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133-655: The Singapore Improvement Trust ( SIT ) is a former government organisation that was responsible for urban planning and urban renewal in Singapore. Formally established in 1927 under the Singapore Improvement Ordinance, it was modelled after similar organisations in India. The SIT initially carried out back lane improvement schemes and marking out unsanitary buildings for demolition, but began constructing public housing from 1935. After 1945,

266-503: A beachhead on 8 February. Percival had expected a crossing in the north and failed to reinforce the defenders in time. Communication and leadership failures beset the Allies and there were few defensive positions or reserves near the beachhead. The Japanese advance continued and the Allies began to run out of supplies. By 15 February, about a million civilians in the city were crammed into the remaining area held by Allied forces, 1 percent of

399-406: A central government or state entity. Municipalization is the process of transferring private or state assets to a municipal government. A state-owned enterprise is a commercial enterprise owned by a government entity in a capitalist market or mixed economy . Reasons for state ownership of commercial enterprises are that the enterprise in question is a natural monopoly or because the government

532-694: A dedicated agency and the Ministry of Local Government Lands and Housing respectively. Two bills, the Housing and Development Bill and the Planning Bill, regarding the formation of a Housing and Development Authority and a Planning Authority in place of the SIT, were read to the Legislative Assembly in 1958, and were passed by January 1959. With the passing of the two bills, two ordinances,

665-528: A four-page account of the massacre that was sold by his daughter by private auction in 2008. Throughout the night of 14/15 February, the Japanese continued to press against the Commonwealth perimeter, and though the line largely held, the military supply situation was rapidly deteriorating. The water system was badly damaged and supply was uncertain, rations were running low, petrol for military vehicles

798-462: A period of 15 hours, starting at 23:00 on 8 February 1942, Yamashita's heavy guns fired a bombardment of 88,000 shells (200 rounds per gun) along the straits, cutting telephone lines and isolating forward units. The British had the means to conduct counter-battery fire opposite the Australians that would have caused casualties and disruption among the Japanese assault troops. The bombardment of

931-554: A position west of the Holland Road until late in the evening when it was pulled back to Holland Village. On 13 February, Japanese engineers repaired the road over the causeway and more tanks were pushed across. With the Commonwealth still losing ground, senior officers advised Percival to surrender in the interest of minimising civilian casualties. Percival refused but tried to get authority from Wavell for greater discretion as to when resistance might cease. The Japanese captured

1064-466: A slow rate of climb and the fuel system, which required the pilot to hand-pump fuel if flying above 6,000 ft (1,800 m). The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was more numerous and better trained than the second-hand assortment of untrained pilots and inferior Commonwealth equipment remaining in Malaya, Borneo and Singapore. Japanese fighters were superior to the Commonwealth fighters, which helped

1197-423: A specific state institution or branch of government, used exclusively by that branch, such as a research laboratory. The latter refers to assets and resources owned by the population of a state which are mostly available to the entire public for use, such as a public park (see public space ). In neoclassical economic theory , the desirability of state ownership has been studied using contract theory . According to

1330-727: A strong perimeter from the India–Burma frontier through to Wake Island and traversing Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea and New Britain, the Bismarck Archipelago, and the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. This perimeter would be used to block Allied attempts to regain the lost territory and defeat their will to fight. The Japanese 25th Army invaded Malaya from Indochina, moving into northern Malaya and Thailand by amphibious assault on 8 December 1941. This

1463-661: A stubborn defensive action during the Battle of Pasir Panjang . The Japanese largely avoided attacking the Australian perimeter but in the northern area, the British 53rd Infantry Brigade was pushed back by a Japanese assault up the Thompson Road and had to fall back north of Braddell Road in the evening, joining the rest of the 18th Infantry Division in the line. They dug in and throughout the night fierce fighting raged on

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1596-559: A very wide frontage of over 11 mi (18 km) and were separated by the Kranji River. Yamashita had just over 30,000 men from three divisions: the Imperial Guards Division (Lieutenant-General Takuma Nishimura ), the 5th Division (Lieutenant-General Takuro Matsui ) and the Japanese 18th Division (Lieutenant-General Renya Mutaguchi ). Also in support was a light tank brigade. In comparison, following

1729-434: A week, accompanied by daylight raids from 12 January 1942. As the Japanese army advanced towards Singapore Island, the day and night raids increased in frequency and intensity, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties, up to the time of the British surrender. In December, 51 Hawker Hurricane Mk II fighters and 24 pilots were sent to Singapore, the nuclei of five squadrons. They arrived on 3 January 1942, by which stage

1862-406: A whole. As such, state ownership is only one possible expression of public ownership, which itself is one variation of the broader concept of social ownership. In the context of socialism, public ownership implies that the surplus product generated by publicly owned assets accrues to all of society in the form of a social dividend , as opposed to a distinct class of private capital owners. There

1995-416: Is a wide variety of organizational forms for state-run industry, ranging from specialized technocratic management to direct workers' self-management . In traditional conceptions of non-market socialism, public ownership is a tool to consolidate the means of production as a precursor to the establishment of economic planning for the allocation of resources between organizations, as required by government or by

2128-431: Is called corporatization . In Soviet-type economies , state property was the dominant form of industry as property. The state held a monopoly on land and natural resources, and enterprises operated under the legal framework of a nominally planned economy , and thus according to different criteria than enterprises in market and mixed economies. Nationalization is a process of transferring private or municipal assets to

2261-563: Is desirable. In their model, the government and a private firm can invest to improve the quality of a public good and to reduce its production costs. It turns out that private ownership results in strong incentives to reduce costs, but it may also lead to poor quality. Hence, depending on the available investment technologies, there are situations in which state ownership is better. The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny theory has been extended in many directions. For instance, some authors have also considered mixed forms of private ownership and state ownership. In

2394-428: Is often referred to as a state-owned enterprise . A state-owned enterprise might variously operate as a not-for-profit corporation , as it may not be required to generate a profit; as a commercial enterprise in competitive sectors; or as a natural monopoly . Governments may also use the profitable entities they own to support the general budget. The creation of a state-owned enterprise from other forms of public property

