Transcript for the Oral Interview Project
Profile of the Interviewee
Name of the interviewee
: Mr Mohd Amin Bin Haji Sirat
Nationality
: Singaporean
Age (in 2003)
: 82
Language Spoken
: English/Javanese/Malay (Interview was done
in both Malay and English)

Can you briefly describe to me a bit about yourself, maybe right up to the
start of the Japanese occupation?
I was born in 1921, that makes me 82 years old this year. Just before the
Japanese Occupation, I was staying with all my extended families; parents, 8
siblings, aunties, uncles, my grandparents. You see, back then, families usually
tend to stay in the same kampung area, in my case, Jalan Datok. I received
formal education in a Malay school, till Grade 6. Back then, Grade 6 was
considered a good foundation in education. I was recommended by my teacher
to further my studies in an English school but my late mother did not approve of it
so I had to work part-time, as a ‘coolie’ to help out a shopkeeper to carry his
supplies to his shop. That would be my source of income when I first started
working. When I was eighteen, my friend in a company called Asiatic Petroleum
Company or APC, as you know now as Shell, offered me a job as an oil tanker
driver. I started with a very minimum wage, barely enough to cover for cost to
buy food and provisions.

So how was life before the Japanese occupation, in your opinion?
Of course, there were hard times where I had to endure with very little income for
my own self because most of the money that I got as my salary would be used to
support my family. There’s also the hardship of work, I would go to my
destinations on foot, regardless of its distance, because I had not much money,
and sometimes, there’s insufficient food source. Everything was expensive so we
had to live by what we could afford. But it was definitely a much better
environment as compared to the difficult and torturous times of the Occupation.

How old were you when the Japanese occupation first started?
I was about 22 years old then, I was still working for APC. I wasn’t married yet.

Did you receive any ‘rumours’ about Japanese invasions and if you did,
please describe to me, your personal account.
Yes, I think most people actually did. Everyone was nervous and intense about it
because we would hear something about the advancements of the Japanese
through Malaya and towards Singapore and how close they were getting to us.
There were very little signs which shows that the British, Australian and other
soldiers were able to put up a good resistance against them. Normally, I would
hear it from word of mouth, sometimes through radio broadcast and newspaper. I
would often gather around with my family members, colleagues or friends and we
would all have a chat on our concerns and worries. I remembered the day before
the first bombing, word was passed around that the Japanese invasion was
inevitable and that we had to prepare ourselves for the worst.

What were your feelings and thoughts at that moment?
Men too have fears. I was afraid of what the Japanese would do. Would they
harm my family? What do we do now? Are we supposed to leave our houses and
take shelter somewhere else? If we do need to take cover, where do we go?
What about food and provisions? What will happen to Singapore? All these
questions raced through my mind at that time. Hearing all the brutal accounts on
what the Japanese had done to the Americans and other Prisoners-of-war made
me feel terrified and endlessly worried about my fate. I could remember so
clearly the days where I had sleepless nights due to all my endless worries.

How was the reaction of people around you and prior to the Invasion, was
it intense?
Oh yes, my whole family are quite the rowdy and cheery sort. But I could
remember how the atmosphere back home was so solemn, so tensed. Everyone
was very worried, especially the women; I guess everyone couldn’t imagine the
reality that war was so close to home then. By this time, not many people dare to
go out of their homes unnecessarily, fearing unexpected attacks from the
Japanese. I could remember one of my colleague at work who refused to go to
work, giving the reason that he fear he might never see his family if he left them!
As for me, like it or not, I still went. By this time, everyone was trying to tune in
regularly, to radio broadcast or by reading the papers, for any news regarding the
Japanese tactical moves.

Can you describe to me your account of Japanese bombing of Singapore?
Well, the first bombings that I could recall, if I’m not mistaken, was the one
around Killiney Road and Orchard. I was at work when I heard the news. What I
could remember was the air raid siren that was aired. Work momentarily stopped
on that day because of the chaos. My colleagues and I tried to seek shelter in
one of a small, safe house near our work place. I remembered being terrified and
praying hard nothing bad happens to us. I guess not knowing what to do made
fear even more intolerable. I didn’t really go down to the bombing site but I did
hear from some colleagues that it was really a terrible state, there were quite a
number of people were killed while others who were lucky, survived with serious
injuries. Buildings and structures, which were affected, were beyond recognition.
I think it was then that the next few days, APC closed down temporarily and
shifted near the Naval Base. Everything came to a standstill but yet you can see
the panic and confusion everyone was in…I guess most of us were fearful of the
safety of our family members. The only words I can think of to describe the
situation then is, major chaos.

