Memories of the Japanese Occupation
1
CTL 201 : Selected Topics for Primary Social Studies
Oral History Assignment
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
Name:
Neo Jia Hwee
Tutorial Group:
Group 7: Tuesday (1430 – 1630)
Tutor:
A/P Karl Hack
Submitted on:
22 October 2004
Contents
Assignment
:
……………………………………
1-7
References
:
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8
Profile of Interviewee
:
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9
Transcript of Interview
:
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10-13
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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Introduction: The Interviewee
The interviewee is Mdm. Sze Ai Di. Born in Singapore in 1931, she was
about ten during the Japanese Occupation. She is the only child of a mistress. Her
father and his first wife left Singapore to seek refuge in Malaysia from the
Occupation for about a year before returning to Singapore. According to Mdm. Sze,
due to relationship problems between her father’s first wife and her mother, her
mother had decided that they stay on in Singapore. Her mother’s family owned a
small provision shop in the kampong, “Long Chuan” at Yio Chu Kang. They sold rice,
flour, cigarettes, Chinese snacks and dried goods in her provision shop. The shop
was however closed down eventually.
Japanese words
Although it has been about 59 years since the end of the war, Mdm. Sze
recalls two Japanese words she vividly remembers, as “sho nan to” and “a li – a –
to”. Unfortunately, she can’t remember the meanings of these words. She
pronounced them with a Hokkien tone, however, one is able to decipher that they
refer to Singapore’s new name during the Japanese Occupation, which is “Syonan”
and “Arigatoo (ありがとう)”. For the former, Singapore was renamed as Syonan to
mean “light of the South”; the year 1942, was changed to 2602 to follow the Showa
calendar and even the local time was moved forward by one and a half hours to
follow Tokyo time 1 . The latter refers to “thank you” in the Japanese language.
Although Mdm. Sze couldn’t recall its meaning but it is highly possible that that they
were uttered when bowing to the Japanese army or when having dealings with the
Japanese army1.
Bombings, Air Raid Shelters and Sirens
Eunice Thio, “The Syonan Years, 1942 – 1945”, in Ernest C.T. Chew and Edwin Lee (eds), A History of Singapore
Singapore: Oxford University Press, (1996), p. 95.
1
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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Mdm Sze said that when the Japanese Soldiers first air raid Singapore. She
said that she was awakened by thundering sounds; she couldn’t remember the time
and date but remembered that it was at night and she was already sleeping.
Subsequently after that it was a common sight to see airplanes flying in the sky and
sirens were being heard. The sirens would drive everyone into air raid shelters. The
shelters were made through digging holes in the ground and covering the top with
sand bags. At times, somebody in the kampong would cycle down the road and
warned everyone that bombs are going to be dropped and everyone would
immediately go into hiding. The raids were unpredictable and could take place
anytime. They would stay in the shelters until the bombings ceased and it was
common for them to go in and out of he bomb shelters. The shelters were made of
all kinds of materials as materials were scare and the peple were not prepared for
war.2
At first Mdm. Sze, thought that the whole episode was like a game which they
play, hiding in underground holes. She finally realize the gravity of the situation as
the frequency to go into hiding became irregular and when the elders in the family
became tense.
Making a living
Life was hard and the people lived in fear of the Japanese Imperial Army who
would conduct checks on the families3.
Mdm. Sze’s grandfather was forced to close his provision shop after the
Japanese Army ransacked his shop and destroyed everything. He was beaten up.
They took away everything that was edible in the shop and destroyed everything
2
Chou, Cindy , Beyond the Empires (Singapore: National heritage Board), p. 4
Low, Ngiong Ing When Singapore was Syonan-to Singapore: Singapore: Times Book International, 2004),
p.3.
3
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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they were suspicious of. Mdm. Sze also said that her grandfather had hidden several
of their inventories in bomb shelters and in the forest.
