WAR GRANNY:
Hello, I am Madam Cheng Seang Ho. I was part of a volunteer force that comprised of both men and women. I was already aged 66 and a proud grandmother when I joined the force, together with my husband, Sim Chin Foo. People told me I was too old to do it, but I was determined to prove them wrong, because I believe that age is just a number and that I could do as many things as anyone younger than me. The volunteer force, known as Dalforce, or the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, was an irregular force within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force. The unit known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce, after its chief instructor and commanding officer, John Dalley. That formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and we conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation. We fought at Sarimbun Beach, Bukit Timah, as well as the Woodlands and Kranji areas. We mostly used to patrol mangrove swamps where enemy landings might have been made. A Dalforce unit was also attached to the 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade which took part in the Battle of Pasir Panjang. Back then, I was called the legendary Passionaria of Malaya, which made me very proud and grateful indeed.
However, the unit did suffer severe casualties due to lack of training,
equipment and armament. The Japanese despised Dalforce bitterly, deciding to
use them as an excuse for their treatment to the Chinese population, which I
think is really foolish, although this behaviour was instigated by the
Kempeitai rather than by Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita himself.
Although suffering from a number of injuries, I was confident that I would try
my best to overcome the odds and survive and thus I managed to escape from being captured by the Japanese.
With my husband by my side, Sim Chin Foo, I fought alongside British and
Australian troops in the battle at Bukit Timah from 10 to 11 February, 1942. Unfortunately,
after managing to escape through the jungle, he was caught by the Kempeitai
(Japanese military police) and tortured to death. The day he died was the
darkest day of my life. Life became difficult without him. I became depressed
and never knowing what to do anymore. I became very conserved and stayed out of
public eye until the official opening of the Kranji War Memorial in 1957. As
the Governor and VIPs were about to lay their wealth, I then stepped out from
the crowd. At the sight of the memorial, I became distraught and was gently
drawn away. I couldn’t control my feelings as memories of my husband that were
lost for years were finally rekindled. My husband Sim was remembered in the Kranji
War Memorial under the Dalforce Column. Though I am still in grief of what had
happened to him, I am utterly proud of what he had accomplished during his life
and especially during Singapore’s battle. In 1948, I was presented with a
certificate signed by Dalley which praised my service. I was elated beyond
words because I knew that people appreciated me and that what I did during the
war was actually recognised. Moreover, I felt the joy at the realization that what I tried to do during
the war did not go to waste, as I have seen how Singapore has grown to become a
wonderful country since its victory of independence. Despite all the miseries I
have gone through throughout my long life, I am still happy and proud of myself
for being brave and strong during the hard times, managing to cope with the
struggles and overcome the odds to survive. It was not easy, it was
probably the worst event in my life, but in the end, I’m grateful I’m alive and
living to share my experience to the future generations who will be protecting
Singapore from internal and external threats so as to not let history repeat
itself again.
LIM BO SENG:
My name is Lim Bo Seng. A brief description of myself: I was born on the
27th of April, in 1909, in China, and I am the eldest son
in my family. In 1925, I came to Singapore at the age of 16 to receive
education in Raffles Institution under the British colonial government. After
that, I went on to study business at the University
of Hong Kong. In 1930, I married Gan Choo Neo in the Lim Clan association hall of Singapore and we eventually had eight
children together. Initially, I was a Taoist, but converted to Christianity
after my marriage. I inherited my father's biscuit and brick manufacturing
business when he passed away in the year 1929. Apart from my business career, I
was nominated to take on several posts in the community, which I was very
grateful for and I think it was a
great honor to be nominated.
When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 in China, life took a turn for the
worse. The Chinese people and I, here in Singapore, felt that we had to show
our support to our motherland during this time of turmoil. Hence, we decided to
participate in various anti-Japanese activities because we never liked the
Japanese, such as the boycotting of Japanese goods and fund-raising to support
the war efforts in China. I felt that by doing so, I could at least be proud
that I did my part as a Chinese to help the war effort in China where I was
born.
