There was much hype about the two British navy warships – the Prince of Wales and the Repulse. They were nicknamed the HMS Invincible and were used to guard the entrance of the island. On land, there were the Australian Armed Forces and the Gurkha troops from India. Both were foreigners and came just before the war. You can see that though they were good fighters, they were not familiar with the terrain of the country. In addition, there were the volunteer groups who had the basic training to guard the country in case of emergency. To combat the bombers, there were the anti-aircraft machines built at a certain height. I could see that all there were null and void to serve the original purpose. They were like white elephants because the enemy planes could fly higher or lower before they cast the bombs. With all these at hand, the majority and the British government thought that Singapore was as strong as rock of Gibraltar and could not be conquered. But events took a change.

When the first bomb was dropped in Singapore in 1941, my second uncle, his son and my brother were in the Southern Hotel at Eu Tong Sen Street on a business trip (now Yue Hwa, Chinese Products Pte Ltd). We were all very relieved when they returned home safely after three days. They told us of the incident of how they heard the loud bang and the noise outside. They were not afraid thinking it was an air raid practice till they stepped out of the building and saw the mess with debris all over the place. They even switched on the lights till the first aiders told them not to do so. I did not take the matter seriously as at that time, I was young and innocent. My mind was set only for the coming Senior Cambridge Examination (equivalent to the present day ‘O’ levels)

But after my last paper on Dec 1941, on my way home, the streets were all deserted, quiet without a soul or vehicle on the road. I felt very uneasy, wondering what had happened. You can fathom my inner feelings at that time. I did not know what to do, as that was my first experience of the great disaster though I had heard and read about what happened in China when the Japanese invaded the northeastern part of China earlier on when I was in Chinese school.

My heart went pit-a-pat and almost jumped out of my mouth. I only wished I could find someone to talk to but this was not until I reached home. My second uncle’s family had moved to Muar. My elder brother had gone to his mother-in-law’s house with the family, leaving my mother, my youngest sister cum brother and myself. As there were only four of us in the house (all females and a teenage boy), we had to ensure that the doors and windows were securely shut and locked. The staircase board for the back staircase was let down to prevent intruders. There were two staircases in the house. There was chaos at that time. Many turned to looting. Many of the neighbours’ houses were cleaned out literally as the owners had evacuated.

To protect ourselves, we had brooms, sticks, gong, hammer and anything we could lay our hands on to be our weapons. My mother told us to make as loud a noise as possible whenever we heard any voices and asked everyone to get up and be ready. This was only a coverage so that the uninvited guests would not enter the building to harm us thinking there were many people including males indoor. How frightened I was at that time. If only the secret was unveiled, you could imagine what would be the consequence. I was young, inexperienced and did not realize the danger. I must thank my mother for her wit that we pulled through safely.

I was at home waiting for my fiancé to take me to Singapore to be married. My marriage was arranged on 27 Dec 1941. My father-in-law though conservative, wanted me to complete my studies instead of stopping halfway. I was in Standard 7 (equivalent to Sec 2). Thus my fiancé came to pick me up for the Big Day after the exams. At that time, I was considered to be old as most girls were married between the ages of sixteen to eighteen. If they had passed these ages, they would be regarded as ‘old maids’, ‘left on the shelves’ and ‘unwanted goods’.

We came to Singapore by a taxi as there was no air flight. This was not the first time I visited my in-laws’ house at Hougang, as I used to spend my school vacation in the house. This time round, everything was different. Everywhere, it was quiet, silent and in darkness. Everybody did not talk much. The doors and windows were shut, locked securely and the crevices were sealed with paper to prevent lights from shining out. The lampshades too were covered so that its light only shone in one direction (i.e. downwards). This was to prevent being spotted by the enemy.

At my age, I had never seen an air raid shelter. This was the first time I saw it in the open space next to the house. It was homemade with planks for seats, pillars and the ceilings. There were two doors leading to the shelter, one on either end with steps leading down. It was dark, gloomy and stuffy when occupied. The roof was covered with earth and there were big trees around to form shade and protection. Due to my shortsightedness, I had to be doubly careful when I had to enter the shelter. If I missed one step, I would be slipping down and thus hurting myself. I prayed silently and hoped nothing of this nature would happen.