How about the situation with your family, was anyone hurt or affected by
the bombing?
No, fortunately enough, no one was. By the time I got back, I remembered my
father, uncle and everyone else were sort of preparing themselves…

What do you mean by preparing? Did you mean preparing to leave the
house and seek shelter elsewhere or…?
No…not leaving the house. My father was dead against leaving home. I guess in
his mind, he was headstrong, he would rather stay at home and face ‘fate’. I
remember him saying something like, “If it’s God’s will that we have to face death
now, running away won’t do us any good.” So we prepared for the War by
stacking up whatever food and provisions that we could get. I remembered by
then, everyone was doing the same thing. Dad advised everyone not to go out
and stay indoors and most of the time, right throughout until the British surrender,
nobody did. Luckily, we were safe from being attacked.

What were your feelings like when the British finally surrendered?
Sad, of course. Disappointed but yet, not really shock about the surrender. I
guess, at first, I had the impression that the British could somehow put up a good
resistance against the Japanese. But looking at the Japanese swift invasion into
Malaysia (then called Malaya), the invasion of Singapore seemed quite
inevitable. From what I know, the British seemed unprepared to fight against the
Japanese, maybe due to lack of soldiers, poor tactics…well, whatever it is, it was
obvious that the British was struggling pretty hard to prevent the Invasion.
Honestly, when the British surrendered, I think everyone felt lost and didn’t really
know what to expect.

Can you share some of the experiences that you have seen/encountered
when the Japanese first took over?
It was really tensed, my heart was pounding hard almost every minute I see a
Japanese soldier. The first time they came to my kampung area, everyone hid in
fear, all behind closed doors. My kampung area consist of not only the Malay
community, there were also some Chinese as well as Indian families living there.
The Japanese came into almost all houses, demanding to know who lives there.

Could you understand what they were saying?
No, not always. Most of the time you just have to guess what they are saying by
looking at their hand gestures.

Alright, please continue…
Yes. They wanted to know who were staying in the house. Fortunately for my
family and I, none of us were taken away. We were only told to hand over
whatever provisions we had, like rice and my father’s and uncles’ bicycles were
taken away. There was nothing we could do because we were all afraid of what
they might do to us if we did not comply. Unfortunately, most of my Chinese
neighbours were told to board Japanese trucks, which later, I found out, were
brought to a mass screening centre for questioning. I’m not quite sure what are
the exact questions that they were asked but I guess it was a way to identify antiJapanese people. From what I know and I guess this is true, the reason why the
Japanese took away civilians who are mostly Chinese is because of the
difficulties that they had to face when they invaded China and they believed that
the Chinese here had some how helped China in the War. Some lucky ones
escape while others who were suspected to be anti-Japanese were brought to
Changi Beach and some other places to be shot to death. Although it wasn’t one
of my own family members, I always imagined to myself what they must have felt
like being taken away. Some of them were screaming because of fear, some had
to be dragged away. I had a Chinese friend who had a daughter. The Japanese
took both of them away and ever since then, neither both came back. I never did
get to know what really happened to them. (Pause) Terrible what the Japanese
did. They never showed mercy to anyone who refused to comply. You can be
sure of facing brutal torture, possibly to death if you don’t. I have never seen
more sadistic people compared to the Japanese soldiers back then. (Pause)
They also tortured the British soldiers and those who supported the British and
made them prisoners-of-war. These poor soldiers must have suffered a lot. I
heard many died from diseases and malnutrition.

