Ghosts of our past : a study of ghost stories in the remembering of the Sook Ching massacre in Singapore

Abstract

Discussing Ghost Stories have been an almost essential part of being Singaporean. From books, television shows to movies, these stories have disseminated to almost every avenue imaginable. The Sook Ching, a massacre that saw the death of tens of thousands saw the origin of many ghost narratives. In fact, most historical ghost narratives are centered on Sook Ching and its Chinese victims. The aim of this paper is to discuss how remembering of the Japanese atrocities during the war are reflected in social narratives like ghost stories. The thesis posits how their existence and widespread propagation across society is due to strong injustice felt by the Chinese that the state failed to adequately address their suffering. The underlying purpose of state war commemoration was to foster unity and thus the Sook Ching, an essentially Chinese centered tragedy, was sidelined. Thus, this led to the rise of colloquial histories in the form of ghost stories which highlight the plight of the victims as tragic specters.