ABSTRACT
The war was a significant event in Singapore's history as it paved the way for nationalism to take root. While the British did establish their own sites to commemorate those who died during the many battles that took place, and concomitantly destroyed others that were set up by the Japanese during the Occupation, there were no other formal attempts to mark their reclamation of Singapore from Japanese clutches, or to remember non-combatants who also suffered, albeit not in battle. The reasons for the Japanese turning their attention towards Southeast Asia, and Malaya in particular, during the Second World War, were primarily economic and strategic. After a protracted conflict in China, there was first the need to augment depleting resources to continue the war up north, especially after formal sanctions were imposed by Allied countries following Japan's invasion of China in 1938. War commemoration began to emerge as a significant item on the state's agenda only in the late 1980s.
