Siglap has a dark side too ....the current Temasek JC and Bedok South factories were sites of the Sook Ching massacres
Discovery of Human Remains
On 15 February 1962, in a headline, "Mass war graves found in Siglap's 'valley of death'", the Straits Times reported the discovery of five separate war graves located in a "Valley of Tears" in the Siglap area. Twenty years ago, on its rugged countryside, hundreds of civilians of which a large number were Chinese residents, were rounded up by the Japanese Army, machine-gunned, and buried in several places. The massacres by the Japanese took place during their occupation in 1942-1945. The human remains were uncovered during sandwashing operations in an area off the 7.5 mile Siglap Road. Subsequent investigations were carried out by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce team of Messers. Ng Aik Huang, Toh Keng Tuan, and Lam Thian.
Eye-Witness #1
Mr. Chue Choon Kwee, aged 72, a farmer living near the area, told of how Japanese soldiers forced him and 30 other villagers to dig five trenches, each 20 feet wide and 30 feet long. Then all the villagers were driven out of the area, but he hid among the bushes on a hilltop. Observing, he next counted 66 lorries entering the valley packed with civilian internees, each lorry carried about 60 to 70 people. These victims were lined up at the edge of the trenches, and machine-gunned. This happened soon after the fall of Singapore, on 15 February, 1942.
Eye-Witness #2
Mr. Lim Sai Yong, aged 62, now principal of a Chinese primary school, escaped death. He told of how he was among a large group of detainees transferred from a concentration camp at Lorong 3, Geylang to Siglap. There they were tied in groups of six, and the soldiers opened fire. But he managed to break loose the bonds, free himself, and run to a clump of bushes. He was hit in the thigh but somehow succeeded in escaping.
Eye-Witness #3
Mr. Ngo Yong Seng, aged 62, principal of Puay Boon School which is situated near the "Death Valley", told of how he was forced to dig graves before he was driven off. Three days later, he returned to find bodies heaped in the graves with only loose sand over them. He returned a week after and saw the Japanese with a gang of labourers to help cover up the graves with more earth.
More Discoveries
Further investigations uncovered forty more mass war graves, off Evergreen Avenue in Siglap. Then, another two were found at 10.5 milestone Changi Road, where, Mr. Ng Aik Huan of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce claimed that more than 1,000 people were machine-gunned and buried here.