Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Patriotism, Politician & Soldiers.
Talking about patriotism, the litmus paper is the war time. The only time Malaysia ever have any modern war was the WW2; Emergency was just like small civil war, a war of ideology, a by product of cold war after WW2. Japanese occupation was the real test, a tribulation of 3 years and 8 months. During the time, there were war hero, who fight for Malaya against the Japanese. Looking at the war only with historical view, without any corruption from political and racial views, the majority who were in the anti-Japanese armies were the Chinese. This is historical fact, partly due to the political development in the Far East. They were soldiers, patriotic soldiers. So there is no reason that Malaysian Chinese are not interest in uniform.
Recently I look through on the military history of WW2, Malaya, and Japan; British had no plan to defense Malaya even before the war, they are more worry about their home country against the Nazi. May be they were over confidence that Imperial Japanese Army will not attack their Singapore, or they believe they have enough power to defend their fortress. Their best air defense was in Europe. When the war come, they are not prepared, they think only of evacuation of their own people. The Indian soldiers and Malayan soldiers were left behind to become POW. Their grand escape plan backfire, many end up in POW Camp or died in the sea of Java, only few who evacuated earlier managed to escape, and some lucky one. The escape of British colonist, revealed negatively on them, especially the Indian soldiers and local residents in Malaya. They were some brave soldiers, some battle, .....but not enough to protect Malaya, and in the end, the defeat of British empire in the most shameful war that British had ever fight.
The Indian had their dilemma, to believe the promise by the Imperial Japanese Army, that they will support their independence of India, or prepare to suffer under their occupation , or even go to POW Camp. Many aligned with the Japan initially and joined Indian National Army(INA), with anticipation for Japanese support for independence of India from British. But there were some who were ready to POW Camp. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance. Initially composed of Indian prisoners of war captured by Japan in her Malayan campaign and at Singapore, it later drew volunteers from Indian expatriate population in Malaya and Burma. Some of the member of British Indian soldiers even provide information to Japan for their invasion of Malaya. Their main core of support was from Indian in Malaya, Singapore and Burma.
Initially formed in 1942 immediately after the fall of Singapore under Mohan Singh, the first INA collapsed in December that year before it was revived under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943 and proclaimed the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (The Provisional Government of Free India). This second INA fought along with the Imperial Japanese Army against the British and Commonwealth forces in the campaigns in Burma, Imphal and Kohima, and later, against the successful Burma Campaign of the Allies. The end of the war saw a large number of the troops repatriated to India where some faced trial for treason and became a galvanising point of the Indian Independence movement.
After Indian independence, the ex-INA members, with some exceptions, were refused service in the Indian Army. However, a number of notable members later became involved in local politic or public life in India and in Southeast Asia.
For further information on INA,,please read wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Army. I have personally know some of ex-member of INA, one of them even become an active politician and public figure in Penang. They sincerely and strongly believe in the promise of Imperial Japanese Army.
The Malay was also indulged in the hope for independence of Malaya and Indonesia, and there was engagement and participation in the occupation government.
In administering Kedah, the Japanese implemented a policy of cooperation with the right winged elites. The then Monopoly and Customs Commissioner Tunku Muhamad Jiwa ibn Sultan Abdul Hamid and Ismail Harun (2nd assistant secretary) initiated the cooperation. The Kulim district officer also cooperated with the Japanese. In his speech aired by Radio Pulau Pinang, Tunku Abdul Rahman urged the people of Malaya and Sumatra to accept the Japanese occupation to avoid further bloodshed((by Abu Talib Ahmad). Even though the Malays (who are Muslims) and Indians were not badly treated by Japanese forces in the beginning of the occupation, later they too felt the hardship of life under the occupation and this was magnified by the brutal treatment of anyone who was suspected of being anti-Japanese (although hardly any atrocities were inflicted on them). Thus the SOE found a suitable backing among a few Malays and sent their officers to train local resistance forces famously known as Harimau Malaya Force 136 (Tigers of Malaya of Force 136). However, certain individuals in Malaya were strong supporters of the Japanese, and were actively involved in the notorious Kempeitai "mopping up" operations and other atrocities(source: wikipedia). Note: Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE)
But there were some individuals who joined Force 136 and Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).
The battle of Bukit Panjang was fought mostly by the 1st Malay regiment with a little support from the British. Most of the men fought to the death and when they ran out of ammo,they charged with their bayonets at the enemy. But what really stood out was that though Lt Adnan was wounded,he fought on and in the end was hung from a tree and stabbed to death.
Tunku Osman Khalil Shah Tunku Muhammad Jiwa, a student from Hutching School, Penang was another hero from Force 136, and there were others. Some joined Harimau Malaya Force 136 (Tigers of Malaya of Force 136). Lieutenant Ibrahim bin Ismail (M.B.E.)who retired as a full general and chief of the Malaysian armed forces in the 1970s; Captain Hussein Onn, Malaysia's 3rd Prime Minister. They have served their country well....
For Force 136, there are books; but Wikipedia do have write up on the topic.It was interesting to know that some Canadian Chinese joined Force 136, one of them is Willie (Jun Wai) Chong, Frank Lee ,Victor Eric Wong , Paul Chan ,Harry Fong,Gordon J.K. Quan. What did these Canadian Chinese do in Malaya, risking their life with Force 136?. If you want to know the story, visit their website http://www.ccmms.ca/vets/ccmrem136.asp.
The rest was history......
The Chinese was the one that suffered most from Japanese Occupation; yet many also joined the resistance movement. Be it communist MPAJA or under Force 136. Many lost their life for the land they lived and love. They become soldiers, not their choice, but for the reason to take up arms against Imperial Japanese Army that occupy Malaya.
From time to time the MCP released policy statements or manifestos to the public. Below is Wikipedia's initial attempt to list them:
* 1940. Manifesto calling for expulsion of British imperialism.
* February 1943. Anti-Japanese Programme (nine points).
* 27 August 1945. Eight Point Manifesto. Generally moderate; the only demands objected to by the British were those for an elected assembly and a wide franchise. It "expressed the hope" (Cheah's words) that the British would consider granting self-government to Malaya.
MPAJA is not treated as part of the anti Japanese war and hence is excluded from the history book and museums. Some of the historian begin to argue that is MPAJA a patriotic force in history, and played a critical role in the independence of Malaya , like INA? Force 136?....
History tell us that at the political development of the world at the time; and the fight against independence from the colonist in Asian; many had believed in communist struggle for their independence. Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaya...
After the war, the ugly side of the colonist returned, more chaos despite the war was over. Many freedom fighters failed to term with their colonist government when the war ended. They were not provide with political right to form a political party like Japanese Communist Party. Many were forced into the jungle to take up arm, and classified as terrorist by the colonist propaganda. That was the period we see the political struggle of the British Empire in Malaya, Burma and India, their swan days in Asia. They use their propaganda machine to discredit the independence fighters, trying to salvage their pride. The independence fighters lost the war, and history was not fair to them...and it just happen many of them were Chinese, it become blurred with racial tone....looking at the political scene in the world, it was just an ideology, a chosen way to make a political stance....they lost their life for their ideology, their home land, and their nation.....a cruel historical fact.
....the story and history were ..... tainted with wrong perception and polluted with hidden political agenda, not from the prospective of historical view, neither from the neutral view, but from the perspective of winner or losers...the winner write their history.....In war, for ordinary people, either way you loose.
