The [Axis] Occupation of Singapore from February 1942 to August 1945 was a particularly momentous period of loss and sacrifice for the Chinese population as compared to other ethnicities, because they were the targets of brutal [Imperial] military policies. During a month of screening procedures and indiscriminate massacres in 1942 known as sook ching, or cleansing operations, an undetermined number of civilians were separated from their families and friends and suffered uncertain fates. In many cases, the last time relatives saw loved ones was at a screening center before the unlucky victims were driven away in trucks to unknown destinations.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070614140107/http://yale.edu/gsp/publications/WaiKeng.doc