During the Sino-Japanese War, the local Chinese community in Singapore had been active in providing support to their homeland including boycotting purchase of Japanese goods. With the invasion of Singapore after a few years from the war, many Chinese activists joined the underground anti-Japanese movement. To aggravate matters, most of the officers of the 25th Army that invaded Singapore were veterans of the war. With the 25th Army weakened by the Malayan campaign, General Yamashita ordered on 18 February 1942 for notices to be posted, recalling Chinese men between the ages of 18 to 50 to congregate at concentration centres. Singapore was divided into four sections under the charge of the various divisions of the 25th Army who then garrisoned the Chinese population. Official figures record up to 6,000 victims but unofficial figures range between 25,000 to 50,000. So, I felt that I should have done something like hide my chinese friends by telling the Japanese that they were Malay, but that would be a risk. I also don't feel safe at home as they would look for the chinese men from door to door. After they found the chinese men, they would take them to one of these places.
They are :
- Punggol Beach
- Changi Beach
- Changi Road
- Hougang
- Katong
- Beach opposite 27 Amber Road
- Tanah Merah Beach
- Thomson Road
- East Coast Road
- Siglap Area
- Blakang Mati Beach
Website : http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_40_2005-01-24.html (15 Feb 2013)
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