The fall of Singapore marked the beginning of a brief but tumultous chapter of Singapore's history.Singapore was renamed 'syonan-to' which meant 'light of the south' or 'radiant south'.
 Following the British surrender ,the Japanese Military Police,Kempeitai,were sent to restore order in Singapore.
When the Japanese took control of the island,they had plans to deal with the allied troops and the people of Singapore.
The Japanese interned the British,Australians and Allied Europeans in Singapore,including women and children and were treated as Prisoners-Of-War(POW).The Kempeitai treated the people harshly and instilled fear in the population.The Japanese did not trust the Eurasians and many of them were put in Prison Camps.
Allied Soldiers were forced to march from from the Padang to the Selarang Barracks which was 22km away.Europeans civilians were marched to Katong first before going to Changi Prison.
By 19 February 1942,clocks were set according to Tokyo time which was 1.5hours ahead of Singapore.The Straits Times resumed publications on 20 February 1942,under a new Japanese name -The Syonan Times later the Syonan Sinbun