The Haunting of Changi Beach

Changi Beach in Singapore witnessed some of the worst atrocities of World War II. Japanese forces executed thousands of Chinese civilians on its sands during the Sook Ching massacre. The beach and nearby Old Changi Hospital have become synonymous with paranormal activity in Singapore.

The Massacres

In February 1942, Japanese forces conquered Singapore. In the following weeks, they conducted the Sook Ching (purge through cleansing), systematically executing Chinese males they deemed anti-Japanese. Changi Beach was a primary execution site.

Victims were forced to walk into the sea, then shot or bayoneted. Bodies washed up on the beach for days. Estimates of the total killed range from 25,000 to 50,000.

The exact number executed at Changi is unknown, but the beach ran with blood.

The Hauntings

Since the war, Changi Beach has been considered intensely haunted. Visitors report seeing figures walking into the water and vanishing. Screams and crying are heard from empty stretches of sand. Some have reported seeing headless bodies or witnessing spectral reenactments of the executions.

Soldiers stationed at nearby camps have reported encounters with spirits in Japanese military uniforms. Security guards have seen figures that vanish when approached.

The activity intensifies around the anniversary of the massacre in February.

Old Changi Hospital

Adjacent to the beach, Old Changi Hospital served as a British military hospital, then a Japanese prison and interrogation center, then a hospital again. It was abandoned in 1997.

The hospital has become Singapore’s most infamous haunted location. Visitors report shadowy figures in the corridors, screams echoing through empty wards, and sudden temperature drops. Some have been touched or pushed by unseen forces.

The hospital is officially closed to the public, though urban explorers continue to access it.

Assessment

Changi represents a haunting rooted in documented atrocity. Thousands died there in terror and pain. The trauma of those deaths seems to have left an imprint that visitors continue to perceive.

Whether the spirits of massacre victims remain at Changi, or whether the horror of what occurred affects visitors psychologically, the beach and hospital continue to produce consistent reports of paranormal activity. The dead of Changi are not forgotten.