Rise, Fall and Rise and Becoming of Singapore: Flag Events

FLAG EVENTS ARE INTERPRETIVE SYMBOLISM

 Singapore had been a part of various local empires since it was first inhabited in the second century AD. Modern Singapore was founded as a trading post of the East India Company by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 with permission from the Sultanate of Johor. The British obtained full sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826.

 

The facsimile of the letter on the $2 stamp, written by Sir Stamford Raffles to Col. Attenbrooke on 10 June1819, reads ".... I have just planted the British Flag....", an  archival document of the British colonisation of Singapore.

 

Singapore was occupied by the Japanese in World War II

On this day 15 February 1942,British forces in Singapore forced to surrender unconditionally to the Japanese Forces seven days after the Japanese troops first stormed the island.

The Japanese insisted that Lt. General A.E.Percival, GOC in C, Malaya, himself march under a "White Flag" to the Old Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Timah to negotiate the surrender.

 The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia.  The fighting in Singapore lasted from 8–15 February 1942. It resulted in the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, and the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. About 80,000 British, Indian and Australian troops became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the Malayan Campaign. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the ignominious fall of Singapore to the Japanese the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history.In just seven days, Singapore, the "Impregnable Fortress", had fallen.
(Source Wikipedia) 

 With the turn of events in the World War II and the irony of fates on 15 August 1945, Japan announced its surrender. 
 
The formal signing of the surrender instrument was held at City Hall, Singapore, then known as "Municipal Hall", on 12 September 1945. This was followed by a celebration at the Padang, which included a victory parade. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of South East Asia Command, came to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of the Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi. A British military administration utilizing surrendered Japanese troops as security forces was formed to govern the island until March 1946.

  The above two stamps, released in 1960, are the first stamps depicting new National flag of Singapore to have the words “State of Singapore” printed on them.
The British granted internal self-government of Singapore in 1959. On 31st August 1963 Singapore declared independence from Britain. Singapore became part of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965. On 9 August 1965, it broke away from Malaysia and became a fully independent sovereign nation.