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15th Feb 2014 - 71 yr ago - the fall of Singapore


Vega
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Turbocharged

While we just finished celebrating CNY and VD, lets spend sometime remembering and honoring those who laid down their lives defending this little island 71 years ago.

 

http://bukitbrown.com/main/?p=1479

 

Today, at precisely 12 pm, the sirens will sound all over Singapore to mark the darkest period in our nation’s history. 71 years ago on 15th February, the British surrendered to the Japanese after the devastating defeat of Singapore’s last strategic post of Bukit Chandu (Opium Hill.) Read Jerome Lim’s moving tribute to those who died valiantly to protect Singapore in that battle here.

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I had totally forgotten about this significance of this day till I heard the sirens blaring and shocking me for a few seconds.

Edited by Hotshot85
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Yes, important to remember that we have our own national heroes too.

 

Our forefather has fought hard for their country...... to help Singapore what it is today..... a place we all call home.... today, that responsibility fall to us...... and later on to our children and grandchildren..... hope our grandchildren can be as proud of us as we are to our forefather.... ^_^

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Our forefather has fought hard for their country...... to help Singapore what it is today..... a place we all call home.... today, that responsibility fall to us...... and later on to our children and grandchildren..... hope our grandchildren can be as proud of us as we are to our forefather.... ^_^

 

Foreign invasion already started 10 yrs ago, without a shot begin fired. Now we are already overrun by foreigners in our homeland. 40% to 60% locals. Sun Tzu would have been pleased with this soft kill strategy.... Hope my grandchildren will not reproach me for not fighting back...

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I had totally forgotten about this significance of this day till I heard the sirens blaring and shocking me for a few seconds.

 

a pity that the TV news and newspapers cover only a small portion of this significant annual ceremony at City Hall

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三年零八个月。

 

These words were drilled into our minds by our Chinese teacher back in primary school.

 

This friendly and soft-spoken gentleman was not a fan of the Japs and urged us never to forget this dark period.

 

Well, we Singaporeans would obviously not want to face "三年零八个月" in our lifetime and hope that our descendants will be never experience it as well.

 

In this regard, NS is necessary so that other folks who have ideas gotta think thrice about touching this little red dot...

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三年零八个月。

 

These words were drilled into our minds by our Chinese teacher back in primary school.

 

This friendly and soft-spoken gentleman was not a fan of the Japs and urged us never to forget this dark period.

 

Well, we Singaporeans would obviously not want to face "三年零八个月" in our lifetime and hope that our descendants will be never experience it as well.

 

In this regard, NS is necessary so that other folks who have ideas gotta think thrice about touching this little red dot...

 

to be more accurate... Singapore suffered 3 years and 6 months

 

Hong Kong, on the other hand, suffered "3 years and 8 months"... they fell to the Japs two months earlier (during Christmas... we fell during CNY)

 

Not that it matters, It was still a long period of suffering for our forefathers

Edited by Scion
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Dont think japan can reach sg these days??

 

by right, they can't even get past Korea now

 

but you never know... last time they smashed past "strongholds" of French-Indochina and British Malaya in a couple of weeks

 

anyway today the concept of "empire" is outdated, so my view of the next world war will not be due to ambitions of territory annexation

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Agree, like number of chinese students enrolled in overseas academies, the extent of academic exchanges, the worldwide consumption of popular cultures and ATB cheesepies.

 

anyway today the concept of "empire" is outdated, so my view of the next world war will not be due to ambitions of territory annexation

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by right, they can't even get past Korea now

 

but you never know... last time they smashed past "strongholds" of French-Indochina and British Malaya in a couple of weeks

 

anyway today the concept of "empire" is outdated, so my view of the next world war will not be due to ambitions of territory annexation

Even if hitler reborn, japanese abe possessed by 1930s japanese emperor soul, it almost impossible especially when china, korea and india are stronger than before and asean countries are having their own large armies, not under protection of weak master troops.

 

So maybe our threat would no longer be japan, maybe with china but i doubt china will

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to be more accurate... Singapore suffered 3 years and 6 months

 

Hong Kong, on the other hand, suffered "3 years and 8 months"... they fell to the Japs two months earlier (during Christmas... we fell during CNY)

 

Not that it matters, It was still a long period of suffering for our forefathers

Interesting.

 

Been told when young that the Japanese occupation period was三年零八个月but never actually calculated if this was correct.