Although she can’t recall the exact time, she said that eventually her
grandfather and uncle had to sell vegetables which they grew in their backyard on a
pushcart. They also sold a type of grass known as “Centipede grass” (literal
translation from Hokkien) which had medicinal value. The pushcart was made of
wood; the Japanese soldiers would crash their push-carts at times. They had to remake the push-cart. The use of pushcart was confirmed in that it was mentioned by
Tan, Ah Seng4 that there were push-cart hawkers which sold snacks and wood used
for cooking in the streets. In addition, the British Administration tabulated that there
was an increase in the number of hawkers during the Japanese Occupation, “from
6000 in 1941 to between 20,000 and 30,000 at the end of the war”5.
In addition to vegetables, they also sold “dried rice” in tins. She couldn’t recall
much details about how the “dried rice” was prepared; fortunately in his oral history
tape, Soon, Kim Seng6 claimed that he had lost dry cooked rice from his store. This
confirms that there were “dried rice”, a type of dried preserved food which
contemporary Singaporeans would have no clue of.
Food shortages
Food shortage was a constant problem for the family. Although the family had
inventories of food due to their provision shop business, they soon ran out of food as
the Japanese Occupation dragged on for months and years. Mdm. Sze claimed that
they used to rear pigs, chickens and ducks. When the Japanese soldiers raided their
homes, they would shoot all the pigs and have the owners clean and cut up the meat
Ministry of Community Development, Oral history Department, “Syonan, Singapore Under the Japanese: A Catalogue of
Oral History Interviews” Singapore: Photoplates Press Limited (1986), Pg 126
5
Eunice Thio, “The Syonan Years, 1942 – 1945”
6
Ministry of Community Development, Oral history Department, Syonan, Singapore Under the Japanese: A Catalogue of
Oral History Intrviews Pg 125
4
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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and they would bring back to their camp. They would also take away the hens.
There was never enough food and her mother would always go hungry to give her
more. Their diet consisted mostly of tapioca. During the Japanese Occupation,
tapioca was the people’s main diet7. She mentioned that there was rationing and it
seemed that her grandfather, being the head of the household would collect them.
Traitors
When she talked about traitors, Mdm Sze recalled an incident when a Malay
man ran into the kampong and was looking for a place to hide. He told the people in
the kampong made up of Chinese that he needed a place to hide. Many of the
Chinese villagers claimed that he was a traitor and beat him up. Mdm Sze’s
grandfather was one of the few men who didn’t beat up the man and even helped
him escaped. However, the next day, the Malay man returned to the kampong with
Japanese soldiers. All the men in the village were rounded up and the Malay man
pointed to those Chinese man who had beaten him as being “bad people” (direct
translation of Mdm. Sze’s words). Her grandfather together with those men who
have saved him were spared their lives. The men taken away never returned.
This interpretation of Malays as the spies of the Japanese could have been
due to the racial policies during the Japanese occupation. The Malays were treated
differently in that they received special treatments like, cheaper taxes when crossing
the causeway as compared to the Chinese and Indians, staples were distributed to
the needy Malays for Hari Raya and Thio (1986) mentioned that the “Malay royalty
were to receive stipends no less than what they had enjoyed under the British.” 8
There seems to be an inequality in the way the Malays are treated and Lee
7
Eunice Thio, “The Syonan Years, 1942 – 1945”
8
. Eunice Thio, “The Syonan Years, 1942 – 1945”
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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mentioned that there are contradictions in the racial policies of the Japanese9. On
the one hand, claiming that they would treat all races equally, on the other, they
“adopted a divide –and rule policy” where they used Malays to fight against the
Chinese7.
