ELIZABETH CHOY
Despite the severe torture, she always walked
back to her cell with as much resolution as she could muster. She was far more
concerned about the welfare of her cell-mates than her own suffering. Her
compassion and selflessness, as well as the fact that she remained undefeated
to the end won her the admiration of her fellow detainees. In recognition of
her valour during the Japanese Occupation, Elizabeth Choy was awarded the Order
of the British Empire in 1946.'
DIARY
Dear Diary,
People can survive without food and water for
a few days,
but they cannot survive without hope for even
a second.
How would you feel if you are being tortured
continuously?
You would definitely feel dejected and depressed,
right?
Here I am, the only female, dejected and
demoralized,
kneeling in a dark and dank cell, with my
treasured paper
and pen as my only solace from this miserable
world of grey.
Inside the cell, there is only a small tap and
underneath it, a
hole meant for toilet purposes. Our daily
business is
conducted there in the vicinity of everyone.
Being the only
female there, you could imagine how mortified
and
distraught I feel. With more than 20 people
here, packed like
sardines, the foul and merciless stench
of our sweat,
human waste and stagnant water wafts through
the air to
every nook and cranny. At the side of our
cell, there is a tiny
hole, just big enough for our emaciated bodies
to crawl
through, to our doom; to the interrogation
room.
Our daily meagre meals are shoved to us
through the trap
door. Ravenous, everyone will eat up the last
grain of rice.
The size of my waist has
been shrinking significantly.
Our vindictive captors beat us up mercilessly,
subjected us
to electric shocks and pumped us up with water
as part of
the dreadful interrogation routine. The
feeling of having my
belly pumped full of water and then seeing the
water gushing
out of the body was
excruciatingly agonizing, both
physically and mentally.
When the ‘wild boars’ (interrogators) could
not extract any
information out of me, they dragged my
wretched husband
from Outram Prison, tied him up and ordered him to kneel
beside me. My husband had to
suffer the sole burden of
kneeling helplessly, witnessing the
gruesome scene of
them,
applying electric
currents to me, which sent my body into
spasms while my tears and mucus fought for
their way
out
 |
| The medals won by our war heroine, Elizabeth Choy, for her bravery (including the George Medal of Bravery Award) |
of my body, like villagers escaping from a
raging inferno.
A warrant officer with the kempeitai, will reproach
us when
we are least expecting it. Fear and darkness
are engulfing
our once happy lives and morphing us into
wretched beings,
robbing us of our freedom.
It is the darkest period in my life for now. I
feel as though I
am living in a hellhole, with the
interrogators sentencing us
to bear the consequences of our unknown acts.
I do not know how long I will remain here, but
I do know
that,
no matter what kind of torture they may
subject us to, no
matter what kind of tactics that they will use
to break down
our spirit .I will remain firm and support my
cellmates as
much as I can, while we tide through this
turbulent period
where darkness prevails. Even the darkest
night will end and
the sun will rise. I believe that optimism is the
key. It is the
multi-coloured crayon that we can pick up to
decorate this
dull and vast canvas of life. Though I may be
physically
enclosed in the four walls of this prison, I
will free my caged
soul. No one, not even the Japanese,
could restrict me
from that.
DIARY (After War)
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow’s dawn would be the end of one week
since pancreatic cancer hit me. Before I see
the angel of
Death I would like to write this diary entry.
Probably this
would be one of my last entries and I
want it to be a report
of my life after the world war. I am
trying my very best to forget
about all the miserable happenings that I was
put up to but
my brain does not allow me to do so. After the
Japanese flag
was raised down from the pole of the Lion City
I could smell
the new dawn of light. Has the sun
always been this
bright, or
 |
| Elizabeth Choy during her old age. |
has the fog called war clogged my eyes?
Although all my
deeds in the war have won me the George Medal
of Bravery
Award, the award did not cure my hurt
heart. My heart was
like a wooden board with nails being hammered
into it, even
if the nails were pulled out, the marks would
be there forever.