The history proved that Chinese are patriotic, in war; but they preferred peace to make a living, in a fair and just environment. During the WW2, Emergency, Confrontation, there were still many Chinese soldiers who joined the government arm forces ; but there are many who choose to remain as an ordinary people, working hard, paying taxes.....the silence patriotic people, who despite having their political stance, silently contribute to society, their community, and the nation. No historian will remember them, for they are not soldiers in the battlefields, but brave patriotic solders in their own life.....
Going back to the Canadian Chinese who joined Force 136, and those who participated in WW2 as soldiers, they were recognized by the open minded Canadian government, despite fighting a war in Malaya, and not Canada.....
Politician are politician; wearing a mask, either way they win....they make policy, some are not good one, with their political power, they can justify it. They write new history, in tune with their political agenda, history that they want to see, history that please them.....and they can change often. Great nation is the one who has confidence to accept their identity, their history, good or ugly, as genuine history. There were opportunists in the WW2, traitors to the land and people, who cooperate with the enemy, but transformed to become hero, public figure, politician, millionaires.....after the war. Many change their hats, as pure blood opportunist, they want to change their history, to erase their past life. But people who died during the war, lived through the war, know their history, their ugly past.
But the fact remain, patriotism is from the heart, at the moment of war, when it out pour; regardless of other factors, just for the land and family. Even they are not soldiers....
A simple fact for simple man....a patriotic person will let the next generation know their historical truth, and not to erase the truth from their children...... the internet world will play the role to continue telling the truth, if you know to differentiate the reliable source.
...We really need to learn from the German.......
Still remember Bunga Raya?......
Suggested articles
1. MUSEUMS AND THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MALAYA,by Abu Talib Ahmad,
http://eprints.usm.my/1018/ /Museums_and_the_Japanese_Occupation_of_Malaya_%28Abu_Talib_Ahmad%29.pdf( Interesting article, as the author traced the history of WW2 in the museums)
2.Chapman, Freddie Spencer. The Jungle is neutral. Lyon Press. ISBN 1-59228-107-9.
3.WILLIE CHONG, http://williechong.com/
4. Force 136, http://www.ccmms.ca/vets/ccm136.asp
Recently I look through on the military history of WW2, Malaya, and Japan; British had no plan to defense Malaya even before the war, they are more worry about their home country against the Nazi. May be they were over confidence that Imperial Japanese Army will not attack their Singapore, or they believe they have enough power to defend their fortress. Their best air defense was in Europe. When the war come, they are not prepared, they think only of evacuation of their own people. The Indian soldiers and Malayan soldiers were left behind to become POW. Their grand escape plan backfire, many end up in POW Camp or died in the sea of Java, only few who evacuated earlier managed to escape, and some lucky one. The escape of British colonist, revealed negatively on them, especially the Indian soldiers and local residents in Malaya. They were some brave soldiers, some battle, .....but not enough to protect Malaya, and in the end, the defeat of British empire in the most shameful war that British had ever fight.
The Indian had their dilemma, to believe the promise by the Imperial Japanese Army, that they will support their independence of India, or prepare to suffer under their occupation , or even go to POW Camp. Many aligned with the Japan initially and joined Indian National Army(INA), with anticipation for Japanese support for independence of India from British. But there were some who were ready to POW Camp. The aim of the army was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance. Initially composed of Indian prisoners of war captured by Japan in her Malayan campaign and at Singapore, it later drew volunteers from Indian expatriate population in Malaya and Burma. Some of the member of British Indian soldiers even provide information to Japan for their invasion of Malaya. Their main core of support was from Indian in Malaya, Singapore and Burma.
Initially formed in 1942 immediately after the fall of Singapore under Mohan Singh, the first INA collapsed in December that year before it was revived under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943 and proclaimed the army of Bose's Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (The Provisional Government of Free India). This second INA fought along with the Imperial Japanese Army against the British and Commonwealth forces in the campaigns in Burma, Imphal and Kohima, and later, against the successful Burma Campaign of the Allies. The end of the war saw a large number of the troops repatriated to India where some faced trial for treason and became a galvanising point of the Indian Independence movement.
After Indian independence, the ex-INA members, with some exceptions, were refused service in the Indian Army. However, a number of notable members later became involved in local politic or public life in India and in Southeast Asia.
For further information on INA,,please read wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Army. I have personally know some of ex-member of INA, one of them even become an active politician and public figure in Penang. They sincerely and strongly believe in the promise of Imperial Japanese Army.
The Malay was also indulged in the hope for independence of Malaya and Indonesia, and there was engagement and participation in the occupation government.
In administering Kedah, the Japanese implemented a policy of cooperation with the right winged elites. The then Monopoly and Customs Commissioner Tunku Muhamad Jiwa ibn Sultan Abdul Hamid and Ismail Harun (2nd assistant secretary) initiated the cooperation. The Kulim district officer also cooperated with the Japanese. In his speech aired by Radio Pulau Pinang, Tunku Abdul Rahman urged the people of Malaya and Sumatra to accept the Japanese occupation to avoid further bloodshed((by Abu Talib Ahmad). Even though the Malays (who are Muslims) and Indians were not badly treated by Japanese forces in the beginning of the occupation, later they too felt the hardship of life under the occupation and this was magnified by the brutal treatment of anyone who was suspected of being anti-Japanese (although hardly any atrocities were inflicted on them). Thus the SOE found a suitable backing among a few Malays and sent their officers to train local resistance forces famously known as Harimau Malaya Force 136 (Tigers of Malaya of Force 136). However, certain individuals in Malaya were strong supporters of the Japanese, and were actively involved in the notorious Kempeitai "mopping up" operations and other atrocities(source: wikipedia). Note: Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE)
But there were some individuals who joined Force 136 and Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).
The battle of Bukit Panjang was fought mostly by the 1st Malay regiment with a little support from the British. Most of the men fought to the death and when they ran out of ammo,they charged with their bayonets at the enemy. But what really stood out was that though Lt Adnan was wounded,he fought on and in the end was hung from a tree and stabbed to death.
Tunku Osman Khalil Shah Tunku Muhammad Jiwa, a student from Hutching School, Penang was another hero from Force 136, and there were others. Some joined Harimau Malaya Force 136 (Tigers of Malaya of Force 136). Lieutenant Ibrahim bin Ismail (M.B.E.)who retired as a full general and chief of the Malaysian armed forces in the 1970s; Captain Hussein Onn, Malaysia's 3rd Prime Minister. They have served their country well....
For Force 136, there are books; but Wikipedia do have write up on the topic.It was interesting to know that some Canadian Chinese joined Force 136, one of them is Willie (Jun Wai) Chong, Frank Lee ,Victor Eric Wong , Paul Chan ,Harry Fong,Gordon J.K. Quan. What did these Canadian Chinese do in Malaya, risking their life with Force 136?. If you want to know the story, visit their website http://www.ccmms.ca/vets/ccmrem136.asp.
The rest was history......
The Chinese was the one that suffered most from Japanese Occupation; yet many also joined the resistance movement. Be it communist MPAJA or under Force 136. Many lost their life for the land they lived and love. They become soldiers, not their choice, but for the reason to take up arms against Imperial Japanese Army that occupy Malaya.
From time to time the MCP released policy statements or manifestos to the public. Below is Wikipedia's initial attempt to list them:
* 1940. Manifesto calling for expulsion of British imperialism.
* February 1943. Anti-Japanese Programme (nine points).
* 27 August 1945. Eight Point Manifesto. Generally moderate; the only demands objected to by the British were those for an elected assembly and a wide franchise. It "expressed the hope" (Cheah's words) that the British would consider granting self-government to Malaya.
MPAJA is not treated as part of the anti Japanese war and hence is excluded from the history book and museums. Some of the historian begin to argue that is MPAJA a patriotic force in history, and played a critical role in the independence of Malaya , like INA? Force 136?....