Towards the end of 1937, another major event had taken place. Hundreds
of Chinese people from overseas who worked in Japanese-owned industries in
Malaya went on a big strike. At the time, the Japanese government owned a tin
mine in Dungun, Trengganu, Malaya, where about 3,000 Chinese laborers were
employed. The tin was shipped to Japan to be used as raw material to
manufacture weapons. I felt that if the large group of workers in the Dungun
mine went on strike, the Japanese would suffer a huge loss of labour and their
business would be greatly affected, therefore I planned to make the workers go
on strike because I thought that was the best way to stop the Japanese. Around
February 1938, I travelled to Dungun with Zhuang Huiquan of the Singapore Anxi
Association to carry out the plan. Zhuang went into the mine to try and
persuade all the workers to go on a strike. In the meantime, I contacted the
local police and managed to gain their support against the Japanese. By early
March, Zhuang and I had achieved success as many workers decided to leave the
mine and followed us back to Singapore because we told them all the bad things
about the Japanese. On 11 March 1938, the Singaporean Chinese community and I
held a welcoming ceremony for the workers, who were later resettled and found
employment here in Singapore. I felt great for helping the fellow Chinese resist against the Japanese because they still managed to continue to live their lives with
other jobs right here in Singapore
and being true Chinese.
In December 1941, I was put in charge of organizing a group of
volunteers to resist the Japanese, who were quickly advancing towards Southeast
Asia, so in the month of February, 1942, the group of volunteers and I put up a
fierce fight against the Japanese during the Battle of Singapore. It was extremely
tough but we managed to put up a resistance against the Japanese. However, we did not manage to stop them from
attacking and then eventually capturing Singapore. A deep sense of
disappointment filled me but I never gave up because I knew that I still could
make a change in Singapore’s future and also the future of many other Chinese.
Soon, I left Singapore on 11 February 1942 and travelled to Sumatra,
Indonesia, with other Chinese community leaders and later made my way to India.
Then, I managed to recruit and train hundreds of secret agents through
intensive military intelligence missions from China and India. I set up the
Sino-British guerrilla task Force 136 in mid-1942 with Captain John Davis of
the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to conduct sabotage and
intelligence-gathering operations in Singapore and Malaya to spy on the
Japanese so they could gather information and plan how to defend Malaya and
Singapore. It comprised of a few British officers and about a 100 Chinese
refugees who had fled from Malaya to India to China. The agents trained in
India and secretly returned in batches to Malaya. Managing to organize such an
important group of agents was an accomplishment for me.
Operation Gustavus was aimed at establishing a spy network in Malaya and
Singapore to gather intelligence about Japanese activities, by helping the
British in planning their recapture of the colonies. On 24 May 1943, the first
group of Force 136 agents, codenamed Gustavus I lead by Davis arrived in Perak
on board the Dutch submarine O 24. I arrived in Malaya on 2 November 1943 as
part of Gustavus V. I travelled under the alias "Tan Choon Lim" to
avoid identification by the Japanese, and claimed to be a businessman when I
passed through checkpoints. I knew I had to be as cautious and as careful as
possible to prevent myself from getting caught. It was really a struggle to
keep the entire operation to function properly in secret. Unfortunately,
Operation Gustavus failed before the agents managed to achieve any results. A
communist guerrilla was captured by the Japanese in January 1944, who revealed
the existence of the Allied spy network operating at Pangkor Island. The
Japanese launched a full-scale counter espionage operation on the island and by
late March 1944, more than 200 soldiers were on the island. On 24th March, the Kempeitai arrested a
fisherman who was working at Pangkor Island when an agent of Force 136
approached him and requested to use his boat for their communications. Chua
told the Kempeitai what he knew when he was interrogated. The agent was later
captured by the Japanese and he confirmed the fisherman’s accounts of Force 136
under torture and then began to feign cooperation with the Japanese in order to
escape captivity.
