and sometimes dark history of the island nation, nor the belligerent role that their own country played in its formation. Using various memorials and museums as a road map, the 'Do You Really Know Singapore?' study programme seeks to educate Peace Boat participants about the country's modern history. |
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Now a beautiful park and museum, the Battle Box was originally used as bunker by the British during World War II. Here participants learned about the nature of the British occupation leading up to World War II, and the details of the battle between British and Japanese forces through which Japan gained control of Singapore in February 1942.
Site of the notorious 'Operation Sukching', in which Japanese military authorities arrested thousands of Singaporean civilians of Chinese descent and systematically massacred them, Changi Prison is where Japanese forces kept prisoners of war during the occupation of Singapore. In an effort to weed out Chinese Singaporeans loyal to the Chinese communist party then at war with Japan, authorities in reality targeted every Chinese male in the country, ultimately eliminating nearly 10 percent (50,000 people) of the local ethnic Chinese population. As a result there is almost no-one of Chinese descent in Singapore today who has not been in some way affected by this incident. The museum was careful to provide considerable background information leading up to the massacres, as well as detailing the aggressive policies taken on by the Japanese military during the occupation.
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| Entrance to the Cemetary |
Moving on from Changi Prison, the study tour visited the cemetery for Japanese who died in Singapore. Here, participants saw the graves of several high-ranking Japanese military officials, as well as memorials for the Japanese soldiers who died during the war in Singapore. Marked as memorials for the 'martyrs' and 'heroes' of the war, these well-tended graves are a stark reminder of the role that Japan played in the deaths of many Singaporeans. |
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Another feature of the cemetery is the numerous unmarked graves of the Japanese 'kara-yuki-san' women, who were forced by economic and family circumstance to migrate to Singapore and Malaysia for work mostly in the sex trade. Although their movement to Southeast Asia provides a candid reflection of the economic strife in the Japanese countryside in the late 19th century, they have been forgotten save for the sad small stone markers. Many have been pushed aside to make space for the larger graves of wealthier Japanese nationals.
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War Memorial |
The war memorial tower is a well-known symbol of Singapore, but few groups visit it for the same reason as the Peace Boat participants did that day. Built on the site where city developers dug up the bones of Singaporeans massacred by the Japanese army in the post-war era, the tower was constructed as a memorial to remind people of the war atrocities and to warn against their recurrence. What appears to be one tower is actually made up of four closely set towers of equal height, symbolizing the four ethnic groups of Singapore including Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Eurasian. The study tour participants gathered on the steps of the memorial to observe a moment of silence beside a wreath of flowers Peace Boat had lay down as an expression of condolences. |
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| Participants visiting the memorial to Lim Bo Sen |
Finally the tour stopped at the memorial erected for the Singaporean wartime hero, Lim Bo Seng. Ethnically Chinese, Lim was active during the war against Japan in raising money among Chinese businessmen to send aid to the Chinese democratic government. For his actions, however, he was arrested by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore and tortured to death. For his sacrifice, Lim has become a symbol of Singaporean nationalism, and now also a name to the Peace Boat participants on the "Do You Really Know Singapore?" study tour. |
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