History tell us that at the political development of the world at the time; and the fight against independence from the colonist in Asian; many had believed in communist struggle for their independence. Burma, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaya...
After the war, the ugly side of the colonist returned, more chaos despite the war was over. Many freedom fighters failed to term with their colonist government when the war ended. They were not provide with political right to form a political party like Japanese Communist Party. Many were forced into the jungle to take up arm, and classified as terrorist by the colonist propaganda. That was the period we see the political struggle of the British Empire in Malaya, Burma and India, their swan days in Asia. They use their propaganda machine to discredit the independence fighters, trying to salvage their pride. The independence fighters lost the war, and history was not fair to them...and it just happen many of them were Chinese, it become blurred with racial tone....looking at the political scene in the world, it was just an ideology, a chosen way to make a political stance....they lost their life for their ideology, their home land, and their nation.....a cruel historical fact.
....the story and history were ..... tainted with wrong perception and polluted with hidden political agenda, not from the prospective of historical view, neither from the neutral view, but from the perspective of winner or losers...the winner write their history.....In war, for ordinary people, either way you loose.
The history proved that Chinese are patriotic, in war; but they preferred peace to make a living, in a fair and just environment. During the WW2, Emergency, Confrontation, there were still many Chinese soldiers who joined the government arm forces ; but there are many who choose to remain as an ordinary people, working hard, paying taxes.....the silence patriotic people, who despite having their political stance, silently contribute to society, their community, and the nation. No historian will remember them, for they are not soldiers in the battlefields, but brave patriotic solders in their own life.....
Going back to the Canadian Chinese who joined Force 136, and those who participated in WW2 as soldiers, they were recognized by the open minded Canadian government, despite fighting a war in Malaya, and not Canada.....
Politician are politician; wearing a mask, either way they win....they make policy, some are not good one, with their political power, they can justify it. They write new history, in tune with their political agenda, history that they want to see, history that please them.....and they can change often. Great nation is the one who has confidence to accept their identity, their history, good or ugly, as genuine history. There were opportunists in the WW2, traitors to the land and people, who cooperate with the enemy, but transformed to become hero, public figure, politician, millionaires.....after the war. Many change their hats, as pure blood opportunist, they want to change their history, to erase their past life. But people who died during the war, lived through the war, know their history, their ugly past.
But the fact remain, patriotism is from the heart, at the moment of war, when it out pour; regardless of other factors, just for the land and family. Even they are not soldiers....
A simple fact for simple man....a patriotic person will let the next generation know their historical truth, and not to erase the truth from their children...... the internet world will play the role to continue telling the truth, if you know to differentiate the reliable source.
...We really need to learn from the German.......
Still remember Bunga Raya?......
Suggested articles
1. MUSEUMS AND THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MALAYA,by Abu Talib Ahmad,
http://eprints.usm.my/1018/ /Museums_and_the_Japanese_Occupation_of_Malaya_%28Abu_Talib_Ahmad%29.pdf( Interesting article, as the author traced the history of WW2 in the museums)
2.Chapman, Freddie Spencer. The Jungle is neutral. Lyon Press. ISBN 1-59228-107-9.
3.WILLIE CHONG, http://williechong.com/
4. Force 136, http://www.ccmms.ca/vets/ccm136.asp
Bunga Raya, the national flower
The Straits Times, 29 July 1960, Page 1
Tunku Abdul Rahman announced in Kuala Lumpur 28-7-1960 at the opening of Malaya Agri-Horticultural Association exhibition at Selangor Turf Club, announced that the national flower should be Bunga Raya for the federation.
Tunku Abdul Rahman announced in Kuala Lumpur 28-7-1960 at the opening of Malaya Agri-Horticultural Association exhibition at Selangor Turf Club, announced that the national flower should be Bunga Raya for the federation.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
New Mayor of Colchester is from Penang
The New Mayor, a Penang SGGS student
Congratulation to Helen Chuah, for being appointed as the Mayor of Colchester, UK
Still remember writing about her being appointed as Deputy Mayor of Colchester in my blog article dated 24th August 2010, with title “ Helen Chuah – Deputy Mayor of Colchester 2010-2011. After writing the blog, I sent an e-mail to her to congratulate her for her appointment and told her that I am proud of her, as Penang lang. She replied to my e-mail and the letter was posted in my blog, to inform Penang people, that we have a proud girl from Penang who had done well in oversea. The e-mail was posted in my blog dated 23-12-2010, titled “ A letter from Deputy Mayor of Colchester, UK( ex student from SGGS) “. The Penang girl from the famous school, SGGS(St George's Girls School ), the missionary school that just celebrated the 125th Anniversary on 10 October 2010.
St. George's Girls School, is a secondary school for girls located at Jalan Macalister, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Established in 1884, the school currently caters to approximately 1300 students from Form 1 to Form 6. The abbreviated name for the school is SGGS with the pupils known as Georgians. SGGS is one of the best school in Penang. Mayor Helen Chuch completed her secondary education and left the school in 1967.
St. George's was started by the Colonial Chaplain's wife. The official opening took place on 7th January 1885 at "The Manse", which stood by the northern beach at Farquhar Street. With Miss R.A. Shackleford as its first principal, the institution offered an English education to the sheltered daughters of Penang society, and today is the alma mater of many eminent and illustrious ladies who have made their marks both in Malaysia and the world. Her alumni included Her Royal Highness the Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Bainun, Lim Beng Hong @ Mrs B.H. Oon(the first Chinese woman to be called to the English bar in 1926), Khoo Salma Nasution(President of Penang Heritage Trust or PHT) and many others. Now it included Mayor Helen Chuah as one of the proud Georgians.
To her classmates, to her family members and many Penang people who known her, Mayor Helen Chuch is Chuah Gaik Choon, a typical Chinese girl from Penang.
COUNCILLOR Helen Chuah, who is currently the Deputy Mayor , will be sworn in as Colchester's Mayor 2011-2012 on 18-5-2011. At a formal ceremony at the Moot Hall next Wednesday, Ms Chuah will take the badge and robes of the office from outgoing Mayor Sonia Lewis. Her escort will be partner Councillor Mike Hogg, a former Mayor himself, while Councillor Christopher Arnold is to be elected Deputy Mayor.
Her partner Michael Hogg, was the Mayor in 2001, is the first citizen of Colchester Borough Council and acts as Chair of the Council. Helen Chuah will be the 1636th Mayor, and the first Mayor of Colchester born outside the country.
Helen Chuah told the local reporter from NST, "It is a pity that my father who served in the Merchant Navy and also in the police force, is no longer with us. He was the one who encouraged me to read and pursue my education. He loved history and ceremonies. He would have loved the Mayor Making ceremony. He would have been so proud,". I am sure Mr Chuah will be proud of her daughter's achievement.
As she walk into the hall for her sworn in ceremony, may be she can still remember the school song or perhaps hear the melody of her school song singing by the students of St. George's Girls School.....with the blessing from people of her home state, Penang....
SGGS School Anthem
Seniors and juniors all gathered here,
Together we march on without a fear,
Goodwill and happiness we want to spread,
Every day's a challenge let's go right ahead.
Onwards we move towards the light,
Resolved are we to face the fight,
Giving our best from day to day,
If there's a will, there's always a way.
Around the bends of life we'll have to turn,
Near and far fond thoughts will always burn.
St. George's, St. George's,
We'll ever proclaim,
Honour and uphold you
Forever praise your name,
St. George's, St. George's,
We'll always be true,
Our dear St. George's Girls' School.
Her school will be proud of her; her family will be proud of her, and all Penang people will be proud of her....
