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

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