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

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And finally the day came when normality was regained, and it was safe for us to return to our house in C 5 Bagan Luar Road. My father resumed his career as a Senior clerk. For extra income, my mother made some ‘kueh’ which my younger sister would lay out in front of the PWD Office, and sell it for a few cents. She, with her pretty face, and captivating smile, soon became a successful entrepreneur. We got used to seeing Japanese soldiers walking around, and soon my second brother started to make friends with some of them. The first batch of soldiers who were involved with the early assault had moved on to other battle fronts. Their replacements were more friendly, and cultured ,and tried very hard to get on with the locals. One such friend was a 21year old foot soldier named Awayagi. He used to visit us on his off days, bringing rice for my mother. He would then take off his shirt , and start pounding the rice to make rice flour. My mother would be seated in a stool next to the mortar(ural in Tamil), and would shift the rice with each pounding on the mortar. I would sit next to my mother on my small bangku and watch the proceedings. They refused to let me help. Awayagi would be sweating but laughing, as he had never done this in Japan. After this, and after sieving all the rice powder into another container, my mother would get him to grind chilli. The poor guy, with tears flowing down his cheeks, and still laughing would finish the job in a jiffy. Then my mother would seat him down, and give him a large plate of cooked rice, and Indian curry which he would eat with relish, all the time complaining “Karai neh Jotu neh”“Very spicy but very good.” I remember one Sunday morning Awayagi, turned up looking very happy, as it was his off day. He wanted to take my brother aged 12, my sister aged 8, and me aged 6, to Penang for a fun day. My parents knew him to be a responsible person, and consented. We put on our Sunday best, and set off with him. We arrived at Butterworth Mitchell Pier, but were disappointed to find the Ferry had left. We were told by the ticket collector, it would take another 3 hours before this ferry returned. There was only one ferry plying between Butterworth and Penang. We could however take one of the sampans that were waiting at the beach. Awayagi asked us if t was O.K. with us and we agreed to take the sampan. We thought it would an exciting experience.(These sampans were manned by Indian Muslims from India- that is how they got their name ‘Mamak Tongkang.)As we got down to the beach, we were hustled into one of the sampans, by a tall Indian Muslim, in a green sarong, and a red colourful shirt. Awayagi paid the fare, and we sat down with the other passengers, and we soon took off. We were to cross the Malacca Straits, that separated Penang from Butterworth-a distance of at least 3-4 miles. The Sampan man bent his back, and started rowing with all his might, sweat dripping from his forehead, as we sat under the burning sun. Fortunately there was a slight breeze to cool us .When we were half way across the sea, suddenly the boat began to rock. We could see the waves had started to rise, and far away, we could see the early signs of a storm cloud building up. We became frightened. The Sampan Man, (he told us his name was Ibrahaim, and he was from Madras,) reassured us that all was well, and he had done this trip a hundred times. We held each others hand, and started to pray. The journey must have taken a few hours. When we finally arrived in Penang we were completely exhausted, but relieved the nightmare was over. Awayagi seeing how distraught we were, put his arms around us, and told us he was going to give us a special treat. He was taking us to have the best ice cream in Penang. We then took a bus to the famous ‘Wing Look’ Restaurant, next to the Police station on Penang Road. And there we had our first ice cream ever(my father had never allowed us to eat ice cream. He believed, because of the possible contaminated water used to make it, we could contract typhoid).The taste of the icecream was heavenly. We took our time savouring every spoonful of this delicious sweet. We then saw a
Japanese film at the Cathay theatre, and heard for the first time the famous hit Japanese song Shina No Yoru (later translated to the hit English song China Nights) which we later used to hum daily. After walking around Penang Road, we decided to return home. Fortunately we managed to catch the ferry on our return trip, and got home safely. I am not sure if our parents ever got to know about our escapade on the sampan with Ibrahim, over the Malacca Straits. Later, when I was schooling in Penang, and made this trip across the sea daily, in the comfort of the ‘S.S.Bagan’ ferry ,I used to sit and look out at the sea, sometimes quite rough, and find it hard to believe we three children had crossed this sea on a little sampan. Even now I get shivers thinking about it. Awoyagi became a very close friend. When Japan lost the war, and the Japanese Army was leaving, he rang our neighbour Dr.Saravanamuthu to speak to us. My sister ran over, and over the phone he was sobbing. Japan had lost the war and he was leaving the next day. He had always believed the Japanese war machine was invincible. He never contacted us after he left. Inspite of many attempts by us to contact him in Japan, we failed. Then miraculously, the impossible happened. In 1981 some Japanese ex soldiers who had fought in Malaya, were planning to visit Malaysia. When Awoyagi heard about this trip, he was keen to join them. Over the years, his family had heard him talk about this Navaratnam family in Malaya, who had looked after him like a son, during the war. This was his one hope of reuniting with them. The family encouraged him to go. He first wrote a letter to the BRC Club in Butterworth, asking about the whereabouts of the Navaratnam family. It was fortunate that there was an old man there, who remembered us, and passed the letter to my brother. My sister whose Japanese was still good, wrote back to him giving all the details of our address and how to contact us when he arrived. My brother got in touch with all of us, and organised a reunion in his house. When Awoyagi arrived in Penang (the group was staying in Merlin Hotel) he immediately got in touch with my brother, who then drove up to pick him .There he found Awoyagi , standing in the foyer of the hotel, carrying 6 large Japanese dolls, he had brought all the way from Japan, for the 6 of us.(My sister had informed him both our parents had passed away. And there were the only 6 of us.)It was a tearful and joyous reunion. Soon my eldest brother and my eldest sister were conversing with Awoyagi in Japanese. I was amazed to see and listen to my eldest sister, as she rattled of in fluent Japanese. My sister-in-law had been instructed by my brother to prepare some of the dishes he used to like. He ate heartily, but a few missing front teeth were giving him some problems. He was still crying out “Karai neh Jotu neh”. As I watched him, I realised we had all aged. I still could remember, sitting on my bangku, watching this tough young Japanese soldier with rippling muscles, dripping sweat, effortlessly pounding rice for my mother. How she would have loved to see him again. He then related to us what had happened to him after he left us in August of 1945. After he left Butterworth, he was sent to a Prisoner of War camp in Taiping. There, he spent 2 years before being sent back to Japan. He said he was too ashamed to get in touch with us, especially after telling us the Japanese army was invincible. After some years in Japan, he got married and had 2 children. He told us how every day, his wife and children had to listen to him, talk about this Navaratnam family in Butterworth, who treated him like a son, and how much he wished he could visit us. And it was god’s will that his prayers were answered. The next day, I had organised dinner at my place, and my wife prepared some Chinese dishes which he enjoyed. We finally bade him farewell, and that turned up to be a final farewell. He died soon after his visit to Malaysia. His daughter Riko rang my sister to inform
Page 1 and 2: The Japanese Occupation of Malaya-
Page 3: The invasion of Malaysia began with
Page 7 and 8: That evening, the family took a wal
Page 9 and 10: We children had to entertain oursel
Page 11 and 12: esidents from our government quarte
Page 13 and 14: Then one afternoon, while my friend
Page 15: 7.PaulH.Kratoska:War and Occupation

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