Recommended readings:
1.St George's Girls School Penang 125th Anniversary, http://sggs125.blogspot.com/p/sggs-alumni.html
2. My earlier blog, Helen Chuah – Deputy Mayor of Colchester 2010-2011, dated 24th August 2010
3. A letter from Deputy Mayor of Colchester, UK( ex student from SGGS), dated 23-12-2010
4.Helen Chuah - Mayor of Colchester http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/HelenChuah-MayorofColchester/Article/#ixzz1MhywTeUz
5. Siblings proud of new mayor of Colchester, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/17/nation/8693619&sec=nation
Congratulation to Helen Chuah, for being appointed as the Mayor of Colchester, UK
Still remember writing about her being appointed as Deputy Mayor of Colchester in my blog article dated 24th August 2010, with title “ Helen Chuah – Deputy Mayor of Colchester 2010-2011. After writing the blog, I sent an e-mail to her to congratulate her for her appointment and told her that I am proud of her, as Penang lang. She replied to my e-mail and the letter was posted in my blog, to inform Penang people, that we have a proud girl from Penang who had done well in oversea. The e-mail was posted in my blog dated 23-12-2010, titled “ A letter from Deputy Mayor of Colchester, UK( ex student from SGGS) “. The Penang girl from the famous school, SGGS(St George's Girls School ), the missionary school that just celebrated the 125th Anniversary on 10 October 2010.
St. George's Girls School, is a secondary school for girls located at Jalan Macalister, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Established in 1884, the school currently caters to approximately 1300 students from Form 1 to Form 6. The abbreviated name for the school is SGGS with the pupils known as Georgians. SGGS is one of the best school in Penang. Mayor Helen Chuch completed her secondary education and left the school in 1967.
St. George's was started by the Colonial Chaplain's wife. The official opening took place on 7th January 1885 at "The Manse", which stood by the northern beach at Farquhar Street. With Miss R.A. Shackleford as its first principal, the institution offered an English education to the sheltered daughters of Penang society, and today is the alma mater of many eminent and illustrious ladies who have made their marks both in Malaysia and the world. Her alumni included Her Royal Highness the Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Bainun, Lim Beng Hong @ Mrs B.H. Oon(the first Chinese woman to be called to the English bar in 1926), Khoo Salma Nasution(President of Penang Heritage Trust or PHT) and many others. Now it included Mayor Helen Chuah as one of the proud Georgians.
To her classmates, to her family members and many Penang people who known her, Mayor Helen Chuch is Chuah Gaik Choon, a typical Chinese girl from Penang.
COUNCILLOR Helen Chuah, who is currently the Deputy Mayor , will be sworn in as Colchester's Mayor 2011-2012 on 18-5-2011. At a formal ceremony at the Moot Hall next Wednesday, Ms Chuah will take the badge and robes of the office from outgoing Mayor Sonia Lewis. Her escort will be partner Councillor Mike Hogg, a former Mayor himself, while Councillor Christopher Arnold is to be elected Deputy Mayor.
Her partner Michael Hogg, was the Mayor in 2001, is the first citizen of Colchester Borough Council and acts as Chair of the Council. Helen Chuah will be the 1636th Mayor, and the first Mayor of Colchester born outside the country.
Helen Chuah told the local reporter from NST, "It is a pity that my father who served in the Merchant Navy and also in the police force, is no longer with us. He was the one who encouraged me to read and pursue my education. He loved history and ceremonies. He would have loved the Mayor Making ceremony. He would have been so proud,". I am sure Mr Chuah will be proud of her daughter's achievement.
As she walk into the hall for her sworn in ceremony, may be she can still remember the school song or perhaps hear the melody of her school song singing by the students of St. George's Girls School.....with the blessing from people of her home state, Penang....
SGGS School Anthem
Seniors and juniors all gathered here,
Together we march on without a fear,
Goodwill and happiness we want to spread,
Every day's a challenge let's go right ahead.
Onwards we move towards the light,
Resolved are we to face the fight,
Giving our best from day to day,
If there's a will, there's always a way.
Around the bends of life we'll have to turn,
Near and far fond thoughts will always burn.
St. George's, St. George's,
We'll ever proclaim,
Honour and uphold you
Forever praise your name,
St. George's, St. George's,
We'll always be true,
Our dear St. George's Girls' School.
Her school will be proud of her; her family will be proud of her, and all Penang people will be proud of her....
Recommended readings:
1.St George's Girls School Penang 125th Anniversary, http://sggs125.blogspot.com/p/sggs-alumni.html
2. My earlier blog, Helen Chuah – Deputy Mayor of Colchester 2010-2011, dated 24th August 2010
3. A letter from Deputy Mayor of Colchester, UK( ex student from SGGS), dated 23-12-2010
4.Helen Chuah - Mayor of Colchester http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/HelenChuah-MayorofColchester/Article/#ixzz1MhywTeUz
5. Siblings proud of new mayor of Colchester, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/17/nation/8693619&sec=nation
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Malaysian Chinese in Military
Somebody said sometime ago; one minister of defense said some community is not patriotic, because they are not in arm forces. As I read the colonial history of our arm forces prior to independence, the fact was there were many Chinese and Indian in the arm forces. This minister did not read our nation's military history.
Some one comment that there were many volunteers in arm forces during the pre war days, and there were many Chinese volunteers in the resistance movement , especially during the WW2....
Recently there was one remark, why there are more Chinese volunteers in voluntary fire fighting units, than the number in the government fire brigade....
As I go through the history of our uniform units; there were many Chinese in uniform, in colonial days; at least much more than today.....why?...some even lost their life for the sake of the nation.....and yet there were numbers, but not today....
But why the number is declining......
The list of Malaysian Chinese Generals in the arm forces sine its establishment
Air Force – Brigadier General
Brig Jen (Rtd) Huang Chew Siong TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Datuk Toh Boon Fook TUDM (Bersara)- mendiang
Brig Jen (Rtd)Dato' Stephen Ngiau Tai Kong TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd)Dato' Koh Kia Lim TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen(Rtd) Dato' Loke Kok Yee TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Dato' Soon Lian Cheng TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Dato' Lau Kong Cheng TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen Dato' Lim Tiow Yew TUDM - Timbalan Komander, HQ IADS)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Goh Seng Toh
Army Major General
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato Leong Siew Meng (RSD),Commandant, Armed Forces Defence College.
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato Lai Chung Wah (KAD),Commandant, Armed Forces Defence College.
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato' Johan Hew Deng Onn bin Abdullah (RAD)-General Officer Commanding, 3rd Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Chong Thean Bok – Commander, 1st Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Hon Mun Loong – Commander, 9th Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Philip Lee.
Beig Jen (Rtd) Goh Ah Bah – Commander, 9th Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Navy (FIRST ADMIRALs)
Laksma Pertama(Rtd) Dato Albert Thong Hon Sin (B)
Laksma Pertama (Rtd) Lim Say Kiang (B)
Laksma Pertama(Rtd) Dato Ir Fong Soo Hoi (B)
Laksma Pertama (Rtd)Dato Tan See Ming (B)
Laksma Pertama Dato Tan Eng Seng - Komandan MPAT,Commandant Armed Forces Defence College.
It seems that there are more generals in TUDM(Royal Malaysian Air Force) than Army or Navy....
List of Chinese recipients of PGB
Kolonel (B) Maurice Lam Shye Choon
Mejar (B) Lee Ah Pow
Leftenan Muda (B) David Fu Chee Ming
Sarjan (B) Choo Wah Soon
Sarjan (B) Cheng Eng Chin @ Chong Yong Chin
It was also reported that Ranger Mat Isa bin Hassan PGB, despite the name Mat Isa, he was a Chinese.
