The Memorial to the Civilian Victims of the Japanese Occupation, usually called the Civilian War Memorial ( Chinese: ; ms, Tugu Peringatan Bagi Mangsa Awam Pemerintahan Jepun;

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

: ஜப்பானியர் ஆதிக்க காலத்தில் உயிர் துறந்த பொதுமக்களுக்கன நினைவுச் சின்னம்), is a war memorial and heritage landmark in Singapore next to

Esplanade MRT station Esplanade MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Circle line (CCL). Situated in Downtown Core, Singapore, it is at the junction of Bras Basah Road, Raffles Boulevard and Nicoll Highway. As the name suggests, t ...

. It was built in memory of the civilians killed during the

Japanese occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. Japanese military forces occupied it afte ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Civilian War Memorial sits on serene parkland in the midst of busy city traffic near Singapore's

Padang Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...

and

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. Located within the War Memorial Park at Beach Road within the Central Area,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, it is usually easy to spot in most backdrops encompassing the CBD landscape. It was gazetted as the 65th national memorial on 15 August 2013.

History

During the

Japanese Empire The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

's occupation of Singapore during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

(1942–1945), thousands of ethnic Chinese were killed in the Sook Ching massacre. In an effort to remove anti-Japanese elements in Singapore, Chinese men between the ages of 18 and 50 were to report to the

Kempeitai The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspecte ...

, the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

. The death toll was reported to be 6,000 by the Japanese, but official estimates range between 25,000 and 50,000. In February 1962, remains belonging to civilian victims of the Japanese occupation were unearthed in areas like

Siglap Siglap is a neighbourhood located in Bedok in the East Region of Singapore. The area also encompasses the Frankel and Opera Estates and their names have sometimes been used interchangeably to refer to the approximate same area. The planning su ...

Changi 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 Seran ...

and

Bukit Timah Bukit Timah, often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central Wat ...

. The

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI; ) is a business chamber in Singapore. The chamber was originally created to protect and promote the commercial interest of the Chinese community in Singapore but it also played a ...

(SCCC) undertook the responsibility of gathering the remains and creating a memorial.

The Civilian War Memorial project

On 13 March 1963,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

set aside a plot of land at Beach Road for the building of a memorial dedicated to the civilians killed in World War II. The SCCC set up a fund committee that was later enlarged to include all ethnic groups due to good response from the community. With the support of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

and contributions from the public, construction of the memorial was able to start.

Architecture

The design of the memorial was conceived by one of Singapore's most renowned architects, Leong Swee Lim (1935–2002) of Swan & Maclaren Architects whom it won first prize in an open design competition in that month. The design was one of Leong's most famous and significant contributions towards Singapore's architecture. The four identical pillars, each high, represent the shared experiences and unity of the four major races of Singapore;– Chinese, Eurasian, Indian and Malay.

Ground-breaking ceremony

On 15 June 1963, Lee Kuan Yew performed the ground-breaking ceremony of "turning (or breaking) the sod" to lay the foundation for the memorial witnessed by a gathering of representatives from the Inter-Religious Organisation and members of the consular corps. Construction of the memorial began on 23 April 1966. A ceremony was held on 1 November that year before the completion of the memorial, which saw 606 urns containing the remains of thousands of unknown civilians from the mass graves interred on either side of the memorial podium, added to the material significance of the structure whose history it represents.

Unveiling of the Memorial

The memorial was completed in January 1967 at a total construction cost of about S$500,000. On 15 February that year, the Civilian War Memorial was officially unveiled by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who laid a wreath at the memorial. The memorial is one of Singapore's iconic heritage landmarks that truly embraces the virtues of a multiracial and multicultural city, the unity of which is inevitably one of the pillars for Singapore's modern day success, harmony and prosperity. The memorial has also been affectionately described by some as resembling four giant chopsticks. Every year on 15 February (

Total Defence Day Total Defence is Singapore's whole-of-society national defence concept, based on the premise that every aspect of society contributes to the collective defence of the state. The strategy was first introduced in 1984 and adopted from the nation ...

in Singapore, commemorating the 1942 surrender of Singapore to the Japanese), a memorial service is held at the Civilian War Memorial to remember the victims of the war.

National Monument

On 15 August 2013, the Civilian War Memorial was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as 65th National Monument of Singapore.

Notes

References

* . * . {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1967 Downtown Core (Singapore) Landmarks in Singapore National monuments of Singapore World War II memorials World War II sites in Singapore 1967 establishments in Singapore