An Analysis of the Historical Representation of Japanese War and Occupation in Singapore:
Introduction
Built in 1887, the National Museum of Singapore (NMS) is the nation’s oldest museum. By using diverse and new ways of representing history and culture, NMS seeks to be an unconventional museum experience for visitors. (National Museum of Singapore, 2013). In the Singapore History Gallery, a segment is dedicated to depicting the Japanese occupation, showing the progress of the Japanese expansion to Singapore and the reactions of both the locals and the British. In this paper, we will discuss how the Japanese occupation has been represented in the museum, as well as the importance of war museums in the context of the NMS in Singapore. This is followed by the limitations of the NMS in its depiction of the Japanese occupation. Underlying this paper is the thesis that while the NMS has been successful in portraying the Japanese occupation objectively, it has its limitations regarding certain sensitive issues of war.
Representing the Past Objectively
Firstly, the exhibition is in chronological order which enables visitors to understand the chain of events in a logical manner. It begins with narrating how the British ruled Singapore, and how Japan had started invading South East Asia in the 1930s. After these facts comes the pivotal Battle of Singapore from February 8th to 15th of 1942, breaking out just in the middle of World War II where the Japanese authorities led their expansionism down to South East Asia. This is followed by the swift surrender of Singapore by the British, leaving the island in the hands of the Japanese for almost three years. Within this period, serious marks of trauma were inflicted upon the Singaporean...
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Port Chicago, California, the site of the biggest home front disaster of World War II, will always be important in history as well as a site for remembrance. Works Cited “Friends of Port Chicago” 24 June 2009. http://portchicagomemorial.org/> (13 December 2009). Allen, Robert L. "Injustice upheld in Port Chicago mutiny trial." Black Scholar 24.1 (1994): 56.
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John Dower's "Embracing Defeat" truly conveys the Japanese experience of American occupation from within by focusing on the social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of a country devastated by World War II. His capturing of the Japanese peoples' voice let us, as readers, empathize with those who had to start over in a "new nation."
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Using Singapore to debate has an interesting point of view. After it separation from Malaysia at 9 of August 1965. The nation became an independent state. Singapore was on her own, a tiny island lack of natural resource such as oil and rubber plantation, and on the other hand Singapore own a strategic harbour location.
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