Whenever the siren sounded announcing the arrival of the enemy plane, everyone in the family would run to the shelter and wait till the coast was clear before returning home with peace in mind, yet at the same time still wondering when the siren would sound again.

There was also a well nearby and this became the main source of water supply during the Japanese Occupation when the water was cut off. The place was used to keep cows to supply milk to the neighbourhood. Only a few people stayed there – a Chinese lady, a baby and a servant. They shared the same shelter with us.

Life was hard and uncertain, not knowing when the siren would sound. My father-in-law had foresight as he stored bags of rice, provisions, ikan bilis, salted vegetables and salt in the house; and urns of soybean paste in the garden. He had to feed twenty mouths in all. The soybean paste would be scooped out and put into a big pot to boil. After cooling, the sauce was then stained and put into bottles ready to be used. The paste would then be put back into the urn and salt added for future use. The urns had to be opened whenever the weather was sunny to prevent them from getting mouldy. This became our main source of food as shops were closed and there was a shortage of food supplies which jacked up the price.

Owing to the damp weather, the stored rice had to be taken out, sunned, sieved and removed of maggots. This was my first time seeing maggots and how the sieving was done by my mother-in-law. The portion sieved out would then be saved to feed the poultry and piglets later on.

My father-in-law also had something else stored in the attic. It was aspirin. Medicine was expensive and hard to get in those days. Also, he kept British currency and jewellery in a biog urn, which he then buried, deep into the ground. There was not safe deposit box then. All the currency came in useful as he sold them for Japanese currency or what was commonly known as banana money to keep the family going and to buy property. $100 Straits currency could be exchanged for as much as 5000 – 6000 Japanese currency.

My wedding was held as scheduled on 27 Dec 1941 but it was a quiet one because no one knew when the siren would sound. It could be anytime. My sister was the only representative from my family as she too came out from Malacca to get married. All the girls then tried to settle down before the Japanese came. The wedding was supposed to be a happy occasion but due to the war, everything was simplified. It was a home affair as nobody dared to venture out to attend the simple ceremony. I was very sad, homesick and did not know what my future would be. After the wedding ceremony, I was all alone in my bridal room while everyone was downstairs. I felt lonely, deserted and frightened. But luckily, there was to be no siren till late that night.

There was no radio nor television nor other means of communication. The news of the arrival of the enemy came from the British armed forces. The enemy advanced from the north, via Thailand, the then Siam and moves southwards down the Malay Peninsular. The British army was taken by surprise and did not put up a fight. They retreated to Johor. When crossing the Straits of Johor, the enemy swam across with the help of coconuts as their form of disguise. The British had disconnected the suspension bridge earlier on.

As the defence force did not know the geography of the island, they could not do anything but retreat. On the contrary, the Japanese were in Singapore long before the war as merchants. They were the ones who supplied the spying intelligence. When war broke out, they adorned the military uniform and went to fight. This difference between the British army and the Japanese army was why Singapore fell so easily.

Before the war, the Japanese were in Singapore as merchants in Waterloo Street, Middle Road and the neighbouring area. The area was then collectively known as Nippon Street due to the number of Japanese there. Just before the bombing, their families had returned to Japan so that the males could serve the country.

Nobody dared to go out and food was scarce. Luckily for us due to the foresight of my father-in-law, we had porridge, instead of rice, with salted vegetables and soybean paste to keep us going. Many starved to death due to the lack of food, water supply and medicine. Another lucky thing was that there was a vacant land near the main road, across the house. There was also a well there and my husband, third uncle and his son together with fourth uncle stayed in the wooden hut at night and came over for food. They planted tapioca, sweet potato and green vegetables. This was where I started to rear three piglets with the capital from my mother-in-law who also helped me to prepare the fodder consisting of banana trucks, tapioca leaves and anything left over. I had to carry the fodder in a pail twice a day from the main house across. I wore clogs as we could not afford to have slippers, let along buy shoes. It was tough walking up and down the slope with a big stomach and a pail of fodder.

