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HOW FAR DID THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION CHANGE THE LIVES OF TEENAGERS?

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HOW FAR DID THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION CHANGE THE LIVES OF TEENAGERS?

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Cheryl (14) ,  Sources A and B ,  Callysta (2),  Sources C and D
Evelyn  ( 4 ),  Sources E and F,  Vianca (19),  Sources G and H

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Cheryl - Before the Japanese Occupation (School Life) 

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Cheryl - Before the Japanese Occupation (School Life) 

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Source A  (A) - An extract from a transcript of an oral interview with Mr Chew Cheok Hui, a teenager, who attended St. Patrick's School from 1939, his first year in school, which happened to be the year they celebrated the Silver Jubilee of King George V, on school life at St. Patrick's
Source Date : 7 July 1994
Source Origin : National Archives of Singapore Online
Source Type :  Oral History Interview
Source Description : CHEW Cheok Hai, Education in Singapore ( Part 1: English), Accession No. 1526 REEL 02, Audio Transcript

"...a full-day school. From 8 or 8.15 to 3 o'clock...simple breakfast at home... a little break, ... then for lunch...walk home...we don't just spend money in the tuckshop...if you're lucky...pocket money was 1 or 2 cents... buy...kachang puteh...yew cha Kwan...lunch time, we played football...the most popular sport. no ceremony(assembly) before ...start school... no national anthem to sing except on special occasions,...sing "God Save the King."...the British National Anthem. ...primary school...teacher...teach you ...English Language...Mathematics...spelling,...dictation,...writing and secondary school ...learn English  History or Empire History...study Chinese in another school. Not in the same school...I went through school as any normal child did. Going to school, playing the games and of course, passing the exams...holidays in April...August and December...a month... end of every term...have exams...have a test every week... And ...a report card...to show your parents....if your marking right on top, you feel very happy but ...got one red mark ...at the bottom,...the principal...finding a very bad report, ... cane you there and then."

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Cheryl - During the Japanese Occupation (School Life)

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Cheryl - During the Japanese Occupation (School Life)

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Source  B  (B)-  An extract of an abridged and edited excerpts of Mr Ng Fook Kah's autobiography titled "Reflections" published in 2006 where he shared his experiences as an 11 year old during the Japanese Occupation.
Source Date : September 2015, 2006
Source Origin : Days of Darkness Days of Light published by The Methodist Church in Singapore, Reflections by Ng Fook Kah
Source Type :  An abridged and edited excerpts from Mr Ng Fook Kah's autobiography, reproduced with his permission.
Source Description : Days of Darkness Days of Light, Chapter 26 Reflections of the War Years, Ng Fook Kah

"All schools ceased to teach the English language...mother enrolled us in ...privately-run "Wai Tuck School" in Smith Street, ...where we learnt the rudimentary Japanese alphabets "katakana" and sang Japanese propaganda songs. We were made to bow at attention facing the East each morning when the Japanese Anthem "Kimigayo" was played. However, due to my mother's anti-Japanese sentiment, our stay at the school was short-lived.

Elder brother...and I,..., found ourselves employed in a Japanese factory...

I was so miserable working close to the hot furnace of molten iron...as an apprentice-machinist...file and make smooth hammer-heads...by the thousands...,in addition to our meagre pay in Japanese banana notes, ...were issued with food ration such as rice, sugar, salt and the popular local "Ko Ah" and "Minami" local brands cigarettes...I gladly bartered our cigarettes for rice and sugar.

I was 13 years old when the Japanese surrendered ....we returned to school to continue our eduction."

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Callysta - Before the Japanese Occupation ( Work/Job )

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Callysta - Before the Japanese Occupation ( Work/Job )

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Source C (A)
Source description: Interview of Mr Mohd Amin Bin Haji Sirat
Source date: 2003
Source origin: http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/staff/blackburn/oralhistoryJapaneseOccupationMalaymale.doc
Source type: Oral Interview

"I was recommended by my teacher to further my studies in an English school but my late mother did not approve of it so I had to work part-time, as a ‘coolie’ to help out a shopkeeper to carry his  supplies to his shop. That would be my source of income when I first started  working. When I was eighteen, my friend in a company called Asiatic Petroleum Company or APC, as you know now as Shell, offered me a job as an oil tanker  driver. I started with a very minimum wage, barely enough to cover for cost to buy food and provisions."

