Title Of Essay : Reminiscences Of The Japanese Occupation

Title of essay : Biography & History

Reminiscences of the Japanese Occupation

Name : G. JAYHINDY

Year of Intake : 2001

Programme : Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Social Studies

Name of Tutor : Dr Kevin Blackburn

Date of Submission : 26 October, 2002

Address : National Institute of Education

1 Nanyang Walkway

Singapore 637616

Reminiscences of the Japanese Occupation

For the purpose of doing this oral history project, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to interview an individual who had survived the Japanese Occupation. In his seventies, Mr Rajoo is my uncle. He showed great enthusiasm and related his experience in Tamil during the 3 hours interview. His accounts shed light on the ways how individuals inject meanings to a particular subject.

Background

Mr Rajoo was born in 1930. He was the second son in a family of 10 children. His family lived in a village in Sembawang which was near to one of the Naval Base which was owned by the British. When the Japanese invaded Singapore, Rajoo’s family staying in North of Singapore then they moved as far as Tampinese. His family used a bullock cart to transport some of their properties. They stayed away from their

1 home for a year. Then they returned to their village. So he had a chance to witness the

Japanese rule in other parts of Singapore as well as his own hometown.

The Dark Years of Japanese Occupation

The impending presence of the Japanese on Mr Rajoo’s daily life was felt as early as

1941. As a 11 years old boy, his family and he faced severe shortage of food and other necessities like medical. ( Q1 ) When the British surrendered, they did not want

Japanese to enjoy the fruit of their labour. All the rice in the warehouse was sprayed with limestone. As limestone is white, the Japanese did not suspect any foul play by the British . So those who ate the rice had diarrhea . Japanese took over much of the foodstuffs and other goods for the use of their army. Due to the food shortage, essential food stuffs like rice, salt and sugar were controlled. Ration cards which limited the amount of food for each person was given out. ( Q4 ) His family lived on a simple diet and found other food substitutes for those food items which were scarce.

Tapioca and sweet potatoes were used as substitutes for rice ( Q3 ) and palm oil or coconut oil was used as cooking oil. Even in schools pupils grew and took care of the vegetable plots. This was the widespread situation in Singapore during the Syonan-To years. Many historians have written about the food scarcity during the Syonan rule.

There are a lot of evidence to state that during the Japanese rule, many people suffered from malnutrition and diseases as they did not have well balanced meal.

Those taken as prisoners of war also suffered under the iron grip of the Japanese and many died out of malnutrition.

Transport during the Japanese reign

Mr Rajoo recalls bicycles being widely used as mode of transport during the Japanese

2 reign. (Q6) So much so that even after the Japanese surrender, Rajoo and the other villagers working in the Sembawang Shipyard used bicycles as means of transport to travel to work. Tri-shaw which consisted of a bicycle with a side-car attached for a fare-paying passenger replaced the former richshaw. He stated that the Japanese bicycles had only thin solid rubber tyres. He also recalls in the interview to have seen a lot of motorcars before the Japanese rule and not during the Syonan-To period.

Some historians state that there must have been tens of thousands of vehicles, many new and the majority of the rest in good condition were used by the Japanese. These great fleet of transport fell to the Japanese as booty, when they captured Singapore.

However, the lack of spare parts, or technical skill, or both, made the fleet diminish rapidly to a deplorable state so much so that it almost faded by the time the Japanese surrendered. Transport was a big problem for the local people throughout the

Occupation.(1) The Japanese were in control of the world’s rubber and many oil fields.(2) They forced many motor vehicles to run on coal gases or inferior petrol made from vegetable sources. Public vehicles dwindled and cars ceased to be available for almost all other than Japanese.

School Experiences

Mr Rajoo recalled how he had to learn Japanese language in his school. He could still recall some Japanese sentences. ( Q5 ) It is remarkable to know that even after 60 years he is able to remember some Japanese sentences.(Q5) All this had been instilled in the young minds at a very tender impressionable age to gain people’s allegiance .

School children were taught to face the direction of Tokyo where the Japan Emperor resided and sing the Japanese Anthem.(Q5 ) So the Japanese tried to influence the school children to become patriotic towards Japan. This is another aspect of their rule

3 where they tried out propagandas. Several historians have concurred the same evidence regarding the Japanese intention to remove the western influence and promote the Japanese culture and values. Japanese lessons were published in the newspapers and broadcast over the radio. In order to encourage people to learn the

Japanese language, job privileges and extra allowances were given. Different methods were used to influence the minds of the people in Singapore. Radio stations were controlled by the Japanese and radio sets were sealed so that people could only listen to local broadcasts. Those caught tuning in to foreign broadcasting stations were severely punished or killed. Through the interview, I realized that Rajoo’s family and the villagers also did not own any radios. They were afraid of being punished.