2527-500: Is promoting economic development and industrialization . State-owned enterprises may or may not be expected to operate in a broadly commercial manner and may or may not have monopolies in their areas of activity. The transformation of public entities and government agencies into government-owned corporations is sometimes a precursor to privatization . State capitalist economies are capitalist market economies that have high degrees of government-owned businesses. Public ownership of

2660-586: The Battle of Singapore , took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War . The Japanese Empire captured the British stronghold of Singapore , with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South–East Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence strategy . The capture of Singapore resulted in

2793-591: The CIGS [Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke ] that Percival has over 100,000 [sic] men, of whom 33,000 are British and 17,000 Australian. It is doubtful whether the Japanese have as many in the whole Malay Peninsula   ... In these circumstances the defenders must greatly outnumber Japanese forces who have crossed the straits, and in a well-contested battle they should destroy them. There must at this stage be no thought of saving

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2926-687: The Singapore strategy , the base formed a key part of British interwar defence planning for the region. Financial constraints had hampered construction efforts during the intervening period and shifting strategic circumstances had largely undermined the key premises behind the strategy by the time war had broken out in the Pacific. During 1940 and 1941, the Allies imposed a trade embargo on Japan in response to its campaigns in China and its occupation of French Indochina . The basic plan for taking Singapore

3059-423: The means of production is a subset of social ownership , which is the defining characteristic of a socialist economy. However, state ownership and nationalization by themselves are not socialist, as they can exist under a wide variety of different political and economic systems for a variety of different reasons. State ownership by itself does not imply social ownership where income rights belong to society as

3192-523: The 2/19th also moved back three companies, leaving a fourth to defend Tengah airfield. Further fighting followed in the early morning of 9 February and the Australians were pushed back further, with the 2/18th being pushed out of Ama Keng and the 2/20th being forced to pull back to Bulim, west of Bukit Panjong. Bypassed elements tried to break out and fall back to the Tengah airfield to rejoin their units and suffered many casualties. Bennett attempted to reinforce

3325-406: The 22nd Brigade by moving the 2/29th Battalion from the 27th Brigade area to Tengah but before it could be used to recapture Ama Keng, the Japanese launched another attack around the airfield and the 2/29th was forced onto the defensive. The initial fighting cost the Australians many casualties, with the 2/20th alone losing 334 men killed and 214 wounded. The air campaign for Singapore began during

3458-467: The 22nd Brigade was under increasing pressure but was unable to contact Taylor and was wary of encirclement. As parties of Japanese troops began to infiltrate the brigade's positions from the west, exploiting the gap formed by the Kranji River, the 2/26th Battalion was forced to withdraw to a position east of the Bukit Timah Road; this move precipitated a sympathetic move by the 2/30th away from

3591-400: The 27th Brigade on his right; the commander of the 44th Indian Brigade, Ballantine, commanding the extreme left of the line, also misinterpreted the orders in the same manner that Taylor had and withdrew. On the evening of 10 February, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , cabled Wavell I think you ought to realise the way we view the situation in Singapore. It was reported to Cabinet by

3724-404: The 44th Indian Brigade and the 1st Malaya Brigade held the perimeter from Buona Vista to Pasir Panjang. For the most part, there was limited fighting around the perimeter, except around Pasir Panjang Ridge, 1 mi (1.6 km) from Singapore Harbour, where the 1st Malaya Brigade—which consisted of a Malayan infantry battalion, two British infantry battalions and a force of Royal Engineers—fought

3857-582: The 50,000 taken in Malaya; many died of neglect, abuse or forced labour . Three days after the British surrender, the Japanese began the Sook Ching purge, killing thousands of civilians. The Japanese held Singapore until the end of the war. About 40,000, mostly conscripted, Indian soldiers joined the Indian National Army and fought with the Japanese in the Burma campaign . Churchill called it

3990-634: The 5th Division and 18th Division began crossing the Johor Strait. The main weight of the Japanese force, about 13,000 men, from 16 assault battalions, with five in reserve, attacked the 22nd Australian Brigade. The assault was received by the 2/18th Battalion and the 2/20th Battalion . Each Japanese division had 150 barges and collapsible boats, sufficient for lifts of 4,000. During the first night 13,000 Japanese troops landed and were followed by another 10,000 after first light. The Australians numbered just 3,000 men and lacked any significant reserve. As

4123-559: The Australian 2/19th and 2/29th battalions and the 45th Indian Brigade (Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson ) repeatedly fought through Japanese positions before running out of ammunition near Parit Sulong. The survivors were forced to leave behind about 110 Australian and 40 Indian wounded, who were later beaten, tortured and murdered by Japanese troops during the Parit Sulong Massacre . Of over 3,000 men from these units only around 500 men escaped. For his leadership in

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4256-482: The Australian 22nd Brigade were sent across the Straits of Johor at night to gather intelligence. Three small patrols were sent on the evening of 6 February, one was spotted and withdrew after its leader was killed and their boat sunk and the other two managed to get ashore. Over the course of a day, they found large concentrations of troops, although they were unable to locate any landing craft. The Australians requested

4389-431: The Australians was not seen as a prelude to attack—Malaya Command believed that it would last several days and would later switch its focus to the north-east, despite its ferocity exceeding anything the Allies had experienced thus far in the campaign; no order was passed to the Commonwealth artillery units to bombard possible Japanese assembly areas. Shortly before 20:30 on 8 February, the first wave of Japanese troops from

4522-470: The Australians. Some of the Guards reached the shore and maintained a tenuous beachhead ; at the height of the assault, it is reported that the Guards commander, Nishimura, requested permission to cancel the attack due to the many casualties his troops had suffered from the fire but Yamashita ordered them to press on. Communication problems caused further cracks in the Commonwealth defence. Maxwell knew that

