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HISTORY (Japanese Occupation) - Coggle Diagram
HISTORY (Japanese Occupation)
People’s views towards Singapore
before
the Japanese Occupation
Singapore as ‘Home’
Locals
who were born in Singapore saw here as their home and went to English-Medium Schools. Afterwards, they went to work in the British colonial service.
Immigrants
, however, felt strong connections with their homelands. Many of them only intended to stay in Singapore for a short period of time and hoped to return to their homelands eventually.
British as rulers of Singapore
The British viewed themselves as superior. They believed that the European culture was superior.
There was little local involvement in the government, as most of the high-ranking officials were British. Even the well-qualified locals were not given important positions in the government. This led to less influence in the government as it was difficult to persuade the government to act on their suggestions.
Singapore as an ‘Impregnable Fortress’
The Japanese began to be aggressive in the 1930’s and invaded China soon after. Singapore was one of the its targets due to its strategic location. Thus, the British built a large naval base in Singapore to protect their colonies. This led Singapore to become an impregnable fortress.
Promoting ‘Asia for the Asians’
This means that the Japanese would guide the locals to rule their own countries.
The Japanese sought to dispel the myth of the ‘white man’s’ superiority. After the British surrendered, the Japanese interned the Europeans, including women and children, at the Sime Road Camp, Selarang Barracks and Changi Jail. The Japanese ordered these POWs to do menial tasks. They were also treated very badly, and was provided with very little food. This caused them to be very thin and malnourished. The Japanese also despised the Eurasians because of their associations with each other. They were also seen as British supporters. Those suspected of helping the British were killed.
Rule of fear and the Kempeitai
The Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, were people sent to remove people who were suspected of being anti-Japanese
The Japanese promoted loyalty and obedience among the people through the use of force. This caused the people to experience fear.
Uopn arrival in Singapore, the Kempeitai carried out the Sook Ching or 'cleansing' operation, which was targeted at the Chinese.
Chinese men aged 18-50 had to report to mass screening centres to be examined. Straits-born Chinese also had to report as the Japanese made no distinction between the Chinese and the Straits-born Chinese
Men who were identified as anti-Japanese were then taken to various beaches to be executed. Over 25,000 chinese were estimated to be killed in Sook Ching.
The Kempeitai also arrested those who were suspected of being involved in anti-Japanese activities. The used food or cash as rewards to encourage people to inform the authorities of anyone who they suspected were anti-Japanese
Living in Hardship
The war had disrupted trade, thus limiting the import of goods into Singapore from overseas. Furthermore, most of the avaliable food was channeled to Japan's war efforts rather than to the people. Rationing was thus introduced to control the sale of items due to the shortage of goods.
Goods were sold at a very high price in the blck marketsdue to the shortage of them. Some people were able to obtain more goods by working with the Japanese, then selling them to other people at high prices on the black market.
The situation worsened by the decreasing value of the currency. The Japanese government printed more money whenever they saw the need to, resulting in th currency becoming worthless.
However, people found other ways to survive. Many women, most of which have never worked before, started working. Even children chipped in to help. They also used substitutes for items they lacked.
Through the hardships, the Japanese Occupation was also a time where people formed bonds of friendship and became self reliant.
Resisting the Japanese
Force 136
Force 136 was set up by the British War Cabinet in 1940 with the help of Lim Bo Seng, a prominent businessman.
Force 136 concentrated its resistence in Malaya by collecting information about the Japanese and orgaising attacks when possible.
In 1944, some of the members of Force 136 were arrested by the Japanese. Lim Bo Seng was one of the them. They were interrogated and tortured but they redused to give any information about their activities. The rest of the members remained in the jungle, and evacuated after the Japanese Occupation in 1945.
MPAJA
MPAJA was one of the most organised resistence groups during the Japanese Occupation, led by Lai Teck, a senior communist leader in Vietnam, and Chin Peng, his right hand man, and a Malayan Chinese from Perak
MPAJA operated mailny in the jungles of Perak and Johor. Aided by Force 136, MPAJA launched attacks on Japanese troops, policemen and locals who worked with the Japanese. The role played by MPAJA was recognised by the British after the Japanese Occupation.
MPAJA stands for Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army
British Military Administration (BMA)
The BMA was a government responsible for governing Singapore until 1 Apri 1946. Many people hoped that the re-establishment would bring a return to prosperity and stability. however, the locals still faced many problems.
There was insufficient food due to the disruption of trade. The black market thrives and food continued to be sold at high prices.
Houses were scarce and people had to live in overcrowded spaces. Rents were also high due to the housing shortage.
Many children did not attend school during the Japanese Occupation. They wanted to continue their studies. However, there were insufficient textbooks, teachers and schools to meet the demand.
Since trade was disrupted nd businesses needed time to recover, jobs were very limited. Students who chose not to return to school wanted to john the workforce but found it very hard.
Maria Hertogh Riots
Reasons for the riots
Another reason the Commission did not include was about the Colonial Government's mishandling of the situation. Government's inability to prevent the riots has been matched by its incompetence in policing them. They could not understand how Maria, a Muslim, came to be placed in a Christian convent. They said that this was a challenge to Islam of the kind which a wise government avoids.
Commission of Inquiry was set up to identify the reasons for the riots
Many of the police rank-and-file were Malays. The commission found many instances of deliberate inaction by them.
Publicity given to Maria when she was in the convent. The continued publicity fanned the growing anger amongst Muslims and that they have been treated unfairly
Commission said that they considered it regrettable that journalists and photographers were allowed to enter the convent. It also said that the decision to put Maria in a convent was tragically ill-advised. This sparked the fuse which led to the riots. The government should have removed Maria to a more neutral environment when it realised the Muslims were unhappy.