I have went through sufferings that even a man
could not
bear living with. The bad memories caused by those
happenings, killed me emotionally. There have
been days I
have cried thinking about them. I was asked
many times
about the names of the people who tortured me
but I refuse
to do so as I think they only behaved in such
a way due the
circumstances of war. I believe that they are
actually good
people
at heart. I hope that such a war will only be the
dust lying beneath, in the future.
LIM BO SENG
Lim Bo Seng, 27 April 1909 – 29 June 1944, came to
Singapore from China at the age of 16 to study in Raffles
Institution. After graduating from the University of Hong
Kong, he returned to Singapore to manage his father’s
business. When war came to Singapore in 1942, he was
actively involved in anti-Japanese activities, including
joining
Force 136. In May 1944 he was arrested by the Kempeitai
and subsequently tortured when he refused to divulge
information about Force 136. He died in prison a few months later.
Singapore Chinese Anti-Japanese
Volunteer Battalion was later Force 136. One day, Lim Bo Seng was at High
Street when he met a stranger who told him: ‘This war is going to make you
famous and you will live to see it,’
Force 136 was a British-led underground resistance group that operated in Malaya during World War II. There were about 50 members in the group which performed acts of sabotage and espionage against the Japanese. Force 136
was disband after World War II ended, but tales of its members' heroic acts and bravery are legendary, still live on till this day.. Lim Bo Seng, was one of the leaders of Force 136.
was disband after World War II ended, but tales of its members' heroic acts and bravery are legendary, still live on till this day.. Lim Bo Seng, was one of the leaders of Force 136.
Lim Bo Seng was captured as rebelled the Japanese.
The Japanese tried to force Lim Bo Seng to cooperate with them but he
refused.The Japanese even got Lim Bo Seng's friends in Singapore to come over
to persuade him, but once again, he was not moved and refused.
Instead, he told all his comrades to remain firm and do not surrender to
the Japanese. He got betrayed and captured, a day after, Mr Tan Chong Tee,
himself was caught by the Japanese. He was caught by the Japanese when he
got ratted out by his friend, Mr Tan Chong Tee, as he was captured by the
Japanese. He was captured when he was stopped at a checkpoint at Gopeng
and arrested. Lim Bo Seng ignored all earlier warnings and
pleas from his comrades about the harm of that mission, which was to
revamp the entire intelligence network and raise refunds from his friends who
are rich in wealth.
After he was captured, he was brought to Batu Gajah
Prison, he was subjected to non-stop interrogations and torture by the
Kempeitai.
Lim Bo Seng was already sick in health, having just
gone for a haemorrhoids operation in India before arriving in Malaya.To make
matters worse, he suffered from dysentary. Finally, on 29th June 1944, he
succumbed under the painful suffering and passed away. He died to protect the
identity of the ones whom are fighting the Japanese.
DIARY
Dear diary,
Another day of darkness. Another day of rain
. The warm
sunlight shines through the bars in my cell
but I feel strangely
cold. Memories of happier times spent
with my family
haunted me day and night and tugged at my
entire being to
make a break for it, but indomitable
barbed wire fences
enclose this hell-hole.
The kempeitai were savage beasts who
forced me to spill
the beans , but as I live, I swear to myself
that I will not resort
to such dirty tricks that would be our
country’s undoing .Our
brave soldiers were willing to sacrifice
their lives for our
country’s salvation and die at the
hands of the enemy.
I should not let their sacrifices be
wasted.
Like a shipwrecked boat , I am stuck here in
Batu Gajah
Prison , hurled with torrents of
harsh interrogations and
perpetual painful torture by the Kempeitai..
Despite all that
has happened , I still see a
sense of empathy in my fellow
countrymen ;a sense of understanding the
known and
unknown sufferings of others;a value so
strong that the
Japanese can never break and I resolve to
protect it as I
believe that alone we are strong, but
together we are
stronger.
 |
| Lim Bo Seng Memorial |
War Heroes- WW2- a poem
The dark days of Singapore dawned,
and the grief of every soul grew.