4655-518: The Board had nine trustees, four of which were appointed either by the governor or from the Rural Board or City Council to three-year terms, while the other five were ex officio trustees. In order to provoke more interest in housing issues, an additional two nominated trustees were added in 1938, bringing the total number of trustees to eleven. With the expansion of the SIT's housing schemes in

4788-597: The Buffalo squadrons had been overwhelmed. No. 232 Squadron RAF was formed and No. 488 Squadron RNZAF , a Buffalo squadron, had converted to Hurricanes; 232 Squadron became operational on 20 January and destroyed three Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscars" that day, for the loss of three Hurricanes. Like the Buffalos the Hurricanes began to suffer severe losses in dogfights. From 27 to 30 January, another 48 Hurricanes arrived on

4921-497: The Bukit Timah area, including the main food and fuel depots of the garrison. Wavell told Percival that the garrison was to fight on to the end and that there should not be a general surrender in Singapore. With the vital water supply of the reservoirs in the centre of the island threatened, the 27th Australian Brigade was later ordered to recapture Bukit Panjang as a preliminary move in retaking Bukit Timah. The counter-attack

5054-498: The Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model it is assumed that all parties have the same information, while Schmitz (2023) has studied an extension of their analysis allowing for asymmetric information . Moreover, the Hart-Shleifer-Vishny model assumes that the private party derives no utility from provision of the public good. Besley and Ghatak (2001) have shown that if the private party (a non-governmental organization) cares about

5187-546: The Improvement Rate, funds from the government, and rental incomes. The Improvement Rate was a fee imposed on all properties in Singapore as part of the Improvement Ordinance, and has a value equivalent to a percentage of the property's annual value. The funds provided by the government to the SIT were of equivalent value to the SIT's earnings from the Improvement Rate. Nevertheless, by the late 1940s,

5320-415: The Improvement Rate, rent revenue and government loans financed the SIT's projects. SIT assigned flats to applicants using a points system. In the early 20th century, Singapore was experiencing rapid expansion and development, and the local government was unable to handle significant town improvement schemes. A 1907 report by a public health commissioner called for the construction of back lanes to facilitate

5453-491: The Japanese again began attacking the 22nd Australian Brigade around the Reformatory Road. Later on 11 February, with Japanese supplies running low, Yamashita attempted to bluff Percival, calling on him to "give up this meaningless and desperate resistance". The fighting strength of the 22nd Brigade—which had borne the brunt of the Japanese attacks—had been reduced to a few hundred men and the Japanese had captured

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5586-512: The Japanese at first suspected it was a British plant, believing that no officer would be so open in admitting weaknesses to his superiors. Only after cross-checking the message with the Automedon papers did the Japanese accept it to be genuine. Japanese oil reserves were rapidly being depleted because of its military operations in China and by industrial consumption. In the latter half of 1941,

5719-525: The Japanese began bombing Singapore . The 25th Army was resisted in northern Malaya by III Corps of the British Indian Army . Although the 25th Army was outnumbered by Commonwealth forces in Malaya and Singapore, they did not take the initiative with their forces while Japanese commanders concentrated theirs. The Japanese were superior in close air support , armour, co-ordination, tactics and experience. Conventional British military thinking

5852-570: The Japanese began preparations for war to seize vital resources if peaceful efforts to buy them failed. Planners determined a broad scheme of manoeuvres that incorporated simultaneous attacks on the territories of Britain, The Netherlands and the United States. This would see landings in Malaya and Hong Kong as part of a general move south to secure Singapore, connected to Malaya by the Johor–Singapore Causeway and then an invasion of

5985-466: The Japanese but much of the water for the island was drawn from reservoirs on the mainland. The British destroyed the causeway , forcing the Japanese into an improvised crossing of the Johore Strait . Singapore was considered so important that Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Percival to fight to the last man. The Japanese attacked the weakest part of the island defences and established

6118-497: The Japanese had achieved air supremacy. That evening, three Fairmile B motor launches attacked and sank several Japanese landing craft in the Johor Strait around its western channel on the evening of 9 February. On the evening of 10 February, General Archibald Wavell , commander of ABDA, ordered the transfer of all remaining Commonwealth air force personnel to the Dutch East Indies. By this time, Kallang Airfield was, according to author Frank Owen, "so pitted with bomb craters that it

6251-469: The Japanese to gain air supremacy . Although outnumbered and outclassed, the Buffalos were able to provide some resistance, with RAAF pilots alone managing to shoot down at least 20 Japanese aircraft before the few survivors were withdrawn. Force Z , consisting of the battleship HMS  Prince of Wales , the battlecruiser HMS  Repulse and four destroyers , sailed north out of Singapore on 8 December to oppose expected Japanese landings along

6384-475: The Japanese. The guns—which included the Johore Battery , with three 15 in (380 mm) guns and one battery with two 15 in (380 mm) guns—were supplied mostly with armour-piercing shells (AP) for anti-shipping use and few high explosive (HE) shells. Percival incorrectly guessed that the Japanese would land forces on the north-east side of Singapore, ignoring advice that the north-west

6517-567: The Jurong Line; misinterpretation of these orders resulted in Taylor, the commander of the 22nd Brigade, prematurely withdrawing his troops to the east, where they were joined by a 200-strong ad hoc battalion of Australian reinforcements, known as X Battalion. The Jurong Line eventually collapsed after the 12th Indian Brigade was withdrawn by its commander, Brigadier Archie Paris, to the road junction near Bukit Panjang, after he lost contact with

6650-506: The Naval Base but no raids on Singapore City. The situation had become so desperate that one British soldier took to the middle of a road to fire his Vickers machine gun at any aircraft that passed. He could only say "The bloody bastards will never think of looking for me in the open, and I want to see a bloody plane brought down". The next recorded raid on the city occurred on the night of 29/30 December, and nightly raids ensued for over

6783-550: The Planning Ordinance and the Housing and Development Ordinance, took effect in February 1960, establishing the two successor authorities, and the SIT ceased operations on 1 February 1960. As of 1952, the SIT was composed of a Board of Trustees, a Senior Staff with 24 officers, a Subordinate Staff with over 200 personnel, as well as around 300 workers who acted as supervisors or carried out maintenance. Initially,

