Tag Archives: British War Memorial Singapore

Sep6

War Memorials and Rain

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In the spring, on one of those rainy Singapore days, Maria had to head out to get some pictures & do research for her History of Malaysia & Singapore class.  She had to pick a one of the many war memorials around Singapore, take pictures, and write up a short review.  Of course, the day she picked to check one out, it was raining!  That’s ok, we’re used to it.

Rain in Singapore is really quite nice.  Since the temperature doesn’t vary much year-round, and that temp is in the upper 20’s / mid 80’s, getting caught in a rainstorm is enjoyable for me – you just have to always have the right shoes!  The bag I carry (I can’t call it a purse all the time) always has an umbrella, and sometimes a pair of flip flops – if I know I’ll be out and about most of the day, and the clouds look ominous.   Or, if I’m lucky, my Teva’s work great for the outfit of the day!

So we headed down to the Esplanade, under the shadow of Marina Bay Sands, to visit the Lim Bo Seng Memorial.

Major-General Lim Bo Seng was a Hokkien (Chinese) businessman in Singapore.  As early as 1937, Lim organized anti-Japanese activities, including strikes and boycotting.  This was the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.  Over the next few years, he, with others, did much to resist the Japanese push into Southeast Asia.  He worked with the British, setting up a task force to gain intelligence within Malaya about the Japanese movements, and training guerilla fighters as well.  Major-General Lim travelled extensively across Asia, including India, to do all possible to remove the Japanese influence.   Unfortunately, he was captured & tortured by the Japanese in 1944, as they were trying to find out as much as possible to stop the guerilla movement.   He grew ill, and soon died in prison.

The Lim Bo Seng Memorial was erected in 1954 at the Esplanade, to recognize his efforts and sacrifices made during the Japanese occupation.

What I thought was really neat about the memorial were the plaques.  Placed on four sides of the memorial is an overview of Lim’s underground resistance efforts:  in English, Chinese, Arabic, Tamil.  These are the languages of the 4 main ethnic groups of Singapore.  The memorial was not just to recognize one Chinese man by Chinese, but to ensure all in the country recognize his efforts as being to free all in Singapore.

Easy to get to, and a lovely, relaxing spot.  A very nice afternoon respite.

And, if you’re interested in more memorials, British War Memorial is jut up the road.  This is quite interesting – you think this is the Indian National Army Monument, but it’s not.  It’s a tribute to those British, and Indian, soldiers who fought and died side by side in both WWI and WWII.  I found a neat blog talking all about this:  Aksharadhool: Singapore Memorial for Indian Nationals.  Check it out!