The war broke with fights, as everyone was fighting for the country and for their lives
War heroes and heroines are those people which History will never forget
As if it does, there is no point of looking up at the Singapore History.
They dedicated their lives for the welfare of their people,
and never gave up in the fight for Singapore
How else can we thank these wonderful souls,
who compromised their comforts and lives for the sake of fellow Singaporeans?
Their footprint imprinted on History can never be washed away,
for us to learn from the past and apply the lessons learnt in the future.
To pay tribute to these people would be a good way of saying,
and the grief of every soul grew.
The war broke with fights, as everyone was fighting for the country and for their lives
War heroes and heroines are those people which History will never forget
As if it does, there is no point of looking up at the Singapore History.
They dedicated their lives for the welfare of their people,
and never gave up in the fight for Singapore
How else can we thank these wonderful souls,
who compromised their comforts and lives for the sake of fellow Singaporeans?
Their footprint imprinted on History can never be washed away,
for us to learn from the past and apply the lessons learnt in the future.
To pay tribute to these people would be a good way of saying,
THANK YOU!
Reflections
Aishwarya (19):
Singapore is now a peaceful and safe
country for people to live in. The people of Singapore don’t really have the
fear of terrorist attack or bomb blast in this current situation. And to give
such a secure life for the people here, the police, the army and even the
cleaners among us has done a part. I have always thought that for a safe and
peaceful country all you need is a strong military and police force together
with massive protective weapons. And I have also had an opinion that for all
the peace and safety we are enjoying here is all because of our current police
and military. But this trip has changed my view towards all these. For what we
all are enjoying here, we have to thank our history and the people of our
history, our forefathers. If not for their bloodshed, hard work or struggle
towards independence, we would still have been a British colony or a part of
Malaysia. I have learned to have peace we need more than defense or power. We
need sacrifices, friendship ties with other countries and a lot of hard work
towards making this country considered safe and secure to live in.
We
went to the Changi Chapel Museum and Changi Beach as a learning journey for
history. These were places where our history, during war, was highly respected
or where our history happened. For example, the Changi Beach is a place where
the infamous Sook Ching took place, where thousands of Chinese were killed. One
value I have learned from this trip was to have hope even in the toughest time
of life. In the war, many Prisoners of War were brought to the death railway to
work. They were not given proper food or condition to live in. knowing the
tough situation they lived in, they still had hope of survival and that hope
even made some survive. For example, a group of women received permission from
the Japanese Commander and made blankets for their family members or husbands
in the prison to give them hope. One person who I want to learn from is
Elizabeth Choy. She was a symbol of bravery during the war. She smuggled food
and medicines to the POWs at Changi prison. She knew what she did was against
the law during the war but she did not care as all she wanted to do was to
help. These are only a few examples of the independence fighters’ characters.
The history they have made is a lesson and a learning point for us.
Yong En (26):
.When I studied
history in school, I could hardly digest the fact of such harsh treatments
towards the prisoners-of-war, by the Japanese, and the torment that they had to
go through, but this learning journey made me realize that not everyone in this
world is merciful and that Singapore’s peace and security can easily shatter
due to external or internal threats.It is much better to prepare for the storm
during the calm and the best way in which I believe, we could do that , is by
being vigilant and unite together as one Singapore,helping each other as nuch
as we can.
Q1) Before
embarking on this learning journey, if I am asked what is needed for a safe and
secure country, I would probably give a flippant reply as I used to think that
peace and security in Singapore can be easily achieved and is something that we
can take granted of. After going on this learning journey, I learnt that what I
thought was not true . I realized that in order to have a secure country; we
should remain vigilant at all times. I learnt from my tour guide that though
there were batteries and monster guns defending Singapore, they were
inefficient as they were only good for puncturing warships. They would only
explode a few minutes after they hit the ground thus allowing the Japanese
soldiers to flee from it. I have also read in textbooks that the Japanese were
trained in leadership and were very well prepared and versatile, unlike the British
who were too complacent. These evidences showed me that no matter how powerful
our weapons, we would still fall to an enemy if we were complacent. Therefore I
believe that to have a secure country, Singaporeans must be vigilant. We may
not be in the army, but we can help contribute to Singapore’s security by knowing
well what we should do in the event of a terrorist attack by reading
information booklets (on national defense) given out by the government, instead
of mindlessly throwing them away. We should also report to the police whenever
we see something suspicious.