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6916-591: The Privy Council in 1937. The SIT lost the case, so such declarations were no longer carried out as they were regarded as too difficult. In February 1935, the SIT started work on public housing in Tiong Bahru. The first flats were completed and occupied by December 1936, with additional buildings constructed through 1937. Additional flat construction schemes on New Bridge Road and Banda Street were initiated by 1937. The SIT had completed around 2,000 flats by

7049-584: The SIT carried out a scheme to construct houses for artisans in the Balestier Road area, thereby providing workers with sanitary and affordable residential facilities. In 1935, the SIT declared several buildings on Bugis Street too unsanitary for people to live in and ordered them razed. The owners of the buildings disputed the order, bringing the case to the Supreme Court in January 1935, and to

7182-415: The SIT carried out surveys of partially developed and undeveloped plots, surveys for road widening, and work on back lanes. Planning for urban renewal and housing schemes commenced in 1925. Nevertheless, the resources and powers provided to the SIT proved insufficient for it to carry out urban renewal. Moreover, a draft Town Improvement and Development bill that was to facilitate the SIT's work in town planning

7315-460: The SIT initially focused its efforts on the repair of its residential developments. It resumed constructing public housing in 1947 but was unable to keep up with demand. The SIT was also involved in the development of a "Master Plan", which set out Singapore's developmental direction, from 1952 to 1958. In the late 1950s, plans were set out to replace the SIT with two departments—housing and planning—culminating in two bills that were passed in 1959. With

7448-559: The SIT's acting manager in 1949. In addition, the Singapore Housing Committee's report, released in 1948, called for the government to take over the SIT to justify its spending of government monies, and for the production of a "Master Plan" setting out the path of Singapore's future development. In 1952, the SIT began work on a Master Plan for Singapore, which was submitted to the Singapore government for approval in 1955. This plan made several recommendations regarding

7581-572: The SIT. Its purpose was "to provide for the Improvement of the Town and Island of Singapore". The Ordinance applied to both the town and island of Singapore except for areas occupied by the British military. Upon its establishment, the SIT was tasked to prepare the "General Town Plan", using survey data to produce plans for different parts of Singapore; it was frequently amended and updated. The SIT soon started work on what The Straits Times claimed

7714-443: The Singapore racecourse. Throughout the day, the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade, still holding its position on the coast, began to feel pressure on its exposed flank and after discussions between Percival and Bennett, it was decided that they would have to retire eastwards to maintain the southern part of the Commonwealth line. Bennett decided to form a secondary defensive line, known as the "Kranji-Jurong Switch Line" facing west between

7847-481: The Tengah airfield and on the Jurong Road, began further offensive operations: the 5th Division aimed its advance towards Bukit Panjang, while the 18th Division struck out towards Bukit Timah. They fell upon X Battalion, which had camped in its assembly area while waiting to launch its counter-attack, and two-thirds of the battalion was killed or wounded. After brushing aside elements of the 6th/15th Indian Brigade,

7980-564: The United Kingdom battalions (in the 54th and 55th Brigades of the British 18th Infantry Division) had only just landed in Malaya, and the other seven battalions were under-manned. Of the Australian battalions, three had drawn heavily upon undertrained recruits, new to the theatre. The Malay battalions had not been in action, and the Straits Settlements Volunteers were only sketchily trained. Further, losses on

8113-496: The aircraft carrier HMS  Indomitable . Operated by the four squadrons of No. 226 Group RAF , they flew from an airfield code-named P1, near Palembang , Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, while a flight was maintained in Singapore. Many of the Hurricanes were destroyed on the ground by air raids. The lack of an effective air early warning system throughout the campaign meant that many Commonwealth aircraft were lost in this manner during Japanese attacks against airfields. By

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8246-665: The causeway. The authority for this withdrawal would later be the subject of debate, with Bennett stating that he had not given Maxwell authorisation to do so. The result was that the Allies lost control of the beaches adjoining the west side of the causeway, the high ground overlooking the causeway and the left flank of the 11th Indian Division was exposed. The Japanese were given a firm foothold to "build up their force unopposed". The opening at Kranji made it possible for Imperial Guards armoured units to land there unopposed, after which they were able to begin ferrying across their artillery and armour. After finding his left flank exposed by

8379-587: The city of Singapore were basically garrison troops. At the start of the campaign, the Commonwealth forces had only 164 first-line aircraft in Malaya and Singapore and the only fighter type was the sub-standard Brewster 339E Buffalo . The Buffaloes were operated by one Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and two Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons. The aircraft were, according to historian Peter Dennis, "not considered good enough for use in Europe" and major shortcomings included

8512-493: The coast of Malaya. Japanese land-based aircraft found and sank the two capital ships on 10 December, leaving the east coast of the Malayan Peninsula exposed and allowing the Japanese to continue their amphibious landings. Japanese forces quickly isolated, surrounded and forced the surrender of Indian units defending the coast. Despite their numerical inferiority, they advanced down the Malayan Peninsula, overwhelming

8645-434: The counter-attack, detailing a three-phased operation that involved the majority of the 22nd Brigade, and he subsequently passed this on to Bennett, who began implementing the plan, but forgot to call X Battalion back. The battalion, consisting of poorly trained and equipped replacements, advanced to an assembly area near Bukit Timah. In the early hours of 11 February, the Japanese, who had concentrated significant forces around

8778-465: The course of two hours, the three Australian battalions that had been engaged sought to regroup, moving back east from the coast towards the centre of the island, which was completed mainly in good order. The 2/20th managed to concentrate three of its four companies around the Namazie Estate, although one was left behind; the 2/18th was only able to concentrate half its strength at Ama Keng, while

8911-588: The damage to the buildings. Work on new housing was only initiated in April 1947, with the construction of a block of flats at Owen Road. The SIT also announced a $ 7 million plan to build new housing in October 1947. Nevertheless, the SIT's provision of housing had issues. In March 1948, a Malaya Tribune reporter claimed the rents for flats were unaffordable for the working class. The construction of flats proceeded far too slowly to keep up with demand, as noted by