Japanese – The Disciplinarians

Throughout the Syonan-To rule, the people were constantly living in fear because the

Japanese took harsh action to establish control over the people. Those caught looting were shot or beheaded and their heads were displayed at public places. Those who were passing by must witness such a scene if not they will be called back to look directly at the decapitated head. ( Q8 ) Barbed wire was also put up across roads to form roadblocks. The Japanese guards would make the people passing by to bow to them as a sign of respect. Anyone who did not do so would be slapped, killed or punished in some ways. When the children forget to show respect to the Japanese soldiers, these soldiers will use their knuckles to hit on the children’s forehead . Those strong men found at home not working will be immediately sent to work. ( Q8 )

Those who were sick should still report to work. They despised men idling.

4 The Japanese Treatment of the 3 main races in Singapore

According Mr Rajoo the Chinese suffered the most during the Japanese Occupation.

Many Chinese in Singapore had sent money to help China fight Japan. So the

Japanese wanted to weed out the anti-Japanese sentiment among the population. They carried out the Sook Ching Operation. They ordered all Chinese men between 18 to

50 years of age to report at the mass screening centers. Then the men will be questioned. The Japanese, however, had no proper way of finding out who were against them. Those who the Japanese thought were against them were taken away in lorries. Thousands of Chinese were taken in this way to Changi Beach or other beaches where they were shot.( Q7 ) Some Chinese who very desperate to save their lives disguised themselves as Indians or Malays to avoid the scrutiny of the Japanese soldiers.

Mr Rajoo recalled that Japanese were not overly suspicious of Indians nor the

Malays. However, anybody who were thought to have acted against the Japanese interest were severely dealt with. They will be either punished or killed. (Q7)

Japanese role in instigating nationalistic feeling

According to Mr Rajoo, the Japanese associated Indians in Singapore with Gandhi and his movement in India. Gandhi was fighting for India’s freedom from the British

Colonial power. Japanese told the Indians in Singapore that Japan would help India to get rid of the British rulers. They also wanted all Indians to join the Indian National

Army to fight the British in India. Subhas Chandra Bose, the founder of INA was

5 allowed to come to Singapore to collect funds for his establishment. Historical facts also seemed to prove the relevance of his statement.

From the interview, Mr Rajoo didn’t portray as someone anti-Japanese. Probably his family and he did not really undergo much torture by the Japanese. He definitely seemed to have welcomed the Japanese for one reason.

The Light of the South

From the interview one would deduce that Mr Rajoo strongly feels that the Japanese brought on the nationalistic fervor among the citizens. ( Q9 ) Nationalistic feeling caught onto some people like the forest fire and the thirst for independence was ignited due to Syonan-To. He sincerely feels that Singaporeans have to thank the

Japanese for opening their eyes and realizing how vulnerable they were. Abandoned by the Colonial master- the Supreme British, Singapore faced three and half years of darkness in the hands of the Japanese. He believes that Syonan-To which means ‘the

Light of the South’ was shone in Singapore. He states that if the Japanese didn’t occupy Singapore, till today we would have been a colonial state. So he ends off the interview by stating that the ends justify the means. We owe our freedom- independence- to the Japanese. (Q9) Historians feel that Japanese Occupation had awaken political consciousness of the masses.

Conclusion

This Oral History project has helped me to recover and record descriptions and interpretations of ‘The Japanese Occupation’. Men like Mr Rajoo may not write memoirs, biographies or diaries for the future generation to understand the subject but

6 he carries with him the wealth of information. I am glad I interviewed him because his contributions and perceptions are captured in this project.

Footnotes:

1. Gilmour, O.W. With Freedom To Singapore Ernest Benn Limited , London 1950. p.122 2. Gilmour, O.W. With Freedom To Singapore Ernest Benn Limited , London 1950. p.122

Bibliography: 1. Chou, Cindy. Beyond the Empires. Memories Retold by Cindy Chou

National Heritage Board, 1995.

2. Donald A. Ritchie, Doing Oral History , New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995. 3. Gilmour, O.W. With Freedom To Singapore Ernest Benn Limited , London 1950 4. Goh, Chor Boon. Living Hell. Story of a WWII Survivor at the Death

Railway. Asiapac Books Pte Ltd, 1999.

5. Paul Ashton, On The Record: A Practical Guide to Oral History , Sydney:

North Sydeny Council, 1994

6. Shinozaki, Mamoru. My Wartime Experiences In Singapore

Institute Of SouthEast Asian Studies

7 Reference:

Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore.

Social Studies Textbook 4B : Discovering our world. The Dark Years, 1999.

History Alive – A Lower Secondary Oral History Project By Bukit Panjang

Government High School.

Http:// www.nhb.gov.sg/

PROFILE OF THE INTERVIEWEE :

Name of interviewee : Mr Rajoo

Age : 72 years old

Nationality : Singaporean

Pre-War occupation : Student

Language : Tamil

Duration : 3 hours

Venue : Mr Rajoo’s Living room

Oral History Transcript

Excerpts From the Transcript of the Interview

Life during the Syonan-To period Q1 : How do you know that the Japanese have invaded S’pore ? Ans : Mmm.. We received some flyers dropped by Japanese fighter planes that they are going to attack Singapore. The moment the first bomb was dropped in front of my house in Sembawang , we knew the Japanese have come.

