Major-General Lim Bo Seng was born on 27 April 1909 in Nan-an, Fukien, China. He came to Singapore at the age of 16. After studying at Raffles Institution and Hongkong University, he inherited his father's business in Malaya. Since 1937 he became prominent in anti-Japanese activities. When Singapore fell in 1942, he went to Chungking and on instructions from the Chinese government, he joined the underground resistance section of 136 Force under the Supreme Allied Command, South-East Asia, on 2 November 1943 as Commanding Officer of the Malayan Chinese section. He landed from a submarine at Bagan Bator in Perak to join the British and Chinese officers already working in Malaya, with anti-Japanese forces. Later he left the jungle to work in Ipoh, but he was discovered and arrested by the Japanese Military Police on 27 March 1944. He manfully endured repeated tortures to which he ultimately succumbed on 29 June 1944, at the age of 35. He died in the Batu Fajah prison, a martyr to the cause of a liberated Malaya and to his loyalty to his comrades. On 13 January 1946. he was buried with full military honours in Singapore.
The Lim Bo Seng Memorial is an octagonalpagoda-like war memorial at Esplanade Park, Singapore. It was erected in 1954 in honour of the late Lim Bo Seng for his heroic acts and selfless sacrifice during the World War II. The war memorial is the only structure in Singapore that commemorates an individual's efforts in World War II and was gazetted as a national monument on 28 December 2010.
History
In 1946, The Lim Bo Seng Memorial Committee; a group formed by various Chinese clan associations, the United Chinese Library and the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce; was established to raise funds for the memorial and prepared the proposals of the plan to colonial government, one of which proposed the construction of a memorial park around the late Lim Bo Seng's grave at MacRitchie Reservoir. The colonial government rejected five of the committee's proposals,[1] and would later grant permission in 1953 for a memorial to be built at the Esplanade based on the sixth proposal.[2]
On 3 November 1953 at 5.30 pm, the British Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia Malcolm MacDonald laid the foundation stone[3] for the structure at the ceremony[4] with Lim Bo Seng's widow Gan Choo Neo and her children in present.[5][6]
Architecture
The memorial was designed by Ng Keng Siang, the first overseas trained Singaporean architect.[7] Inspired by Chinese Nationalist architecture (such as the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum) which blends Traditional Chinese motifs with modern materials; the Memorial is a 3.6 metres (12 ft) high octagonalpagoda made of white marble with a three-tier bronze roof on a marble and concrete pedestal. guarded by four bronze lions stand guard around the pagoda. The bronze roof and the bronze lions are imported from Hong Kong.
Four bronze plaques with an account of Lim's life are installed on the pedestal. There are written in English, Chinese, Tamil and Jawi; the four official languages of Singapore. The memorial occupies a site measuring 100 feet (30 m) by 80 feet (24 m) near The Padang; which was donated by the colonial government [8]
Unveiling of the Memorial
On 29 June 1954, the completed Memorial was unveiled by Sir Charles Loewen, the Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Land Forces[9] in front of a crowd of people with Lim's widow, her children and some members of the Force 136 in present at the 10th death anniversary ceremony of Major-General Lim Bo Seng.[10][11][12][13]
On 29 June 1959 on the 15th anniversary of the death of Major-General Lim Bo Seng, Lim's widow and her eldest son Lim Leong Geok and daughter Lim Oon Geok among others laid wreaths at the Memorial at Esplanade Park[14][15] and at his memorial tomb at MacRitchie Reservoir.[14]
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