Transcript for the Oral Interview Project

Profile of the Interviewee

Name of the interviewee : Mr Mohd Amin Bin Haji Sirat

Nationality : Singaporean

Age (in 2003) : 82

Language Spoken : English/Javanese/Malay (Interview was done in both Malay and English)

Can you briefly describe to me a bit about yourself, maybe right up to the start of the Japanese occupation?

I was born in 1921, that makes me 82 years old this year. Just before the

Japanese Occupation, I was staying with all my extended families; parents, 8

siblings, aunties, uncles, my grandparents. You see, back then, families usually

tend to stay in the same kampung area, in my case, Jalan Datok. I received

formal education in a Malay school, till Grade 6. Back then, Grade 6 was

considered a good foundation in education. I was recommended by my teacher

to further my studies in an English school but my late mother did not approve of it

so I had to work part-time, as a ‘coolie’ to help out a shopkeeper to carry his

supplies to his shop. That would be my source of income when I first started

working. When I was eighteen, my friend in a company called Asiatic Petroleum

Company or APC, as you know now as Shell, offered me a job as an oil tanker

driver. I started with a very minimum wage, barely enough to cover for cost to

buy food and provisions.

So how was life before the Japanese occupation, in your opinion?

Of course, there were hard times where I had to endure with very little income for

my own self because most of the money that I got as my salary would be used to

support my family. There’s also the hardship of work, I would go to my

destinations on foot, regardless of its distance, because I had not much money,

and sometimes, there’s insufficient food source. Everything was expensive so we

had to live by what we could afford. But it was definitely a much better

environment as compared to the difficult and torturous times of the Occupation.

How old were you when the Japanese occupation first started?

I was about 22 years old then, I was still working for APC. I wasn’t married yet.

Did you receive any ‘rumours’ about Japanese invasions and if you did, please describe to me, your personal account.

Yes, I think most people actually did. Everyone was nervous and intense about it

because we would hear something about the advancements of the Japanese

through Malaya and towards Singapore and how close they were getting to us.

There were very little signs which shows that the British, Australian and other

soldiers were able to put up a good resistance against them. Normally, I would

hear it from word of mouth, sometimes through radio broadcast and newspaper. I

would often gather around with my family members, colleagues or friends and we

would all have a chat on our concerns and worries. I remembered the day before

the first bombing, word was passed around that the Japanese invasion was

inevitable and that we had to prepare ourselves for the worst.

What were your feelings and thoughts at that moment?

Men too have fears. I was afraid of what the Japanese would do. Would they

harm my family? What do we do now? Are we supposed to leave our houses and

take shelter somewhere else? If we do need to take cover, where do we go?

What about food and provisions? What will happen to Singapore? All these

questions raced through my mind at that time. Hearing all the brutal accounts on

what the Japanese had done to the Americans and other Prisoners-of-war made

me feel terrified and endlessly worried about my fate. I could remember so

clearly the days where I had sleepless nights due to all my endless worries.

How was the reaction of people around you and prior to the Invasion, was it intense?

Oh yes, my whole family are quite the rowdy and cheery sort. But I could

remember how the atmosphere back home was so solemn, so tensed. Everyone

was very worried, especially the women; I guess everyone couldn’t imagine the

reality that war was so close to home then. By this time, not many people dare to

go out of their homes unnecessarily, fearing unexpected attacks from the

Japanese. I could remember one of my colleague at work who refused to go to

work, giving the reason that he fear he might never see his family if he left them!

As for me, like it or not, I still went. By this time, everyone was trying to tune in

regularly, to radio broadcast or by reading the papers, for any news regarding the

Japanese tactical moves.

Can you describe to me your account of Japanese bombing of Singapore?

Well, the first bombings that I could recall, if I’m not mistaken, was the one

around Killiney Road and Orchard. I was at work when I heard the news. What I

could remember was the air raid siren that was aired. Work momentarily stopped

on that day because of the chaos. My colleagues and I tried to seek shelter in

one of a small, safe house near our work place. I remembered being terrified and

praying hard nothing bad happens to us. I guess not knowing what to do made

fear even more intolerable. I didn’t really go down to the bombing site but I did

hear from some colleagues that it was really a terrible state, there were quite a

number of people were killed while others who were lucky, survived with serious

injuries. Buildings and structures, which were affected, were beyond recognition.

