Wednesday, June 24, 2009

How the locals were treated by the Japanese

During the Japanese occupation, the locals, especially the chinese, were cruelly and brutally treated by the Japanese. They had a grudge against the Chinese as they had helped China in their fight with the Japanese. This “favouritism” is evident throughout the whole of the occupation, but mostly so with the system called Sook Ching, or purge through purification.
The Japanese used Sook Ching to “purify” the locals so as to not have anyone daring to go against them. Secret informers were all over the island, ready to offer up their fellow people to the Japanese just so that they could keep their heads. Chinese men between 18 and 50 years of age were called to report to mass screening centers. When the informers were asked by the Japanese to point out traitors, they would randomly point their accusing finger at anyone. Those selected would then be rounded up and led to a deserted place, where they would be made to dig a hole, which would serve as their grave when they were shot. Those Chinese who were very desperate to save their own lives disguised themselves as Malays or Indians to avoid the scrutiny of the Japanese. Eventually, the Sook Ching massacre of ethnic Chinese claimed between 25,000 and 50,000 lives in Malaya and Singapore.
Compared to the Chinese, the Indians and Malays had had a much easier time with the Japanese, though those who the Japanese thought to be going against them were also dealt with severely. Thus, the locals lived in fear and distrust at that time. This was because they could not be sure of who was working for the Japanese and who was not.
The locals also faced a shortage of food and other necessities like medicine as the Japanese also took over most of the foodstuffs and other goods for the use of their army. Due to the food shortage, ration cards were distributed in order to limit the amount of food each person could buy each month. As the war progressed, the amount of food one could get each month decreased. In order to make up for the lack of rice as a staple, tapioca, sweet potatoes and yam were used as substitutes. They could be grown in gardens, and soon consumed during breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, many people still suffered from malnutrition and diseases as they did not have well-balanced meals.
Transport was another big problem for the local people during the occupation. The amount public vehicles dwindled and cars ceased to be available except for the Japanese as there was a lack of good quality petrol to run the vehicles. Bicycles soon became the preferred and most common mode of transport.
There was also widespread propaganda towards the local population. Schoolchildren with young, tender and impressionable minds were taught Japanese and made to sing the Japanese national anthem. They tried to remove the western influences and promote the Japanese cultures and values.
The Japanese usually had very harsh answers to those who were caught committing crimes. For instance, thieves were shot or beheaded, and their heads were put on display at public areas to serve as warnings to potential law-breakers. Anyone passing by a Japanese soldier would have to bow and show their respect towards them. Even children were not spared, for those who forgot to do so would be hit in the forehead by the Japanese.
However bad the Japanese occupation was, though, it was instrumental in Singapore’s push for independence. Due to the abandonment of the British, Singaporeans were forced to live the next three and a half years of their lives in hardship, terror, distrust, poverty, hunger and darkness. Perhaps, if the Japanese had not attacked, we might still have been a British colonial state. We might still be in danger of being deserted and left to fend for ourselves, without any proper means of defense. Thus, we are now independent due to the years if darkness spent as “The light of the South”, or Syonan-To.

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