I still remember during my school days, many were expired to be student of RMC(Royal Military College), one of the prestigious choice for people who wish to be in uniform. I wonder what happen now?.......
The new recruits for the uniform units in old days, were mainly from Boy Scout Movement, Boy's Brigade, Army Cadets; what happen to these youth movement now?.....
Is the appointment of Brigadier-General Ravinder Singh, a Sikh, as the chief of the Singapore Army, giving any clue to Malaysia?. Sikh, as a community, is having a long tradition of serving in uniform, both as policemen and in the armed forces, not only in Singapore but also Malaysia. But what happen to Sikh community in armed forces and police force in Malaysia, their number are also declining. Now they preferred to be lawyer or doctor in Malaysia, where they can excel in their occupation. Are they facing the same dilemma as the Chinese community? ......
Recommended reading:
1. In the military, the non-Malay is ridden like a horse, by Major (Rtd) D.Swami, http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2077:in-the-military-the-non-malay-is-ridden-like-a-horse&catid=130:Bloggers%20Buzz&Itemid=160(This is a touching article from a retired major, read on the article about Lt Lee Ah Poh,a PGB recipient and how he was treated)
2. 2Lt N.H. Siebel PGB and Captain Maurice Lam PGB in the Congo, http://www.thebluehelmets.ca/documents/Congo%20Kindu%20Airport.pdf
3. LACK OF NON-BUMI PARTICIPATION IN THE ARMY, http://mindnoevil.blogspot.com/2010/06/lack-of-non-bumi-participation-in-army.html( I like this blog, a fair view from a Malay retired army officer)
Some one comment that there were many volunteers in arm forces during the pre war days, and there were many Chinese volunteers in the resistance movement , especially during the WW2....
Recently there was one remark, why there are more Chinese volunteers in voluntary fire fighting units, than the number in the government fire brigade....
As I go through the history of our uniform units; there were many Chinese in uniform, in colonial days; at least much more than today.....why?...some even lost their life for the sake of the nation.....and yet there were numbers, but not today....
But why the number is declining......
The list of Malaysian Chinese Generals in the arm forces sine its establishment
Air Force – Brigadier General
Brig Jen (Rtd) Huang Chew Siong TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Datuk Toh Boon Fook TUDM (Bersara)- mendiang
Brig Jen (Rtd)Dato' Stephen Ngiau Tai Kong TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd)Dato' Koh Kia Lim TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen(Rtd) Dato' Loke Kok Yee TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Dato' Soon Lian Cheng TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Dato' Lau Kong Cheng TUDM (Bersara)
Brig Jen Dato' Lim Tiow Yew TUDM - Timbalan Komander, HQ IADS)
Brig Jen (Rtd) Goh Seng Toh
Army Major General
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato Leong Siew Meng (RSD),Commandant, Armed Forces Defence College.
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato Lai Chung Wah (KAD),Commandant, Armed Forces Defence College.
Mej Jen (Rtd) Dato' Johan Hew Deng Onn bin Abdullah (RAD)-General Officer Commanding, 3rd Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Chong Thean Bok – Commander, 1st Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Hon Mun Loong – Commander, 9th Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Brig Jen (Rtd) Philip Lee.
Beig Jen (Rtd) Goh Ah Bah – Commander, 9th Malaysian Infantry Brigade.
Navy (FIRST ADMIRALs)
Laksma Pertama(Rtd) Dato Albert Thong Hon Sin (B)
Laksma Pertama (Rtd) Lim Say Kiang (B)
Laksma Pertama(Rtd) Dato Ir Fong Soo Hoi (B)
Laksma Pertama (Rtd)Dato Tan See Ming (B)
Laksma Pertama Dato Tan Eng Seng - Komandan MPAT,Commandant Armed Forces Defence College.
It seems that there are more generals in TUDM(Royal Malaysian Air Force) than Army or Navy....
List of Chinese recipients of PGB
Kolonel (B) Maurice Lam Shye Choon
Mejar (B) Lee Ah Pow
Leftenan Muda (B) David Fu Chee Ming
Sarjan (B) Choo Wah Soon
Sarjan (B) Cheng Eng Chin @ Chong Yong Chin
It was also reported that Ranger Mat Isa bin Hassan PGB, despite the name Mat Isa, he was a Chinese.
I still remember during my school days, many were expired to be student of RMC(Royal Military College), one of the prestigious choice for people who wish to be in uniform. I wonder what happen now?.......
The new recruits for the uniform units in old days, were mainly from Boy Scout Movement, Boy's Brigade, Army Cadets; what happen to these youth movement now?.....
Is the appointment of Brigadier-General Ravinder Singh, a Sikh, as the chief of the Singapore Army, giving any clue to Malaysia?. Sikh, as a community, is having a long tradition of serving in uniform, both as policemen and in the armed forces, not only in Singapore but also Malaysia. But what happen to Sikh community in armed forces and police force in Malaysia, their number are also declining. Now they preferred to be lawyer or doctor in Malaysia, where they can excel in their occupation. Are they facing the same dilemma as the Chinese community? ......
Recommended reading:
1. In the military, the non-Malay is ridden like a horse, by Major (Rtd) D.Swami, http://english.cpiasia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2077:in-the-military-the-non-malay-is-ridden-like-a-horse&catid=130:Bloggers%20Buzz&Itemid=160(This is a touching article from a retired major, read on the article about Lt Lee Ah Poh,a PGB recipient and how he was treated)
2. 2Lt N.H. Siebel PGB and Captain Maurice Lam PGB in the Congo, http://www.thebluehelmets.ca/documents/Congo%20Kindu%20Airport.pdf
3. LACK OF NON-BUMI PARTICIPATION IN THE ARMY, http://mindnoevil.blogspot.com/2010/06/lack-of-non-bumi-participation-in-army.html( I like this blog, a fair view from a Malay retired army officer)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Japanese Occupation Forced Labour from Penang
During the WW2, many Strait Settlement residents were sent to Siam for the railway construction by the Imperial Japanese Army. Some of them were not military men, but civilian. There were the POW or Prisoner of War, and the civilian forced labour. Many died at the construction site and never returned. Some returned after the war, but were sicked and ill nourished, many died after their return.
Two of my uncle were the civilian forced labour for the construction of railway in Thailand. They died shortly after their return to Penang. They were returned, but a different person; weak, sick and undernourished. There were no money for their medical treatment. The time was tough in the post war period, and they passed away without a chance.....
Abducted civilian forced labor(強制連行・強制労働犠牲者/被害者)
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.
There were many Romusha (労務者, Rōmusha, "laborer")from Asian countries in World War II, who were forced by the Imperial Japanese Army as forced laborers during the Japanese occupation(日本軍の強制労働) . They are ordinary people who were unwillingly forced to leave their home in the army trucks, and sent work at the railway track in the Siam/Burma border. They were not just romusha, but the victim of forced labor(強制労働犠牲者). In Japanese, forced labor is called Kyōsei rō dō(強制労働,きょうせいろうどう), unlike POW(Prisoner of war) or hori-yo( 捕虜,ほりょ)who are war prisoners protected under international law, the forced laborer were merely ordinary civilian who are not prison labor( 囚人労働,[しゅうじんろうどう). They were abducted into Forced Labor Concentration Camp(強制労働収容所)against their wishes, a forced movement of forced labor, is Kyosei ren ko to Kyōsei rō dō(強制連行と強制労働) in Japanese. (note: 強制連行,きょうせいれんこう, kyosei ren ko means abduction against the victim's will)
POW Forced Labor of Japan Imperial Army(日本軍の捕虜の強制労働)
The Imperial Japan Army however did not comply with international Convention, and instead treated the POW as forced labor. It is forced labour of Japanese POW(日本軍の捕虜の強制労働)or POW forced labor, which was a breach of International Convention on POW.
