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

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as we were flooded with ‘duit Pisang’. At the end of the war it was worthless. Those shrewd people who had kept the Malaysian Dollar hidden over the years were now able to use it. Unfortunately we were not the lucky ones. Most of 1944 passed by without incident. I got into a routine of school, lunch, and play, dinner and sleep soon after. We had no distractions to keep us awake-no T.V., no radio. I was 8 years old, and had learnt a new skill of making sailing boats. I used to sail them at the dilapidated Golf club near my house, during rainy weather when it used to get flooded, or in the drain next to it, carefully weaving my way around the many crabs with their colourful eyes sticking out of their head, looking like double headed ETs. Thankfully I never ever met a snake. Then suddenly in late December we began to hear the drone of planes high up in the sky. Then in early January the bombing began. Penang was bombed first, and later the planes used to bypass Penang to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. We soon learnt these were the latest B29 Super fortress of the USAAC flying from India. The earlier flights they made were to take aerial photos. While in school, and when we heard the air raid siren, we were to run to the air raid shelter at the end of the school field, under the coconut trees, and hide. We however spent most of the time, out of the shelter, looking up at the sky to spot the B29 planes. We found this great fun-no classes and the thrill of seeing these planes. In any case, the air raid shelter used to smell of urine, thanks to the kampong boys, who used it as their personal toilet. We got back to classes once the all clear was sounded-to our disappointment. Surprisingly, none of us were ever scared. The ‘hush hush’ gossip around the house was the British invasion of Malaya was imminent. ‘Black out’ at night was implemented. This meant we had to cover all the windows with black cloth, and only use oil lamps for lighting. We could hear the security guard at night, checking on houses, and shouting when he spotted a visible light. We soon learnt to eat with this dim light, and spent most of the evening outside on the terrace, feeling the cool breeze from the sea. It always amazes me, as I look back, how children are so adaptable in times of stress. We now know the planning for the recapture of Malaya began soon after the British lost the war. The clandestine British Force 136 was established by the British who were left behind, after the Japanese occupied Malaya, and was further enhanced with the arrival of the others. We also know that the Force 136 signed an agreement with the Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Party on December31st 1943 to fight the common enemy –the Japanese. They provided vital information to the SEAC British in Colombo. We also know that XX Command had flown over Penang and Kuala Lumpur taking aerial photos of vital Japanese installation earlier before the bombing. The British submarines had also picked up Chinese fishermen in the Straits of Malacca for interrogation. This was a well planned invasion and reoccupation of their lost colony. In passing, during the December meeting, the MPAJP insisted that the word reoccupation should be changed to re-entry-they were worried that the British would go back to their old colonial ways. They were hoping the British would hand Malaya over to them, and they could form the Democratic Malayan Government-which was always their stand. The Penang Shimbun kept their propaganda going, insisting the Japanese had shot down many of the B29 Planes.
Then one afternoon, while my friend Say Tuan and I, were sailing our boats in the drain next to the golf club, we heard the loud sound of a low flying plane. We looked up, and we saw this huge plane flying very low over my house, and suddenly the ‘belly’ of the plane opened, and out came hundreds of paper, which I later learnt, were called pamphlets. We picked up our boats, and rushed over and joined the crowd that had gathered, and we managed to pick a pamphlet each. Then, I could only read Japanese. This was in English. I carried it home shouting in excitement at what I managed to retrieve. My father took it from me and read it and his face showed relief. I still remember his words addressed to my mother “The war is over. Japan has surrenderd unconditionally.”He then sat down by the open door, looked out , the sea breeze gently ruffling his fine hair, and began to reflect what this would mean to all of us. The original plan was for the British to invade Malaya in late Sept.1945. Force 136 and the M.P.A.J.P would lay down the ground preparation to control the roads. Then on August 6 th . the Americans with their B29 ‘Enola Gay’ dropped the Atomic bomb code named ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima and B29 ‘Bockear’ 3 days later the Atomic bomb code named ‘Fatman’ on Nagasaki. The devastation both these bombs caused would haunt the crew of the planes for the rest of their lives. The controversy, whether it was really necessary to use the Atomic Bombs , when we know the Japanese were on the point of defeat, still rages on. On August 15 th Emperor Hirohito, in his speech to his people, said Japan accepted the provisions of their (USA, Britain, China) Joint Declaration and went on to say “However, it is according to the dictates of time and fate that We have resolved to pave the way for a grand peace for all generations to come, by enduring the unendurable and suffering what is unsufferable”. The word surrender was never used. Many in Malaya heard it on Air India. The Japanese soldiers were devastated. As I mentioned earlier, Awoyagi rang that evening, in tears, to inform us about this shattering news. The Japanese left on the 25 th August, all Japanese shops in Penang closed down on the 27 th , the British war ships arrived in Penang on the 29 th and the British occupied Penang on the 3 rd of Sept with a formal ceremony at Swettenhem Pier on the 5 th . I remember , soon after the declaration of surrender, one evening, seeing the Japanese army marching past our house on the way, I know now, to the Prai Railway Station, to be taken to the Taiping Prison. They only had their bag packs-no guns. We looked out for Awoyagi. When we spotted him, he kept his head down, as he passed our house. I was told not to wave at him as it would embarrass him. Soon after, the British soldiers arrived, and some of them occupied my school. We used to stand below the balcony of the school, calling out to them, and they would throw down sweets, chocolates and ‘chewing gum’, something we had never seen before. They showed us how to eat them and reminded us not to swallow them. They were very friendly and enjoyed the company of us children. Soon things began to fall into place again. My father went back to work in the District Office, with a Eurasian Mr. Stewart as the D.O. Some time later, school reopened and we began a full syllabus of all the subjects in English. Because I could speak English well, I pretended to read the nursery Rhyme given to me to read, and I was immediately given a double promotion. My eldest sister would go back to a English Teacher’s training college. The rest of us were back in school. The sudden realisation that the Japanese occupation was over, took sometime to sink in. As the days went by, it soon became a memory- for us it was a mix of fond memories and hard times. I will always remember Awoyagi, dripping with sweat, pounding rice for my mother, and later eating my mother’s
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 and 10: We children had to entertain oursel
Page 11: esidents from our government quarte
Page 15: 7.PaulH.Kratoska:War and Occupation

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