I think it was then that the next few days, APC closed down temporarily and

shifted near the Naval Base. Everything came to a standstill but yet you can see

the panic and confusion everyone was in…I guess most of us were fearful of the

safety of our family members. The only words I can think of to describe the

situation then is, major chaos.

How about the situation with your family, was anyone hurt or affected by the bombing?

No, fortunately enough, no one was. By the time I got back, I remembered my

father, uncle and everyone else were sort of preparing themselves…

What do you mean by preparing? Did you mean preparing to leave the house and seek shelter elsewhere or…?

No…not leaving the house. My father was dead against leaving home. I guess in

his mind, he was headstrong, he would rather stay at home and face ‘fate’. I

remember him saying something like, “If it’s God’s will that we have to face death

now, running away won’t do us any good.” So we prepared for the War by

stacking up whatever food and provisions that we could get. I remembered by

then, everyone was doing the same thing. Dad advised everyone not to go out

and stay indoors and most of the time, right throughout until the British surrender,

nobody did. Luckily, we were safe from being attacked.

What were your feelings like when the British finally surrendered?

Sad, of course. Disappointed but yet, not really shock about the surrender. I

guess, at first, I had the impression that the British could somehow put up a good

resistance against the Japanese. But looking at the Japanese swift invasion into

Malaysia (then called Malaya), the invasion of Singapore seemed quite

inevitable. From what I know, the British seemed unprepared to fight against the

Japanese, maybe due to lack of soldiers, poor tactics…well, whatever it is, it was

obvious that the British was struggling pretty hard to prevent the Invasion.

Honestly, when the British surrendered, I think everyone felt lost and didn’t really

know what to expect.

Can you share some of the experiences that you have seen/encountered when the Japanese first took over?

It was really tensed, my heart was pounding hard almost every minute I see a

Japanese soldier. The first time they came to my kampung area, everyone hid in

fear, all behind closed doors. My kampung area consist of not only the Malay

community, there were also some Chinese as well as Indian families living there.

The Japanese came into almost all houses, demanding to know who lives there.

Could you understand what they were saying?

No, not always. Most of the time you just have to guess what they are saying by

looking at their hand gestures.

Alright, please continue…

Yes. They wanted to know who were staying in the house. Fortunately for my

family and I, none of us were taken away. We were only told to hand over

whatever provisions we had, like rice and my father’s and uncles’ bicycles were

taken away. There was nothing we could do because we were all afraid of what

they might do to us if we did not comply. Unfortunately, most of my Chinese

neighbours were told to board Japanese trucks, which later, I found out, were

brought to a mass screening centre for questioning. I’m not quite sure what are

the exact questions that they were asked but I guess it was a way to identify anti-

Japanese people. From what I know and I guess this is true, the reason why the

Japanese took away civilians who are mostly Chinese is because of the

difficulties that they had to face when they invaded China and they believed that

the Chinese here had some how helped China in the War. Some lucky ones

escape while others who were suspected to be anti-Japanese were brought to

Changi Beach and some other places to be shot to death. Although it wasn’t one

of my own family members, I always imagined to myself what they must have felt

like being taken away. Some of them were screaming because of fear, some had

to be dragged away. I had a Chinese friend who had a daughter. The Japanese

took both of them away and ever since then, neither both came back. I never did

get to know what really happened to them. (Pause) Terrible what the Japanese

did. They never showed mercy to anyone who refused to comply. You can be

sure of facing brutal torture, possibly to death if you don’t. I have never seen

more sadistic people compared to the Japanese soldiers back then. (Pause)

They also tortured the British soldiers and those who supported the British and

made them prisoners-of-war. These poor soldiers must have suffered a lot. I

heard many died from diseases and malnutrition.

Can you describe to me some of the experiences that you encounter during the Japanese Occupation?

I was not working during the first few months of the Japanese Occupation.

