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NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

Diploma in Education (Year 2)


July 2002 Intake

ETL 201 Selected History Topics for


Primary Social Studies

Assignment:
Life of a Chinese woman throughout the
years 1941-1945

Name:Rita Gupta

Matric No :020312D24

Tutor: Dr Ang Cheng Guan

Day&Time:Monday 12.30-2.30pm

18TH OCTOBER 2003

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LIFE OF A CHINESE WOMAN FROM THE YEARS 1941-1945

The Japanese Occupation lasted for 3 and a half years. Till

today, the older Singaporeans still vividly remember the darkest

period of their lives. Untold millions suffered throughout the war

until August 1945 brought the Japanese surrender and release.

I had the opportunity to interview Oh Choo Neo , a Straits born

Chinese woman for this oral history project. This essay depicts the

personal memory of Oh Choo Neo throughout the years 1941 to

1945. Her account of these years is similar to historical information

on the same period that is presently available as published historical

records. The major highlight will be the changes in her life

throughout these years and the significant events that she vividly

remembers till today.

Oh Choo Neo was a young girl of 17 in 1941. She was born in

a well-to-do family. Her father sold black silk and they could easily

afford luxuries and was living a life of comfort in their wooden-type

bungalow. Most of the straits-born Chinese were educated in English

and had a higher standard of living than the other Chinese

community. At that time, Singapore was growing in importance as a

port and trading centre. Singapore was the most important port in

SEA and the 7th largest port in the world and the booms in tin and

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rubber in Malaya and the discovery of oil in Borneo and Indonesia

enabled Singapore to

grow and prosper.1

Singapore was enjoying good economy. Thus there were a

number of people who were rich, Oh Choo Neos family being one of

them.

Madam Oh was not concerned with politics at that time, as

she was still young. She was not the only one. Majority viewed the

political affairs of Malay and Singapore with little interest because

most were illiterate. However one main issue did capture their

interest. That was the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Singapore

communists activists had organised fund-relief activities to aid

chinas war effort. Madam Oh had remembered some of these

activities taking place in the streets. The activities involved boycotts

of Japanese goods, demonstrations, donations, sales of flags and

paper flowers and events such as concerts and variety shows. 2

Madam Oh remembered that her own brother-in-law had donated his

wedding ring in aid of China.

Although she was not interested in political affairs, she did

remember how the radio had announced that Singapore was

impregnable. Alarmed at the Japanese aggression against China in

the 1930s, the British built a Naval Base in Singapore. The base was

(1) Jim Baker, Crossroads, A popular history of Malaysia and Singapore, 1999, Times
International, pg 204)
2 Occupation 1942 1945, 1996, Times
(2) Tan Beng Luan, Irene Quah, The Japanese
Edition
finished in 1938, and so Singapore was widely thought to be

impregnable.

The base, completed in 1941 and defended by artillery,

searchlights, and the newly built nearby Tengah Airfield, caused

Singapore to be ballyhooed in the press as the "Gibralter of the

East." The floating dock, 275 meters long, was the third largest in

the world and could hold 60,000 workers. The base also contained

dry docks, giant cranes, machine shops; and underground storage

for water, fuel, and ammunition. A self-contained town on the base

was built to house 12,000 Asian workers, with cinemas, hospitals,

churches, and seventeen soccer fields. Above-ground tanks held

enough fuel for the entire British navy for six months. The only thing

the giant naval fortress lacked was warships. 3

However, the impregnable fortress shook when the first

bomb was dropped in Singapore. Madam Oh had remembered that

the bomb dropped at around 4 am on December 8 1941. It was the

day of her O level examination. The bomb was dropped in town

and the second one closer to her home. War had begun.

The British then surrendered on Feb 15 1942. The next 10 to

20 days were chaotic everywhere. There was widespread

lawlessness and looting and panic. Madam Oh recalled how the

Japanese went to Chinese houses and took away the men.

(3) http://www.1upinfo.com/country-guide-study/singapore/singapore25.html

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No one ever came back. The Japanese had resented the local

Chinese as Japan and China had been enemies for years. The

Japanese visited homes in random to forage for supplies and

amenities. The soldiers helped themselves to anything that they

liked. 4

The atrocities committed by Japanese include massacre,

raping and the cruelest tortures. The women especially had to hide

themselves to being found and raped by the Japanese. They had

very short haircuts to pass themselves as boys. Madam Oh herself

was almost a victim. She had managed to escape but unfortunately,

her 14-year-old cousin and sister-in-law was not as lucky. The

Japanese raped them.

Madam Oh has also witnessed the Japanese rounding up

Chinese men with the pretext of giving them jobs. However this

could not be verified with historical records. What could be verified

is that men were ordered to register themselves. This was called the

Sook Ching.5 Most people were picked up for questioning and loaded

into lorries and taken to killing grounds where they were machine-

gunned and bayoneted. Many people had disappeared without a

trace.

