The Japanese invaded us
It all started yesterday(8/12/1941)...I was woken up by the air raid sirens that sounded at about 4 in the morning. I thought it was a drill initially, but there seemed to be sound of bombs falling from the gloomy sky.
What's going to happen today...? I feel uneasy...
Sinking of our warships
Hiding from the Japanese
We have been living in fear because we have to hide from the Japanese army to prevent them from shooting and bombing us. Whenever a plane is spotted, we have to hide amongst the thicket of rubber trees in long, deep trench dug by families. To camouflage our hiding places, wooden planks were placed across the hole before grass patches were laid above us. We don't know when the sirens will sound so we led our life in terror every single day that passed us by...The British surrendered
The British surrendered 2 days ago(15/2/1942), we totally lost faith in the British after their surrender. None of us expected that they would surrender, moreover so quickly. We believed them and thought they would continue fighting and even win even though the Japanese army are very strong and powerful, trust us to actually believe them so much... We felt that as long as the British were here to protect us, Singapore would be safe so we were not worried about the safety of our country even when we heard that the situation is turning critical.
Earlier today, Japanese troops were seen marching into Raffles Place with the prisoners-of-war. Beginning of Syonan-to
After we were conquered, the island was renamed 'Syonan-to' which means the 'Light of the South', The Straits Times renamed ' The Syonan Sinbun'.All of us led our lives in fear and we were afraid of meeting the Kempeitai, Japanese military police sent to restore order in Singapore. If we meet one, we have to show respect by bowing 90 degrees, otherwise we will be beaten up by them for showing "disrespect", if they think we are an anti-Japanese, we might even be shot to death. The Europeans and Chinese were treated especially harsh, the Europeans were felt as a threat to them and the Chinese supported United Kingdom and China in the fight against them and they were perceived as a threat to their rule.
Along the beginning of 'Syonan-to', my husband and i lost our jobs. English is now no longer a subject in schools so i had to stop teaching, and the Borneo Co. where my husband worked at, ceased to exist...
Sook Ching
The Sook Ching Massacre began around 10 days ago(18/2/1942) and there are more than a few hundreds Chinese killed a day... how many people will exactly be killed by the end of the Sook Ching activity...?The end of Sook Ching
The Sook Ching Massacre finally ended... how many people were exactly killed?Contribution of money
I have received news recently that we, the Chinese, have to contribute $50 million towards Japan's war efforts regardless of whether we are willing or not. How exactly are we going to raise $50 million?
Propaganda campaigns
The Japanese seem to be promoting the Japanese spirit very eagerly. Every morning, the Japanese national anthem can be heard from schools, government buildings and also Japanese companies. Other than that, we can only listen to local broadcasts and watch Japanese movies and propaganda films. Once, I even saw someone being beaten up very badly by a Japanese soldier, after that, I heard that he was caught tuning in to foreign stations.
The Japanese are forcefully trying to make us learn and follow their culture and language, and we can do nothing but obey...
The Japanese are forcefully trying to make us learn and follow their culture and language, and we can do nothing but obey...Food rationing
It seems that every household's food supply is running low because a lot of resources are taken away by the Japanese forcefully. Each household was issued with a 'Peace living certificate' which entitled us a number of ration cards to purchase essential goods. Once a month, we will have to line up at the Kumiai shop (distribution association) for hours to get whatever we need. As a result, essential foodstuffs like salt, rice and sugar were sold at high prices in the black market.Banana notes
Canteen
After we lost our jobs, we were urged by the doctors and nurses who knew us to help run a canteen stall in the Miyako hospital to help provide basic essentials to everyone... We are currently running the stall with the aim and hope of providing fundamental necessities to everyone. We have also been supplying medicine, money and messages to British civillians interned in Changi Jail.
Sending of radio parts
We started sending in radio parts for hidden receivers on a daily ambulance awhile ago. Although we are risking our life for it, we think that it is worth it...
Arrestment of my husband
My husband was arrested today(29/10/1943). I went down to the YMCA building, demanding to see my husband but i was turned away and told to go home. What will happen to him? Will he be fine? When will he be released? Will he be released soon?After the arrestment
It has been almost 2 weeks since my husband was detained... When will they release him? Is he fine?
Time in "hell"
On 25 November 1943, a few weeks after my husband's capture, a Japanese officer visited my house asking me if i want to meet my husband. I agreed and followed the officer to the YMCA building. My valuables were confiscated upon reaching and then led to a dark cell with about 20 prisoners, all male. The cell was only three by four meters, but it was my home for the next 193 days.
I had to live in those squalid conditions with little food, ventilation and clean water. Inside the cell was a tap and a hole underneath it, meant for toilet purposes. Hence, although there is ventilation, the stench from our sweat, human waste and stagnant water fouled up the small cell making it suffocating. There was also no privacy to speak of - our daily business was conducted there in full view of the 20 others. We were also not allowed to move from our cross-legged seating positions and to speak, but we continued to communicate through sign languages taught by one of the fellow prisoners.
When we were sent for interrogation, we had to crawl through a small trap door at the side. Our captors beat us up, subjected us to electric shocks and pumped us up with water as part of the routine. The feeling of having one's belly pumped full of water and then seeing the water gushing out of the body was unbearable.
Once, because my interrogators could not get any information out of me, they dragged my husband from Outram prison, tied him up and made him kneel beside me. The Kempeitai made me kneel down on a frame of three-sided wood, tied my hands behind my back and also my legs, so i couldn't move at all. Then, in his full view, they stripped me to the waist and applied electric currents to me. The electric shocks sent my whole body into spasms. Thinking of it now, the shame was totally unbearable but the pain from the electric currents, was much more unbearable compared to the shame. Compared to the shame and pain i felt, i'm sure my husband felt worse watching me from the side, not being able to do anything.
During interrogations, i was slapped, kicked, spat at and subjected to electric shock treatment but i still refused to give out the names of informants or admit that i am anti-Japanese. Although i was unable to suppress my screams or stop the tears, i insisted i was only helping those in need and always walked back to my cell, determined.
I wore the same outfit for nearly 200 days, not being able to get a decent shower and we were considered lucky even when we only have little water to wash our faces. Our daily meals were shoved to us through the trap door. Famished, we will finish up even the last grain of rice. The portions were so small that my waist shrank from 25 inches to 18 inches. The most distressing thing is the cries of the badly tortured prisoners outside the cell. Their cries would pierce our ears and hearts...
FREEDOM
I was finally released after nearly 200 days. My eyes could barely open, as i stood directly under the sun, not having seen any sunlight during my imprisonment. My mind went completely blank, the clothes i wore for nearly 200 days smelt foul and my body ached from all the injuries. For a long while, i felt i had just returned from death...
After the war
After the war, i traced my husband's whereabouts to Outram Gaol and together with a British soldier, we freed him. Although he regained his freedom, his health can't be compared to before. I also developed a fear of electricity and electrical appliances after the imprisonment, i would even avoid turning on a switch at all costs. After it all ended, my husband and i were invited to England to recuperate and we are going there in a few days' time...
