in 1941, due to the weak defenses, the japanese attacked singapore. they landed on singaporean soil on the 9th of february 1942 and took control of the colony on 15 february 1942, soon renaming it syonan-to (pronounced as sio-nan-to or sho-nan-to), meaning light of the south island, during the rule. many people suffered during this time till the japanese surrendered and the british returned to singapore in september 1945.