War Crimes Committed Against Women
At one point in her interview, Mdm Sze was in tears as she talked about the
women who were taken away by the Japanese troops. Whenever the Japanese
soldiers raided the village, the women and children will go into hiding. The looting
could take place any time and there were occasions when they would return few
hours after their first raid. At times when there was no time for them to run to the
hidden air raid shelters, they would hide in the house. She remembers hiding in the
brick stove where cooking was done and there was also a wooden partition between
walls where they would also hide. They would tremble and fear being discovered by
the Japanese soldiers. She said that she would be so frightened that she had to
cover her mouth for fear of screaming as she hear the loud crashing, thrashing and
breaking of things when their house was ransacked. The Japanese soldiers would
shout at the men in the house and spoke through interpreters asking the
whereabouts of the women and at times her grandfather and uncles would be
slapped / beaten as while. It is common for everything in the house to be in a mess
after the raids. The Japanese even took about some of their precious heirlooms like
her grandmother’s Jade comb which had been passed down in the family for many
generations. Together with her nieces and her mother and aunties; they didn’t roam
out of their house. Tan, Peck Seck also mentioned that in her oral interview that the
Lee, Ting Hui, “Singapore Under the Japanese, 1942-1945”, originally
http:www.knowledgenet.com.sg/Singapore/shf/e_journal/articles/ EJV1ART03.htm
9
written
1956:
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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“Japanese soldiers went looking around for girls.” 10. According to Mdm Sze, girls
who were being captured by the Japanese soldiers often returned with lots of injuries
and in some cases they were driven back to the kampong and thrown along the
streets. She sadly related the story that her step older sister was raped by the
Japanese soldiers when they ransacked her father’s house in Lim Chu Kang. She
was 19 then. If they had remained in Malaysia, things would have been different. To
preserve the family honour, she was married to a widower.
It is unimaginable the constant fear a woman or girl had to live in during those
dark years of the Japanese Occupation 11 . One is made to question about
Yamashita’s management of his soldiers. He was reported to be strict on disciplining
his soldiers and would punish his soldiers if for “immoral conducts” like looting or
raping12. However, the people of Syonan-to lived in constant fear of the terror of the
Japanese soldiers and stories about women being raped and of homes and shops
being looted are common. Perhaps if he had been more focused on managing
Syonan-to and not leaving her governing to his subordinates, life under the
Japanese Occupation may have been better for the people. Mdm Sze remembers
vividly that on the day when General Yamashita was to be hanged, there was great
rejoice among her family. She calls him the “head” of the Japanese ghosts.
Conclusion
It has been almost 60 years since the end of the war but Mdm Sze is still filled
with hatred towards the Japanese. During the interview, she never failed to call them
“Ji ppon gui” (日本鬼) and never fails to stress that those days were a living hell for
10
Ministry of Community Development, Oral history Department, Syonan, Singapore Under the Japanese: A Catalogue of
Oral History Interviews Pg 135
Low,Ngiong Ing “When Singapore was Syonan-To”p.9,10.
Akashi, Yoji, “Chapter 19: General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the Twenty-Fifth Army”, in Brian
Farrell, Sandy Hunter, Sixty Years On: The Fall of Singapore Revisited. (Singapore: Eastern Universities Press,
2002), p. 203.
11
12
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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everyone in Syonan-to. Even though her memories of war may not be as vivid, her
hatred towards the Japanese is deep rooted. For a child who had experienced the
horrors of war, it is amazing that she is able to lead a normal life and not be
tormented psychologically. As a pragmatic Singaporean, it is hard to imagine living
through war. Looking at the state of the world around us, I do wonder how the
civilians of Iraq are coping with atrocities of war.
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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References
Akashi, Yoji (2002) “Chapter 19: General Yamashita Tomoyuki: Commander of the TwentyFifth Army”, in Brian Farrell, Sandy Hunter, Sixty Years On: The Fall of Singapore
Revisited. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2002, p. 203.
Chou, Cindy (1995) “Chapter One: The Fall of Singapore”, in Beyond the Empires,
Memories Retold. Singapore: National heritage Board / Armour Publishing Pte Ltd
Eunice Thio, (1996) “The Syonan Years, 1942 – 1945”, in Ernest C.T. Chew and Edwin Lee
(eds), A History of Singapore Singapore: Oxford University Press.
