Opened in 1911, the distinctive Art Deco YMCA building was the site of interrogation and torture of many innocent civilians, including the war heroine Elizabeth Choy.

After the British surrender on 15 February 1942, the heads of looters were displayed on stakes outside the Kempeitai Headquarters and Cathay Building — used by the Japanese Military Propagation Department – [7] as a deterrent to looting and gruesome reminder of its power.

[8] Rudy Mosbergen, a former principal of Raffles Institution, wrote in a book, In The Grip of A Crisis (2007), about his life as a teenager during the Japanese occupation, during which he witnessed the following scene at the Cathay Building: Being somewhat curious and adventurous, I decided to see one for myself...

[9] During the early days of the Japanese occupation, an extensive clean-up operation to purge anti-Japanese elements—including former members of Dalforce, Force 136, and supporters of the China Relief Fund—known as Sook Ching was undertaken.

[11] Overstepping his authority, he had issued orders during the massacre of thousands of Chinese civilians in Singapore and Malaya with Yamashita's knowledge but without his approval.

[12] Tsuji was in Myanmar at the time of Japan's unconditional surrender to British forces in August 1945 and made his getaway to Thailand disguised as a wandering Buddhist monk.

The memorial was officially unveiled by Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew on the 25th anniversary of the start of the Japanese occupation in 1967.

If today we remember these lessons of the past, we strengthen our resolve and determination to make our future more secure then these men and women for whom we mourn would not have died in vain.

The inscription on the monument reads: The site was one of the temporary registration centres of the Japanese Military Police, the Kempeitai, for screening 'anti-Japanese' Chinese.

On 18 February 1942, three days after the surrender of Singapore, the Kempeitai launched a month-long purge of 'anti-Japanese elements' in an operation named Sook Ching.

All Chinese men between 18 and 50 years old, and in some cases women and children, were ordered to report to these temporary registration centres for interrogation and identification by the Kempeitai.

The inscription on the monument reads: 66 male civilians were killed by Japanese Hojo Kempei (auxiliary military police) firing at the water's edge on this stretch of Changi Beach on 20 February 1942.

They were among tens of thousands who lost their lives during the Japanese Sook Ching operation to purge suspected anti-Japanese civilians among Singapore's Chinese population between 18 February and 4 March 1942.

Tanah Merah Besar Beach, a few hundred metres south (now part of Singapore Changi Airport runway) was one of the most heavily-used killing grounds where well over a thousand Chinese men and youths lost their lives.— National Heritage Board.

The inscription on the monument reads: Near this site, victims of Sook Ching, a Japanese military operation which took place during the Second World War, were buried.

Victims were also brought out to sea in boats, stopping near Pulau Blakang Mati (today Sentosa), where they were thrown overboard and shot by the Hojo Kempei (Japanese auxiliary military police).

Some of these bodies were buried around the nearby Berhala Reping, by British soldiers who later became Prisoners-of-War.The site of this monument is located off Punggol Road in northeastern Singapore.

The inscription on the monument reads: On 23 February 1942, some 300–400 Chinese civilians were killed along Punggol foreshore by Hojo Kempei (auxiliary military police) firing squad.

They were among tens of thousands who lost their lives during the Japanese Sook Ching operation to purge suspected anti-Japanese civilians among Singapore's Chinese population between 18 February and 4 March 1942.