Despite that, I met and married my late wife within the first year of the Japanese

Occupation. About two months after I got married, my brother-in-law suggested

to me to work as a driver for the Japanese officers at the Seletar Airbase. I hated

the idea of working for them but I knew I had not much choice; I had to get

income and food for my family and working for them gave me the opportunity to

do just that. I wasn’t allowed to come back home because the Japanese officers

feared that we would leak out any form of information. But I did get the chance to

send rice and other provisions for my family. I could recall driving the Japanese

officers around with miniature coloured flags to indicate the rank of the officers;

yellow for Higher ranking officers, followed by red and then blue, which is for the

Japanese Inspectors. I had to learn to master some simple Japanese words. The

first few times when I started working, I was frequently kicked, punched or

slapped for failure to do what was told to me, despite that it was apparent that I

could not understand what they had told me to do. There was once when the car

I was driving had a punctured tyre, probably it had driven over a sharp stone or

something. The officer scoffed angrily at me and blamed me for it. He used his

baton and hit me continuously on face and head and I was bleeding profusely. I

remembered by the time I got back to the Base, my whole shirt was stained with

blood. I knew that if I had retaliated, I would have been shot dead.

A few months had passed and I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing my wife

and family. I decided to escape from the Base. It was fate that one day, during

the Rice ration where I manage to convince a fellow driver to smuggle me out of

the camp. I hid amongst the gunnysacks and lucky enough that day, there wasn’t

any inspection. I got down just before the Ration points (place where the rations

take place) and walked all the way back on foot. Again, I was lucky not to be

discovered and I was never caught by the Japanese.

Situation at home was bad because food was insufficient. There were days

where we would go without food and most of my family members fell terribly sick

quite often. We had to medicate ourselves with whatever we have. When we do

have food, it would usually be a very small portion of rice and sweet potatoes.

There were very rare instances where we had meat. I had to stay at home most

of the time because of fear of being seen.

What were the sights that you could remember when you did go out? Example, places, people…etc.

The instances where I need to go out was when I had to get traditional Malay

medicine from a friend of my mother’s. I would see Japanese flags and posters

that promote Japanese propaganda. I could remember clearly once I had to pass

by the old Cathay theatre along Dhoby Ghaut. There were heads that were cut

off and displayed on tables. This was one of the Japanese ways of threatening

those who oppose or doesn’t comply and those who were thinking of committing

crimes. Throughout the Occupation, I have seen and heard many horrible sights

of brutality and torture of people. We all lived in fear, we never know what may

happen to us.

What could you recall about the surrender of the Japanese?

From what I could remember, the American’s bombing of the Hiroshima and

Nagasaki in 1945 seemed to mark the surrender of the Japanese. But there

wasn’t an immediate handover of Singapore. I remembered that many people

were again faced with uncertainty of what will happen to Singapore next.

Everyone was very anxious. It was very chaotic also because everyone was

trying to steal things, food and anything else they can get their hands on. I

remembered that there were also chaos amongst the people. Those who were

suspected to be an informer or had help the Japanese in any way were brutally

beaten or killed. It took quite a while till the British actually returned to Singapore.

All the Japanese soldiers and personals were captured. There was a parade too

to mark the surrender.

What were your personal feelings then?

Very happy, of course. I remembered that my family had a big prayer gathering

and that was one of the first few times everyone was chatty and cheery! We had

to practically live in fear for three years. It seems like you have your freedom of

life back. But then, I was also concern at the same time because of the chaos

and felt uncertain what will happen next.

How was the situation like back under the British?

I wouldn’t say that it was good but it was certainly so much better than being

under the Japanese. There were many problems that we had to face. For

example, there was still insufficient food supply for my family. We had to endure

with food rations. Even then, food was still scarce. The worst situation was the

change in currency. What happened was all the banana notes that were used

during the Japanese occupation were no longer valid for use. This caused a

huge problem because my family had no other money besides the banana notes.

We had to find means and ways to sell or do butter-trade with shopkeepers in

order to pay for what we want. I remembered that I had to walk a very long way

to a market to sell my watch, clothes and whatever things I could sell in

exchange for British currency or foodstuff. Many people had no jobs then and

that made it worst because that meant that there was no income.

Were there steps taken by the British to improve on the situations?

Yes, there was. There were some steps in dealing with the food shortage by the

introduction of food rationing. They did also help improve by introducing jobs for

people.

How were you improving your own situation?

I was paid by APC for my work just before the Occupation. I did eventually join

APC back as an oil tanker driver til the 1970s. I tried to find extra income by

doing part-time odd jobs as a labourer to help support my family. By 1946, I had

my first child so I had to work a bit harder. Life was still tough back then but

nothing could be compared to life during the Occupation.