Can you describe to me some of the experiences that you encounter
during the Japanese Occupation?
I was not working during the first few months of the Japanese Occupation.
Despite that, I met and married my late wife within the first year of the Japanese
Occupation. About two months after I got married, my brother-in-law suggested
to me to work as a driver for the Japanese officers at the Seletar Airbase. I hated
the idea of working for them but I knew I had not much choice; I had to get
income and food for my family and working for them gave me the opportunity to
do just that. I wasn’t allowed to come back home because the Japanese officers
feared that we would leak out any form of information. But I did get the chance to
send rice and other provisions for my family. I could recall driving the Japanese
officers around with miniature coloured flags to indicate the rank of the officers;
yellow for Higher ranking officers, followed by red and then blue, which is for the
Japanese Inspectors. I had to learn to master some simple Japanese words. The
first few times when I started working, I was frequently kicked, punched or
slapped for failure to do what was told to me, despite that it was apparent that I
could not understand what they had told me to do. There was once when the car
I was driving had a punctured tyre, probably it had driven over a sharp stone or
something. The officer scoffed angrily at me and blamed me for it. He used his
baton and hit me continuously on face and head and I was bleeding profusely. I
remembered by the time I got back to the Base, my whole shirt was stained with
blood. I knew that if I had retaliated, I would have been shot dead.
A few months had passed and I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing my wife
and family. I decided to escape from the Base. It was fate that one day, during
the Rice ration where I manage to convince a fellow driver to smuggle me out of
the camp. I hid amongst the gunnysacks and lucky enough that day, there wasn’t
any inspection. I got down just before the Ration points (place where the rations
take place) and walked all the way back on foot. Again, I was lucky not to be
discovered and I was never caught by the Japanese.
Situation at home was bad because food was insufficient. There were days
where we would go without food and most of my family members fell terribly sick
quite often. We had to medicate ourselves with whatever we have. When we do
have food, it would usually be a very small portion of rice and sweet potatoes.
There were very rare instances where we had meat. I had to stay at home most
of the time because of fear of being seen.

What were the sights that you could remember when you did go out?
Example, places, people…etc.
The instances where I need to go out was when I had to get traditional Malay
medicine from a friend of my mother’s. I would see Japanese flags and posters
that promote Japanese propaganda. I could remember clearly once I had to pass
by the old Cathay theatre along Dhoby Ghaut. There were heads that were cut
off and displayed on tables. This was one of the Japanese ways of threatening
those who oppose or doesn’t comply and those who were thinking of committing
crimes. Throughout the Occupation, I have seen and heard many horrible sights
of brutality and torture of people. We all lived in fear, we never know what may
happen to us.

What could you recall about the surrender of the Japanese?
From what I could remember, the American’s bombing of the Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in 1945 seemed to mark the surrender of the Japanese. But there
wasn’t an immediate handover of Singapore. I remembered that many people
were again faced with uncertainty of what will happen to Singapore next.
Everyone was very anxious. It was very chaotic also because everyone was
trying to steal things, food and anything else they can get their hands on. I
remembered that there were also chaos amongst the people. Those who were
suspected to be an informer or had help the Japanese in any way were brutally
beaten or killed. It took quite a while till the British actually returned to Singapore.
All the Japanese soldiers and personals were captured. There was a parade too
to mark the surrender.

What were your personal feelings then?
Very happy, of course. I remembered that my family had a big prayer gathering
and that was one of the first few times everyone was chatty and cheery! We had
to practically live in fear for three years. It seems like you have your freedom of
life back. But then, I was also concern at the same time because of the chaos
and felt uncertain what will happen next.

How was the situation like back under the British?
I wouldn’t say that it was good but it was certainly so much better than being
under the Japanese. There were many problems that we had to face. For
example, there was still insufficient food supply for my family. We had to endure
with food rations. Even then, food was still scarce. The worst situation was the
change in currency. What happened was all the banana notes that were used
during the Japanese occupation were no longer valid for use. This caused a
huge problem because my family had no other money besides the banana notes.
We had to find means and ways to sell or do butter-trade with shopkeepers in
order to pay for what we want. I remembered that I had to walk a very long way
to a market to sell my watch, clothes and whatever things I could sell in
exchange for British currency or foodstuff. Many people had no jobs then and
that made it worst because that meant that there was no income.

Were there steps taken by the British to improve on the situations?
Yes, there was. There were some steps in dealing with the food shortage by the
introduction of food rationing. They did also help improve by introducing jobs for
people.

How were you improving your own situation?
I was paid by APC for my work just before the Occupation. I did eventually join
APC back as an oil tanker driver til the 1970s. I tried to find extra income by
doing part-time odd jobs as a labourer to help support my family. By 1946, I had
my first child so I had to work a bit harder. Life was still tough back then but
nothing could be compared to life during the Occupation.