Before the war, my father-in-law suggested that the two married sons with their families to go to the rubber estate in Johor so that all would not be killed at the same time. However, my elder sister-in-law said that if it was fated to die, all should die together. That was why we did not go. Yet tragedy struck.

My third uncle, my father-in-law’s brother was in the estate all the time. He had a family of sixteen and all were massacred except my third uncle and his eldest son. The teenage boy was scolded by his mother and ran out of the house. On returning home and having understood the matter, the father went out to look for his son and thus both were saved.

The worst was not over. The British had surrendered and the Japanese were now in control. We had to use Japanese banana money and the Japanese language was taught in schools. Of people wanted to survive, they had to learn the Japanese language to communicate. We also had to bow at least sixty-five degrees or even lower whenever we saw the kempeitai soldiers. Those who failed to bow low enough were kicked, slapped or even killed.

At that time, whenever the Japanese came to the house, the males would entertain them with food and drinks and see to their needs. The females had to run for shelter and were forced to hide without being seen by them in the attic, using ashes and paint to smear our faces as a form of disguise. I was also made to wear my mother-in-law’s clothing – the samfu which was broad and high-necked and characterized by sleeves stretching out to the elbows. In addition, I also wore black trousers. As such, I “aged” considerably so. To get up to the attic, we stacked two stools together to climb up the wall of about 10 feet. When the Japanese left, we would then climb down. I never met the Japanese face to face or else it would have meant danger. They were capable of doing anything.

Climbing the steep wall to reach the attic was challenging and dangerous. But at that time, the only main though on my mind was to escape from being seen by them. There was nowhere I could hold on to support myself in the climb except by placing my hands on the wall. If there were a slip, then I would have suffered quite a severe fracture as the staircase was nearby. The attic was dark, gloomy and stuffy as it was not meant for human beings. Again, had I missed a step and trodded on the asbestos, then I would have fallen down from above and ended up with injuries or even be dead. I was in tenterhook as I have never in my life climbed such a height before.

The soldiers came in dirty uniforms and in groups. They would then have their bath and later washed their uniform, which were laid out on the floor to dry. Then they would come out totally naked to eat the food. Before they left, they would adorn themselves with the dry clothes and not hesitate to take whatever they could find, ranging from watches, mosquito nets, pillows, mattresses, blankets and clothing. There was the saying that the Japanese were very good mannered (always saying arigato and bowing) but poor in shape. In Chinese, they call it ‘You Li, Wu Ti’.

During the occupation, the roads were narrow, muddy and dirty. Transport was simple. There was only the tram running from Upper Serangoon Road 5^th Mile to Clifford Pier. On most occasions, it would be very crowded. There were two sections in the tram – the small portion which was more expensive than the rear one. One only paid a few cents to get to town. To avoid the jam, my father-in-law used to walk to Upper Serangoon Road 6^th Mile to get on the tram.

As life was difficult and uncertain, I had to do many things which I had never done before. First, I had to do my own laundry including the double bed linen with my two bare hands. At home, the servants were the ones who did the chores. My duty was only to study. There was no such invention of a washing machine then. My tears automatically rolled down my cheeks when I realized what I had to face. Yet on second thoughts, I had to control my emotions in front of the other members of the family. It was tough.

Another thing I learned to do was to grind rice for cooking. The grinder was a flat, circular stone that turned on an axle. It was placed on a wooden box while the operators sat on low stools on either side; one to feed the grinder while the other did the grinding with both hands on the wooden handle. At home, I never did such a job. If we needed anything, we could get it from my elder sister’s noodle shop. Being a big family with more than twenty people to feed, we had to do everything ourselves as it was more economical. The rice was first washed and then soaked overnight. The next morning, the grinding began. My grandmother-in-law would feed the grinder and another did the grinding holding the axle. I did it with much difficulty and felt very tired and worn out.

