| War Memorial Park (picture by Peter Watts) |  |
War Memorial Park
War Memorial Park
Panorama showing the war memorial in War Memorial Park in Singapore.The war memorial is made of four 67m high columns which rise around an urn placed at the focal point of the columns. It is colloquially known as 'The Chopsticks' and was erected in memory of the Chinese, Indians, Malays and 'Others' who were killed during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during WWII.
85,000 British troops surrendered to the 30,000 Japanese soldiers who invaded Singapore. The entire European population was corralled into the Padang and then marched to interment camps in Changi or sent to work on the Burma-Siam Railway.
The Chinese suffered most under the Japanes occupation of Singapore, with most of the Chinese population being forced into 5 sook ching or 'termination camps'. It is thought that between 40,000 and 50,000 Chinese died in these camps, although the Japanese dispute these numbers.
Now the War Memorial in War Memorial Park rises as a stark reminder of those day, in contrast to the tower of Raffles City and Raffles Hotel which rise to proclaim the prosperity of Singapore today.
Travel and Transport:
MTR : City Hall (NS25/EW13)
Travel information with panoramic images linked to an interactive map about the sights and attractions in Singapore from PanoramicEarth.com