Firstly, there are no clear documented accounts of life
during the period immediately when the war came to an end in
Singapore, and in the NLB archives there are also little
in terms of recorded voice or written history despite the
publicity given.
Secondly, it is doubtful that anyone of the participants who can
still type into prints in this Speaker's Corner would have lived
through that period to express first hand the life experiences that
transpired.
Thirdly, one will be surprised how much is still alive in the
memories of those who are still around in their 60s to 80s
despite their grey or white hairs, and the warmth that
these elders will give when one shows interest in their
memories.
Fourthly, the information that is offered is largely from
my personal interests in understanding what life was
truly about during and after the WW-2 in Singapore; and much
has been discovered in my conversation with great-grand
parents and the grand-parents before they passed on, parents,
uncles and aunts, any old folks; and have these conversations
corroborated with more conversations with the surviving old
folks of that genre who belonged to my friends' families, and
simple conversation with strangers from that generation.
Fifth, meshing the verbal accounts with whatever that can
be extracted from prints in different books of that
period - ranging from the arts, the living biographies,
cuisines, culture, movies, and photo journals - one can build up a
vivid picture of the dramatic flavors of that period.
WW-2 formally ended in Singapore, only
in a second surrender ceremony held in Singapore on 12 September
1945, Admiral Lord Mountbatten accepted Japanese surrender in
Singapore and witnessed the raising of the Union Jack at the
Padang.
Life was hard during the war, when survival was living on a
daily diet of tapioca and sweet potatoes that are easy to grow
in small patches dug from broken cemented floors of
urban dwellings, and the food made less boring by the
culinary skills of the ingenious women folks despite the hardship
and scarce commodities like salt, sugar and flour - (rice was
unheard of).
Life immediately after the war ended was no less different
but more tolerable with the hope of better things to
come.
Life was seen to be better due to the fact that life is no
longer as uncertain as during the Japanese Occupation -
when one could be taken off the street for interrogation and worse
simply for not bowing to a Japanese sentry on street duty.
The British Military administered Singapore until the
arrival of the Civil Servants from the British Colonial Office, and
with the rapid military efficiency in logistics, civilian supplies
were quickly brought in from India where the military efforts were
based to retake South-east Asia from the Japanese.
Even though supplies were limited at the early stage, limited
supply of rice was better than the taste of tapioca and sweet
potatoes being the staple for the last four bitter years of death,
hunger, and uncertainty.
Could life have been worse in 1946 compared to the period
living under Japanese Occupation ?
The defeat of South-east Asian Colonial Rule by
the Japanese has been well documented, and its effects were also
recorded to have opened the eyes of Asians that the heavy hand of
the colonial rule by caucasians is not invincible.
The events ignited separate movements for independence from
colonial rule that spread like wild fire across Asia
- from India to Vietnam, from Indonesia to Burma.
The politics of Peninsular Malaya and Singapore were
deliberately separated by the British Colonial Government, and the
Emergency in Malaya was largely a Malayan affair to contain an
invigorated guerilla movement for independence that was
started by the Malayan Communist Party - who were
previously armed and trained by the British to fight the
Japanese Occupation.
The British Special Branch in Singapore was mindful of the
possibility of the influence of Communist ideology in a large
Chinese urban population in Singapore, many with personal ties
still linked to families in China - now
largely controlled by Mao Tse-tung, who will soon
end the civil war with Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang.
The Emergency Rule was largely affecting the rural folks in
Peninsular Malaya and did not touch on the lives of those living in
Singapore.
Economic activity soon recovered through the vast opportunities
available to the army of industrious merchants and
entrepreneurs to re-stock and rebuild, and the humdrum of
an urban city soon ran full steam to rebuild the private
fortunes of the Lee's, the Tan's, the Chan's, the Kwek's, the Aw's,
the Tang's - that were the household names of the 1950's
before the PAP arrived on the political scene.
If not for the Japanese invasion into China, the outcome of the
civil war between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party –
would have seen a different outcome for China. The events
in South-east Asia would also have been different.
The civil war - between the Communist Party of
China under Mao and Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek
- was not settled until 10 December1949, when Chiang had
to retreat from Chengdu to the island called Formosa (now
known as Taiwan).
The Chinese in Singapore - and throughout South-east Asia - were
involved in one form or another with the politics in China, and had
given financial support to the party of their choice. Most
South-east Asian Chinese had given their moral and financial
support to Mao's CPC for the virtuous politics compared to the
well know corruption and incompetencies of Chiang and his
generals.
The vast amount of financial contributions from South-east
Asian Chinese given to the different parties involved in
China's civil war - during the period after the war
- is testimony to the economic recovery soon after the
Japanese surrender in 1945.
The British Civil Administration soon implemented policies to
bring back normalcy to life in Singapore - providing public housing
in the S.I.T. building program which is the forerunner to the HDB ,
education that recognised the importance of the different ethnic
communities in Singapore, public security in a regular police force
supplemented by a Volunteer Corp with oversight by the Special
Branch.
Overall, the various
public policies set by the British Colonial Government
had continued to this day with little but necessary
changes to meet new challenges and new circumstances - but
with the essence remaining the same.
Was the Mariah Hertogh case all about “Race” or were the original
causes distorted and twisted to suit politics of today ?
According to a research documented, the Mariah
Hertogh riots was due largely "to the insensitive way the media handled
religious and racial issues in Singapore, with the British Colonial
Authorities failure to defuse an explosive situation when emotional
reports appeared in local press of the custody battle accompanied
by sensational media photographs of a Muslim girl in a Catholic
convent.
As a result of this
historic event, the Government of Singapore, upon independence in
1965, instituted legislation against racial
discrimination."
Politics in the early 1950s were enthusiastically supported by
Singaporeans and many shared ideals of basic human rights
in freedom of assembly, open exchanges of ideas, open debates
- all of which were very evident and so eloquently
expressed by LKY in his representation of Trade Unions rights to
the Colonial Government in the 1950s, and later when he
represented Singapore's interests in the Federal Parliament in
Kuala Lumpur.
What changed ?
Are Singaporeans less entitled to those lofty ideals of the
1950s now that Singapore is independent ?
Are Singaporeans more entitled to such lofty ideals only as
part of a bigger country when merged with Malaysia ?
Is Singapore more vulnerable today then in the years
immediately after WW-2 ?
Has Singapore become so vulnerable today - that we cannot enjoy
the freedom of assembly and democratic politics of the First
World that even the Israelis and the Swiss enjoy in their own set
of even more challenging circumstances ?
In the 21st Century, is Singapore still facing the challenges of
the 1950s ?
Has no progress been made after 52 years of LKY's influence and
social moulding ?
Even Indonesia - in their own set of challenging economic,
political, and security circumstances faced by over 100
Million citizens - have a more open political system than
Singapore's 3.5 Million citizens.
