Where are you, father?
A Singaporean's search for her Japanese father
By: Lam Pin Foo
WALK along Chuan Hoe Avenue, off Yio Chu Kang Road, and you may just stumble on 10,000 of the Japanese war dead.
They lie in a Japanese cemetery, right smack in the middle of a quiet residential area, surrounded by landed properties and a children's playground.
The sprawling cemetery along Chuan Hoe Avenue is the only
concrete reminder of the pre-war Japanese community here.Unknown to many, the ashes of these 10,000, from World War II, are buried alongside those of more than 1,000 of the pre-war community of Japanese here.
The sprawling cemetery is the only concrete reminder of the pre-war Japanese community here.
Like the other Asian migrants, these Japanese had moved to the then British colony in search of a better life and to escape the grinding poverty of their homeland.
Despite their minuscule numbers, they made their presence felt and contributed significantly to the economic life here.
FOUNDED in 1891, the cemetery was the exclusive Japanese burial ground until 1947. It became a memorial park in 1987, and has been maintained by the Singapore Japanese Association with donations from the Japanesecommunity here.
Far from being forgotten, it is well-kept and even has a Shinto shrine. Its esthetically-landscaped garden is shaded by mature trees.
Criss-crossing walkways lead one easily to the remarkably well-marked graves. The names of the dead are set out on a large plaque, which show clear tomb directions.
And they were from various walks of life, ranging from business tycoons, professionals and artisans to those with questionable occupations.
Their identities and stations in life were clear from the inscriptions on their tombstones.
The most well-known grave belongs to Field-Marshal Terauchi, the Supreme Commander of Japanese Forces in South-east Asia, which is in a quiet corner and away from the other graves.
He was too ill to represent Japan at the surrender ceremony but he sent his sword, which signified his symbolic presence. He died in Singapore shortly afterwards.
Near the shrine are the three tombs containing the ashes of the Japanese war dead, as well as that of more than 200 war criminals who were executed for heinous crimes committed during the war.
The Japanese cemetery is well-kept and
even has a Shinto shrine.The park is visited frequently by Japanese residents and tourists, some of whom place flowers regularly, at the tombs of their departed loved ones, friends or war-time comrades.
THE first Japanese settlers here were mainly women, and they worked as prostitutes in Japanese-owned brothels, and as entertainers.
They arrived here mainly from the poor districts of southern Kyushu in Japan in 1871, and soon integrated into the community by becoming the mistresses of affluent Asian and European businessmen.
Their influx occurred shortly after the restoration of the Meiji emperor, in 1868, who started the internationalisation of his country.
After more than two centuries of self-imposed isolation, Japan opened its doors to foreigners. It also adopted Western democracy and technology as the way forward for the nation.
The far-sighted policy reaped handsome dividends. By the start of the 20th century, it had become a power to be reckoned with, having decisively trounced the imperial Chinese and Russian forces successively in 1894 and 1905.
But Japan was still an economically-backward country. Hence, its less illustrious population were urged to seek jobs, or even settle, abroad.
They saw prospects of attaining riches in the Nanyang, which included Singapore, Malaya, the Philippines and Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).
The Japanese economic penetration into Singapore and Malaya started from 1909 with the economic boom brought about by the rapidly expanding rubber trade in both countries.
More entrepreneurs, professionals and skilled artisans started flocking here and to Malaya.
At the same time, the Japanese government, in order to uphold its growing prestige overseas, deemed it prudent to repatriate the Japanese prostitutes and their procurers to Japan.
Also, it succeeded in persuading the colonial authorities to disallow such undesirables to enter Singapore and Malaya.
So, by 1921, for the first time, the number of Japanese men far exceeded women in the population.
These expatriate Japanese soon proved their mettle in various commercial pursuits. They were especially successful in the fishing, rubber-planting and iron-mining industries.
The Japanese bankers also posed challenges to the longer-established European banks.
The others made their mark in dentistry, photography, publishing and furniture-making.
In retailing, the Japanese showed their enterprising spark very early on.
They had shops in and around Middle Road, selling value-for-money goods and services - a stark contrast to the more upscale and grim European-operated outfits.
Many of the knick-knack shops became immensely popular with the local people, who called them the Ten-Cent Stores.
The hub of the Japanese intellectual and social life was the Japanese Association. It provided social cohesion to the Japanese community and served as its meeting place.
TheJapanese Consul-General looked after the members' collective interest and helped to promote unity among them. It also took up their grievances with the colonial government. It ran a school for the benefit of Japanese children.
By the mid-'30s, the Japanese population here had swelled to several thousand.
But their economic well-being suffered a severe setback when the Chinese boycotted buying their products and services to retaliate against the Japanese invasion of China in 1937.
They never recovered from this crippling economic sanction. After this, many Japanese establishments went into liquidation or were sold to non-Japanese at grossly deflated prices.
SO, WHAT were the Japanese like before the war?
A contemporary British Intelligence report commented: " ... All Japanese male or female, kept very much to themselves; they speak a language which hardly anyone in the peninsula know even a little of ... It is therefore extremely difficult to find any chink in the armour of reserve and exclusiveness which they wear."
A contrary account was given by Mr Othman Wok, former Minister for Social Affairs.
He observed in The Bamboo Fortress (by H. Sidhu) that: " ... There were also Japanese fishermen living in Siglap side by side with the Malays ... When I was a boy of 10, I used to play with the Japanese children. Their community was fluent in Malay and they were very friendly people ..."
And, did the patriotic and close-knit Japanese then spy for their government, as many believed?
Yes, some undoubtedly gave a variety of information to visiting Japanese officials, which were useful to them when planning their offensive in Malay and Singapore.
BUT many tales of their espionage activities were either untrue or grossly exaggerated.
When war ensued, all Japanese residents were rounded up immediately and interned by the British. They were sent to India and were later exchanged with British war prisoners captured by the Japanese.
Many people know of the numerous atrocities committed by the Japanese forces against the civilian and allied prisoners of war.
However, to mitigate these, there were also many commendable acts of kindness by the Japanese which helped ease suffering and anguish.
One of them, Mamoru Shinozaki, a senior civilian official, went out of his way to help Singaporean and British internees at considerable risk of jeopardising his own official position.
Among those he helped was Lady Thomas, wife of the then Governor of Singapore. After the war, she wrote a warm letter to thank him for his humane deeds which could well have saved her life when she was hospitalised for an acute bout of dysentery and malnutrition.
When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, their civilian and military personnel were confined to camp, before they were returned to Japan. Only a few of the Singaporean women married to Japanese men were allowed to join their husbands.
More than 50 years after World War II, a large Japanese business community has, once again, sprung up here, contributing to Singapore's prosperity.
Many of them have grown so attached to the country that they have made it their permanent home, just as their forebears did a long time ago.
First published in The Straits Times, Feb 25, 1998
Copyright © 1998 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.