How did the Occupation affected your view in life?

It taught me to be independent and how I should treasure my loved ones even

more because I was not allowed, as I mentioned earlier, to see my wife and

family for several months.

The Account of A Malay Man Before, During and After the Japanese Occupation

The Japanese occupation was a defining moment for Singapore’s history.

It was a time where the people suffered the most under a Supreme rule and it

was an event which proves the British futile effort to make Singapore live up to its

name as an ‘impregnable’ fortress. It was also a time of turbulence and

uncertainty.

This essay will focus on the account of a Malay man living through the

period prior, during and post Japanese Occupation. We will also be looking at his

personal perceptions and compare it to the historical records found in resources

that has been examined and used.

Mr Mohd Amin Bin Haji Sirat, who was born in 1921, had lived through

many significant events, which has happened in Singapore and around the world.

His wise insights and vivid recollection throughout the interview has closely

followed what has been documented in most historical record. There were

instances where he gave his own perceptions while relating to the recount.

Throughout the interview, there were many instances where he displayed his

distressing emotions while reflecting on the ordeals. Being a Malay man in the

society at that moment was not quite as hard on him as compared to what a

Chinese had to face. But he had his share of suffering too, particularly as a man

who is greatly depended on by his family. Many of his accounts are quite similar

to most of the normal civilians who had gone through the Occupation.

The period before the Occupation was already hard on Mr Mohd Amin and his

family. As he had described, he had to endure life with very little income, often

had very little for himself. He had also described the endurance of having to

reach his destination by foot and the insufficiency of food source, both showing

prove of people’s hardship at that time. This is highlighted in historical records

where such were examples of what normal civilians had to face, particularly

because it was encountered during the same period of the Great Depression.

This was a period of very bad business conditions, which started in the United

States of America that affected countries around the world. This had affected

trade and business, means bad economy for the country and also low

employment rates, where it would leave many jobless and without income.

Prior to the bombing and Japanese invasion, the news of Japanese

advancement and the possibility of the invasion that he heard from live radio

broadcast or had read from the newspapers arise alarming concerns and a

tensed environment for him and the people around him. He expresses his own

personal feelings and thoughts of the possible Japanese Invasion; Men too have

fears. I was terrified of what the Japanese would do…feel terrified and endlessly

worried about my fate.

He remembered how he would often gather around with family members,

colleague or friends and chat on concerns and worries. Again as stated in some

historical records, daily live radio broadcast and newspaper articles did supply

people with the update on the movements of the Japanese. However, I found a

discrepancy in one * article, which stated: “The government also went to great

lengths to maintain public calm by making highly optimistic pronouncements and

heavily censoring the Singapore newspapers for negative or alarming news.

Journalists' reports to the outside world were also carefully censored.” Whether

which one is true, people might have already expressed their concerns and fears

judging from the swift Japanese attacks in Malaya.

He also described a personal account of the Japanese bombing of

Singapore, how chaotic the situation was with the air raid that was aired and

people who were trying to seek shelter. He mentioned hearing from his colleague

how terrible state the bombing site was with some people killed and others left

seriously injured. It was stated that the Japanese did drop the first bombs on

Singapore on the 8th December 1941.

After the bombing, he and his family did not seek shelter anywhere else.

Instead, he and his family went to prepare for the War, stacking up whatever food

and provisions that they could get and he remembered that everyone was doing

the same thing. This was again apparent in many historical records where the

situation was unruly and chaotic and that everyone was rushing to get as many

resources as they can. When the British finally officially surrendered, he

mentioned his sadness and disappointment but he said that the surrender was

inevitable because from his point of view, the British seemed unprepared to fight

and was struggling very hard to prevent the Invasion. This is true based on most

historical fact that the British was unprepared as they were fighting another war

in Europe and they underestimated the military forces of the Japanese.

He also mentioned that when the Japanese took over from the British, they did

try to restore order by stopping people from looting. But they also showed a bad

example as they themselves took away the peoples’ properties like his father’s

bicycle and other provisions and claim them as their own. These incidents should

be highlighted in most of the historical records.

The Japanese were said to inspect each house, identifying who was

occupying the house. The Japanese were said to leave the Malays and the

Indians alone but the Chinese were taken away to a mass screening centre to

be questioned. He was glad at that time that his whole family was left untouched.