How did the Occupation affected your view in life?
It taught me to be independent and how I should treasure my loved ones even
more because I was not allowed, as I mentioned earlier, to see my wife and
family for several months.
The Account of A Malay Man Before, During and After the Japanese Occupation
The Japanese occupation was a defining moment for Singapore’s history.
It was a time where the people suffered the most under a Supreme rule and it
was an event which proves the British futile effort to make Singapore live up to its
name as an ‘impregnable’ fortress. It was also a time of turbulence and
uncertainty.
This essay will focus on the account of a Malay man living through the
period prior, during and post Japanese Occupation. We will also be looking at his
personal perceptions and compare it to the historical records found in resources
that has been examined and used.
Mr Mohd Amin Bin Haji Sirat, who was born in 1921, had lived through
many significant events, which has happened in Singapore and around the world.
His wise insights and vivid recollection throughout the interview has closely
followed what has been documented in most historical record. There were
instances where he gave his own perceptions while relating to the recount.
Throughout the interview, there were many instances where he displayed his
distressing emotions while reflecting on the ordeals. Being a Malay man in the
society at that moment was not quite as hard on him as compared to what a
Chinese had to face. But he had his share of suffering too, particularly as a man
who is greatly depended on by his family. Many of his accounts are quite similar
to most of the normal civilians who had gone through the Occupation.
The period before the Occupation was already hard on Mr Mohd Amin and his
family. As he had described, he had to endure life with very little income, often
had very little for himself. He had also described the endurance of having to
reach his destination by foot and the insufficiency of food source, both showing
prove of people’s hardship at that time. This is highlighted in historical records
where such were examples of what normal civilians had to face, particularly
because it was encountered during the same period of the Great Depression.
This was a period of very bad business conditions, which started in the United
States of America that affected countries around the world. This had affected
trade and business, means bad economy for the country and also low
employment rates, where it would leave many jobless and without income.
Prior to the bombing and Japanese invasion, the news of Japanese
advancement and the possibility of the invasion that he heard from live radio
broadcast or had read from the newspapers arise alarming concerns and a
tensed environment for him and the people around him. He expresses his own
personal feelings and thoughts of the possible Japanese Invasion; Men too have
fears. I was terrified of what the Japanese would do…feel terrified and endlessly
worried about my fate.
He remembered how he would often gather around with family members,
colleague or friends and chat on concerns and worries. Again as stated in some
historical records, daily live radio broadcast and newspaper articles did supply
people with the update on the movements of the Japanese. However, I found a
discrepancy in one * article, which stated: “The government also went to great
lengths to maintain public calm by making highly optimistic pronouncements and
heavily censoring the Singapore newspapers for negative or alarming news.
Journalists' reports to the outside world were also carefully censored.” Whether
which one is true, people might have already expressed their concerns and fears
judging from the swift Japanese attacks in Malaya.
He also described a personal account of the Japanese bombing of
Singapore, how chaotic the situation was with the air raid that was aired and
people who were trying to seek shelter. He mentioned hearing from his colleague
how terrible state the bombing site was with some people killed and others left
seriously injured. It was stated that the Japanese did drop the first bombs on
Singapore on the 8th December 1941.
After the bombing, he and his family did not seek shelter anywhere else.
Instead, he and his family went to prepare for the War, stacking up whatever food
and provisions that they could get and he remembered that everyone was doing
the same thing. This was again apparent in many historical records where the
situation was unruly and chaotic and that everyone was rushing to get as many
resources as they can. When the British finally officially surrendered, he
mentioned his sadness and disappointment but he said that the surrender was
inevitable because from his point of view, the British seemed unprepared to fight
and was struggling very hard to prevent the Invasion. This is true based on most
historical fact that the British was unprepared as they were fighting another war
in Europe and they underestimated the military forces of the Japanese.
He also mentioned that when the Japanese took over from the British, they did
try to restore order by stopping people from looting. But they also showed a bad
example as they themselves took away the peoples’ properties like his father’s
bicycle and other provisions and claim them as their own. These incidents should
be highlighted in most of the historical records.
The Japanese were said to inspect each house, identifying who was