 

Googled and found the following article which might clarify this part:

 

@: The official duration of the Japanese Occupation was from 16-Feb-1942 to 05-Sep-1945. Although history books say that Singapore surrendered on 15-Feb-1942, the Japanese did not enter Singapore in force until the next morning, on 16-Feb-1942. This was agreed to by both sides during the surrender negotiations. The starting date of switching to Tokyo Standard Time is fairly certain but not the ending date. Japan announced their surrender on 15-Aug-1945. The official surrender ceremony took place on 02-Sep-1945. On 06-Sep-1945, advanced parties of British troops entered Singapore, officially ending the Japanese Occupation. On 09-Sep-1945, Operation Zipper took place on the west coast of Malaya, this involved the landing of the main British forces to recapture Malaya. But it was not until 12-Sep-1945 that the official surrender ceremony for Japanese troops in the SE Asian region took place at the Padang in Singapore. By pure speculation, the most probable dates for reverting to Pre-invasion time would either be 03-Sep-1945 or 13-Sep-1945, 1 day each after the respective official surrender ceremonies.

 

#: DST = Daylight Saving Time, MST = Malaya/Malaysia Standard Time, SST = Singapore Standard Time.

 

If you do not have the time to read more, the above is a succinct summary of the whole story. For those who would like to know a little more, I shall continue with a more detailed description of the adoption dates and background for the various Standard Times in use.

 

(source: http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~mathelmr/teaching/timezone.html )

 

So based on this article on the official occupation, it was from 16 Feb 1942 to 05 Sep 1945 so 3 years 6 months was correct as mentioned by you.

 

Again based on this article, the actual occupation on 16 Feb 1942 to the official SEA surrendering ceremony on 12 Sep 1945 at Padang was nearly 3 years 7 months.

 

Either way I was wrong.

 

Learn something new today and heng have not taught my kiddos this part yet.

 

Agree with you this was immaterial as it was still a painful history for us.

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wow you are very detailed in this! [thumbsup]

 

i actually took it between 15 Feb 1942 to 15 Aug 1945, thus exactly 3 years 6 months

 

while for Hong Kong, they fell on "Black Christmas" ie 25 Dec 1941, so roughly around 3 years 8 months

 

i guess probably they always mentioned "三年零八个月" in HK dramas that we also thought it was the same for Singapore

 

 

Interesting.

Been told when young that the Japanese occupation period was三年零八个月but never actually calculated if this was correct.

Googled and found the following article which might clarify this part:

@: The official duration of the Japanese Occupation was from 16-Feb-1942 to 05-Sep-1945. Although history books say that Singapore surrendered on 15-Feb-1942, the Japanese did not enter Singapore in force until the next morning, on 16-Feb-1942. This was agreed to by both sides during the surrender negotiations. The starting date of switching to Tokyo Standard Time is fairly certain but not the ending date. Japan announced their surrender on 15-Aug-1945. The official surrender ceremony took place on 02-Sep-1945. On 06-Sep-1945, advanced parties of British troops entered Singapore, officially ending the Japanese Occupation. On 09-Sep-1945, Operation Zipper took place on the west coast of Malaya, this involved the landing of the main British forces to recapture Malaya. But it was not until 12-Sep-1945 that the official surrender ceremony for Japanese troops in the SE Asian region took place at the Padang in Singapore. By pure speculation, the most probable dates for reverting to Pre-invasion time would either be 03-Sep-1945 or 13-Sep-1945, 1 day each after the respective official surrender ceremonies.

#: DST = Daylight Saving Time, MST = Malaya/Malaysia Standard Time, SST = Singapore Standard Time.

If you do not have the time to read more, the above is a succinct summary of the whole story. For those who would like to know a little more, I shall continue with a more detailed description of the adoption dates and background for the various Standard Times in use.

(source: http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/~mathelmr/teaching/timezone.html )

So based on this article on the official occupation, it was from 16 Feb 1942 to 05 Sep 1945 so 3 years 6 months was correct as mentioned by you.

Again based on this article, the actual occupation on 16 Feb 1942 to the official SEA surrendering ceremony on 12 Sep 1945 at Padang was nearly 3 years 7 months.

Either way I was wrong.

Learn something new today and heng have not taught my kiddos this part yet.

Agree with you this was immaterial as it was still a painful history for us.

 

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http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/b29e03c8-9f7a-4ba7-a807-b570ca4cea16

 

On 15 February 1942, which was the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lieutenant General Arthur E. Percival, who was then the General Officer Commanding (Malaya), signed the surrender documents before Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Commander of the Japanese 25th Army that invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941. The meeting took place at the Ford Motor Factory, which had been made Yamashita’s headquarters, located in Upper Bukit Timah Road.

 

 

Japanese English paper headline on Feb 16 after the victory over Singapore.

JT5_1942.jpg


The New York Times (Feb 16, 1942). So far, I cannot find any archive on Straits Time headline on that date.

 

0216-british.jpg

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