He had concluded that the Chinese were taken away because the Japanese

believed that the Chinese here had offered assistance to China when it was

invaded. Those suspected to be involved would be brought to Changi beach and

be shot. These true accounts are some of the main highlights during the

Japanese occupation, as quoted,:.* “It is hereby declared that the recent arrests

of hostility and rebellious Chinese have been carried out. It goes without saying

that they are indeed so-called traitors. Thus it is most important thing to sweep

away these disloyal Chinese elements”

Besides the Chinese, the British soldiers and those who supported the

British were captured and made as prisoners-of-war. Besides that, he also heard

that they were treated so badly until some died of malnutrition or diseases. Many

historical records seem to indicate that the Japanese also imprison the British,

Europeans and also Australian women and children and that they were sent to

various camps that also include the Selarang barracks.

His personal accounts with the Japanese were evidences that the

Japanese were quite strict with their own principles and made people suffer,

regardless of the race. Both incidents, first was repeated case of not able to

follow order, only because he didn’t understand them and the second one, for

‘humiliating’ the officer for having a punctured tyre, shows the unjust treatments

people had to go through under their rule and how the Japanese did not entirely

spare the Malays and Indians. As quoted, **“ The Japanese didn’t care whether

you are a Chinese or a Malay. At road blocks, if you don’t bow to them properly,

or if you couldn’t answer their question, they would slap you.” Life was very bad

under the Japanese; he wasn’t allowed to go home, the ration that they would

give will be very little, very often not enough. People were forced to follow the

Japanese propaganda and failure to do so would result receive their

consequences. He added the fact that it was during the Occupation that he was

exposed to horrible sights of brutality. There were evidences of pictures included

in historical records of the heads that were cut off and displayed. This went on for

the 3 years.

He could recall that the event that marked the end of the Japanese

occupation was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and there

wasn’t an immediate handover. By then everything became chaotic again as

everyone started looting things, food and anything that they could get their hands

on. Those who were pro-communists were beaten up or even killed. There

wasn’t any law and order during this period right until the British returned to

Singapore.

Despite that, he highlighted the joy and also the anxiety of people around

him, regardless of their race. He even had a big prayer gathering with his family.

To him, it was like getting freedom back. As they say, “ Seeing the British was

like seeing a long-lost wife.”

The return of the British, from his perception, wasn’t completely smooth

from the start. There were many problems that arise. For example, there was

insufficient food supply for his family. They had to endure with food ration, which

was still insufficient. The change in currency was another huge problem faced by

him and his family. When the British returned, they declared that there would be

no use of the banana notes. His family had no other types of money left so they

have to find means and ways to sell their belongings to get things that they need.

He had to fend for his own family and his first child too so he went back to try and

get his old job back to earn some income. He even volunteered to do labour jobs

to earn extra money. He did agree that the British did take effort to help improve

the situation eg. (Introduction of food ration, introduce relief grants) but it was a

slow process to getting back the life before the invasion of the Japanese.

Almost everyone would agree that the Japanese Occupation was the dark

years in Singapore’s history. It reflects the sufferings of the people, regardless of

race, just like Mr Mohd Amin who went through quite a torturous time under the

Japanese, despite being a Malay. But the Occupation was also a time for the

people to reflect how precious life is and it was one of the factors to the idea of

Singapore’s achievement to independence.

References:

1) SE Asia Under Japanese Occupation: http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/asia_singapore2.html

2) Curriculum Planning & Development Division, Ministry of Education. Understanding our Past: Singapore from Colony to Nation. Federals Publications(2001)

*. Adapted from “Declaration of the Chief of the Syonan Defence Headquarters of Nippon Army”, The Syonan Times, 23 February 1942

**. Adapted from an oral history account in the Japanese Occupation 1942-1945 by Tan Beng Luan & Irene Quah

http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/research_dates.htm

http://ww.s1942.org.sg/

http://www.multimedia21.com.sg/md392b4/matthew/main.htm

ETL 201: SELECTED HISTORY TOPICS FOR PRIMARY SOCIAL STUDIES

ORAL HISTORY: The Account of A Malay Man Before, During and After the Japanese

Occupation

Name : Siti Aisha Bte Juraimi

Matric No: 020342B24

Tutor : Dr Ang Cheng Guan

Tut Grp: 3

Day/Time: Friday / 1030-1230