chapter 5
people's views towards Singapore before the Japanese Occupation
singapore as home
singapore as an impregnable fortress
british as rulers of singapore
views of immigrants towards singapore
many felt attached to their homelands and they sent letters and heard from friends and relatives who returned from visits to their homelands
some of the wealthier immigrants started newspapers such as the Chinese-language Sin Che Jit Poh to report on news about their homelands
Chinese revolutionary movement led by Dr Sun Yat Sen. he believed that China would remain backward if it continued under the rule of the weak and corrupt Qing government. the movement aimed to remove the Qing government. many chinese in Singapore contributed funds to the revolutionary movement and even returned to China to fight against the Qing government. many Chinese men in Singapore expressed their patriotism towards China by enthusiastically cutting off their queues when the Qing government was overthrown
movement to gain independence for India from the British led by Mahatma Gandhi. the news of it influenced some of the Indian immigrants in Singapore and they expressed their support through the activities of the Indian Youth League.
views of local-born people towards singapore
they thought of Singapore as their permanent home and many lived for a long time. some of those born in Singapore attended English-medium schools and became Westernised and adopted Western ways of dressing, customs and pastimes. they took pride in the British subjects and were able to work in the British colonial civil service due to the English education that they received.
they believed that European culture was superior and that they had the responsibility to make those they ruled more civilised. there was little local-government involved in the ruling of Singapore as it was mainly the British. local people were involved in the colonial government as non-officials in the Legislative Council and had little influence over government policies. this made it more difficult for the non-official members to persuade the colonial government to act on their suggestions.
some people questioned the unequal system and sought to negotiate with the colonial government for changes. for example, the local non-official members tried to negotiate witht he colonial government to increase the number of non-official members in the Legislative Council. besides that, some people formed associations such as the Straits Chinese British Association and the Kesatuan Melayu Singapura (SIngapore Malay Union) to improve the lives of the people.
the people in Singapore were aware of the Japan's intentions to expand its territories and some Chinese immigrants reacted strongly to the Japanese invasion of China. so, they organised boycotts of Japanese goods and attacks on the Japanese to show their resentment.
Britain also recognised that Japan was a rising power and realised that it was a possible threat to the British Empire so it started preparing to resist Japanese expansion. it decided to build a large naval base in Singapore to brotect British colonies in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. a series of big guns were installed around the coasts of Singapore to protect against any Japanese invasion by sea and was completed in 1938.
impact of the japanese occupation on people's views towards singapore
the fall of the impregnable fortress
the Japanese recognised that the big guns protecting Singapore's coasts made invasion by sea difficult and dangerous. thus, they decided to invade Singapore from the north and landed at Kota Bahru in Kelantan in December 1941 and successfully defeated the british forces that were trying to defend the penninsula. by 8 February, they had seized Johor and were ready to invade Singapore.
Britain was unable to send adequate reinforcements to defend Singapore and had to concentrate most of its militar forces in Europe and in North Africa.
within 8 days, the battle for Singapore was over.
promoting ' asia for the asians '
this meant that local leaders under the Japanese guidance would rule their own countries. with the fall of Britain's 'impregnable fortress', Singapore officially came under the rule of the Japanese Central Military Administration and was renames Syonan-to. clocks were moved forward one and a half hours to follow Tokyo time. shipping during this period was disrupted and people had few means to escape from Singapore. this meant that they had to face life under the new Japanese rulers.
dispelling the myth of the ' white man's' superiority '
following the British surrender, they interned the Australians, British and other Europeans including women and children at the Sime Road Camp, Selarang Barracks and Changi Jail.
the Japanese also ordered the Allied prisoners of war (POW) to do menial tasks outside of their camps like repairing and cleaning dock facilities, doing water works and the airfields damaged by the Japanese bombs during the invasion. in camp, the POWS and other internees were given little food and were tasked toi do various jobs. as a result, many of them became very thin and malnourished.
many Eurasians were also treated harshly and many of them were interned with the Europeans. the Japanese despised the Eurasians because of their association with the Europeans. furthermore, many Eurasians were seen as British supporters so those suspected of helping the British were killed.
cultivation of asian consciousness
the Japanese spread the idea that Asians were just as good as Europeans. in addition, they actively promoted Japanese culture. in schools, students had to sing the national anthem, Kimigayo, during the morning assembly, learn the Japanese language in place of English and take part in activities such as gardening and cleaning, that promoted Asian values such as hard work and humility.
movies, books, newspapers and radio broadcasts were also used for propaganda purposes.
attempts to win local support
the Japanese introduced policies that aimed to win the support of different communities.
for the Malays, they encouraged them to be involved in the defence as well as the administration of Singapore. they promised to provide more opportunities in education in order to prepare them for these roles.
for the Indians, they were aware that some Indian immigrants were influenced by the rise of anti-British feelings in India. they promised to assist them in their movement to gain independence for India from the British. thus, the Indian National Army was formed to recruit Indians in Singapore to fight against the British in India. it was led by Subhas Chandra Bose, a nationalist leader form India.
for the Chinese, the Japanese became suspicious of them as the Chinese in Singapore opposed the Japanese invasion of China and some even volunteered to return to China to fight against the Japanese.
daily life in syonan-to
the Japanese brought fear and hardship to the lives of many people in Singapore
rule of fear and the Kempeitai
the Japanese tried to promote loyalty and obedience through force.. the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, was sent to remove people who were suspected of being anti-Japanese. they carried out the Sook Ching or ' cleansing' operation that was aimed at removing anti-Japanese elements and it was targeted at the Chinese. all the Chinese men aged 18 to 50 had to report to mass screening centres such as the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) building at Stamford Road to be examined. the Straits-born Chinese were also made to report to the mass screening centres as the Japanese made no distinction between the Straits-born Chinese and the Chinese immigrants.