For the first time, I saw the condom made by the Japanese in the rubber goods manufacturing factory in Paya Lebar. My elder brother-in-law brought home some, and his five year old son used to blow it up or filled it with water just like a balloon.

The bombing and noise made was deafening. I remembered thinking everything was calm and clear. I was in the garden then. Then suddenly, there was the loud thundering noise from above and the whole ground shook as though an earthquake was approaching. At that crucial moment, I had the sense to quickly lie down flat on the ground until everything was over. The story was that the bomb was supposed to have been dropped nearby but due to the existence of a temple and a mosque on the main road, the enemies missed the target and thus we were saved.

At night, I could hear the moans of screaming and crying as the women (both young and old) were raped by the soldiers. So no one could imagine the kind of life I went through as compared to the present one. One could not blame the Japanese as they had to satisfy their six basic needs – air, water, food, clothing, shelter and lastly sex. Then there was the censure at certain checkpoints where the Chinese males aged between 18 to 50 had to go and report. If they were found to be suspicious or anti-Japanese (i.e. supporting the Chinese government in their war efforts earlier on in China), they would be signaled aside while the others marched clear past. Those who were detained were then put on lorries to be sent to the East Coast where they were shot. The site is near where the present St. Andrew’s Community Hospital stands (the old St. Andrew’s Orthopedic Hospital). The people living in that area said that they could see the long queues of people, both young and old, males and females passing the area at night.

There was to be no stealing at all during the Japanese Occupation. If any one was found guilty, he and his family would be killed and their heads hung at Market Place or Clarke Quay as a deterrent measure. I did not actually see what happened, but the hearing was enough to give you the shivers and goose pimples.

Food rationing came in the form of bread and noodles. The amount given would depend ion the size of the family. The bread was hard as rock and the noodles soaked in red palm oil.

Due to the shortage of water supply, poor sanitation, food and over crowding, many diseases were prevalent. Examples were pulmonary tuberculosis, malaria, diarrhoea and many other infectious diseases to name a few. Beri beri was very common due to a lack of Vitamin B as most lived on tapioca.

Parasites were common too. I remembered I had louse too. Louse is a small, flat, wingless insect living and feeding on the bodies of animals and men. The eggs were called nits. They were white in colour and transparent. There was no scientific treatment at that time. I used the traditional treatment using a fine-toothed comb to comb the hair after it was soaked in kerosene oil. I had to be careful or the nits would fall all over the place. The nits were then put between two fingertips and pressed to test if they were empty or still able to live. After that, the nits were disposed off and wrapped in a piece of paper.

I was homesick and worried about my family in Malacca, as I had no news from them at all. But no news meant good news. There was no television or telephone and the mail service was poor, as all letters were said to be censored first by the Japanese. The good news came when my father-in-law sent my husband on a business trip to Malacca together with me. I was very much relieved on arriving home to see that everyone was safe and sound. My youngest sister was married. My younger brother was dispatched to Thailand (the then Siam) to build on the railway from Thailand to Malaysia. It was nicknamed the ‘Death Railway’ as very few made it back alive, including my younger brother. He died due to the hard work, poor food, sanitation and the climate. My mother told me how the few tins of biscuits I sent home saved her from starvation. The biscuits were produced by the Thye Hong Biscuit Factory in Alexandra Road. My father-in-law was the agent for it. There was no transport so manually peddled tricycles were used to transfer the goods from Alexandra Road to Telok Ayer Street. It was a hard and tedious job. I was then in town and came home during the weekend.

The news came that the Americans had joined forces with the British as an Allied Power. Then news came that two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This led to the death of many innocents and the Japanese then surrendered. Before the signing of the treaty and the return of the British administrative system, more killing was carried out. The victims were the people who were too excited upon the impending return of the British.

Peace came at last. Though the transitional period was short – three years and six months, life was hard. I was transformed from a carefree, happy-go-lucky schoolgirl into a young pregnant widow, as my husband died of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Author: Lionel L. Orated by Tan S S (25 August 1999)

 

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