1. Unit 2 :
S’pore During
the Japanese
Occupation

2. What we’ll be doing ?
 problems faced by the people in
S’pore during the Japanese Occupation
 measures taken by the Japanese to
control the people in S’pore
 the importance of cooperation during
difficult times

3. What does the word
‘freedom’
means to you?

4. What happened after the
British surrendered?
Lt Gen Yamashita (seated, centre) thumps the table
with his fist to emphasize his terms – unconditional
surrender. Lt. Gen Percival. sits between his officers,
his clenched hand to his mouth.

5. Singapore was renamed
Syonan-to which means
‘Light of the South’ People in S’pore suffered
in Japanese. & lived in constant fear.
16 Feb 1942
The Japanese Occupation
Japanese make their way
lasted
to the Victory Parade
3 and a half years.
at the Padang.
(Feb 1942 to Sept 1945)

6. What was the first thing
the Japanese did
when they took control
of S’pore?

7. Imprisoned the Europeans Malay & Indian soldiers
and the Australians were to pledge their loyalty
in S’pore. to Japan at Farrer Park
They were kept in
Soldiers became
prison camps like
prisoner-of-war.
Changi Prison,
(POWs)
Selarang Barracks and
Sime Road Camp.

8. Life as POWs
Harsh treatment.
Often tortured and forced to work.
 very little to eat.
 led to poor health and death.
Where did they get
their nutrients?
Grind lallang and
drank the juice

9. How did the Japanese maintain
law and order
in Singapore?

10. Law & Order
 took harsh action to control the people.
 those who were caught looting were
shot and beheaded.
 heads were then displayed at
Dhoby Ghaut, Anderson Bridge
and Kallang Bridge.

11. The Japanese Military Police
known as
‘Kempeitai’
‘Kempeitai’
‘Kempeitai’ old & new

12. Kempeitai
Feared by all people.
Had spies all over.
 encouraged people to provide information
on the anti-Japanese .
 those informants were rewarded.
 suspects would be taken to Kempeitai centre
at YMCA building at Orchard Road.
 people were tortured or imprisoned for
imprisonment
months or years.
imprisonment

13. ‘ Sook Ching ’
In Chinese means
‘ purge through cleansing’
In Japanese,
‘dai kensho’ = great inspection

14. Sook Ching
Japanese began to turned their attention to
the Chinese .
Chinese men from aged 18 to 50 were ordered to
report to ‘ registration camps ’.
 No food, water and shelter were provided.
 Had to line up in front of Japanese soldiers to
be examined.
 No standard procedure .

15. Sook Ching
‘ Lucky ones ’ were stamped with the Chinese
character ‘ jian ’ on their face, arm, shoulder or
clothing.
 Some got it stamped on a piece of paper . (Pg 28)
 Others were taken to various beaches
(Changi or Punggol) in S’pore and never returned .
Sook Ching

16. Sook Ching Centre Monument at Hong Lim
Complex - Chinatown

17. What did the Japanese do
to control over the people?

18. How Japanese treated other
Death Railway
races ?
People were made to bow to Japanese soldiers.
Malay Europeans, Indian
Australians,
Chinese,
Indian &
Eurasians
 arrested and sent to built the
Burma-Thailand Railway .
 were sent to join the Indian National Army
to fight against the British.

19. Japanese
Control
Japanese wanted to make people in
Singapore more loyal to Japan.
 Made people speak, think and behave
like Japanese.
 Set up school to teach Japanese.
 Every morning, the children had to stand facing
the direction of Japan and sing the Japanese
national anthem ~ Kimigayo .
 Only Japanese movies could be shown in cinemas.

20. Japanese
Control
Took over control of the radio stations and
the newspapers.
The Shonan Times and later changes from
to
 Syonan Jit Poh
 Radio owners could only listen to programmes
allowed by the Japanese.
 Japanese festivals were celebrated in Singapore.

21. Effects of the Japanese
Occupation on the people

22. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
Shortage of food.
 many people experienced hunger.
 Rice, salt and sugar were controlled.
 People were given a ration card each.
 Limited amount of food each person could buy.
 No ration card = could not get any provisions
ration
Ration card

23. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
Shortage of food.
 many people experienced hunger.
 Rice, salt and sugar were controlled.
 People were given a ration card each.
 Limited amount of food each person could buy.
 No ration card = could not get any provisions

24. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
Shortage of food led to the development of
a black market .
 Black marketeers would sit by roadside stalls
Sungei Road also known as Robinson Petang .
 People had to pay high price for provisions, e.g. milk
 It did not affect the Japanese as they had the
best of everything.

25. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
 Many people began to grow sweet potatoes

26. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
 Many people began to grow sweet potatoes
and tapioca.

27. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
 Many people began to grow sweet potatoes
and tapioca.
???? Can you think of some
dishes made from
tapioca
and sweet potato.

28. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
 Many people began to grow sweet potatoes
and tapioca.
???? Can you think of some
dishes made from
tapioca
and sweet potato.

29. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
People suffered from malnutrition and diseases.
 Shortage of medicines.
 Due to scarcity of goods, prices of things
went up very high.
Item Dec 1942 Dec 1944
($) ($)
600 g of rice 0.50 8.20
An egg 0.10 1.25
600g of sugar 0.85 18

30. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
 Japanese also printed banana money to
replace the Malayan dollar.
banana money

31. Effects of Japanese
Occupation
It worsen the situation.
 Whenever the Japanese needed more money,
they printed more notes.
 As a result, there were lots of banana notes
and their value dropped.
 Example : a used towel could fetch as much as
$ 300 worth of banana notes.

32. End of
the Japanese Occupation
on the people

33. End of Japanese Occupation
 War ended on 15 August 1945.
 Japanese surrendered to the British.
 People could not forget the traumatic experience.
 People in Singapore learned to be strong
during the hard times.
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb (animated)
Hiroshima Atomic Bomb (video)

34. Now, let’s practice do it
ourselves …
Activity Book 5A
Activity 5
Pg 12 & 13

35. Tentyo-Setu
Celebrations
What were the people celebrating?
Ans : They were celebrating the Japanese
Emperor’s birthday.

36. Tentyo-Setu
Celebrations
Why do you think the people in Singapore
were celebrating a Japanese festival?
Ans : The people of Singapore were forced
to join in the celebration.

37. Man and son picking
up rice grains
What do you think they were feeling?
Ans : They were starving.
Why do you think they were doing this?
Ans : They did not have enough money to
buy food. The price of food went up very
quickly, so they could not afford the pay for
it.

38. Price of Goods
What happened to the price of goods during
the Japanese Occupation?
Ans : The prices were very high and
increased very quickly.

39. Prisoners-of-War
(POWs)
How the Japanese Occupation affect the
prisoners-of-war?
Ans : Most of the POWs were British
soldiers. They were kept in prisons and were
tortured and forced to work.

40. Conclusion
What can you conclude about the effects of
the Japanese Occupation on S’pore and its
people?
Ans : Life in Singapore during the Japanese
Occupation was tough and miserable.