9044-652: The defence of the island. From aerial reconnaissance, scouts, infiltrators and observation from high ground across the straits (such as at Istana Bukit Serene and the Sultan of Johor 's palace), Japanese commander General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff gained excellent knowledge of the Commonwealth positions. Yamashita and his officers stationed themselves at Istana Bukit Serene and the Johor state secretariat building—the Sultan Ibrahim Building —to plan for

9177-496: The defences. The Japanese forces also used bicycle infantry and light tanks , allowing swift movement through the jungle. The Commonwealth having thought the terrain made them impractical, had no tanks and only a few armoured vehicles, which put them at a severe disadvantage. Although more Commonwealth units—including some from the 8th Australian Division—joined the campaign, the Japanese prevented them from regrouping. The Japanese overran cities and advanced toward Singapore, which

9310-429: The depleted 8th Australian Division sector with two of its three brigades had no serious fixed defensive works or obstacles. To compound matters, Percival had ordered the Australians to defend forward so as to cover the waterway, yet this meant they were immediately fully committed to any fighting, limiting their flexibility, whilst also reducing their defensive depth. The two Australian brigades were subsequently allocated

9443-410: The eastern end of the island. This was achieved by moving the defending forces from the beaches along the northern shore and from around Changi, with the 18th Infantry Division being tasked to maintain control of the vital reservoirs and effecting a link up with Simmons' Southern Area forces. The withdrawing troops received harassing attacks all the way back. Elsewhere, the 22nd Brigade continued to hold

9576-553: The establishment of the successor organisations by the government of Singapore, the Housing and Development Authority and the Planning Authority, in 1960, the SIT was dissolved. The SIT consisted of a Board of Trustees, two staff, and additional workers to conduct maintenance work, along with an Estates Department, established in 1947, which handled the land and developments of the organisation. A property tax known as

9709-466: The evening but due to the terrain and the darkness, the Japanese were able to disperse into the undergrowth, surround and overwhelm pockets of Australian resistance or bypass them exploiting gaps in the thinly spread Commonwealth lines due to the many rivers and creeks in the area. By midnight, the two Japanese divisions fired star shell to indicate to their commander that they had secured their initial objectives and by 01:00 they were well established. Over

9842-618: The fighting withdrawal, Anderson was awarded the Victoria Cross . A determined counter-attack by the 5/11th Sikh Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel John Parkin) in the area of Niyor, near Kluang, on 25 January and an ambush around the Nithsdale Estate by the 2/18th Australian Battalion on 26/27 January bought valuable time and permitted East Force, based on the 22nd Australian Brigade (Brigadier Harold Taylor ), to withdraw from eastern Johor (formerly Johore). On 31 January,

9975-463: The fire site and instead of selling the flats as it had previously done, rented the flats out to displaced kampong residents. In 1955, the Committee on Local Government recommended that the SIT be scrapped, and housing be handled by an agency managed by a government-appointed board. Consequently, by June 1956, plans had been set in motion to transfer the SIT's housing and planning responsibilities to

10108-490: The follow-on waves of Japanese craft to land around the mouth of Murai River, which resulted in them creating a gap between the 2/19th and 2/18th battalions. From there the Japanese launched two concerted attacks against the 2/18th, which were met with massed fire before they overwhelmed the Australians by weight of numbers. Urgent requests for fire support were made and the 2/15th Field Regiment responded to these requests with over 4,800 rounds. Fierce fighting raged throughout

10241-615: The force was of mixed quality, condition, training, equipment and morale. Lionel Wigmore, the Australian official historian of the Malayan campaign, wrote Only one of the Indian battalions was up to numerical strength, three (in the 44th Brigade) had recently arrived in a semi-trained condition, nine had been hastily reorganised with a large intake of raw recruits, and four were being re-formed but were far from being fit for action. Six of

10374-416: The funds from these sources did not cover the costs of the housing projects that the SIT was undertaking, so loans were taken from the government to cover the increased expenditure. Government organisation In market-based economies, state-owned assets are often managed and operated as joint-stock corporations with a government owning all or a controlling stake of the company's shares . This form

10507-758: The invasion of Malaya. Early on 8 December 1941, Singapore was bombed for the first time by long-range Japanese aircraft, such as the Mitsubishi G3M 2 "Nell" and the Mitsubishi G4M 1 "Betty", based in Japanese-occupied Indochina. The bombers struck the city centre as well as the Sembawang Naval Base and the northern airfields. For the rest of December there were false alerts and several infrequent and sporadic hit-and-run attacks on outlying military installations such as

10640-590: The invasion of Singapore. Although his military advisors judged that Istana Bukit Serene was an easy target, Yamashita was confident that the British Army would not attack the palace because it belonged to the Sultan of Johor. Yamashita's prediction was correct; despite being observed by Australian artillery, permission to engage the palace was denied by Gordon Bennett. Most of Singapore's BL 15-inch Mk I naval guns could be traversed north and were used to engage

10773-483: The island. Japanese aircraft continuously bombed the civilian water supply which was expected to fail within days. The Japanese were also almost at the end of their supplies and Yamashita wanted to avoid costly house-to-house fighting . For the second time since the battle began, Yamashita demanded unconditional surrender and on the afternoon of 15 February, Percival capitulated. About 80,000 British, Indian , Australian and local troops became prisoners of war , joining

10906-399: The landing craft closed on the Australian positions, machine gunners from the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion, interspersed amongst the rifle companies, opened fire. Spotlights had been placed on the beaches by a British unit to illuminate an invasion force on the water but many had been damaged by the bombardment and no order was made to turn the others on. The initial wave was concentrated against

11039-595: The largest British surrender in its history. Before the battle, Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita had advanced with approximately 30,000 men down the Malayan Peninsula in the Malayan campaign . The British erroneously considered the jungle terrain impassable, leading to a swift Japanese advance as Allied defences were quickly outflanked. The British Lieutenant-General, Arthur Percival , commanded 85,000 Allied troops at Singapore, although many units were under-strength and most units lacked experience. The British outnumbered