Lee, Ting Hui (1956) “Singapore Under the Japanese, 1942-1945”, originally written
1956:http:www.knowledgenet.com.sg/Singapore/shf/e_journal/articles/
EJV1ART03.htm
Low, Ngiong Ing (2004) When Singapore was Syonan-to Singapore: Singapore: Times Book
International,p.3.
Ministry of Community Development, Oral history Department. (1986) “Syonan, Singapore
Under the Japanese: A Catalogue of Oral History Interviews”: Photoplates Press
Limited
Ministry of Education, Curriculum Planning and Development,(1999) “Chapter 6: The
Syonan Years: Surviving the Horrors of War”, in Understanding our Past.
Singapore:Federal Publications
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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Profile of Interviewee
Name
:
Mdm. Sze Ai Di
Age
:
73
Dialect
:
Hokkien
Place of Birth
:
Singapore
Address during
Japanese Occupation
:
Long Chuan Kampong at Yio Chu Kang
Occupation before
marriage
:
Seamstress
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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Transcript of Interview
 The questions in the interview were asked in Mandarin, the interviewee (Mdm.
Sze) answered in Hokkien.
 Her daughter was our interpreter when she used difficult Hokkien words.
 The interviewee tends to repeat herself during the interview.
1. Mdm Sze., how old were you during the war?
I was only a child, I was born in 1921. (Her daughter clarified that she was born
in 1931). I remember the “Japanese ghost” ((日本鬼) when they beat us. They
bombed us at night, I remember because I was already sleeping. I was
awakened by a loud thunderous sound, like thunder. Soon everyday there were
sirens.
2. There were already sirens in Singapore? Was it very loud?
Yes it was very loud. The airplanes would fly and the bombings would be anytime.
The worst is when the sirens would sound of when we are in the toilet, and we
have to run quickly to the bomb shelters. We dig holes in the ground and on top
we put sand bags. Trees would fall during the bombings and lucky for us at Long
Chuan, we are alight. At first I thought that we were playing a game, hiding under
the ground. I soon found out that a war was going to happen when we had to
move in and out of the shelter many times. The elders in the family were also
very tense and scolded us when we made too much noise or laughed. We had to
cover the shelters, there was once when the sand bags exploded too. The
“Japanese ghost” have no mercy, they tortured us for 3 years and 8 months. You
know a girl your age can be easily captured and taken away by them. There are
girls in our kampong who were taken away and they never returned. One
returned but she could not walk properly. The “Japanese ghost” should all be well
dead. We had to close down our provision shop; they crashed everything they
see in the shop. We sold rice, flour, dried mangos, preserved ones, ikan bilis,
cigarettes, peanuts, mushrooms, sugar, salt. We sold many things. They took
away things that they like. Nothing remained but because my grandfather was
smart, we hide our things in parts of the forest (“suan ba”) and also in the bomb
shelters. They are very fierce, all our bottles of “Kiam Sng Tin” (Chinese
preserved fruits) were crashed. They are inhuman.
3. What happened then? What do you eat?
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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No food, no, we didn’t have enough food, there was never enough, my
grandfather sold dried rice in tins. We lost the shop, every time they come, they
crash everything and destroy everything. We decided not to open the shop. My
grandfather and uncle sold vegetables we grow in our backyard on pushcart. You
know the kind which is made of wood and wheels. The “animals” would also
crash them and we have to remake again. You know it is so difficult to find
anything to make a cart. We must always say “a-li-a-to” and “sho-nan-to” and
bow. We have nothing, even chickens and our pigs, they would shoot them. They
would ask us to cut up the meat and let them take away. The part where the pig
was shot, the black part, they leave behind for us. My mother would always give
me her food. My grandfather also sold the “centipede grass” (Direct Hokkien
translation), it grows wild in our forest, we sell them to those who need to held
their wounds.
