Japanese Occupation- Dato' Param.pdf - Malaysian Paediatric ...

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leaves, sweet potato and ubi kayu and kangkong. When I was hungry I would roast a ubi kayu in the hot simmering coal fire, and savour it, while sitting on the door step of our house, looking at the traffic passing by. We some times got a treat when our friend, who worked with the Japanese, brought over this delicious glutinous Japanese rice with stuffing’s of mushroom called mochigome. Wheat floor was not available, so my mother used to improvise. She would boil sweet potato, and then mash it to a fine paste, and then make roti chanai with it. It was a big hit, and our neighbouring friends, Tuan Peng and Tauler looked forward to this delicious improvisation of my mother. I still dream about this delicious roti that my mother used to make. The Japanese occupation brought families and friends together, as they struggled to make ends meet. The camaraderie amongst neighbours was special. We happily shared our little ‘kueh’ with each other. On a night, when there was a full moon, the elders gathered their chairs and sat on the moon drenched terrace in front of our house and, while we children ran around playing “Hide and seek,” they enjoyed their juicy gossip. There was no traffic on the road in front of our houses after sunset, and we ran around freely hiding in the bushes around, and enjoying our game. Medical service was provided by the Butterworth General Hospital run by Dr.Danaraj (later Tan Sri Dr.Danaraj). His house was in front of ours, but he was a very private person. One night, I was having high fever, and my father asked my eldest brother to take me over to his house to see him. When we arrived at his house, and my brother sheepishly asked him if he could see me, he pointed to the Hospital and told us “Go to the hospital and never ever to come to my house”. That night my fever was very high and I was delirious. My brother then went over to our neighbour, who was a dresser(now they are called H.A) and asked him for help. He promptly came over carrying his ‘doctor’s’ bag and after checking me over, decided to give me an enema to bring down the fever.It worked and I eventually got better. The only antibiotic available was sulphadiazine and even that was in short supply. Aspirin(Aspro) was the only antipyretic available. But we survived in spite of these limitations. We were relieved when Dr.Danaraj was replaced by Dr.Saravanamuthu who became a close friend of the family. But we made sure we always saw him at the Hospital and queued with the general public. There were always rumours circulating about anti Japanese elements, trying to over throw the Japanese. After the war we came to hear about Force 136 and its role in British plans to retake Malaya. One evening my 2 brothers were at Butterworth Mitchell Pier having a cup of coffee and a fag (that was the cool name for a cigarette. My father would have killed them if he saw them smoking). Suddenly, as they looked over towards the Butterworth Wharf, they saw a Japanese ship, which was carrying cattle and horses, on fire. The horses in panic, were running around wildly. Some were even jumping overboard. Soon there was mayhem at the Pier. Everyone was running for their lives. The small Butterworth Bomba (fire brigade) was called, and made a brave attempt, at trying to put out the fire. When my brothers realised the danger they were in, they dumped their cigarette, jumped on their only bicycle, and with one on the pillion seat, cycled with all their might to get back home. As they came into the house they were screaming. “Big trouble. The underground have detonated a Japanese ship”. Will there be reprisals by the Japanese. Then, that night about 9.00pm, we heard a loud explosion that rattled our house. This was followed by the sky being lit up like a giant fire work display, with burning cinders and smoke. My mother grabbed me and my youngest sister, shouted to all the rest, to run through the back door to our air raid shelter. By now the air raid shelter was crowded with all the other
esidents from our government quarters, all quivering with fear. There we sat huddled together praying. That was my mother’s answer to dealing with any crisis-pray. It took some hours before we felt it safe to get back to our house. The explosion we had heard was caused by the boiler of the ship exploding. The next few days, we could see the Japanese Kempeitai were very active. They were searching for possible insurgents who could have planned this attack. There was also a rumour going around that they had found horse meat inside the fish caught around Butterworth. For months no one ate fish. We never ever got to the bottom of who was responsible for sabotaging the Japanese ship, , but there were strong rumours that it was the work of Force 136. In 1942 , Capt.Mohan Singh, a P.O.W , who was later joined by Resh Behari Bose were the architects who planted the nucleus for the Indian National Army in Malaya. 1943 Subhas Chandra Bose, was called in to head the I.N.A and with the co-operation of the Japanese ,recruited Indian British Army prisoners of war in Singapore. They then went on to recruit Indian Nationals from Malaysia. This army, with the help of the Japanese, was to oust the British from India. A women’s section was also formed called Rani of Jhanasi Regiment named after the Rani Lakshimibai, the Rani of Jhansi, who played a leading role in the Indian Rebellion against the British in 1857.They started recruiting Indian women in Malaya. Most came from middle class families and women rubber tappers , eager to serve in the cause of the motherland. These women were then sent to Singapore for combat and nurses training. Chandra Bose on his tour of Malaya, did visit Butterworth, and spoke in English at the Indian Association, and my father was invited to translate his speech to Tamil. One day, 3 women from this army turned up at our house. I was thrilled to see these women in uniform and wearing the Indian army cap. My father invited them in, thinking they were going to ask for a donation.(In any case he was not going to part with his hard earned money)My mother made her famous ‘teh tarik’ for all of them. I sat by the front door, on the floor, my favourite seat, feeling the cool breeze from the sea, and tried to listen to the conversation. Then suddenly I saw my father’s face turning red and angry. It then became clear that they were there, trying to recruit my sisters for the army. My father got up and then politely told them to leave. He then told them, in no uncertain terms, he would never ever agree to allow his daughters to join their army. He also then told them not to come back. The attempt by this Indian National Army (with the Japanese Army), to defeat the British in India was a disaster. They went as far as Imphal. Many men and women died long before they reached India, not only from injuries from the war but from sickness in the appalling conditions they faced. They then retreated to Singapore where they finally were disbanded. Chandra Bose escaped on a plane which later crashed and he died from the injuries he sustained. If Bose had been successful, the course of Indian history may have taken a different turn-maybe there would not have been a separation. We were however thankful my father took a stand, and may have saved the lives of our sisters. Now to touch on the currency used during the occupation. Soon after the Japanese occupied Malaya, the Malayan Dollar, issued by the British, was discontinued and the Japanese started printing their own currency. They initially printed 1, and 10 dollar notes with the word ‘The Japanese Government’ and in English, the word ‘One or 10 Dollars’. The 10 Dollar note had the Motif of a Banana Plant and soon every one was calling this currency the ‘Banana Note’ or in Malay “Duit Pisang”. Later when the Japanese ran out of money they started printing 100 and 1000 Dollar notes. The value of this currency kept dropping
Page 1 and 2: The Japanese Occupation of Malaya-
Page 3 and 4: The invasion of Malaysia began with
Page 5 and 6: Japanese film at the Cathay theatre
Page 7 and 8: That evening, the family took a wal
Page 9: We children had to entertain oursel
Page 13 and 14: Then one afternoon, while my friend
Page 15: 7.PaulH.Kratoska:War and Occupation

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