I believe that we
should also understand each other and set our differences apart, to become
united as one Singapore. To have a secure and peaceful country, we should
tackle internal threats effectively as they could disturb the peace of a
country as much as external threats could. I think that the best way we can do
so is by showing understanding for other ethnic or religious groups. I have
learnt about how conflicts between different racial groups may lead to riots
and an example is the Mariah hertogh riots in which the Muslims felt
discriminated by the British who they considered as taking sides with the Dutch.
Conflicts,when not settled, lead to riots and destruction of property and casualties
inSingapore, like how external threats couldthreaten the peace of Singapore.
During the learning journey, I have learnt about selfless war heroes and heroines.
My tour guide told us about lim bo seng, who offered to share his food with his
cellmates despite the fact the he was suffering from dysentery. He united his
cellmates and inspired them to set their differences apart, and focused on
helping each other tide through their turbulent period in the cell. As a result
of his efforts to unify them, all of them had a better life in their cell,
helping each other to survive. Though we may not be in a military branch in Singapore,
I believe that we can all contribute to our peace in many ways. We can make
friends from different racial and religious groups and get to know their culture,
setting our differences apart, eradicating any sense of feeling of being
treated discriminately or unjustly.
In a nutshell, I
believe that we should not take the peace and security in Singapore for granted,
and we should all be vigilant and set our differences apart, unifying to become
one Singapore
2) One value that
I have learned about responding in times of crisis is that we should be helpfulto
our fellow countrymen either physically, mentally or emotionally.
During the
learning journey to the changi chapel museum, I learnt about Gordon butler. He
was known for his optimism during his tumultuous period as a prisoner-of-war
and I learnt that what inspired him to be optimistic was because of one of his
friend who offered to share a precious ball of rice with him, though he himself
could’ve eaten it and satisfied his own hunger. He was inspired by that act of
camaraderie and became optimistic, thus helping him to survive at all odds.
This goes to show how one small act of offering a rice ball ; one small gesture
of helping another , could become a big inspiration for the other person , both
physically and mentally .
During the trip to
the museum, I also saw a version of the ‘two malaria and one cholera’ sketch
which was originally drawn by ray parkin. The drawing depicted 2 prisoners-of-war,
suffering from malaria, supporting a prisoner suffering from cholera, clearly
showing the strong sense of camaraderie among them. Though both the prisoners-of-war,
who were suffering from malaria, were hungry and frail, they still took the
initiative to help the prisoner suffering from cholera , alleviating his pain. This
goes to show the importance helping one another in times of need, as it may be
a small effort, but it could still help to lessen some of the sufferings of
others.
I think that we should
not wait until a crisis to display the attributes of helping others and forging
camaraderie among our country mates. I believe that we can show these
attributes every day,(example)while we are on the bus when we can give up our
seat to a person who needs it more
.When I studied
history in school, I could hardly digest the fact of such harsh treatments
towards the prisoners-of-war, by the Japanese, and the torment that they had to
go through, but this learning journey made me realize that not everyone in this
world is merciful and that Singapore’s peace and security can easily shatter
due to external or internal threats.It is much better to prepare for the storm
during the calm and the best way in which I believe, we could do that , is by
being vigilant and unite together as one Singapore,helping each other as nuch
as we can.
Sevani (30):
1)
How has the Learning Journey
affected your view about what is needed to have a secure and peaceful country?
