That's an interesting story, to me, having visited Singapore briefly and then Kuala Lumpur the next day. Singapore of course has nothing to commend it, intially, except location on the tip of a peninsula. No natural resources of course, no military back then, and yet today it indeed is impressive. I'm not sure how they managed it really.
There is an apparent fable that their big guns could not fire inland, only outward at ships, in 1941-2. I've read this isn't true, but the big guns only had armor piercing ammunition, not HE, and large caliber AP rounds are useless against enemy land forces. The British defenders of course were poorly lead.
Someone might recall a naval "battle" that cost the Brits two capital ships.