Life became very hard for Madam Oh and her family then.

They plunged into poverty. They had to queue up for everything.

(4) NI Low, When Singapore was Syonan-To ,1995, Times international, pg 3


(5) Tan Beng Luan, Irene Quah, The Japanese Occupation 1942 1945, 1996, Times
Edition 4
Food shortages were the main feature of life during these

darkest years of their life. It occurred because imports of food had

been cut off by the ending of Singapores entrepot trade.6 Rationing

was introduced for rice and grains. The Japanese had seized all

stocks of rice, sugar, salt, flour and milk. They were put under the

control of Kumiais. However these was not enough. Most people

turned to land cultivation growing. People drew tapiocas as an

additional source of food. Madam Oh described the bread to be as

hard as stone and noodles were like rubber. During the Japanese

occupation, noodles were not made of rubber. They looked like

plastic and transparent when made and was very tough.7

After settling down, to restore law and order, the Japanese

military police or Kempetai was formed. The Kempetai would behead

looters they caught and display the heads for public viewing. Due to

fear, the streets were peaceful as they were no crimes taking place.
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There was also shortage of medicine and other medical supplies

during the occupation years. Madam Oh had gotten pregnant after

her marriage in March 1945. She suffered from beriberi when she

was pregnant. The lack of medical supplies was supported by

historical

(6) Jim Baker, Crossroads,A popular history of Malaysia and Singapore, 1999, Times
International)
(7) Tan Beng Luan, Irene Quah, The Japanese Occupation 1942 1945, 1996, Times Edition
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(8) Tan Beng Luan, Irene Quah, The Japanese Occupation 1942 1945, 1996, Times Edition
records. 9

People also turned to black market for additional income.

Madam Oh was the sold-breadwinner in her family after her father

lost his shop. She worked as an assistant nurse in a hospital despite

not being trained in nursing. She had plenty of encounters with the

Japanese during her days in he hospital. She describes them then as

being nice people, which was quite a contrary, to what most

historical records wrote. Then she changed her job to become a

salesgirl in a Japanese company that deals with imports and

distribution. That was when she became involved in the black

market. She tampered with the sales record after selling the goods

to the Japanese first. She recorded a higher sales figure than the

actual case, and then took the goods to the black-market to sell.

She could sell the goods at 10 times the original price. During that

time she described that almost everyone did black-marketing for

livelihood despite the heavy penalties associated with it.

The surrender of the Japanese was indeed a relied for

everyone. It marked the end of suffering for many people. Just like

everyone else, madam Oh was glad to have the British back.

(9) Paul H Kratoska, The Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1998, C Hurst & Co

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Conclusion

I am part of the younger generation of Singapore who had


grown up in a safe and secure environment and will not be able to
comprehend and feel the hardships of war. I will also never
understand the meaning of hardships, starvation and torture. This
essay has been an enriching one as I had the opportunity to talk to
a person who had gone through war and survived. Madam Oh
concluded our interview with her own personal thoughts. War is
not good as the innocents suffer. We must appreciate simple things
that we have, like food. I always tell my grandchildren not to waste
food. We must also treasure most importantly, peace. Dont take
peace for granted, especially for the young people who have never
been through war. And now when we hear other countries having
war, we must help them.

References

(1) Jim Baker, Crossroads, A popular history of Malaysia and Singapore,


1999, Times International, pg 204)

(2) Tan Beng Luan, Irene Quah, The Japanese Occupation 1942 1945,
1996, Times Edition

(3) NI Low, When Singapore was Syonan-To ,1995, Times international,


pg 3

(4) Paul H Kratoska, The Japanese Occupation of Malaya, 1998,


C Hurst & Co

(5) Lim Pui Huen, Diana Wong, War and Memory In Malaysia & Singapore,
2000, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

(6) http://www.1upinfo.com/country-guide-study/singapore/singapore25.html
(Retrieved on 16th October 2003)

(7) Rita Gupta, Transcript for the Oral Interview Project, 2003

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APPENDIX

Profile of The Interviewee

Name of Interviewee: Oh Choo Neo


Age: 79
Date of Birth: 26 July 1924
Place of Birth: Singapore
Race: Straits-Born Chinese
Dialect Group: Hokkien
Occupation: Retired Teacher

Transcript For the Oral Interview Project

Prior to Japanese Invasion of Singapore:

Before the Japanese Invasion, how old were you? What were
you and your family doing?
I was 17 or 18. I was a student. And I had just finished my O
Levels. Because the invasion happened during my O levels,
my results didnt come back until after the war. My father had
a shop selling black silk. My mother was a housewife.