11172-606: The last Commonwealth forces crossed the causeway linking Johor and Singapore and engineers blew it up. During the weeks preceding the invasion, Commonwealth forces suffered a number of both subdued and openly disruptive disagreements amongst its senior commanders, as well as pressure from Australian Prime Minister John Curtin . Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival , commander of the garrison, had 85,000 soldiers—the equivalent, on paper at least, of just over four divisions. Of this figure, 15,000 men were employed in supply, administrative, or other non-combatant roles. The remaining force

11305-405: The late 1940s, an Estates Department was set up in 1947 to take care of the organisation's properties. Initially made up of eleven staff, the department experienced yearly expansion to cope with the increase in housing construction, and had 70 personnel by 1952. The department's responsibilities included the management of land owned by the SIT and tenancies, in addition to property management. The SIT

11438-724: The main urban areas in the south-east, was commanded by Major-General Frank Simmons . His forces consisted of elements of the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade and the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force Brigade with the Indian 12th Infantry Brigade in reserve. From 3 February, the Commonwealth forces were shelled by Japanese artillery, and air attacks on Singapore intensified over the next five days. The artillery and air bombardment strengthened, severely disrupting communications between Commonwealth units and their commanders and affecting preparations for

11571-432: The mainland had resulted in a general shortage of equipment. Percival gave Major-General Gordon Bennett 's two brigades from the 8th Australian Division responsibility for the western side of Singapore, including the prime invasion points in the northwest of the island. This was mostly mangrove swamp and jungle, broken by rivers and creeks. In the heart of the "Western Area" was RAF Tengah , Singapore's largest airfield at

11704-533: The means of production may be labelled state socialism . State ownership was recognized by Friedrich Engels in Socialism: Utopian and Scientific as, by itself, not doing away with capitalism, including the process of capital accumulation and structure of wage labor. Engels argued that state ownership of commercial industry would represent the final stage of capitalism, consisting of ownership and management of large-scale production and manufacture by

11837-516: The mid- and late-1950s respectively. The flats built by the SIT were expensive to build, so it started constructing cheaper "emergency" flats from 1953. Intended to house kampong dwellers displaced by fires, these flats were initially poorly received, so the SIT did not engage in large-scale "emergency" flat construction until 1958. The "emergency" flat programme only succeeded after the Kampong Tiong Bahru fire in 1959. The SIT acquired

11970-424: The morning of 9 February, dogfights took place over Sarimbun Beach and other western areas. In the first encounter, the last ten Hurricanes were scrambled from Kallang Airfield to intercept a Japanese formation of about 84 aircraft, flying from Johor to provide air cover for their invasion force. The Hurricanes shot down six Japanese aircraft and damaged 14 others for the loss of a Hurricane. Air battles went on for

12103-425: The northern front. The following day, the remaining Commonwealth units fought on. Civilian casualties mounted as a million people crowded into the 3 mi (4.8 km) area still held by the Commonwealth and bombing and artillery-fire increased. The civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would give out; Percival was advised that large amounts of water were being lost due to damaged pipes and that

12236-656: The oil-rich area of Borneo and Java in the Dutch East Indies . Attacks would be made against the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor as well as landings in the Philippines and attacks on Guam, Wake Island and the Gilbert Islands. Following these attacks, a period of consolidation was planned, after which the Japanese planners intended to build up the defences of the captured territory by establishing

12369-412: The opposition of the kampong residents hampered the clearance of kampongs on SIT land to facilitate the construction of housing. The reasons for this included the high rental cost or the undesirable location of flats offered by the SIT as compensation, along with more aggressive opposition by secret society members. This resulted in the failure of clearance efforts at Kampong Henderson and Covent Garden in

12502-467: The positions occupied by the 2/18th and 2/20th Battalions, around the Buloh River, as well as one company from the 2/19th Battalion. Over the course of an hour, intense fighting took place on the right flank of the 2/19th Battalion, until its positions were overrun, the Japanese then advanced inland concealed by the darkness and the vegetation. The resistance put up by the company from the 2/19th pushed

12635-399: The property rights approach based on incomplete contracting (developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors), ownership matters because it determines what happens in contingencies that were not considered in prevailing contracts. The work by Hart, Shleifer and Vishny (1997) is the leading application of the property rights approach to the question whether state ownership or private ownership

12768-695: The public good, then the party with the larger valuation of the public good should always be the owner, regardless of the parties' investment technologies. More recently, some authors have shown that the investment technology also matters in the Besley-Ghatak framework if an investing party is indispensable or if there are bargaining frictions between the government and the private party. Battle of Singapore [REDACTED]   British Empire [REDACTED] Malaya Command [REDACTED] 25th Army 1941 1942 Second Sino-Japanese War The fall of Singapore , also known as

12901-596: The removal of human waste. The municipal authorities subsequently took up such work. A report by a housing commission in 1918 recommended that Singapore's urban planning be handled by a trust, similar to what had been done in India. In light of these developments, the Singapore Improvement Trust was established as a department of the Municipal Commission in 1920, and was intended to control housing and planning in Singapore. Initially,

13034-483: The rest of the day and by nightfall it was clear that with the few aircraft Percival had left, Kallang could no longer be used as a base. With his assent, the remaining flyable Hurricanes were withdrawn to Sumatra. A squadron of Hurricane fighters took to the skies on 9 February but was then withdrawn to the Netherlands East Indies and after that no Commonwealth aircraft were seen again over Singapore;

13167-433: The shelling of these positions to disrupt the Japanese preparations but the patrol reports were later ignored by Malaya Command as being insignificant, based upon the belief that the real assault would come in the north-eastern sector, not the north-west. Blowing up the causeway had delayed the Japanese attack for over a week. Prior to the main assault, the Australians were subjected to an intense artillery bombardment. Over

