Sook Ching participant Chinese Singaporeans
Targeted groups
The Japanese military authorities defined the following as "undesirables":
Activists in the China Relief
Wealthy philanthropists who had contributed generously to the China Relief Fund, such as modernist architect Ho Kwong Yew, who designed and built many notable houses in Singapore for the wealthy Chinese community
Adherents of Tan Kah Kee, leader of the Nanyang National Salvation Movement
Hainan people, who were perceived to be communists
China-born Chinese who came to Malaya after the Second Sino-Japanese War
Men with tattoos, who were perceived to be triad members
Chinese who joined the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army
Civil servants and people likely to sympathise with the British, such as Justices of the Peace and members of the legislative council
Anyone who possessed weapons and were likely to "disrupt public security"Remains and commemoration
Due to the fact that only a few remains of Sook Ching victims were found during the occupation and in the first post-war years, the families of the murdered did not have the opportunity to commemorate their relatives while respecting Chinese traditions. For this reason, a Taoist ceremony was held in early 1948 in the neighbourhood of Siglap in the eastern part of Singapore, in what is known as the "Valley Of Tears" – where mass graves from the Japanese occupation period were suspected to be, a Taoist ceremony was held to "soothe hungry ghosts."
Thousands of Singaporean Chinese – mostly family members of the victims – took part in it. In the same year, a special committee was established, chaired by local businessman Tay Koh Yat. His task was to find the remains of Sook Ching victims. For the first dozen or so years, the effects of the committee's work were, however, extremely modest.