The Japanese military's use of forced labor, by Asian civilians and POWs also caused many deaths. According to a joint study by historians including Zhifen Ju, Mitsuyoshi Himeta, Toru Kubo and Mark Peattie, more than 10 million Chinese civilians were mobilized by the Kōa-in (Japanese Asia Development Board) for forced labour. More than 100,000 civilians and POWs died in the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway.
The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between four and 10 million romusha (Japanese: "manual laborer"), were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there was a death rate of 80%.
According to historian Akira Fujiwara, Emperor Hirohito personally ratified the decision to remove the constraints of international law (Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)) on the treatment of Chinese prisoners of war in the directive of August 5, 1937. This notification also advised staff officers to stop using the term "prisoners of war". The Geneva Convention exempted POWs of sergeant rank or higher from manual labour, and stipulated that prisoners performing work should be provided with extra rations and other essentials. However, Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention at the time, and Japanese forces did not follow the convention.
The Empire of Japan, which had never signed the Second Geneva Convention of 1929, also did not treat prisoners of war in accordance with international agreements, including provisions of the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), either during the Second Sino-Japanese War or during the Pacific War. Moreover, according to a directive ratified on 5 August 1937 by Hirohito, the constraints of the Hague Conventions were explicitly removed on Chinese prisoners
Prisoners of war from China, the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines held by the Japanese armed forces were subject to murder, beatings, summary punishment, brutal treatment, forced labour, medical experimentation, starvation rations and poor medical treatment. The most notorious use of forced labour was in the construction of the Burma–Thailand Death Railway
According to the findings of the Tokyo Tribunal, the death rate of Western prisoners was 27.1%, seven times that of POWs under the Germans and Italians. The death rate of Chinese was much larger. Thus, while 37,583 prisoners from the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Dominions, 28,500 from Netherlands and 14,473 from the United States were released after the surrender of Japan, the number for the Chinese was only 56. After the war, it became clear that there existed a high command order – issued from the War Ministry in Tokyo – to kill all remaining POWs
The International Labour Organization's Forced Labour Convention of 1930 defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself [or herself] voluntarily." (For the origins of the term "corvée," see the entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia.)
One of the few very scholars to have attended to the genocidal (or "democidal") dimension of forced labour is R.J. Rummel. In his book Death by Government, Rummel offers the estimate that "at a rock-bottom minimum, 10 million colonial forced laborers must have died" as a result of the brutal exploitation inflicted upon them, and "the true toll may have been several times this number." He adds:
This does not even weigh the human cost of the state's conventional forced labor -- that of subjects compelled to man galleys, sail ships (as by the operation of press-gangs in British ports), carry supplies and weapons in time of war or rebellion, build pyramids, construct fortifications, or build roads, bridges, dams, canals and the like. Indeed, the use of such forced labor, or corvée, has been traditional in Asia, even up to recent decades. Sometimes this labor served in lieu of taxes, where the subject was decreed to owe to the king or emperor or state a month or more of labor per year. While perhaps justifiable in theory, the practice often meant that overseers would execute the laborer that was too often late for work, slow on the job, sickly, or critical of the work. (Rummel, Death by Government [New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1994], pp. 64-65.)
The Burma Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 kilometres (258 mi) railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.
Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian laborers (mainly romusha) and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians and New Zealanders.
POW Camp & Forced Labor Concentration Camp
The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. The estimated total number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction varies considerably, but the Australian Government figures suggest that of the 330,000 people that worked on the line (including 250,000 Asian labourers and 61,000 Allied POWs) about 90,000 of the labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died. See external link below.
Portrait of POW "Dusty" Rhodes. A three-minute sketch by Old painted in Thailand in 1944.
Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk to themselves by artists such as Jack Bridger Chalker, Philip Meninsky, Ashley George Old and Ronald Searle. Human hair was often used for brushes, plant juices and blood for paint, and toilet paper as the 'canvas'. Some of their works were used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals. Many are now held by the Australian War Memorial, State Library of Victoria and the Imperial War Museum in London.
But the horrors, starvation, sickness, and death that occurred during the construction of the Thailand-Burma railway are not the whole story. Except for the worst months of the construction period, known as the "Speedo" (mid-spring to mid-October 1943), one of the ways the Allied POWs kept their spirits going in the hellish conditions was to ask one of the musicians in their midst to play his guitar or accordion for them, or lead them in a group singalong, or request their camp comedians to tell some rough jokes, or put on a skit.
After the railway was completed, the POWs still had almost two years to survive before their liberation. During this time, most of the POWs were moved to hospital and relocation camps where they could be available for maintenance crews or sent to Japan to alleviate the manpower shortage there. It was in these camps that entertainment flourished as an essential part of their rehabilitation. Theatres out of bamboo and atap (palm fronds) were built, set, lighting, costumes and makeup devisded, and an array of entertainment produced that included music halls, variety shows, cabarets, plays, and musical comedies – even pantomimes. These activities engaged numerous POWs as actors, singers, musicians, designers, technicians, and female impersonators.
POWs and Asian workers were also used to build the Kra Isthmus Railway from Chumphon to Kra Buri, and the Sumatra or Palembang Railway from Pakanbaroe to Moeara.
The construction of the Burma Railway is counted as a war crime committed by Japan in Asia. Hiroshi Abe, the first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where over 3,000 POWs died, was later sentenced to death as a B/C class war criminal. His sentence was later commuted to 15 years in prison.
Hellfire Pass was a particularly difficult section of the line to build due to it being the largest rock cutting on the railway, coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building. The Australian, British, Dutch, other allied prisoners of war, along with Chinese, Malays and Tamils labourers, were required by the Japanese to complete the cutting. Sixty nine men were beaten to death by Japanese and Korean guards in the six weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from cholera, dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion (Wigmore 568)
The Railway after the war
After the war the railway was in very poor condition and needed heavy reconstruction for use by the Royal Thai Railway system. On 24 June 1949, the portion from Kanchanaburi to Nong Pladuk (Thai หนองปลาดุก) was finished; on 1 April 1952, the next section up to Wang Pho (Wangpo) was done. Finally, on 1 July 1958 the rail line was completed to Nam Tok (Thai น้ำตก, English Sai Yok "waterfalls".) The portion in use today measures some 130 km (80 miles). The line was abandoned beyond Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. The steel rails were salvaged for reuse in expanding the Bangsue railway yard, reinforcing the BKK-Banphachi double track, rehabilitating the track from Thung Song to Trang, and constructing both the Nong Pladuk-Suphanburi and Ban Thung Pho-Khirirat Nikhom branch lines. Parts of abandoned route have been converted into a walking trail.
Since the 1990s various proposals have been made to rebuild the complete railway, but these plans have not yet come to fruition. Since a large part of the original railway line is now submerged by the Vajiralongkorn Dam, and the surrounding terrain is mountainous, it would take extensive tunneling to reconnect Thailand with Burma by rail.
Cemeteries and memorials
After the war, the remains of most of the war dead were moved from former POW camps burial grounds and solitary sites along the rail line to one of three war cemeteries. The exception was fallen Americans, who were repatriated to the United States. (A total of 902 American POWs worked on the railway – 534 men from the 131st Field Artillery Regiment and 368 survivors of the sunken USS Houston (CA-30); 133 of them died.)
