City Hall - Memorials

For a detailed description of Padang & City Hall see FORTRESS SINGAPORE, The Battlefield Guide, pp. 76-79, Maj. Yap Siang Yong, Romen Bose, Angeline Pang, Times Books International, Second Edition 1995. Available at most major book sellers in Singapore.

City Hall was the venue of the Japanese surrender to the Allied forces on 12 September 1945. Lt. General Itagaki, Supreme Commander of the Japanese Forces in the Southern regions signed the Surrender Document in the Council Chamber of City Hall. The surrender was accepted by Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Command. during the occupation the Japanese used City Hall for Syonan Municipality: General Affairs, Public Welfare, Public Works and Police.

	Lord Mountbatten stood on these steps with his staff, and raised their hats in acknowledgement of victory over the Japanese.

	The photo to the left shows the Japanese signing the surrender papers inside City Hall. Below is a wax figure recreation from the Images of Singapore Museum, Sentosa. Signing is General Seishiro Itagaki, 7th area army, acting for Field Marshal Count H. Terauchi, Commander-In-Chief Southern Army.

As an interesting note Lt. General Yamashita was executed by the Allied (American) forces in the Philippines after being found guilty in a war crimes trial. The trial only covered his actions, or rather lack of control of his retreating troops, in the Philippines, not any of his activity in Singapore. At the ceasing of hostilities Lt. General Percival (standing 2nd from left) was promptly plucked out of a prisoner of war camp and was in attendance on the Battleship Missouri at the formal surrender of the Japanese in Yokohama harbour.

For a detailed description of the Lim Bo Seng Memorial see FORTRESS SINGAPORE, The Battlefield Guide, pp. 107, Maj. Yap Siang Yong, Romen Bose, Angeline Pang, Times Books International, Second Edition 1995. Available at most major book sellers in Singapore.

Lim Bo Seng is a true Singapore war hero. Lim, born in 1909, inherited his father's business and had taken a high profile part in raising money for the China Relief Fund, during the1937 Sino-Japanese war. The British talked Lim into leaving Singapore two days before the surrender. They knew he would be high up on a Japanese hit list. Lim Bo Seng met up with British commandos that were going to infiltrate Malaya, becoming part of Force 136. Lim helped recruit, train and liaised with other Chinese of the group with the British. He assumed command of Force 136's Malayan Chinese Section.

Lim Bo Seng left Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in October 1943 for Malaya as leader of Operation Gustava V. The operation was to set up a camp behind enemy lines, and set up a secret intelligence network. He was in Ipoh in March 1944 when the Kempeitai (the Japanese Secret Police),working from an informant's tip, arrested Lim Bo Seng and others of his underground group. A good source of information regarding the Chinese view of Force 136 is the book Force 136, Story of a W.W.II Resistance Fighter.

Lim Bo Seng lasted three months in prison, undergoing torture, starvation and deliberate lack of medical attention. Lim Bo Seng died on 29 June 1944, at the age of 34. At no time during the torture or deprivation of food or medical attention did Lim Bo Seng reveal the names of the Force 136 members.

After the war Lim Bo Seng's remains were returned to Singapore. He was interred with full military honours at MacRitchie Reservoir. He was posthumously awarded the rank of Major-General. Lim Bo Seng was a true and selfless patriot.

The Lim Bo Seng Memorial is located on the Esplanade next to the Anderson bridge.

The War Memorial is also located on the Esplanade, almost directly across from City Hall. The memorial was originally erected to remember those killed in W.W.I. At the time it was called the Cenotaph and was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in 1922. The backside was later dedicated to W.W.II fallen.

The Chopsticks Memorial is the common name given the Memorial to the Civilians of the Japanese Occupation, and for obvious reasons. The memorial is directly across from the Westin Hotel. It is dedicated to the civilians killed during the Japanese Occupation, 15 February 1945 to 18 August 1945.

The memorial was dedicated 15 February 1967, and erected by, "The People of Singapore," through the efforts of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Government and people of Singapore.

The four columns rise over 65 metres high. The February 15 dedication date is symbolic because it represented 25 years to the day of the British surrender. In truth civilians started dying on 8 December 1941, when the first Japanese air raid hit. At the same time Japanese forces were landing at Singora, Patani and Kota Bahru, on the northeast coast of Malaya. Estimates of the Singaporean civilian deaths varies from the Japanese war crime trial estimate of 15,000 to over 30,000.

Chopstick Urn 400.jpg (19477 bytes)

Chopstick Urn Sign 400.jpg (22485 bytes)

The urn in the center of the monument contains ashes of some victims. Under the memorial
victims bones are buried. There is a memorial service at the memorial each February 15.

Many, if not most of the civilian deaths took place directly after the British surrender. Operation Sweep-Up was instigated by the Japanese to in essence kill anyone they deemed treacherous. In reality many of the able bodied Chinese males were sent off to labour camps; most were not seen again. Women and children were not exempted.

Instigation of a memorial started in earnest when more and more mass graves were discovered. The Singapore Chinese Chamber Of Commerce launched a fund raising drive, and four years later the memorial was unveiled.