men who were identified as anti-Japanese in the Sook Ching screenings were taken to Changi Beach and other beaches to be executed. over 25,000 Chinese were estimated to have been killed in the Sook Ching.
the Kempeitai arrested those who were suspected of being anti-Japanese and used food or cash rewaeds to encourage people to inform the authorities of anyone whom they suspected was involved in anti-Japanese activities. thus, people became suspicious of one another as anyone could be accused of being anti-Japanese.
living in hardship
the war had disrupted trade which limited the import of goods into Singapore from overseas. furthermore, most of the available resources were channelled to Japan's war efforts rather than to the people. thus, there was a shortage of goods and rationing was introduced to control the sale of items.
goods were sold at high prices in the black market because of its shortage. some people who worked for the Japanese were able to obtain more goods and sold to other people at very high prices on the black market. the Japanese government printed more notes whenever they saw a need for money. this decreases the value of the new currency introduced by them, making the situation worse. however, people found other ways to survive as they took extra jobs to earn extra money. a great number of women whom had never worked before joined the workforce and even young children chipped in to help. people also used substitutes for items that they lacked.
resisting the japanese
many people in Singapore turned anti-Japanese even though they tried to win their support. there were two main anti-Japanese resistance movements. they were Force 136 and the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).
Force 136 was set up by the British War Cabinet in 1940 with the help of Lim Bo Seng, a businessman. its members comprised mainly Malayan Chinese. it concentrated its resistance efforts in Malaya by collecting information about the Japanese and organising attacks whenever possible. in 1944, some members of Force 136 were arrested, including Lim Bo Seng. they were interrogated and tortured but many of them refused to give any information about their activities. the rest of the Force 136 remained in the jungle and were evacuated after the end of the Japanese Occupation.
MPAJA was one of the most organised resistance groups during the Japanese Occcupation and was led by Lai Teck, a senior communist leader from Vietnam, and his right-hand man Chin Peng, a Malayan Chinese from the state of Perak. it operated mainly in the jungles or Perak and Johor and launched attacks on Japanese troops, policemen and locals who worked with the Japanese. it was aided by Force 136. its role in resisting the Japanese was recognised by the British after the Japanese Occupation.
people's views towards Singapore after the Japanese Occupation
return of the British
the USA dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively and so the Japanese government decided to surrender shortly, marking the end of war in Asia. British colonial rule resumed.
a provisional government, called the British Military Administration was set up and was responsible for governing Singapore until 1 Aoril 1946. many people hoped that the re-establishment of the British rule would bring about a return to prosperity and stability but it did not.
problems
insufficient food due to the disruption of trade and the black market still thrived as food was being sold at high prices
housing shortage and people had to live in cramped and overcrowded spaces. the rents were also high due to the housing shortage.
there was insufficient schools, teachers and textbooks to meet the demand for education.
there was a disruption of trade and businesses needed time to recover. some students entered the workforce only to find that jobs were limited.
the BMA did try to solve the problems that the people of Singapore face however they faced contraints such as the lack of funds and resources. some junior BMA officials took part in the black market activities. thus, the problems of housing shortage, job shortage and essential items still remained.
growing discontent with the British
many workers joined trade unions in hope of securing better wages and working conditions. they organised strikes to push employers to agree with their demands and it took place when people were facing with the problems of food and housing shortages. the strikes involving thousands of workers from different industries were common.
there were also protests involving the Chinese middle school students as they felt that they were unfairly treated by the British colonial government and wanted a change to their conditions.
one example of a riot that broke out was in December 1950 over the Maria Hertogh custody case. she was born to Dutch-Eurasian parents and came under the care of a Muslim woman, Che Aminah, during the Japanese Occupation and so she was raised as a Muslim. following the end of the Japanese Occupation, Maria's birth parents wanted to reunite with Maria and sought to do so by making a case to the British courts, leading to a battle over Maria's custody. the battle for Maria attracted much media attention especially when the judge ruled for Maria to be placed in a convent. the feelings of many Muslims were stirred up as a result. eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that Maria was to be returned to her birth parents. some Muslims felt that the British were unfair and had taken the side of the Dutch so riots broke out and rioters began to attack Eurasians and Europeans. it continued for 3 days and so a curfew that lasted for 2 weeks was imposed.
growing demands on the british
demand for citizenship
from 1951, the Chinese Chamber of Comerce started to petition the British colonial government to consider granting citizenship to the China-born Chinese immigrants over the age of 21
demand for better treatment of local civil servants
from 1948, the colonial government started to recruit more locals into the civil service, partly because many British officials who had been interned during the Japanese Occupation had been sent back to Britain to recuperate. however, British officials continued to enjoy better pay and to hold senior positions within the civil service even though locals were of the same standard and equally well-qualified as them. one issue that angered local civil servants was the government's decision in 1952 to pay speical family allowances to British officials. they opposed the government's unequal treatment of them and demanded that the government raise their pay.
demand for local political involvement
political groups emerged, suggesting there was an increased political consciousness. one party that emerged was the Malayan Democratic Union (MDU) and was formed on 21 December 1945 which comprised mainly local-born, English-educated Chinese, Indians and Eurasians. they often discussed how they wanted Singapore to be governed.
however, there were some people who were not interested in Singapore's political future and were more concerned with rebuilding their lives after the Japanese Occupation.