An interpreter remembers years of war and tragedy

Although it was occupied by the invading Japanese for more than three years between 1942 and 1945, these days, there's not much in Singapore that would automatically remind a casual visitor of that history.

One exception is the towering Civilian War Memorial Monument, located on park land along Beach Road, right in the Downtown Core of Singapore's Central Region.

"Singapore fell on February 15, 1942, the first day of the lunar Chinese New Year," says H.H. Lee, a second-generation Chinese immigrant who became a government interpreter, accompanying the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during the latter's state visits and talks with various Chinese leaders.