The end of the terrible years of Japanese rule was brought about by the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On Aug 6 1945, a B-29 bomber nicknamed Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On Aug 9, a second bomb nicknamed Little Boy was dropped on Nagasaki.

On Aug 15 1945, Emperor Hirohito surrendered unconditionally to the Japanese. It was a day of celebration for the people of Malaya and Singapore , a day which they had prayed for so desperately since the nightmare of Japanese rule started about three and a half years ago. It also let lose the anger repressed for a long time and vengence was unleashed uponthe Japanese soldiers.

Tan Ah Sang, a housewife saw a group of Japanese soldiers being beaten up by the local people at Arab Street. "Our Chinese people saw and shouted, 'Japanese soldiers, beat them up!Beat them up, don't let them go!' So they surrounded and gave them a good beating. During the Japanese rule, they beat us and ordered us to kneel down. So the Chinese asked them to do the same. There was one soldier who refused to do so and they kicked him and beat him up. I saw him kneel down and begged the Chinese not to beat him up.... It was quite pitiful to se him beaten up by our Chinese. However, they were so cruel to us then."

On 2 September 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the British on board of the USS Missouri. On 5 September 1945, the British returned to their colonies in the East. On 12 September 1945, the Japanese led by General Itagaki Seishiro surrender to the Supreme Allied Commander in South East Asia Lord Mountbatten in City Hall. After signing the surrender document, the people attended the parade held at the Padang.

Most of the Japanese in Singapore were made POWs. Some of the Japanese commanders were waiting for the war trials. Many of them were either sentenced to life imprisonment or executed for what they did. Yet, the British had returned to a changed Malaya and Singapore. The people were embittered by the Occupation years, cynical about British rule as they had witnessed the humiliating defeat of the British and had lost respect for them. They began to question the right of the British to continue exercising control over them. Incipient nationalism and the emergence of the Malayan Communist Party was to create a totally different political environment during the post-war years.