13300-484: The state's management policies, though these rights are not property rights as they are not transmissible. For example, if a family is allocated an apartment that is state owned, it will have been granted a tenancy of the apartment, which may be lifelong or inheritable, but the management and control rights are held by various government departments . There is a distinction to be made between state ownership and public property. The former may refer to assets operated by

13433-513: The state. Within the United Kingdom, public ownership is mostly associated with the Labour Party (a centre-left democratic socialist party), specifically due to the creation of Clause IV of the "Labour Party Manifesto" in 1918. "Clause IV" was written by Fabian Society member Sidney Webb . When ownership of a resource is vested in the state, or any branch of the state such as a local authority , individual use "rights" are based on

13566-527: The state. State ownership is advocated as a form of social ownership for practical concerns, with the state being seen as the obvious candidate for owning and operating the means of production. Proponents assume that the state, as the representative of the public interest , would manage resources and production for the benefit of the public. As a form of social ownership, state ownership may be contrasted with cooperatives and common ownership. Socialist theories and political ideologies that favor state ownership of

13699-474: The threat posed to the western flank. Late on 9 February, the Imperial Guards began assaulting the positions held by the 27th Brigade, concentrating on those held by the 2/26th Battalion. During the initial assault, the Japanese suffered severe casualties from Australian mortars and machine-guns and from burning oil which had been sluiced into the water following the demolition of several oil tanks by

13832-662: The time of the Japanese invasion . During the Japanese Occupation , the SIT's functions were handled by the Japanese authorities, who conducted negligible upkeep on the SIT's properties. Thus, these properties were in extremely poor condition by the end of Japanese rule, and the SIT spent the first few years after the Occupation refurbishing them. Checks were also conducted on the SIT flats to verify whether they were still occupied by their actual owners and to survey

13965-417: The time of the invasion, only ten Hurricanes of 232 Squadron, based at RAF Kallang , remained to provide air cover for the Commonwealth forces on Singapore. The airfields at Tengah, Seletar and Sembawang were in range of Japanese artillery at Johor Bahru . RAF Kallang was the only operational airstrip left; the surviving squadrons and aircraft had withdrawn by January to reinforce the Dutch East Indies. On

14098-468: The time. The Australian 22nd Brigade, under Brigadier Harold Taylor, was assigned a 10 mi (16 km) wide sector in the west, and the 27th Brigade , under Brigadier Duncan Maxwell , had responsibility for a 4,000 yd (3,700 m) zone just west of the Causeway. The infantry positions were reinforced by the recently arrived Australian 2/4th Machine-Gun Battalion . Also under Bennett's command

14231-601: The troops or sparing the population. The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs. The 18th Division has a chance to make its name in history. Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops. The honour of the British Empire and of the British Army is at stake. I rely on you to show no mercy to weakness in any form. With the Russians fighting as they are and the Americans so stubborn at Luzon ,

14364-419: The two rivers, with its centre around Bulim, east of Tengah Airfield—which subsequently came under Japanese control—and just north of Jurong . To the north, the 27th Australian Brigade had not been engaged during the Japanese assaults on the first day. Possessing only the 2/26th and 2/30th, following the transfer of the 2/29th Battalion to the 22nd Brigade, Maxwell sought to reorganise his force to deal with

14497-567: The water reservoirs that supplied the town but did not cut off the supply. That day, military police executed Captain Patrick Heenan for espionage. An Air Liaison Officer with the British Indian Army, Heenan had been recruited by Japanese military intelligence and had used a radio to assist them in attacking Commonwealth airfields in northern Malaya. He had been arrested on 10 December and court-martialled in January. Heenan

14630-583: The water supply was on the verge of collapse. On 14 February 1942, the Japanese renewed their assault on the western part of the Southern Area's defences near the area that the 1st Malayan Brigade had fought desperately to hold the previous day. At about 13:00, the Japanese broke through and advanced towards the Alexandra Barracks Hospital . A British lieutenant—acting as an envoy with a white flag—approached Japanese forces but

14763-492: The way were bayoneted. The men were forced into a series of small, badly ventilated rooms where they were held overnight without water. Some died during the night as a result of their treatment. The remainder were bayoneted the following morning. Several survivors were identified after the war, some of whom had survived by pretending to be dead. One survivor, Private Arthur Haines from the Wiltshire Regiment , wrote

14896-629: The weakness of the Singapore base. In December 1940, the Germans handed over copies of the papers to the Japanese. The Japanese had broken the British Army's codes and in January 1941, the Second Department (the intelligence-gathering arm) of the Imperial Army interpreted and read a message from Singapore to London complaining in much detail about the weak state of "Fortress Singapore", a message so frank in its admission of weakness that

15029-414: The whole reputation of our country and our race is involved. It is expected that every unit will be brought into close contact with the enemy and fight it out. In the early afternoon of 10 February, on learning of the collapse of the Jurong Line, Wavell ordered Percival to launch a counter-attack to retake it. This order was passed on to Bennett, who allocated X Battalion. Percival made plans of his own for

15162-423: The withdrawal of the 27th Brigade, the commander of the 11th Indian Infantry Division, Key, dispatched the 8th Indian Infantry Brigade from reserve, to retake the high ground to the south of the Causeway. Throughout 10 February further fighting took place around along the Jurong Line, as orders were formulated to establish a secondary defensive line to the west of the Reformatory Road, with troops not then employed in

15295-408: The withdrawal, Percival had about 85,000 men at his disposal, although 15,000 were administrative personnel, while large numbers were semi-trained British, Indian and Australian reinforcements that had only recently arrived. Of those forces that had seen action during the previous fighting, the majority were under-strength and under-equipped. In the days leading up to the Japanese attack, patrols from

15428-537: The worst disaster in British military history . The fall of Singapore, the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse , and other defeats in 1941–42 all severely undermined British prestige, which contributed to the end of British colonial rule in the region after the war. In the interwar years, Britain had established a naval base in Singapore after the Anglo-Japanese alliance had lapsed in 1923. As part of