occupying the house. The Japanese were said to leave the Malays and the
Indians alone but the Chinese were taken away to a mass screening centre to
be questioned. He was glad at that time that his whole family was left untouched.
He had concluded that the Chinese were taken away because the Japanese
believed that the Chinese here had offered assistance to China when it was
invaded. Those suspected to be involved would be brought to Changi beach and
be shot. These true accounts are some of the main highlights during the
Japanese occupation, as quoted,:.* “It is hereby declared that the recent arrests
of hostility and rebellious Chinese have been carried out. It goes without saying
that they are indeed so-called traitors. Thus it is most important thing to sweep
away these disloyal Chinese elements”
Besides the Chinese, the British soldiers and those who supported the
British were captured and made as prisoners-of-war. Besides that, he also heard
that they were treated so badly until some died of malnutrition or diseases. Many
historical records seem to indicate that the Japanese also imprison the British,
Europeans and also Australian women and children and that they were sent to
various camps that also include the Selarang barracks.
His personal accounts with the Japanese were evidences that the
Japanese were quite strict with their own principles and made people suffer,
regardless of the race. Both incidents, first was repeated case of not able to
follow order, only because he didn’t understand them and the second one, for
‘humiliating’ the officer for having a punctured tyre, shows the unjust treatments
people had to go through under their rule and how the Japanese did not entirely
spare the Malays and Indians. As quoted, **“ The Japanese didn’t care whether
you are a Chinese or a Malay. At road blocks, if you don’t bow to them properly,
or if you couldn’t answer their question, they would slap you.” Life was very bad
under the Japanese; he wasn’t allowed to go home, the ration that they would
give will be very little, very often not enough. People were forced to follow the
Japanese propaganda and failure to do so would result receive their
consequences. He added the fact that it was during the Occupation that he was
exposed to horrible sights of brutality. There were evidences of pictures included
in historical records of the heads that were cut off and displayed. This went on for
the 3 years.
He could recall that the event that marked the end of the Japanese
occupation was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and there
wasn’t an immediate handover. By then everything became chaotic again as
everyone started looting things, food and anything that they could get their hands
on. Those who were pro-communists were beaten up or even killed. There
wasn’t any law and order during this period right until the British returned to
Singapore.
Despite that, he highlighted the joy and also the anxiety of people around
him, regardless of their race. He even had a big prayer gathering with his family.
To him, it was like getting freedom back. As they say, “ Seeing the British was
like seeing a long-lost wife.”
The return of the British, from his perception, wasn’t completely smooth
from the start. There were many problems that arise. For example, there was
insufficient food supply for his family. They had to endure with food ration, which
was still insufficient. The change in currency was another huge problem faced by
him and his family. When the British returned, they declared that there would be
no use of the banana notes. His family had no other types of money left so they
have to find means and ways to sell their belongings to get things that they need.
He had to fend for his own family and his first child too so he went back to try and
get his old job back to earn some income. He even volunteered to do labour jobs
to earn extra money. He did agree that the British did take effort to help improve
the situation eg. (Introduction of food ration, introduce relief grants) but it was a
slow process to getting back the life before the invasion of the Japanese.
Almost everyone would agree that the Japanese Occupation was the dark
years in Singapore’s history. It reflects the sufferings of the people, regardless of
race, just like Mr Mohd Amin who went through quite a torturous time under the
Japanese, despite being a Malay. But the Occupation was also a time for the
people to reflect how precious life is and it was one of the factors to the idea of
Singapore’s achievement to independence.
References:
1) SE Asia Under Japanese Occupation:
http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/asia_singapore2.html
2) Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education.
Understanding our Past: Singapore from Colony to Nation. Federals
Publications(2001)
*. Adapted from “Declaration of the Chief of the Syonan Defence Headquarters of
Nippon Army”, The Syonan Times, 23 February 1942
**. Adapted from an oral history account in the Japanese Occupation 1942-1945
by Tan Beng Luan & Irene Quah
http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/research_dates.htm
http://ww.s1942.org.sg/
http://www.multimedia21.com.sg/md392b4/matthew/main.htm
ETL 201: SELECTED HISTORY TOPICS FOR PRIMARY
SOCIAL STUDIES
ORAL HISTORY:
The Account of A Malay Man Before, During and After the Japanese
Occupation
Name :
Siti Aisha Bte Juraimi
Matric No:
020342B24
Tutor :
Dr Ang Cheng Guan
Tut Grp:
3
Day/Time:
Friday / 1030-1230