Haunted Changi Beach

The Curse of Changi Beach

Changi’s history dates back as far as Singaporean history itself. It has seen the likes of invasion, bombardment and slaughter during World War II. Changi has been in the spotlight numerous times due to the Chinese Massacre where many people were butchered on its grounds. This could be the cause of all the rumours and stories of hauntings around the area. Where there is death, there is bound to be a story.

There was a continuous battle that involved torture, mutilation and murder on both prisoner’s of war and civilian captives. Mass executions of the Chinese were held shortly after Singapore flew its white flag. Changi Beach was one of the locations where these atrocities occurred. Victims were taken out to sea and were thrown overboard, just like the pirates would have of their victims. But in this case, they were not left to drown. As they struggle to stay afloat, the enemy would shoot them with a machine gun to ensure that they were never coming back. Even as recent as February 1942, Changi was the spot where tens of thousands of Chinese that were suspected of being against the Japanese Kempetai were dreadfully executed.

Many urban legends have surfaced since then.

o    Changi Beach

The ghosts of the dearly Chinese that were executed during the Japanese occupation are believed to be lingering at this very area. Reports of noises said to resemble the voices of people crying and screaming have been one too many. Passerby’s have even sighted the heads of the deceased Chinese people flying around as their headless bodies roam around the beach aimlessly. In some extreme cases, scenes of an execution have been witnessed and blood stains can be seen everywhere.

o    Infamous execution ground

In February 1942, thousands of Chinese civilians were murdered during the infamous Sook Ching operation. The Japanese were forced to surrender after the war but it wasn’t soon enough. Many have already been executed by the Japanese at Changi Beach. The culprits were put to trial for war crimes and after a few years, the Japanese were sentenced to suffer the same fate that they have cruelly bestowed upon their victims. 15 of them were sentenced to be executed at the very same place where they took the lives of others, Changi Beach.

The first of the Japanese soldiers to be put to trial and sentenced to death is Lieutenant-General S. Fukuyei who was the commander for the POW camp here in 1942. He had put in the order to execute two Australian and two British by way of gun shot at the shores of Changi Beach. He was found guilty and was similarly sentenced to be killed in the same fashion as his victims. Photographs of Fukuyei’s execution was published in Singaporean newspapers. Other personnel at the POW camp such as Major-General Saito, Captain Suzuki and Tominaga, Kobayashi and Kawazoye, were later condemned to die by hanging.

Fukuyei’s trial and consequent death was followed by Vice-Admiral T. Hara who served as the General Commanding Officer of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Together with five of his men, they were all found guilty in July 1945, three years after their surrender. The charge was murdering nine Burmese soldiers. A year after they were found guilty, they were sentence to death by hanging at the Changi area. 

It is said that two of the condemned men wrote a poem about their imminent demise the night before they were hanged. In this poem was their final thoughts and a plea to pass their message to their families who await them in Japan.

On the night before the execution, Vice-Admiral Hara was calm and collected. He had accepted the fact that he would be put to death the very next morning. Aware of the fact that his men were just following orders, the Vice-Admiral was prepared to accept the responsibilities of his actions that led to the death of nine Burmese people. 

Lieutenant Ishida who was the General Commanding Officer of the railway at the Thailand end was to be charged next for the incident which is now dubbed the “Death Railway”. Families and relatives of the victims travelled across oceans from Australia and England to attend the trials of Lieutenant Ishida and the men he lead which included Colonel Nakamura, Colonel Yanagida, Lieutenant-Colonel Ishii and Major Senda. Other Japanese soldiers, particularly medical officers, were sentenced to long term imprisonment and some even got life in prison.

o    Wrongful deaths in Changi Beach

This true story was passed on by a POW who witnessed the success of a sabotage that occurred during the war. The wrongful deaths were a by-product of an anti-Japanese operation gone wrong and it resulted in the deaths of many innocent Chinese men. 

The Japanese Air Force had seized the Changi aerodrome complex during the Japanese occupation. It was used to storage and to house their personnel. One dark night, a group of POW’s stumbled upon a bunch of Japanese radial aircraft engines lying around waiting to be dismantled and serviced. They realized that some of the engines were missing their cylinder heads and the idea of sabotaging these engines were put in motion. But they had to do it quickly before these engines were serviced and put back together. The place wasn’t heavily guarded and even so, the Japanese guards were slightly slacked and would allow the Chinese to wander about the area at night.

The POW’s were hanging around the Selarang Barracks which was, at that time, being used as a mechanical workshop by the Japanese soldiers. Vehicles were serviced and repaired here. The POW’s spotted a stack of batteries and a bunch of wicker-covered jars at one corner. They sneaked some of the jars with the unknown substances back to the Changi Gaol to examine it. As an experiment, they decided to see what happens when they pour it onto a piece of time. To their surprise, the substance ate right through the piece of tin and that could only mean that the contents of the glass jars is undiluted sulphuric acid.

The plan was to brush the substance inside the five cylinders that were mounted on the engine. They managed to acquire some old pickle jars and filled them to a halfway point with the dangerous sulphuric acid. They even pleated a holder out of coconut leaves to prevent any accidents from happening while they handle the jars. When everything was ready, the plan was set into motion. It was dark and the night was without moonlight when they sneaked into the area where the engines lay waiting to be serviced and repaired. When they arrived, they quickly opened up the jars and brushed the acid onto the cylinders. To their own surprise, the POW’s managed to sabotage eight or so engines. Once the job was done, they quietly made their way back to the holding area at Changi Gaol.

Coincidentally, the Americans were sending their B29 Bombers to Singapore. As a counter attack, the Japanese would scramble their own fighters in an attempt to fight them off. Some of the fighters would return moments after taking off and others would crash into a plantation of coconut trees that were at the end of the runway of the aerodrome. Spluttering noises can be heard from the engines as the planes came crashing down. It was these Japanese Zero fighters that were sabotaged and the Japanese engineers suspected foul play.

An investigation was held and the Japanese decided to round up a bunch of innocent Asian workers that work at Changi Beach. The prisoners were interrogated and possibly tortured for two days. In addition, a large group of men from the villages nearby were also detained for questioning. With no solid evidence and no way to determine who did it, the Japanese decided to blame the Asian workers. It was probably the best explanation and the most convenient one as well. These innocent Asian workers were punished and murdered for the actions of the POW’s. The execution were of great proportions and the victims were shot at Changi Beach. They were executed for something that they didn’t commit. It is now said that their angry spirits still haunt the Changi Beach area.