The entire spy network was destroyed by the 31st
of March 1944, and was not re-established until February 1945. By this time, I was very disappointed at our
loss and my hope for victory against the Japanese began to shake a little bit,
but I did not give up at all.
Due to my participation in pre-war anti-Japanese activities, I was
forced to flee to India when Singapore fell to the Japanese. Having already
joined Force 136, I returned to Malaya in late 1943. However, in May 1944, I
was arrested near Ipoh, taken to the Kempeitai headquarters for interrogation
and tortured to reveal the information about my comrades. I was severely
tortured and punished. The pain was truly unbearable. It was really a harsh
period of time for me to get through. Despite that, I refused to divulge and
leak any information because I felt that loyalty was very important and
therefore I should not break my group’s trust. I also strongly protested
against the ill treatment of comrades in prison. Though I knew that it was
risky to talk back to the Japanese, I felt that justice had to be carried out. I soon fell ill with
dysentery and life became much more difficult than it had ever been until then.
I had to cope with numerous stomach pains, severe abdominal pain and very high
fevers. I knew I really needed help from the doctor quick but there wasn’t
anyone who cared enough to call one. Nobody fed me water or medicine, but only
some mere porridge. I felt really weak and I
was dying. Honestly, at that point in my life, for brief moments, I felt
that the odds of me coming out of the torturous prison alive were really
against me. Still, overall, I had that unwavering hope in me that I will manage
to cope with all these struggles and will overcome all odds to survive.
Despite everything I've been and am going through, I am still confident
and determined that I will get out of this prison one day. Now a follower of
Christianity, I am holding on to my faith that Jesus will save me somehow. I am
also holding on to the hope that I will see my beloved family again. And when I
do make it out here alive, I will tell everyone that no matter what life throws
at you, never lose the will to keep living, not existing, and never take your
comfortable life for granted. This I have learnt the hard way, for this
experience has embedded in me these values and I will never ever forget them.
REFLECTIONS:
Shalini
Before I embarked on this learning journey,
my view was that the government should be steady and not corrupted, and should
be able to lead the country properly and peacefully for the country to be safe,
secure and peaceful. I believed that the leaders of the country are mainly responsible for the growth and development of the country, though the people or the public did have minor roles, they weren’t very
important, or so I thought. Now, after gaining an inspiring and helpful insight
into the history of Singapore’s development, I have realized that I was way off
course. Not only were the people important, they helped to bring about changes
and hope to others and did a lot for Singapore to prosper. They dared to make
the effort to stand up for the country during its time of crisis, and majority
were in fact very successful. Don’t believe me? Just look at how much our
country has evolved over the years. Sure the leaders were responsible, but
without the help and support of the hundreds of citizens, they wouldn’t have
been able to accomplish much. I have learnt that we must always be ready to
stand up for our country, and should be loyal and serve during times of crisis.
I have learnt that we must never fear to have hope. We must always strive to
bring about the better side of a situation, and must never think of ourselves
as inferior. We all are capable. You may say we are just ordinary folk in a
bustling country, but so were those people, many years back, and look at what
they have accomplished. Lim Bo Seng is now known for his many contributions and
likewise, we too must make the effort to serve our country.
Ita
During World War
2, a lot of people were killed by the Japanese soldiers. Lives were killed by
the Japanese soldiers every day. However, some of these people had kept
information from Japanese. Some of these people revealed important information
to the Japanese soldiers because they were tortured. However, some were still
persistent on keeping the information they had held safe, despite the number of
times they were tortured. Elizabeth Choy served as a second lieutenant in the
women's auxiliary arm of the Singapore Volunteer Corps. She was also a
volunteer nurse with the Medical Auxiliary Service. She married Choy
Khun Heng in August 1941. During the Japanese Occupation, the Choys were
involved in smuggling money into Changi Prison, resulting in the arrest of
Elizabeth’s husband. She stayed strong throughout the whole time she was tortured
and did not leak out any information to them. One value I learnt was agility.