4. Centipede grass? How does it look like? What is dried rice?
Rice that is dried in the sun, centipede grass is about this size (about 10cm), you
have to cook it to use it. We didn’t really eat dried rice, we ate tapioca, war where
got rice? We need to also queue up for rice. The “Japanese ghost” who want to
kill us give us rice. Luckily we have tapioca, we were all very thin not like people
nowadays.
5. Did you know of anyone who suffered greatly during the war?
Everyone suffered, there was no day, no night. My grandfather was beaten up
several times. My step-sister was raped by the “Japanese Ghost”. They shouldn’t
have come back to Singapore from Malaysia. They came back and stayed at Lim
Chu Kang. She died many years ago. She died of something that has to do with
woman’s problem. (Confirmed that she died of womb cancer with Mdm Sze’s
daughter). They took her away, I heard that she was too slow, all the women ran
away but she was too slow and was caught one “Japanese Ghost”. They are
inhuman. They went to ransack the house. They couldn’t find anything. After that
my father arranged for her to be married to a man older than her, a widower
much older than her. They have two children. The two children have their families
now. Even before she died, my step-sister would tell me what happened to her.
They dishonour our women.
6. What about traitors? Have you ever been to a mass screening centre?
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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No, of course not, with those “Japanese Ghosts” around, we are not allowed to
go anywhere, we were afraid, when they come to our house, I would hide,
somebody would tell us if they are coming but when we don’t have time, we hid
anywhere. I hide in our brick stove. Now thinking about it, I was very brave,
luckily, they didn’t light a fire or anything if not I would be dead by now, they
come to our house, thrash and destroy everything, making loud noise. They
shout at my grandfather and uncle asking for women in Japanese. There was a
man usually who translates into mandarin what they say. It was frightening and I
had to cover my mouth in the stove, I was so afraid to that I would shout. We
were trembling. Always afraid that they come after us. We may come out and
then after that they would return again you know. My grandfather and uncle, they
are man but they were beaten by the Japanese soldiers and slapped. If they are
not happy, you get slapped.
7. So there was a traitor who translated for the Japanese?
Ya… that “walk dog (Chinese word for traitors) who worked for the “Japanese
ghosts”. The Malays, everybody says the Malays are the traitors, there was a
Malay man who ran into our kampong one day and he said that he was chased
by some Japanese soldiers and need a place to hide. One man in our kampong
says that he calls him a traitor and somehow many people beat him up. My
grandfather was there too and he asked them not to beat him. We gave him
water and show him how he can get to the main road without letting the other
kampong people know. In the end, he returned the next day with several
“Japanese Ghosts”. He pointed out the good people and bad people. Those who
beat him up were captured and taken away by the Japanese and they never
returned. My grandfather and those who saved him were alright. That’s why,
never trust the Malays and the “Japanese Ghosts”. The day their head died, our
whole family was so happy.
8. The head of the Japanese army?
The head, the man who put us through our misery for 3 years and 8 months. He
was hang… we had a big celebration and had chicken. Back then, to eat chicken
was a big thing, not like now when you can eat chicken anytime. No such thing
as frozen chicken or Kentucky. Because of him, the women suffered. Life was
terrible; you know they used to throw women off their car after they have raped
them. They have to walk home from the main road, you know from the main road
Memories of the Japanese Occupation
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to walk into the kampong is very far. They will have bruises all over their body
and can barely walked.
My mother, aunties, nieces and I, we never go
anywhere, just stay at home.
9. Mdm. Sze, your father must be upset about your stepsister’s misfortune
during the Japanese Occupation?
Yes, he was. My mother is his second wife and my mother has a sweet
temperament unlike his first wife. My father wanted to bring us with him to
Malaysia but his first wife created a lot of problems for us. My mother decided to
stay back. She didn’t like us and in the end when her daughter was raped by the
Japanese, we took my step-sister in to stay with us. They didn’t want the
neighbours and her relatives to know about her plight.