Where were you staying before the Japanese invaded


Singapore? Who were you staying with?
I was staying in Geylang in a wooden type bungalow. I was
staying together with my parents, siblings and sister-in-law.

Before the Japanese came to Singapore, how did you and


your family feel about the Japanese invasion and
conquer of the other countries?

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No lah, I was young. My family and I did not bother about it.
My father was Chinese-educated and my mother was illiterate.
We were not concerned.
But I saw and heard anti-activities taking place in the market.
There was one man who was slashed because he was involved
in some Japanese activities. Another fellow had his ears cut
off. But these cases were very, very rare. People also raised
funds to help the China victims. There was a choir team that
went round singing. I remember my brother-in-law donated his
wedding ring. At that time, I felt mild resistance towards the
Japanese.

At that point of time, did you think the Japanese would ever
invade and conquer Singapore? Why?
I dont know, I was so young. I remember the newspapers
always said that Singapore was impregnable. I still remember
the word impregnable. The British soldiers were all dancing
away, having a good time.

Japanese Invasion of Singapore:

Can you describe your experience when you knew that


Singapore was first attacked?
I remember clearly it was Dec 8 when the Japanese
dropped the first bomb. It was 4 am. That was the day of my
exam. The bomb was dropped in town so I wasnt affected.
But another bomb was dropped. This was closer to my place.
My house shook. No one was killed. It just made a small hole.
Must be a small bomb.

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What did you and your family do during the attack?
We stocked up food and built an air-raid shelter using sandbags. My house
was not on the ground. It was built on 6 feet poles so we placed sandbags
all around. Whenever, we hear the siren, we quickly ran there.

Japanese Occupation of Singapore:

How did you know about the surrender of the British to the
Japanese? How did you and your family feel?
We got the news of the British surrender through word of
mouth. We didnt panic at first. But when we heard that the
Japanese had been pulling the Chinese out of their home, we
started to fear. Throughout the Occupation, we secretly hoped
for the British to come back and save us.

What was your memory of the first few days of the Japanese
Occupation?
There was no law and order in the first 10, 20 days. There was
chaos everywhere so we lived in fear not knowing what would
happen next. The Japanese went to the Chinese houses and drove
all the men folks out and asked them to go to the school field or
Padang. My Math teacher and some of my church friends were
taken away, never returned. Theyre all educated people.
We bought sugar, rice, and packed everything. We thought that the
Japanese would come and take us away but thank god nothing
happened. We were very lucky; they didnt come to our house to
check. It might be because we lived in a Malay area, or they just
picked out houses at random to check.
During the daytime, I heard they got people to catch chickens and
ducks and asked people to cook them. The Japanese then went into
their house and took what they liked.

During the Japanese Occupation, how did life become


different?

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A lot changed. My auntie and her family came to stay with us after
the Geylang English school, which was near their place, exploded.
Dont know why it exploded.
You have to queue up for everything. Dont have any shop selling
things anymore. Rice, sugar was rationed so we had to queue. It
was very hard to get food. Bread was like stone and mee was tough
like rubber. Rice was scarce. Luckily, my boyfriend worked in a bread
department. He didnt need to queue up and could bring the bread
back to us. We grew tapioca ourselves too, as there was not enough
food. Meat was very expensive, so we rarely ate them. But we still
could get fish or chicken at times, as we could get them more easily.
There was no dried goods, like dried anchovies, in Singapore. Could
only find it in Johor.
Cloth is also very hard to get then. When the Japanese boss gave us
a piece of cloth, we were happy like what.
And we had charcoal taxi, and even for the trolley buses, we
had to queue. Anyway, I cycled to work as it saved money. I
cycled alone to work. I found the streets peaceful, you cannot
find any crimes. The Japanese did not tolerate stealing and
robbing. If caught by the Japanese, you die ah! They will bring
you to the kempetai at YMCA, they would torture and kill you!

Can you also tell us how did your personal life become different?
During those lawless days, we wore clothes with patterns something
like striped pyjamas, very shabby. And I cut my hair really short.
Most girls did that so Japanese would think we were boys.
I also hid my valuable. My mother and I buried them all in the
ground.
I already had a boyfriend at that time, now my husband lah. We
were courting for 5 or 6 years. I didnt want to get married at first.
But I thought the Japanese wouldnt disturb me if I were married. So
I married in March 1945 and British came back in August 1945. That
was towards the end of war but how was I supposed to know when it

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would end, right. I shouldnt have gotten married. I was only 21 or
22. Then I got pregnant. And I never think ah. There were no
medical facilities at that time, and I got pregnant.

How was your livelihood?