The main POW cemetery is in the city of Kanchanaburi, where 6,982 POWs are buried, mostly British, Australian, Dutch and Canadians. Also at the main cemetery is the Kanchanaburi Memorial, which honours 11 Indian soldiers from British regiments who were buried in local Muslim cemeteries. A smaller cemetery just outside the city is Chung Kai, with 1,750 war graves. Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar has the graves of 3,617 POWs (3,149 Commonwealth and 621 Dutch) who died on the Burmese portion of the line. The three cemeteries there are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Several museums are dedicated to those who perished building the railway. The largest of these is at Hellfire Pass (north of the current terminus at Nam Tok), a cutting where the greatest number of lives were lost. An Australian memorial is at Hellfire Pass. Two other museums are in Kanchanaburi – the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum, opened in March 2003, and the JEATH War Museum. There is a memorial plaque at the Kwae bridge itself and an historic wartime steam locomotive is on display.
A preserved section of line has been rebuilt at the National Memorial Arboretum in England.
The Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL) by ILO
In June 1998 the International Labour Conference adopted a Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up that obligates member States to respect, promote and realize freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour, and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The InFocus Programme on Promoting the Declaration is responsible for the reporting processes and technical cooperation activities associated with the Declaration; and it carries out awareness raising, advocacy and knowledge functions.
In November 2001, following the publication of the first Global Report on forced labour, the ILO Governing Body created a Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), as part of broader efforts to promote the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up.
But many were not POW, but civilian forced labor ....
When my two uncles passed away, as victim of force labour of Japanese Imperial Army. What left in the family were two old aged parent and younger siblings, who still need the financial support. Facing the difficult time of post war period, without the presence of the two sons who are skilled in the trade, the family business suffered. No family members were able to manage the business, the lucrative family business finally was forced to close. This greatly affected the livelihood and financial of the family for many years. My grandparent were left to suffer the agony of the loss of two sons, and the loss of business that was build up by their parent. They suffered for a long time, until they passed away... An unforgotten event of the WW2, only the family members will understand the mental torture, of the past memory of the war.
For such a long time........the bad memory of Japanese Occupation in Penang.....
It was a long time since the WW2, many things had been forgotten; yet my two uncles who died young during the Japanese Occupation were forever staying underground not knowing why this happen to them. They returned and died, and their names will be forgotten, without any memorial. Only a basic tombstone, and wild grasses accompanied them, without any family member of his own as they died young and unmarried.
Some years later, may be as their siblings are slowly followed them to the next world; they will be forgotten, and tombstone will be no more, and may be disappeared without any traces. So were the history of forced labor of Burma/Siamese from Penang.
They were not POW, but only forced labor of Imperial Japanese Army during the occupation......and the ugly story still continue today...
But, Lest We Forget .... the historical truth...禁止強制労働（きょうせいろうどう）...
Related articles/books/websites:
1. Proof of POW Forced Labor for Japan’s Foreign Minister: The Aso Mines; http://www.japanfocus.org/-William-Underwood/2432
2. The Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/AboutSAPFL/lang--en/index.htm
3. ILO between the two world wars 1930, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/century/content/1930.htm
Two of my uncle were the civilian forced labour for the construction of railway in Thailand. They died shortly after their return to Penang. They were returned, but a different person; weak, sick and undernourished. There were no money for their medical treatment. The time was tough in the post war period, and they passed away without a chance.....
Abducted civilian forced labor(強制連行・強制労働犠牲者/被害者)
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.
There were many Romusha (労務者, Rōmusha, "laborer")from Asian countries in World War II, who were forced by the Imperial Japanese Army as forced laborers during the Japanese occupation(日本軍の強制労働) . They are ordinary people who were unwillingly forced to leave their home in the army trucks, and sent work at the railway track in the Siam/Burma border. They were not just romusha, but the victim of forced labor(強制労働犠牲者). In Japanese, forced labor is called Kyōsei rō dō(強制労働,きょうせいろうどう), unlike POW(Prisoner of war) or hori-yo( 捕虜,ほりょ)who are war prisoners protected under international law, the forced laborer were merely ordinary civilian who are not prison labor( 囚人労働,[しゅうじんろうどう). They were abducted into Forced Labor Concentration Camp(強制労働収容所)against their wishes, a forced movement of forced labor, is Kyosei ren ko to Kyōsei rō dō(強制連行と強制労働) in Japanese. (note: 強制連行,きょうせいれんこう, kyosei ren ko means abduction against the victim's will)
POW Forced Labor of Japan Imperial Army(日本軍の捕虜の強制労働)
The Imperial Japan Army however did not comply with international Convention, and instead treated the POW as forced labor. It is forced labour of Japanese POW(日本軍の捕虜の強制労働)or POW forced labor, which was a breach of International Convention on POW.
The Japanese military's use of forced labor, by Asian civilians and POWs also caused many deaths. According to a joint study by historians including Zhifen Ju, Mitsuyoshi Himeta, Toru Kubo and Mark Peattie, more than 10 million Chinese civilians were mobilized by the Kōa-in (Japanese Asia Development Board) for forced labour. More than 100,000 civilians and POWs died in the construction of the Burma-Siam Railway.
The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between four and 10 million romusha (Japanese: "manual laborer"), were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there was a death rate of 80%.
According to historian Akira Fujiwara, Emperor Hirohito personally ratified the decision to remove the constraints of international law (Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)) on the treatment of Chinese prisoners of war in the directive of August 5, 1937. This notification also advised staff officers to stop using the term "prisoners of war". The Geneva Convention exempted POWs of sergeant rank or higher from manual labour, and stipulated that prisoners performing work should be provided with extra rations and other essentials. However, Japan was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention at the time, and Japanese forces did not follow the convention.
The Empire of Japan, which had never signed the Second Geneva Convention of 1929, also did not treat prisoners of war in accordance with international agreements, including provisions of the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), either during the Second Sino-Japanese War or during the Pacific War. Moreover, according to a directive ratified on 5 August 1937 by Hirohito, the constraints of the Hague Conventions were explicitly removed on Chinese prisoners
Prisoners of war from China, the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines held by the Japanese armed forces were subject to murder, beatings, summary punishment, brutal treatment, forced labour, medical experimentation, starvation rations and poor medical treatment. The most notorious use of forced labour was in the construction of the Burma–Thailand Death Railway
According to the findings of the Tokyo Tribunal, the death rate of Western prisoners was 27.1%, seven times that of POWs under the Germans and Italians. The death rate of Chinese was much larger. Thus, while 37,583 prisoners from the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Dominions, 28,500 from Netherlands and 14,473 from the United States were released after the surrender of Japan, the number for the Chinese was only 56. After the war, it became clear that there existed a high command order – issued from the War Ministry in Tokyo – to kill all remaining POWs
The International Labour Organization's Forced Labour Convention of 1930 defines forced labour as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself [or herself] voluntarily." (For the origins of the term "corvée," see the entry in the Columbia Encyclopedia.)
One of the few very scholars to have attended to the genocidal (or "democidal") dimension of forced labour is R.J. Rummel. In his book Death by Government, Rummel offers the estimate that "at a rock-bottom minimum, 10 million colonial forced laborers must have died" as a result of the brutal exploitation inflicted upon them, and "the true toll may have been several times this number." He adds:
This does not even weigh the human cost of the state's conventional forced labor -- that of subjects compelled to man galleys, sail ships (as by the operation of press-gangs in British ports), carry supplies and weapons in time of war or rebellion, build pyramids, construct fortifications, or build roads, bridges, dams, canals and the like. Indeed, the use of such forced labor, or corvée, has been traditional in Asia, even up to recent decades. Sometimes this labor served in lieu of taxes, where the subject was decreed to owe to the king or emperor or state a month or more of labor per year. While perhaps justifiable in theory, the practice often meant that overseers would execute the laborer that was too often late for work, slow on the job, sickly, or critical of the work. (Rummel, Death by Government [New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1994], pp. 64-65.)