15561-415: The zoning and transport infrastructure in Singapore, such as an improved road network and the construction of new towns that could function separately from the city. The Master Plan was shown to the public in 1956, and implemented from 1958, guiding land use and development in Singapore over the following years. With the SIT's focus on housing, it could no longer carry out significant urban renewal. Moreover,

15694-512: Was a mix of front-line and second-line troops. There were 49 infantry battalions—21 Indian, 13 British, six Australian, four Indian States Forces assigned to airfield defence, three Straits Settlements Volunteer Force , and two Malayan. In addition, there were two British machine-gun battalions, one Australian, and a British reconnaissance battalion. The newly arrived 18th Infantry Division (Major-General Merton Beckwith-Smith ) —was at full strength but lacked experience and training. The rest of

15827-473: Was a more likely direction of attack (where the Straits of Johor were the narrowest and a series of river mouths provided cover for the launching of water craft). This was encouraged by the deliberate movement of Japanese troops in this sector to deceive the British. Much of the equipment and resources of the garrison had been incorrectly allocated to the north east sector, where the most complete and freshest formation—the 18th Infantry Division—was deployed, while

15960-501: Was all but exhausted, and there was little ammunition left for the field artillery and anti-aircraft guns, which were unable to disrupt the Japanese air attacks causing many casualties in the city centre. Little work had been done to build air raid shelters, and looting and desertion by Commonwealth troops further added to the chaos in the area. At 09:30, Percival held a conference at Fort Canning with his senior commanders. He proposed two options: an immediate counter-attack to regain

16093-728: Was an anchor for the operations of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), the first Allied joint command of the Second World War. Singapore controlled the main shipping channel between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. An ambush was sprung by the 2/30th Australian Battalion on the main road at the Gemenceh River near Gemas on 14 January, causing many Japanese casualties. At Bakri, from 18 to 22 January,

16226-408: Was killed with a bayonet . After Japanese troops entered the hospital, they killed up to 50 soldiers, including some undergoing surgery. Doctors and nurses were also killed. The next day, about 200 male staff members and patients who had been assembled and bound the previous day, many of them walking wounded, were ordered to walk about 400 m (440 yd) to an industrial area. Those who fell on

16359-422: Was no longer usable". Believing that further landings would occur in the northeast, Percival did not reinforce the 22nd Brigade until the morning of 9 February, sending two half-strength battalions from the 12th Indian Infantry Brigade. The Indians reached Bennett around noon. Shortly afterwards Percival allocated the composite 6th/15th Indian Infantry Brigade to reinforce the Australians from their position around

16492-608: Was rejected by the Singapore colonial government in 1924, leaving the position of the SIT unclear. After a committee report noted the SIT's necessity a bill to form the SIT as an independent organisation was prepared from June 1924. The resulting bill, the Singapore Town Improvement Bill, was introduced to the Legislative Council in February 1927. The Singapore Improvement Ordinance, signed into law on 1 July 1927, formally established

16625-535: Was reorganised into three departments, the Buildings, Planning and Management departments, in November 1959. A housing register was also set up in 1947 to handle the allocation of new flats, but owing to overwhelming demand, allocation was shifted to a points system by the end of 1947. This points system took into account factors such as overcrowding and family size. For funding, the SIT initially relied mainly on

16758-484: Was repulsed by the Imperial Guards and the 27th Australian Brigade was split in half on either side of the Bukit Timah Road with elements spread as far as the Pierce Reservoir. My attack on Singapore was a bluff—a bluff that worked. I had 30,000 men and was outnumbered more than three to one. I knew that if I had to fight for long for Singapore, I would be beaten. That is why the surrender had to be at once. I

16891-554: Was shot at Keppel Harbour , on the southern side of Singapore and his body was thrown into the sea. The Australians occupied a perimeter of their own to the north-west around Tanglin Barracks, in which they maintained an all round defence as a precaution. To their right, the 18th Division, the 11th Indian Division and the 2nd Malaya Brigade held the perimeter from the edge of the Farrar Road east to Kallang, while to their left,

17024-452: Was that the Japanese forces were inferior and characterised the Malayan jungles as "impassable"; the Japanese were repeatedly able to use this to their advantage to outflank hastily established defensive lines. Prior to the Battle of Singapore the most resistance was met at the Battle of Muar which involved the 8th Australian Division and the 45th Indian Brigade. The British troops left in

17157-410: Was the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade . The III Indian Corps (Lieutenant-General Sir Lewis Heath ) including the 11th Indian Infantry Division under Major-General Berthold Key with reinforcements from the 8th Indian Brigade, and the 18th Infantry Division—was assigned the north-eastern sector, known as the "Northern Area". This included the naval base at Sembawang . The "Southern Area", including

17290-538: Was to be a model housing scheme at the Lavender Street—Serangoon Road intersection, and land clearance in Tiong Bahru . In addition, the SIT constructed parks and open spaces near densely populated areas, carried out planning for the expansion and construction of roads and back lanes, and marked out buildings that were unsuitable to house people for demolition without compensating the owners. In 1931,

17423-428: Was very frightened all the time that the British would discover our numerical weakness and lack of supplies and force me into disastrous street fighting. — Tomoyuki Yamashita The next day, as the situation worsened for the Commonwealth, they sought to consolidate their defences; during the night of 12/13 February, the order was given for a 28 mi (45 km) perimeter to be established around Singapore City at

17556-554: Was virtually simultaneous with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which precipitated the United States' entry into the war. Thailand resisted landings on its territory for about 5 to 8 hours; it then signed a ceasefire and a Treaty of Friendship with Japan, later declaring war on the UK and the US. The Japanese then proceeded overland across the Thai–Malayan border to attack Malaya. At this time,

17689-637: Was worked out in July 1940. Intelligence gained in late 1940–early 1941 did not alter that plan but confirmed it in the minds of Japanese decision makers. On 11 November 1940, the German raider Atlantis captured the British steamer Automedon in the Indian Ocean , carrying papers meant for Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham , the British commander in the Far East. The papers included information about

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