When the
first Japanese bomb dropped in Singapore my grandpa evacuated all his families
to his rubber estate at Chai Chee, Changi. The rubber estate had a factory
processing liquid rubber (latex) into rubber sheets for export. During the war
the rubber factory stopped functioning. The two storey rubber smoke house was
converted into dwelling for my grandpa’s first two families and my aunts’
family. Nearby on the lower ground was a row of labourers’ quarters. Some of
them had moved out and my grandpa’s third family lived there.
The first
thing grandpa did was getting the adult members of the family to dig an air
raid shelter outside the smoke house. It was rectangular in shape about 6 feet
deep with steps going down the air raid shelter. The top of the shelter was camouflage with coconut
leaves. Entrance to the shelter also served as an exit. The shelter could accommodate only 10 persons. When the air raid siren
was sounded, women and children ran quickly to the shelter. The men hide under
the trees or bushes. As a young boy I was very excited each time the siren was
sounded. Lights were off and it was total darkness and silence everywhere. Nobody was allowed to talked in the shelter as if the enemy was around us. We went back to the house when a second siren sounded. The air raid shelter had no drainage system and was flooded when there was rain.
The men had to drain away the muddy water before we were able to use it again.
At the
rubber estate we heard all sorts of news about the Japanese invasion and their
atrocities. The people was very frightened. Then one day we saw Japanese
soldiers roaming the rubber estates. We had news that Japanese soldiers raped young girls at
night. I had a few teenager female cousins. At night when there were Japanese
soldiers nearby they hid under a pile of coconut husks. When the Japanese
government was established in Singapore, grandpa moved all his three families
back to Joo Chiat. Built up area was then considered safer than living in the rubber estate where
there was no rule of law by the Japanese soldiers.
Joo Chiat
after the war was so different from before the war. There was so much changes.
Hawker stalls were everywhere along the roadsides, lanes and vacant lands,
especially at busy road junctions. In the early stage of Japanese occupation
many people were jobless especially the lower income group. Hawking was the
easiest occupation and cigarette stalls with little capital proliferated at
market place, five foot ways, street corners etc. The lane close to my home
became a gambling place like a casino. There were games of dice (si go luck), fan
tan (the game started with dealer placing a cup over a pile of seeds.The players had to guess the winning numbers from 1 to 4. Betting stop when the dealer started counting for winning numbers. Each time 4 seeds were removed and the last group say only 3 seeds, then number
3 was declared the winning number) and also çhap ji ki or 12 Chinese characters representing numbers from 1 to 12.
The payout was 10 times for betting the winning number. Then there was
card games and Chinese domino or Pai Kow. The ‘casino’ operated only at night
but it did not last long probably it was illegal.
Hawkers were
quick to take over the sidelane and turned it into a wet market selling from fresh fish, meat,
vegetables to food for breakfast. Unlike the cigarette stalls which operated
the whole day, the wet market finished at midday and the side lane was back to
normal.
I attended
the Choon Guan English School at Koon Seng Road which taught Japanese language.
Every morning we sang the Japanese National Anthem ‘Kimigayo’. The school then
dispersed to their classes. Then class by class marched to the basketball court for exercises. I remember walking round the court perimeter singing Japanese
song ‘aruke’ (walking) followed by free hand exercises like stretching and
bending your body. The Japanese school ceased functioning when Singapore was
liberated.
