How the war shaped me: Remembering the fall of S'pore, 80 years on
How the war shaped me: Remembering the fall of S'pore, 80 years on
The fall of Singapore on Feb 15, 1942 ushered in 3½ years of hardship and suffering for many. The Straits Times speaks to four survivors of the war and finds out how it continues to affect them.
'I did not know that would be the last time I saw my father': WWII orphan recounts horrors of war
She was only seven then, but Madam Sim Soo Wee, now 87, remembers vividly the day she lost her beloved father.
It was the third day after Singapore fell into the hands of the Japanese in February 1942 during World War II. The Japanese soldiers rounded up her family and neighbours living in River Valley. They were ordered to gather at Ord Bridge nearby, where they spent the night.
The women and children were dismissed the next morning, but the men were told to stay and among them were her father and his younger brother.
Ex-footballer recounts Japanese Occupation, being screened for execution and 1948 Olympics
In his footballing heyday, Mr Chia Boon Leong was known as "twinkletoes" for the way he danced around opponents with ease.
That ability to skirt danger was honed as a teenager growing up in war-torn Singapore, where he continued to play football, often in Jalan Besar Stadium and at a field behind the Singapore General Hospital, near his family home in Tiong Bahru.
He was a founding member of Pasir Panjang Rovers - having grown up in the area - a cosmopolitan team that played only friendly matches before the war as multi-ethnic teams were not allowed in the Singapore Amateur Football Association's leagues.
'It was sizzling and turning': 82-year-old recalls bomb that dropped through roof during WWII
Forty years after the end of World War II in September 1945, a 0.5m-wide bomb-shaped hole still remained on the roof of a communal house in Everton Road in Outram Park.
Nobody had the will to fix it, and it had become a curious memorial to a time when Singapore faced almost daily air raids by the Japanese.
In the house, those who were old enough to understand were quickly introduced to it, and it attracted the young and old to now and then look upon it and reminisce.
Trauma of World War II led to a life dedicated to defence of family and country
When Mr Tommy Wong's father was released after being jailed by the Japanese for two years during World War II, Mr Wong, who was four years old then, could not recognise him.
His father, who had been caught distributing flyers to resist the Occupation, had been tortured behind bars in Pudu Prison in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Wong, now 83, told The Sunday Times: "When my family went to get him when he was finally released, I stood there and I said, this is not my father - he had lost so much weight. He was haggard, just skin and bones.
New virtual exhibition examines role of sport in S'pore during Japanese Occupation
Demoralised after Singapore fell and was occupied by the Japanese in 1942, prisoners of war (POW) interned in Changi prison camp sought solace in sport.
Even behind prison gates, traditional sporting rivalries between the British and the Australians endured, and sports such as rugby, boxing, basketball and football were played, giving the defeated soldiers a morale boost and a chance to prove themselves.
Sport historian Nick Aplin said that for these POWs, sport and competing against those of other nations helped them to assert their identities.
Come Tuesday (Feb 15), a new virtual exhibition put up by Sport Singapore (SportSG) will be launched. It is based on content from Dr Aplin's 2019 book, Sport In Singapore: The Colonial Legacy.
This article was originally published on 13 February 2022. Its inclusion on this website is solely for education purposes.
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