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Callysta - During the Japanese Occupation ( Work/Job )

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Callysta - During the Japanese Occupation ( Work/Job )

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Source D (B)
Source description: Wee Chwee Hock at Pioneer Generation Tribute event held at the Istana on
Source date: 9th February 2014
Source origin: Singapore Memory Project
Source type: Written source

"During the Japanese Occupation, there were rumours that 12 to 13 year old boys were being sent to the Japanese army. I was lucky to be able to get a job with the mayor who ruled Singapore during the war. I was called the office boy and I opened the mayor's car door and carried his bag. I also put his stamp on approved documents. He treated me like a grandson. The cruelty and violence is only one side of the story, it was after all war."

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Evelyn - Before the Japanese Occupation (Food)

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Evelyn - Before the Japanese Occupation (Food)

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Source E (A)
Source Description:  Accession Number 000591, Reel/Disc 13. Interview with Mr George Kennedy
Source date: 17 September 1985
Source origin: National Archives of Singapore
Source Type: Written source - Oral History Interview (information taken from transcript)

...there was food control, price control, so nothing went up. ... Actually they used to sell it cheaper. Never went up. Not a cent higher or half a cent. As I told you, those days, with a cent, you can buy four things. Four articles of cookery, for the kitchen they could buy. Never went up. Down always, depended upon supply.

But actually, I remember, this sprouts, bean sprouts, it was one cent a kati. And sometimes they used to sell it a half a cent a kati outside the market. ...Same with food, mutton. ...If you went to the market after five o'clock, you can get cheaper foods, where perishable are concerned, like meat and all some things you get at lower price. Vegetables and meat all, anything perishable. ...In the British time, there was no black market.

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Evelyn - During the Japanese Occupation (Food)

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Evelyn - During the Japanese Occupation (Food)

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Source F (B)
Source date: 29 Mar 1982
Source origin: National Archives of Singapore
Source Description: Japanese Occupation of Singapore, Accession Number 000143, Reel/Disc 1, by Arthur Alexander Thompson
Source type: Written source - Oral recount

...the bakery near my place opened. And of course there was a long queue, you have to rush and get your stuff. ...And then they started issuing cards - 'teng kee'. ...the cards for supplying food. ...That's the way you did it in that way. And of course you could go to the market.

...'teng kee'. ...what identity card, card that entitles you to get provisions. ...And you had to bring your card along with you and depending on the number of people in the family, you get that quantity, ration, and that's ration you get.

...Oh, very expensive. Black market was rampant here. If you want to buy anything in the black market where you pay out money...

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Vianca - Before the Japanese Occupation (Relationship between races)

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Vianca - Before the Japanese Occupation (Relationship between races)

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Source G(A)
Source Date: 8 October 1935
Source Type: Written Source - Newspaper Article
Source Description: Newspaper Article called A Century of Education in Singapore by H. R. Cheeseman
As far as can be ascertained 100 years ago there existed in Singapore a number of small schools - a few Malay vernacular schools devoted mainly... three Chinese vernacular schools and two English schools...
Source Origin: The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser

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Vianca - After the Japanese Occupation ( Relationship between races ) 

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Vianca - After the Japanese Occupation ( Relationship between races ) 

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Source H(B)
Source Date: 25 May 1946
Source Type: Written Source - Newspaper Article
Source Description: Newspaper Article called The Malayan Melting-Pot
...Boys - and girls - of local-born communities who sit side by side in the classrooms of Raffles Institution and St. Joseph's and St. Andrew's and the A.C.S., learn to become unconscious of racial differences, to meet on common ground , and to accept each other simply as Singaporeans - not as members of this racial community or that...
Source Origin: The Straits Times