8 Q2 : What did your family and you do when the Japanese bombed Singapore. Ans : My father will bring the whole family to the bomb shelter to be protected. You know our bomb shelters are very strong. There will be a candle and my mother will always remember to take some dry food like nuts for us to eat if we have to be stuck in there for hours.

Q3 : Can you tell me about the kind of food the people ate during the Japanese Occupation.? Ans : I was then 11 years old. I can still remember eating tapioca and sweet potatoes. We hardly saw sugar. We only managed to get palm sugar- “Gula Melaka”. Our coffee was without milk and that’s “ Kopi- O”. The Japanese told us to grow our own food and vegetables. My father will put us on guard duty to look after our plot of vegetables because we were afraid someone will steal our food away. We hardly saw rice. Sometimes I catch the rice floating in the drain because when the Japanese Soldiers finished eating, their plates will be washed. So drain water will wash down the little left over food. Then we bring back home and boil the same rice and eat.

Q4: When did the situation of shortage of food improved? Ans : Ah! I think when the Japanese started to give us ration food. We got everything but in smaller quantities. They gave food according to the number of people at home. Yeah! We got dried prawns, white maize flour to make home bread, coffee and some other food. You see before the British surrendered they didn’t want the Japanese soldiers to get all the rice which they had stored in their warehouse. So they poured limestone onto the rice. As limestone was white it blended well with the rice. So when the Japanese occupied Singapore they did release the rice to us but many people suffered from diarrhea .

Q5 : Can you relate your school experience? Ans : Mmm…I went to a Tamil medium school. If children were at home not attending school then the Japanese will threaten us to attend school. At the start of school, we have to bow to the North-East direction where the Japanese Emperor is in Tokyo. The Japanese Anthem and a few patriotic songs

9 must be sung. We had to learn the Japanese language. “Oh high yo go zai E must. That’s –Good Morning. “Cone bun wa” that’s -Good Evening. “Oh ya su mi na sai” That’s -Good Night. Actually I can still remember some Japanese sentences. Then we start our lesson. Even in school we had a plot of land to grow vegetables.

My response : You have good memory.

Q6: Can you tell me about the transport system during the Syonan-To period? Ans: Yeah! Bicycles -you know and that’s their favourite. Before the Japanese, there were richshaws , bullock carts, horse-carriages, cars and trolley buses. Japanese introduced bicycles to us. Their bicycle tyres were different from what we have today . Very thin solid tyres were used in bicycles. After the Japanese occupation I was working in Sembawang Shipyard. So I travelled in a bicycle to work. Many of my friends enjoyed riding bicycles. Then they had a bicycle attached with a side-car attached for a fare paying passenger.

Q7: How did the Japanese treated the different races in Singapore? Ans : You know, I think they hated the Chinese the most. Ah ! I must tell you this. My family and I were staying opposite the old K.K. Hospital near Farrer Park . One morning you know, around ..mmm..5 a.m. a truck loaded with some men arrived near the river. All the men were lined in a straight row along the river The Japanese soldiers shot them. Some bodies fell into the river and some collapsed. We were very scared of that incident. Those men were Chinese. Who else could it be ? Some Chinese also came to my house to hide away from the Japanese. My mother also gave her sari to one Chinese woman to disguise her as an Indian. She applied charcoal on her face and hand to blacken herself and pretended she was an Indian. I think ah ! The Malays and Indians didn’t get the same treatment as the Chinese. Especially the Indians. When they search your house they see us, they ask Gandhi, are you Gandhi ? Then they leave you alone. To them Gandhi means the Indian leader fighting the British Colonial rule. We were lucky in that sense.

10 Q8: What sort of control did the Japanese had on the people? Ans : Oh! They were strict. We must bow when we see them. They hated thieves and looters. I have seen an amputated head and that was put on a pole and displayed on the street. This is to deter the others from following suit. When I passed by this head, I tried to look away. But the Japanese soldier made me spit on the face of the head.

Q9 : What was your feeling about the Japanese Occupation? Ans: ..Mmm. We all suffered but not so much. They were kind at times. They carried out propaganda to influence our minds and made us show loyalty to Japan. I think they tried to remove the western influence and promote Japanese culture and values. But one thing about the Japanese – they must be considered as someone who showed us the light to independence. They opened our eyes to the outside world. You see the British – the big power couldn’t take care of us. The Japanese, the Asian symbol proved that we needn’t be afraid of the British. If the Japanese had not come to Singapore, then even today we maybe the British colony. Oh! They made us realize the need for independence. Thanks to them, we are not under anybody’s rule now.

Thanks a lot for sharing with me your invaluable experience about the Japanese Occupation, uncle Rajoo.