My first job was as an assistant nurse. I dont know nursing but I was
still asked to assist the qualified nurse.
While I was working, I went to a Japanese school to learn Japanese
language. It was not compulsory. I just wanted to learn something
for myself. I can speak Japanese. I got a badge and also an
increment in pay.
Then I changed my job to become a salesgirl in a Japanese company
that deals with imports and distribution. I cant remember the name
of the company. There was a lot of embezzlement. We had to sell
the goods to the Japanese first, and we did hanky-panky with the
sales record. We recorded a higher sales figure than the actual case,
and we took the goods to the black-market to sell. Can sell 10 times
the original price! Almost everyone do black-marketing for his
livelihood. Not only the locals sell, Japanese do that too. They
bought one or two bottles of alcohol very cheaply, and re-sell them
in the black-market. You see, sometimes war turns peoples fortune
around. But I was very afraid to get caught. One day, one Japanese
soldier caught me, you know. I was called to the head-office. Dont
know what would happen. Luckily, a Japanese spoke up for me. I
dont know what was said, and they let me off. Now I talk about it, I
get frightened. You know, they could bring you to YMCA for stealing.
So my family lived on my black-marketing. I also did other sideline
like selling cakes.

So what did your family members do for a living?


Dad couldnt continue with his shop so no livelihood. The brother of
mine was so spoilt, didnt do any work. My mum set up a stall selling
oil and other provisions. My mother would also sell her valuables in
the black-market to get some extra money. There were a lot of

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people selling food. There were also gambling openly in the market.
The gambling was like people placing bets and they get beautiful
girls to roll the dice. Thats how people pass their time. Through
gambling and eating.

Did you have any unpleasant encounter with a Japanese


soldier?
Ya, it was 10 days after the Japanese conquered Singapore. A cousin
of mine was playing the gramophone. It was too loud and it
attracted 3 Japanese soldiers. They came twice. Once they only
checked under the beds and did inspection and went off. Then they
came the second time. They drove the ladies to one corner and the
men to another corner. I was with my cousins. One guard pointed his
gun at me. My mum pulled me back and he slapped my mum. I was
pulled away. As I was to know later, they pulled my cousin and
sister-in-law also. I was pulled into the kitchen. Actually when the
Japanese came to Singapore, we were all scared about the rape, one
day, I would pray 10 times. I went to the ceiling to hide during the
daytime and only came out at night. But that day, I had no fear at
all. I just knelt down and prayed Oh god, please have mercy on
me many times. He looked at me and pointed the bayonet at me
but I was not frightened. He did not push me or anything. He pulled
me up. I was still praying and saying out Oh god, please have
mercy on me. He was standing a distance from me so I quickly
unlatched the door and ran out to a plantation. He didnt chase after
me because it was nighttime, very dark. I went to my Malay
neighbours house and stayed overnight. My family thought I had
been taken away and chopped up or something. The next morning, I
returned home and learnt that my 14 year-old cousin and sister-in-
law were raped. My cousin was quickly married off to an old man by
my auntie.

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And was there any other encounter with Japanese? How were they
like?
Yes, I worked in the hospital. The Japanese, even those belonging to
the military, were all right. And those Japanese customers, whom I
served when I was a salesgirl, were very nice too. Basically, they
were nice people. They were said to be bad just because of the war.
I didnt have any other unpleasant encounter with the Japanese,
except for that rape incident.

Did you find that the Japanese treated the different races
differently?
The Japanese only find trouble with the Chinese. They know the
Chinese were against them, like the anti-Japanese volunteers. Thats
why they only drove the Chinese out for the registration, not the
Malays and Indians. In fact, the Malays and the Indians came and
loot. The Japanese didnt bother the other races. My neighbours
were all Malays. They thought we are also Malay. Thats why the
Japanese didnt come to my house to take my father and brother to
the registration. Like I told you just now, I ran to my Malay
neighbours house to hide from the Japanese. The Japanese wouldnt
disturb the Malays.

Was there any other significant incident you witnessed


during the Occupation?
No, but I have heard. When they first came, they hated the Chinese.
We heard they threw babies and killed them with the bayonet and
slashed pregnant women. Men were rounded up on pretext of giving
them jobs, but they were shot and killed instead.

Surrender of Japanese:

What can you remember about the surrender of the


Japanese?

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That day was like everyday. Everyone talked about the surrender. I
was relieved and happy that the British were finally returning. But
there were people who earned so much banana money that they
committed suicide when the Japanese surrender.

Finally, what have you learnt from the 3- years of Japanese


Occupation?
War is not good as the innocents suffer. We must appreciate simple
things that we have, like food. I always tell my grandchildren not to
waste food. We must also treasure most importantly, peace. Dont
take peace for granted, especially for the young people who have
never been through war. And now when we hear other countries
having war, we must help them.

I give permission for this work to be digitally stored and made


available by NIE for educational and research purposes.
Name: Rita Gupta
Signature:
Preferred Contact: 94872587
Date: 18th October 2003

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