I
feel that this learning journey has taught me more about what our war
survivors,locals,theBritish,POWs have been through during the Japanese
occupation. To have a secure and peaceful country,I feel that unity is
something that is very important.If we face a problem as a country,the people
living there must be united and fight for the right.We should be resilient and
never give up and believe in ourselves that we can face it. We must also never
betray our fellow citizens(like what Lim Bo Seng did).
2) What is one value you have learnt during the Learning Journey
about responding in times of crisis? Please elaborate with examples of learning points from the trip?
Sahaana (32):
Before going to the learning journey, I took everything for
granted. I thought that peace and security can be achieved with ease. I didn’t
know every second of peace is sweat and soul of our country’s defenders. The view
I had on our country’s peace and stability had changed a lot when I was brought
to the Changi Chapel Museum and Changi Beach. For a secure country, I learnt
that Singapore needs a good law system such as army and policemen for external
and internal defence. A good army provides a sense of security for Singaporeans
as it means more protection from war, no terrorists or foreign attacks in
Singapore. Good policemen are also essential as it would prevent thieves,
robbery, kidnapping or these types of crimes to take place and give us a
secured feeling. Good finance is also needed to provide money to buy better
defence and attack machinery to prevent other countries from attacking. For a
peaceful country, finance gives people a higher salary to buy more food, pay
bills, which will increase the peace in the country. Healthcare, such as
clinics and hospitals are necessary so that people can live with no diseases
and have a longer life. Housing is important so that not many people will be
homeless and beg in the streets, and education is also vital so that people
will have more knowledge and can go to more jobs, which increases the peace in
the country. I thought that these are enough for a country’s security and peace
before the trip.
After the trip, I learnt
that harmony, which is respect, understanding, friendship, and hope are one of
the most imperative factors needed for a secure and peaceful country. We need
to understand and have good friendship with other countries so that there won’t
be misunderstandings between the countries. Forging great friendships will also
prevent war. We also need mutual understanding, respecting other races and
religions, and friendship, regardless of race. All three would prevent racial
or other riots. We can learn this from our ancestors who have shown how we
would suffer without harmony. Some examples are Maria Hertogh riots or the
racial riots. The drawing ‘Two Malarias and a Cholera’ shows how people had
mutual understanding during the Japanese Occupation as words did not matter,
understanding did. When I was brought to Changi Beach from the trip, I learnt
that that’s where prisoners were killed using the Sook Ching method. I realized
how they still had hope for the country while dying. This shows how we should
never give up no matter how hard the struggle is during crisis, as every
problem has a way out. I am sure our forefathers had the same belief and that’s
why they were ready to die for the country. We should always live in harmony as
Singapore has taught us in its growing stages that harmony is a key factor for
a peaceful and secure country. I also learnt that we should not take our
country’s success for granted as Singapore is where it is now due to our
forefather’s hard work and sufferings. Hence, from the trip, I learnt that
harmony (Mutual respect, understanding and friendship) is very important when
it comes to responding in terms of crisis, internally, or externally.
Vishwar (39):
I learnt that the British Officials, the Prisoners of War (POWs) and war
heroes had suffered a lot, in order to get back the peace which was in
Singapore before the war. Through the whole learning journey, I saw that there
was only one underlying factor prevalent in all the situations- unitedness.
This important quality is definitely needed for a peaceful country. Working
together is very important, as in a team, everyone works together to achieve a
common goal, which in turn happens to be.
One value I learnt is perseverance. Through the learning journey, I saw
that the POWs never gave up when they were put through lots of hardship. They
persevered, though they were weak and frail. They never hesitated to help their
mates and never stopped helping one another till their last breath. War heroes
like Elizabeth Choy fought for the nation, and underwent many hardships.
However, if she had given up, our country won’t have gained independence.
History teaches us lessons which are essential for life.
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| Used to protect Singapore. It was disguised inside a hut to prevent Japanese flights from identifying it and destroying it. |
 |
| Pillar in Changi Beach about the Sook Ching Massacre |
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| Opening for escaping during war time in Singapore |
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