SINGAPORE - On this day 80 years ago, the bombing of Singapore by Japanese aircraft was into its eighth week.
The Straits Times on Jan 30, 1942 reported, citing official figures, that air raids from two days earlier had killed 105 civilians and injured another 243.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in Johor as Japanese ground troops attacked Australian and British soldiers trying to hold them off.
The next day's paper, Jan 31, had a headline proclaiming "Japs now 20 miles from Singapore."
"Southern Johore is to-day largely cleared of Asiatics, who have now trekked on to the island, while most have now left the evacuation areas on that part of the island coastline facing on to the Johore Straits, writes The Straits Times war correspondent.
"There is no sign of any confusion or undue haste leading to obstruction among the refugees, some of whom have now been obliged to move many times during the campaign," said the article.
It added: "One of the most noteworthy sights in Johore yesterday was the presence on the roads of the steam-rollers and tractors which have plied their way down from the far north. They are being driven by soldiers and sailors whose obvious determination is to get their charges through to Singapore."
On another page of that day's paper, a public service notice urged readers to donate blood needed for transfusions to injured air raid victims.
"Casualties have been so many that now the stock of blood is almost exhausted and the situation is very grave," it read.
Two weeks later, on Feb 14, 1942, a day before Singapore fell, the front page ST story was headlined "City's new defence line".
"Fighting in Singapore is now taking place on a line running from about Ang Mo Kio Village, MacRitchie Reservoir and Pasir Panjang," it read.
"Yesterday was probably Singapore's worst day since fighting began in Malaya. There was almost continuous shelling of the area, while air bombardment was heavy."
The article also cited a broadcast from Tokyo reporting an energetic resistance, with hand to hand fighting around the Singapore race course.
The next day, Sunday Feb 15, the front page headline proclaimed: "Strong Jap Pressure: Defence stubbornly maintained."
A notice further down the page called on readers to "Fill your baths: Conserve water very carefully and use every receptacle possible such as bottles and baths to keep water to combat fire or for other emergencies."
By the end of the day, British commander Arthur Percival had surrendered to Japan's General Tomoyuki Yamashita at the Ford Factory in Bukit Timah - a month before the Japanese expected Singapore would fall.
Singapore was renamed Syonan-to - Light of the South - and thus began three-and-a-half years, or some 1,300 days, of turbulence for its population of under one million.
The Straits Times would not be published again until the Japanese surrendered in South-east Asia in September 1945.
But its offices in Cecil Street would be used to put out The Shonan Times, later renamed Syonan Shimbun, and the first issue on Feb 20, 1942, proclaimed: "Japan's position impregnable."
This was not to be.
In the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of the fall of Singapore on Feb 15, several colleagues have been approaching survivors for their recollections of those fateful days and their war years.
It has also been an opportunity to look back at how The Straits Times reported the air raids that began shortly after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on Dec 7, 1941 - drawing the United States into the war - and as the Imperial Japanese Army landed on the beaches off Kota Bharu in Kelantan and began their lightning march across Malaya, seizing major cities along the way.
Many of those who remember the fall of Singapore and lived through the hardships of the war years have passed on, although many of their recollections have been recorded and documented.
Every individual, every survivor, has his own experience of the war - some were scarred physically and emotionally, many others have imprints or memories they have never been able to forget.
But going through several oral history accounts of survivors, one thread struck me: Many hope never to have to go through another war, and that such killing and loss of life never afflict future generations - including their children and grandchildren.
Today's headlines are a grim reminder of how close we are to another conflict: Russian troops gathering at Ukraine's borders; tensions between the US and China ratcheting up, including over Taiwan, and their attendant impact on commodities and supply chains - and why major powers and others are making concerted efforts to prevent an escalation.
In today's more complex environment, conflict isn't sparked only by external aggressors. Disinformation, from within and without, as well as divisive forces within a country could spark intractable tensions.
Telling and retelling stories of conflicts and wars, past and present, and making them more accessible to current and future generations, might help avert such tensions.
Accounts of the war years are also invaluable for what they highlight about traits such as resilience and strength of character, which help individuals and families cope with adversity, and help tide societies through crises.
As the actual anniversary of the fall of Singapore approaches, efforts to commemorate the anniversary and remind younger Singaporeans of this dark period in their country's history are under way - the most recent being the National Museum of Singapore's exhibition Dislocations: Memory and Meaning of the Fall of Singapore, 1942 which opened yesterday (Jan 29).
Two smaller museums dedicated to aspects of the war were also revamped last year.
Reflections at Bukit Chandu commemorates the Battle of Pasir Panjang and the men of the Malay Regiment led by Lieutenant Adnan Saidi who fought in it. The Changi Chapel and Museum recaps the story of prisoners of war and civilians who were interned in the prison camp at Changi during the Japanese Occupation.
The Singapore Discovery Centre in Tuas has also curated a series of exhibits and programmes to look back at the Occupation, among other past incidents, through the lens of Total Defence - which was started in 1984 and has been marked on Feb 15 every year since 1998 as Total Defence Day.
To better relate to visitors across generations, all these exhibitions place an emphasis on personal stories and recollections, and encourage them to reflect on how what they see and hear might relate to their own experiences.
Dislocations, for example, makes use of augmented reality and gamification.
It also invites visitors to consider how the 100th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore - in 2042 - might be commemorated.
Since 1942, Singapore has been through various crises - Konfrontasi, the British military withdrawal, recessions including the Asian financial crisis, Sars and, most recently, Covid-19.
They may have paled in comparison to the Occupation, but the anniversary is a timely opportunity to ask and reflect on how Singapore will fare should it ever face a crisis on the scale of its fall.
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