Elizabeth’s agility made her strong to face the challenges. This value I learnt
during my trip to the museum will hopefully help me face future challenges.
Hidayah
Before the Learning
Journey, I always thought that we should just depend on our leaders to ensure
that our country is secure and peaceful. After learning more about World War II
from this Learning Journey, I learnt that the British actually abandoned us
during this dark period of time when we needed them the most. So, I realized
that we need to be independent and united when problems like this appear to
ensure that our country is well protected and suitable for us to live in.
Before the Learning
Journey, I thought that no one would be able to take over Singapore as
Singapore is very well protected. However, I learnt from the Learning Journey
that we cannot be complacent and immediately assume that Singapore cannot be
conquered by other countries. From the Learning Journey, I have learnt that
during the World War II, people immediately assumed that Singapore was an
impreganble fortress because of the dense forests but the Japanese actually
came to Singapore by going through the forests and we were therefore not prepared
for an attack by the Japanese. So, I realized that we cannot be complacent, we
must be alert at all times to defend our country. I have learnt from the
Learning Journey about courage when responding in times of crisis. There were
two sabotage missions, Rimau and Jaywick, conducted by Z special unit that
targeted Japanese ships in Singapore and with a lot of courage, their first
mission was a success which allowed them to be more confident in themselves.
Ray Parkin, an Australian POW begged the Kempeitai to give the sick POWs
treatment and he was constantly hit as he kept asking but he remained
courageous and still kept asking. He summoned up the courage to ask another
time even though he had the possibility of getting hit again, and surprisingly
the Kempeitai allowed the sick to get treatment but no able bodied person was
to go and help them. Elizabeth Choy secretly passed things to prisoners to help
them to communicate and escape even though she knew that if she got caught, she
would be tortured or killed. Therefore, I have learnt that courage is very
important when responding in times of crisis. Without courage, all the war
heroes that we know of today would not have accomplished anything. Thus, I have
learnt that a courageous person is able to do many effective things during
times of crisis.
Diyanah
I learnt that it actually takes effort from
everyone to actually a secure and peaceful life in Singapore and that we should
never under estimate others like for example how the British underestimated the
Japanese though they we actually well prepared with good equipments and good
forces. I also learnt that love for the country is also important because a lot
of people were actually tell the truth during the war to Japanese by actually
getting tortured but they did not tell anything to Japanese that could affect
the people. One value I have learnt is that in times of crisis we should always
keep calm so that we can accurately follow all instructions so that we can all
work together to defend our country as one. For example one reason why
Singapore actually was under the Japanese is because first nobody actually
believed that there were Japanese invading and also because the army did not
listen to leader just because he looked different which caused the whole army
to actually work well. The learning journey was a good experience.
Thanya
A government
that shows good leadership, makes wise decisions, prevents corruption, protects
public against threats and a strong, efficient and effective army was all that
was needed I thought. After this learning journey, I realised that having a
secure and peaceful country is not just all about government and army. As
Singapore citizens, we should devote ourselves for the community even in the
face of great challenges and adversity. Each individual should demonstrate
confidence and be dauntless. Remember the saying, “Ask what you have done for
your country, not what your country can do for you”? The learning journey
helped me to discover war heroes like Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi. We should
take every opportunity to show our love for the country, have human spirit and
zeal for life just like him. I learnt that loyalty is an important value during
crisis. Lim Bo Seng was tortured severely by the Japanese. However, he refused to reveal names of the people who
worked with him. During Elizabeth Choy’s imprisonment, she was badly tortured.
The Kempeitai even gave her ‘electric shock’ treatment but she refused to
confess anything. Therefore, to have a secure and peaceful
country, Singaporeans should strive as one and fight for our country during
hard times and always remain loyal.
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