The Burma Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 kilometres (258 mi) railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.
Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian laborers (mainly romusha) and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians and New Zealanders.
POW Camp & Forced Labor Concentration Camp
The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. The estimated total number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction varies considerably, but the Australian Government figures suggest that of the 330,000 people that worked on the line (including 250,000 Asian labourers and 61,000 Allied POWs) about 90,000 of the labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died. See external link below.
Portrait of POW "Dusty" Rhodes. A three-minute sketch by Old painted in Thailand in 1944.
Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk to themselves by artists such as Jack Bridger Chalker, Philip Meninsky, Ashley George Old and Ronald Searle. Human hair was often used for brushes, plant juices and blood for paint, and toilet paper as the 'canvas'. Some of their works were used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals. Many are now held by the Australian War Memorial, State Library of Victoria and the Imperial War Museum in London.
But the horrors, starvation, sickness, and death that occurred during the construction of the Thailand-Burma railway are not the whole story. Except for the worst months of the construction period, known as the "Speedo" (mid-spring to mid-October 1943), one of the ways the Allied POWs kept their spirits going in the hellish conditions was to ask one of the musicians in their midst to play his guitar or accordion for them, or lead them in a group singalong, or request their camp comedians to tell some rough jokes, or put on a skit.
After the railway was completed, the POWs still had almost two years to survive before their liberation. During this time, most of the POWs were moved to hospital and relocation camps where they could be available for maintenance crews or sent to Japan to alleviate the manpower shortage there. It was in these camps that entertainment flourished as an essential part of their rehabilitation. Theatres out of bamboo and atap (palm fronds) were built, set, lighting, costumes and makeup devisded, and an array of entertainment produced that included music halls, variety shows, cabarets, plays, and musical comedies – even pantomimes. These activities engaged numerous POWs as actors, singers, musicians, designers, technicians, and female impersonators.
POWs and Asian workers were also used to build the Kra Isthmus Railway from Chumphon to Kra Buri, and the Sumatra or Palembang Railway from Pakanbaroe to Moeara.
The construction of the Burma Railway is counted as a war crime committed by Japan in Asia. Hiroshi Abe, the first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where over 3,000 POWs died, was later sentenced to death as a B/C class war criminal. His sentence was later commuted to 15 years in prison.
Hellfire Pass was a particularly difficult section of the line to build due to it being the largest rock cutting on the railway, coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building. The Australian, British, Dutch, other allied prisoners of war, along with Chinese, Malays and Tamils labourers, were required by the Japanese to complete the cutting. Sixty nine men were beaten to death by Japanese and Korean guards in the six weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from cholera, dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion (Wigmore 568)
The Railway after the war
After the war the railway was in very poor condition and needed heavy reconstruction for use by the Royal Thai Railway system. On 24 June 1949, the portion from Kanchanaburi to Nong Pladuk (Thai หนองปลาดุก) was finished; on 1 April 1952, the next section up to Wang Pho (Wangpo) was done. Finally, on 1 July 1958 the rail line was completed to Nam Tok (Thai น้ำตก, English Sai Yok "waterfalls".) The portion in use today measures some 130 km (80 miles). The line was abandoned beyond Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. The steel rails were salvaged for reuse in expanding the Bangsue railway yard, reinforcing the BKK-Banphachi double track, rehabilitating the track from Thung Song to Trang, and constructing both the Nong Pladuk-Suphanburi and Ban Thung Pho-Khirirat Nikhom branch lines. Parts of abandoned route have been converted into a walking trail.
Since the 1990s various proposals have been made to rebuild the complete railway, but these plans have not yet come to fruition. Since a large part of the original railway line is now submerged by the Vajiralongkorn Dam, and the surrounding terrain is mountainous, it would take extensive tunneling to reconnect Thailand with Burma by rail.
Cemeteries and memorials
After the war, the remains of most of the war dead were moved from former POW camps burial grounds and solitary sites along the rail line to one of three war cemeteries. The exception was fallen Americans, who were repatriated to the United States. (A total of 902 American POWs worked on the railway – 534 men from the 131st Field Artillery Regiment and 368 survivors of the sunken USS Houston (CA-30); 133 of them died.)
The main POW cemetery is in the city of Kanchanaburi, where 6,982 POWs are buried, mostly British, Australian, Dutch and Canadians. Also at the main cemetery is the Kanchanaburi Memorial, which honours 11 Indian soldiers from British regiments who were buried in local Muslim cemeteries. A smaller cemetery just outside the city is Chung Kai, with 1,750 war graves. Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar has the graves of 3,617 POWs (3,149 Commonwealth and 621 Dutch) who died on the Burmese portion of the line. The three cemeteries there are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Several museums are dedicated to those who perished building the railway. The largest of these is at Hellfire Pass (north of the current terminus at Nam Tok), a cutting where the greatest number of lives were lost. An Australian memorial is at Hellfire Pass. Two other museums are in Kanchanaburi – the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum, opened in March 2003, and the JEATH War Museum. There is a memorial plaque at the Kwae bridge itself and an historic wartime steam locomotive is on display.
A preserved section of line has been rebuilt at the National Memorial Arboretum in England.
The Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL) by ILO
In June 1998 the International Labour Conference adopted a Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up that obligates member States to respect, promote and realize freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of child labour, and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. The InFocus Programme on Promoting the Declaration is responsible for the reporting processes and technical cooperation activities associated with the Declaration; and it carries out awareness raising, advocacy and knowledge functions.
In November 2001, following the publication of the first Global Report on forced labour, the ILO Governing Body created a Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), as part of broader efforts to promote the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up.
But many were not POW, but civilian forced labor ....
When my two uncles passed away, as victim of force labour of Japanese Imperial Army. What left in the family were two old aged parent and younger siblings, who still need the financial support. Facing the difficult time of post war period, without the presence of the two sons who are skilled in the trade, the family business suffered. No family members were able to manage the business, the lucrative family business finally was forced to close. This greatly affected the livelihood and financial of the family for many years. My grandparent were left to suffer the agony of the loss of two sons, and the loss of business that was build up by their parent. They suffered for a long time, until they passed away... An unforgotten event of the WW2, only the family members will understand the mental torture, of the past memory of the war.
For such a long time........the bad memory of Japanese Occupation in Penang.....
It was a long time since the WW2, many things had been forgotten; yet my two uncles who died young during the Japanese Occupation were forever staying underground not knowing why this happen to them. They returned and died, and their names will be forgotten, without any memorial. Only a basic tombstone, and wild grasses accompanied them, without any family member of his own as they died young and unmarried.
Some years later, may be as their siblings are slowly followed them to the next world; they will be forgotten, and tombstone will be no more, and may be disappeared without any traces. So were the history of forced labor of Burma/Siamese from Penang.
They were not POW, but only forced labor of Imperial Japanese Army during the occupation......and the ugly story still continue today...
But, Lest We Forget .... the historical truth...禁止強制労働（きょうせいろうどう）...
Related articles/books/websites:
1. Proof of POW Forced Labor for Japan’s Foreign Minister: The Aso Mines; http://www.japanfocus.org/-William-Underwood/2432
2. The Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), http://www.ilo.org/sapfl/AboutSAPFL/lang--en/index.htm
3. ILO between the two world wars 1930, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/century/content/1930.htm
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